Job Details

The Opportunity

Hunington Properties is seeking a Vice President of Retail Development to join the firm's senior development team and operate alongside existing retail development leadership. This is not a development manager role. It is a principal-facing seat on a flat, entrepreneurial platform, built for a proven retail developer who wants project ownership, real upside, and to be a key contributor to a growing platform.

The VP of Retail Development owns deals from concept to exit — site identification, feasibility, entitlements, design, construction, delivery, lease-up, stabilization, and disposition. The role carries its own book, quarterbacks consultants and internal teams, participates in capital and tenant conversations, and is accountable for underwriting discipline and execution outcomes on every deal it touches.

Hunington is a lean organization by design. The VP is expected to wear multiple hats, build deep internal and external relationships, and operate with the judgment, presence, and independence of a senior principal. This is a role for someone who wants to be a partner in execution, not a manager of tasks. The right person will want real skin in the game and the opportunity to participate in the long-term value this platform creates.

The Platform

Hunington Properties is a privately held, vertically integrated real estate development firm founded in 1984 by Sandy Aron and headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm has completed over 400 projects across four decades without a default or a given-back asset — a track record that is the foundation of every relationship we carry.

The retail development platform develops neighborhood shopping centers, single-tenant build-to-suits, pad sites, and grocery-anchored retail at the front door of large-scale master-planned communities. Our model: identify where 1,000+ homes are coming before anyone else, tie up the commercial reserve, advance all pursuit costs unilaterally, go to entitlements, and build at spec because we have a captive, affluent audience from day one. We target 100,000+ average household incomes, unimpeded sightline visibility, and Amazon-resistant tenants who serve immediate daily needs. When a project stabilizes, we subdivide and exit — pad sales, ground leases, build-to-suit assets, and stabilized retail centers — and cycle to the next one.

Reporting & Structure

• Reports directly to Jeffrey Aron, Senior Vice President, Retail Development, in close partnership with Steven Tyson, VP of Retail Development
• Quarterbacks cross-functional execution across Hunington's in-house construction division, brokerage, tenant representation, property management, and acquisitions teams

Scope of Ownership

The VP will carry retail development projects from inception through disposition, with authority and accountability comparable to existing senior development leadership. The role is designed for an operator who can pick up active deals on day one, bring conviction, and run.

-Deal Origination & Early Evaluation

• Source and evaluate retail development opportunities through personal network, broker relationships, and direct outreach, including immediately contributing to Hunington's active pipeline from day one
• Lead first-pass site evaluation: zoning, access, utilities, drainage, entitlement pathway, and timeline realism
• Kill bad deals early — prioritize conviction and velocity over pipeline volume; a developer who protects project conviction is worth more than one who fills a list

-Underwriting & Assumption Discipline

• Own underwriting assumptions across timeline, permitting, infrastructure, hard and soft costs, schedule contingencies, and critical path logic
• Maintain rigorous, defensible detail on every assumption entering the pro forma — the development model is the foundation of every capital and tenant conversation
• Serve as the internal and external voice of record on project assumptions with capital partners, lenders, and joint venture counterparties

-Entitlements & Pre-Development

• Drive entitlements end-to-end: zoning, platting, site plan approval, and utility coordination across Texas municipalities
• Manage relationships with municipal planning departments, city staff, councils, and approval bodies; municipalities are partners, not obstacles
• Identify entitlement risk early and structure mitigation strategies — proactive communication with leadership when bad news arrives is non-negotiable

-Consultant & Vendor Management

• Select, direct, and hold accountable outside consultants: civil engineers, architects, land planners, traffic and environmental consultants, geotechnical, and surveyors
• Review and challenge consultant deliverables; translate technical findings into development decisions
• Manage consultant budgets and schedules against project critical path

-Construction & Delivery

• Partner with Hunington's in-house construction team through permitting, buyout, construction, tenant coordination, and delivery to rent commencement
• Maintain ownership of project outcome — schedule, budget, and quality — through turnover and stabilization

-Disposition & Asset Exit

• Partner with brokerage and senior leadership on subdivision strategy and asset-level exits: pad sales, ground leases, build-to-suit assets, and stabilized shopping centers
• Maintain disposition readiness through development — preserving optionality on subdivision, parcelization, and sale sequencing
• Support pricing, marketing, and closing execution on dispositions within the VP's book of deals

-Legal & Contract Execution

• Own first-pass redlines and business-term negotiation on purchase and sale agreements, letters of intent, leases, loan agreements, and joint venture documents
• Manage outside counsel efficiently; escalate complex or material legal issues with clear framing and recommendations
• Maintain active awareness of standing risk sensitivities: tenant termination rights, delivery date language, lender consent, reasonable-approval standards

-Capital & Tenant Relationships

• Participate substantively in conversations with capital partners, joint venture counterparties, anchor tenants, and national retail tenant representatives
• Carry day-to-day relationship management on capital partner diligence, tenant coordination, and anchor discussions on the VP's book of deals
• Represent Hunington externally with presence, judgment, and independence in any room — municipal, capital, tenant, or counterparty

-AI-Enabled Execution

• Actively use AI tools to accelerate underwriting, memo drafting, consultant coordination, document review, and deal-tracking workflow
• Apply AI fluency to interrogate large document sets — PSAs, leases, diligence binders, loan agreements, meeting transcripts — to identify risks, accelerate diligence, and improve decision quality
• Contribute to scaling the firm's AI capabilities over time, building workflows and institutional prompts that extend the platform's leverage

Candidate Profile

Experience

• Minimum 7 years of direct retail development experience with a clear track record of project ownership through delivery
• Background at a retail-focused development firm: single-tenant build-to-suit, multi-tenant shopping centers, grocery-anchored retail, pad site, or retail-led mixed-use development
• Texas development experience required; direct familiarity with Texas municipalities, MUDs, TCEQ, TxDOT, and the regional consultant and broker ecosystem
• Demonstrated concept-to-exit project ownership on at least several completed retail assets

-Capability

• Strong underwriting and financial discipline with command of every assumption entering the pro forma
• Fluent in deal documentation; able to redline and negotiate business terms on PSAs, leases, loan documents, and JV agreements at the first-pass level
• Proven consultant and municipal management — comfortable directing engineers, planners, and outside counsel with authority
• Capable of representing the firm independently with capital partners, anchor tenants, and institutional counterparties
• Existing tenant and broker relationships; does not need to be large but must reflect real prior exposure
• Active, demonstrable AI fluency — uses AI tools daily to drive workflow leverage and document analysis; candidates should be prepared to describe and demonstrate their AI workflow during the interview process

-Education

• Bachelor's degree required in real estate, business, finance, civil engineering, urban planning, architecture, construction management, or a related field
• Advanced degrees welcomed but not required — track record carries more weight than credentials

Compensation & Structure

Compensation is structured to attract a principal-caliber operator and reward long-term participation in the platform's success.

• Competitive base salary, market-aligned for a senior retail development seat
• Substantial upside through revenue share participation tied directly to development outcomes on the VP's book of deals
• Ability to invest in Hunington development projects in a non-controlling, diluted Co-GP capacity — providing real skin in the game alongside firm Principals and direct participation in the value you help create
• Standard firm benefits package

Specific compensation structure, including base, revenue share mechanics, and co-investment framework, will be discussed during initial conversations.

Location & Work Arrangement

• Houston, TX preferred — co-located with firm headquarters and senior leadership
• Austin, TX considered for the right candidate, with a hybrid arrangement available
• Approximately 25% travel across active Texas markets
• Relocation support may be discussed for the right candidate

Interview Process

• Initial call with VP of Retail Development
• In-person meetings with Hunington's senior development leadership in Houston
• Deep-dive deal discussions, underwriting walk-through, and AI workflow demonstration
• Final meetings with firm principals
• Reference and background review