Commercial
Partners Real Estate adds land team from MLB Commercial in Houston
By Real Estate Wire Staff, . Real Estate Wire.
Partners Real Estate has hired Tommy LeBlanc as an Equity Partner at its Houston headquarters, according to REJournals. He comes over from MLB Commercial Real Estate, where he ran the Greater Houston land group, and brings with him Vice President John-Michael Kamel and Senior Associate Blake Steele, both former MLB colleagues.
REJournals reports that LeBlanc has negotiated more than $1 billion in transactions across a career spanning land brokerage, development strategy, site selection and sale-leasebacks. He ranked fourth on the Houston Business Journal's Heavy Hitters list in 2025. His client roster at MLB included CenterPoint Energy, Hines, The Lionstone Group, Johnson Development, Avanti Properties Group, Beazer Homes and Wood Partners. Before MLB, he spent roughly ten years at Avison Young, where he reached the level of Principal in land and capital markets.
Kamel, a Houston native, focuses on large-scale development tracts across the Southeast Texas market. He holds a business degree from St. Edward's University and, outside of brokerage, manages the 5,500-acre Oilton Ranch in Webb County. Steele covers land acquisitions and dispositions across the region, guiding assignments from site sourcing and feasibility review all the way through entitlement and contract execution. He came up through analyst and associate roles at Avison Young and holds a finance degree with a real estate concentration from Texas Tech University.
REJournals notes that the hire continues what Partners describes as a period of significant expansion. Recent moves cited in the report include the acquisition of Crown Tenant Advisors in Atlanta to launch a Healthcare Services practice, the addition of industrial brokers "Joseph Cooper in Dallas and Brad Pope in Atlanta as Equity Partners," and the appointment of Jen Suddreth as Director of Property Management covering Houston and Dallas.
The pattern is worth noting. Partners is assembling specialty teams rather than generalist producers, targeting land, industrial and healthcare services as distinct practices. Bringing in an established group that has worked together for years, rather than hiring individuals, reduces the integration risk that typically follows a lateral move and keeps existing client relationships intact. Whether that approach translates into market share gains in Houston's land sector will depend on deal flow, which in turn depends on how active homebuilders and large-scale developers remain in Southeast Texas. No transaction pipeline figures were included in the report.
Real Estate Wire provides news and information, not real estate, legal, or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your specific needs.