Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Forum

Stewart Morris III is Vice President of Finance & Investments at Stewart Security Capital, a private investment company where his family have grown a balanced portfolio of CRE assets, consisting of multi-family, industrial, office, rail, and retail.  Prior to joining Stewart Security Capital, Stewart was a Commercial Real Estate agent at Marcus & Millichap.  A native Houstonian, Stewart received his BBA from Baylor University.  Outside of work, Stewart coaches the Rice University Rugby team, continuing to put his rugby skills to use, after competing for a National Rugby Championship at Baylor.  He also serves on HCU’s Dunham College of Business Advisory Board. Stewart married Haylee Williams in 2025.

Pete Sanborn has been at Hines for over 6 years where he is a Director and the head of commercial asset management for Texas. Pete is directly responsible for over 6 million square feet of office, industrial, and retail properties. Previously, he worked in the Investment Management group and focused on the launch of Hines’ flagship core-plus fund, Hines U.S. Property Partners which acquired 32 properties totaling over $3 billion in gross asset value during his time. Prior to Hines, he worked for Stream Realty Partners as a development associate on their industrial and office teams. Pete has a B.S. from TCU and MBA from Rice University.

Sam Morris is a Partner at LSCRE, where he oversees acquisitions, asset management, and investor relations. With over 20 years of experience in real estate, Sam has led acquisition and disposition teams on over $550 million in multifamily transactions. Before joining LSCRE, Sam was the CEO of Sunset Capital, where he built a strong track record of sourcing and executing high-performing investments. After years of collaboration and shared success, LSCRE formally acquired Sunset Capital, bringing Sam’s expertise, investor relationships, and operational excellence into its fully integrated platform. Prior to his real estate career, Sam spent 18 years as a corporate banker, involved in over $1 billion of real estate financing. His deep financial expertise and operational experience allow him to identify opportunities that drive strong returns for investors. He also serves on the board of directors at Texas Traditions Bank.

Ryan McCord joined McCord in 2003 and has served as President since 2008. Founded in 1973, McCord is a leader in commercial real estate and has a great track record of success in urban infill and green field development. Since joining MDI, Ryan has led more than three-quarters of a billion dollars of transactions in office, retail, multi-family, condo, bond, and land throughout Texas and across the country.

Today, Ryan’s focus is on developing Generation Park, the newest and largest master planned economic center in Houston. Located on Beltway 8 in the Lake Houston area, over $1Bn / 2MM SF of Office, Multifamily, Retail, Civic, Hospitality, and Industrial have been constructed in Generation Park since breaking ground in 2014. At 4,200 acres Generation Park is by far the largest contiguous property on Beltway 8, has the most frontage (2.5 miles) and is the closest to Downtown, both airports, all major sporting venues, and the Texas Medical Center. McCord takes seriously the stewardship owed to such a significant development opportunity in the Greater Houston Area and is focused on creating the greatest possible value for the entire region. Prior to joining McCord, Ryan served as Risk Manager for GE Capital Real Estate in Tokyo and participated in over $2 billion of equity and debt transactions in Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea and the Czech Republic. Ryan holds a B.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and currently serves on the board of the Herman Park Conservancy.

Zach Murphy serves as Chief Investment Officer of Pender Capital and brings over 20 years of experience in both commercial real estate finance and capital markets. Mr. Murphy co – founded Pender Capital Management in 201 5 and is responsible for the firm’s investment portfolio and strategic growth. The firm is an SEC – registered investment advisor, specialized in U.S. based real estate credit opportunities. Since inception, the firm has funded over $ 1.39B in loans, secured by commercial real property collateral valued in excess of $2.26B. Prior to Pender Capital Management , Mr. Murphy served as Managing Director and Senior Vice Present for Liberty SBF, a commercial real estate finance company, where he was responsible for establishing the presence of the company on the West Coast, along with overseeing and managing originations and operations in the region. In 2008, Mr. Murphy joined Silver Point Ca pital, L.P., a Goldman Sachs partner fund, where he was responsible for commercial real estate loan originations and insurance – linked securities trading. During his tenure at Silver Point, Mr. Murphy traded more than $500 million in distressed commercial r eal estate debt, insurance – linked securities, and assets in the capital markets. From 2004 to 2008, Mr. Murphy served as Senior Vice President & Division Director of Velocity Commercial Capital. During his tenure at Velocity, Mr. Murphy was responsible for more than $300 million in loan originations. Mr. Murphy earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas.

Kevin joined the Fidelis team in October 2022 and in his role as Vice President – Investments & Capital Markets, is involved in identifying, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities including new developments, redevelopments, and acquisitions. He also manages asset dispositions and capital markets activities which include procuring debt for new opportunities and managing Fidelis’ existing portfolio of retail debt. Prior to joining Fidelis, Kevin served as the Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending for a private equity company focused on originating and managing a debt fund of apartment construction loans. Before that, he served in several positions in banking focused on relationship management, portfolio management, and analysis of commercial real estate lending. He started his career as a member of a regional bank’s officer development program after college.

Before starting his career, Kevin graduated with a BBA in Finance from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He was raised in Houston and in his spare time enjoys traveling, spending time with his wife, family, and friends, exploring new restaurants, cooking, staying active, and keeping up with most major sports leagues.