In Memoriam: Gerald D. Hines 1925-2020

Well my father told me that engineers did not get laid off during the depression. I thought that was pretty good security and I was always interested in building things. He's a go-getter. He started the company by sort of raising his hand at a cocktail party saying I can build that warehouse for you and that attitude never really stopped. He really took that approach and then also figured out how to bring the best people in with him. First he was completely passionate but also he had a very set idea of how you do business with people that you know so that they trust you and you do what you say and by the early 70s he had pretty much surrounded himself with a group of people that had that same philosophy. He really founded a company built on the idea of professionalism and integrity. Mr. Hines likes to talk about the future and about his dreams. He's always been that way and he had big dreams. You're darn right I was nervous and you're darn right I was scared. I don't want to ever be in those kind of situations ever again nor do I want any of you to be. Jerry truly risked everything he had to do this major project but it was something I think he and his vision always wanted to do. One Shell at that time was the tallest concrete building in the world and is still the tallest lightweight concrete building in the world. I'm not sure where that inquisitiveness came from but it's been there since day one. He's just always had that attention to detail where he just doesn't accept what consultants or people say and it's become a real sort of mindset for the firm. That could have come from his background as a mechanical engineer and you know really started to challenge things on the energy side and you know could we do things better but it is it is absolutely part of his DNA and therefore it's been it's part of the DNA of the firm. We wanted something unique. We wanted something that didn't have to be the tallest building in the city to be unique so design was extremely important. We had a major tenant who was Pennzoil and Mr. Hugh Litkey and Bill Litkey said I'm only going to build one major business building in my business career and I want it to be outstanding. We asked the architect to come up with a design that possibly could have two major tenants. Mr. Johnson came up with two buildings, two trapezoids in counterpoint and I think the sensitivity of the design is that in most entries to the city it's a living piece of sculpture. I really do think that a legacy Dad has given to the real estate world of developers is he was one of the first to marry great architecture with the office building world. Prior to that the great architects of the world really worked on museums and and universities. Most office buildings were pretty dull boring rectangular boxes but Dad started working with some of the world's great architects. I think he was successful because he knew so much about construction and the people around him knew so much about construction that the architects didn't view him as an enemy that he would take the time to understand what they wanted to achieve but then figure out a way to do it so there was financially feasible and I do think a lot of other developers after Jerry had done it realized that that could be done and I think that helped the landscape of buildings in the world. What Heinz is trying to do is to build great architecturally conceived projects and projects that provide the ultimate in comfort and working efficiency for our clients. He has cared before the word sustainability even was out there he cared about how the buildings work he cared about inherently his engineering side he cared about the efficiency so it's been a part of the Heinz culture forever. Great architecture, great public places, meticulous attention to detail, follow-through and a great man. Grateful for what he's done to the for the field of architecture I wish there were more people would take up his example. I don't think of him the same way I think of any other developer I think of two things I think of architecture and I think of a kind of quiet focused discipline and you know that combination of enthusiasm and intense discipline that he has is fantastic I mean he's just put those things into a kind of harmonic balance that nobody else ever has. Everything I've done and everything I've been I owe to Jerry Heinz. You're always looking for what will create the value and the long-term value and the civic gesture to the city to be a good building and a good citizen is very important. One of the things that I always look to is my grandpa you know hard to say he's not a pretty good leader so he's always saying you gotta put people first and so really making sure that you're treating everyone with respect treating everyone equally and making sure that you trust them and they trust you that's that's kind of the key to leadership. Jerry Heinz taught me a long time ago hire the very best people you can keep them focused stay out of their way and let them be creative and inventive and so that's what I've done and it has been a lot of fun watching these people be very very brilliant. Yeah we started with one person and now we're 4,500 and it's the leadership that's going to take the firm forward and it's your ideas not mine that are going to move us forward. When I was project manager for Riverpoint here in Chicago I was lucky enough to have my grandfather join a couple times as we were going through construction and design and he had such an attention to detail on the design aspect of you know thinking through how our multi-tenant corridors felt to tenants and and thinking about how the lighting in there works and how they integrate with the elevators and it was such an interesting perspective into how his mind works. A lot of the fun for me was to look into those areas and see where we could differentiate and improve the product and that was a lot of fun because it was so creative. I think that set us ahead in many ways. What's interesting for me he absolutely comes from that design perspective and really understanding how the space works for the user. I think my dad has a very financial approach to real estate and to creating value. I think for me I have a little bit from column A and a little bit from column B and trying to think through how to tie you know those worlds together. The Heinz culture it's the backbone of what allows us to really be in 24 countries around the globe and have this far-flung organization. It's the glue that really does hold it together and allows all that to occur so it's vitally important to our firm and it is something that dad established very early on and has stayed our culture to this day and will always be be our culture but it's integrity. It's treating people well. It's always being at the top end of the quality spectrum. It's attention to detail. It's excellence in creating value and it's thinking long term. It's not Gerald E. Heinz it's Heinz and that is a symbol and a name that we felt we would like to perpetuate. It is my last name but it's also the last name of my granddaughter and my son and so we hope to have continuity in the future and I think that we have built the reputation of Heinz for quality and architectural excellence and fair dealing with the people that we do business with. That's very important to me and to my family so we hope to perpetuate the same type of integrity that we do throughout the world.