Aspen Properties Creates Succession Plan

Aspen Properties has named new board members and a top-level executive as part of a strategic succession plan.

The plan calls for current company President Mark McAllister to transition and join the company’s board of directors. Dave Tworoger, a current partner with Aspen Properties, is taking over as President and McAllister plans to start pursuing other real estate interests in addition to acting as an Aspen advisor.

Dave Tworoger is the nephew of the company’s founder, John Tworoger, who passed away last year on February 7, 2008. Dave Tworoger was privileged to train under John for 15 years gaining a priceless education from one of the top minds in the industry. The two enjoyed almost a father-son like relationship, with the elder Tworoger serving as a key mentor figure to Dave Tworoger. Aspen Properties’ leadership has been in a state of transition since the untimely passing of its founder, with Brenda Tworoger, the company’s senior vice president of operations, assuming John Tworoger’s prior role as CEO.

As part of the transition, Aspen Properties has increased responsibilities for two others within the Aspen team. Eric Costa, a current partner with the company and a 15-year real estate veteran, will now add to his responsibilities overseeing all Leasing and Acquisitions. Before joining Aspen’s Austin team in 2004, Costa was a top leasing and investment broker in San Diego, California. Jim Gallegos, Senior Vice President, will expand his role from overseeing entitlements to include overseeing new development and managing construction. Garnering 20 years of experience in the land development engineering industry beforehand, Gallegos joined Aspen two years ago.

“One of the silver linings of this slow economic cycle is that it gives you an opportunity to catch your breathe and assess operations. We were able to be very deliberate and ask ourselves critical questions – both as individuals and as a company – in terms of how we want to be positioned for the rebound,” says Brenda Tworoger, Aspen’s CEO. “The answer for Mark was that he wanted to remain a key figure within our company, but step away from a day-to-day role. Meanwhile, it was clear we had other capable hands on deck ready to embrace new responsibilities.”

Brenda Tworoger credits McAllister with helping Aspen Properties make some superb acquisitions in assembling the 1.6 million square foot office portfolio, particularly with properties like Plaza on the Lake, 8303 MoPac and Prominent Pointe, where Aspen doubled the size of the office space and was quickly able to reach a healthy 90 percent occupancy level.

Brenda Tworoger anticipates future acquisitions and new developments to be a part of Aspen’s strategy for Austin.