[Excerpt] Gerald D. Hines founded his namesake firm in Houston in 1957. Since then, the company has steadily grown into a global leader in real estate investment, development and management, and is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world, with offices in 104 cities in 18 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $23.8 billion. The firm has developed, acquired and managed properties totaling more than 488 million square feet of office, residential, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical and sports facilities, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments.