In her role as director of retail development and recruitment at the Greater OKC Chamber, Tammy Fate leads efforts to improve the quality of life and retail offerings in Oklahoma City. Fate frequently has the opportunity to showcase Oklahoma City on a national level by facilitating discussions with brokers, developers, and community leaders. Through these conversations, she helps ensure prospects are informed with reliable data and market research to support bringing their first-in-class retail developments to her city. Whether she is in the office working through a proposal or out on the town showing off the amazing restaurants, retail establishments, and entertainment hot spots in her city, building impactful relationships is the core of her day-to-day activities. 

Fate is an avid cyclist, outdoor enthusiast, and skilled connector. Her adventurous and competitive spirit bleeds into her passion for her professional career. Fate’s superpower is connecting people, places, and experiences. Her dedication to sports has taught her important life lessons about perseverance, teamwork, and determination. She motivates herself and others to work through obstacles to create better outcomes—and encourages everyone around her to be ready when opportunity strikes. Fate was named as a 2023 405 Business The Metro’s Most Influential and as a CenterBuild Leaders under 40 in 2019. She served as Innovating Commerce Serving Communities (ICSC) chair of the Red River Regional Conference in 2021 and 2022. She was the president of the Commercial Real Estate Council in 2020 and served on the board for eight consecutive years. Fate is currently involved in ULI, CREW, and ICSC. 

Fate is the ULI Americas NEXT communications and marketing co-chair and ULI Oklahoma advisory board member. As co-chair, she helps coordinate and organize marketing strategies for social media and other communication forms to elevate ULI’s work. One of her priorities has been to grow the Americas NEXT chapter and further engagement of mid-level career professionals. As a local advisory board member, Fate helps advance the work of ULI Oklahoma and serves as a representative of the OKC Chamber. 

Marc Flores is partner of Rockriver Development, based in Houston, Texas. In 2021, Flores started Rockriver and concentrates on project management and developing boutique, urban infill, multifamily communities in Houston. His day-to-day work consists of managing their development projects and sourcing the next multifamily deals. The ladder consists of market analysis, underwriting, land acquisition, and investor relations. Starting a new company also includes a lot of behind-the-scenes work, including overseeing the bookkeeping and taxes along with payroll and HR, but Flores notes that all the work has been rewarding. Being in a position to directly impact his local real estate landscape motivates him every day to keep learning and creating new ideas. This serves as a big reason for Flores’ involvement in ULI. Rockriver is currently working on a high-performing, urban infill, multifamily project located in a transitioning neighborhood. The submarket has a lot of development activity and this transit-oriented property will have a great impact on the community, providing much-needed housing while being located blocks from a light rail stop and adjacent to a park and hike/bike trail. 

Flores is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in construction science in the College of Architecture. He spent 14 years building hospitals, universities, and life science buildings for Vaughn Construction in Texas. Flores then spent five years with the developer KDC delivering office buildings in Houston. In 2019, he ran for U.S. Congress, and, although he came in second place, Flores made a real impact with people and the community. 

Flores is involved with ULI Houston as an active local member and serves as co-chair of the sponsorship committee for the Americas NEXT LSC. 

In the following Q&A, Fate and Flores explore their passions for the commercial real estate industry and their experiences with ULI. 

Q1. So many of us in real estate fall into the industry and hence CRE professional organizations. How did you get involved with ULI? 

Tammy Fate (TF): When I moved to Oklahoma City in 2013, one of my career mentors encouraged me to get involved in ULI. He expressed the importance of the organization’s mission and belief in how it supports community activation and placemaking. Over the past 10 years, it’s been easy to stay engaged and involved in ULI because I’ve seen the direct benefits of the work in our city. 

Marc Flores (MF): In 2015, when I was with KDC, I was tasked to get more involved in the real estate community, make connections and build relationships. ULI was one of the first organizations I got involved with, and I was immediately drawn in by the people I met and the content that our local Houston district council was delivering, led by David Kim, Misty, and Logan. 

Q2. ULI: What is the most interesting project you’ve worked on over your career in real estate? 

TF: We’ve landed some incredible concepts in Oklahoma City such as Flix Brewhouse, REI, Chicken N Pickle, Costco, and, most recently, Andretti’s—it’s hard to pick a favorite. Many of these projects take years to come to fruition. Though each project comes with its own challenge(s), I love the problem-solving that comes with it! We had to get state legislation to change before Flix Brewhouse could open, and now, it’s one of the most profitable locations in the chain! The next project is always the most interesting and exciting when you truly love the work you do! 
MF: A high-rise office building I built for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in the heart of Houston’s Texas Medical Center. The 1.5 million-square-foot building brought together over 100 different departments from over 25 different buildings spread out in the city into this new central administrative building. The local NBC affiliate TV station and broadcast studio comes in a close second. It’s not all the time you get to see one of your projects on TV every night.  

Q3. ULI: What are you most excited about in regard to the future of the industry? 

TF: The technology advancements in the way we gather and analyze data have the potential to transform the way we make site selections and identify best-fit tenants for new and existing locations. Technology is a great tool; however, I don’t think it will ever replace the value of local insight that community members contribute in decision making. When you pair technology with the authentic perspective of people who live in a place, the best outcomes come to fruition. 
MF: The adjustment in real estate as its impact from a post-COVID world and the substantial change to traditional in-office work places, mainly in the largest metros and CBDs. We are seeing abundant opportunities in real estate shifts in new housing, retail, and even office that will continue to occur for quite a while. 

Q4. ULI: What are you currently reading/watching? 

TF: I am watching my partner, John, build a “she shed” in my backyard for my work-from-home space. Everyone needs a built-in construction expert! We’re placemaking in our own backyard. 
MF: I am reading a book called “Not Bad for a South Texas Boy,” an autobiographical book my uncle, Federico Peña, recently published about his life, which included his time in public service, as a mayor of Denver, his time in Washington, D.C., as a member of the president’s cabinet, and his time as a business executive. And as for what I am watching, I am mainly on the edge of my seat constantly watching the market—treasuries, interest rates, and any Federal Reserve meetings. 

Check out past “Getting to Know Who’s NEXT” articles here.