Citadel Partners Touts Culture, Service as Key to CRE Success

Local commercial real estate advisory firm Citadel Partners has been capitalizing on Fort Worth’s growth, leveraging its business insights to capture more market share and add personnel.

“Word of Fort Worth is traveling quickly, and the city is gaining momentum and consideration for relocations from around the country,” said Andy Goldston, who made partner at the outfit just last October and runs the office in Cowtown.

Citadel Partners opened a Fort Worth office in 2021, expanding west from its base camp in Far North Dallas at Keller Springs and Dallas North Tollway.

“[Fort Worth’s] industrial market is extremely active with land being gobbled up by developers and users alike,” Goldston said. “Several large manufacturers have committed to the area long-term over the past 90 days with more circling, and the office market has shown resilience, unlike many other markets around the country.”

Regional Expertise With Community Feel

Goldston was brought on board by the company’s managing partners, Scott Morse and Scott Jessen, who decided to launch their own operation in the late 2000s.

The company’s partners recently spoke with CandysDirt.com about their approach to real estate strategy and how hiring the right people is critical to success.

“We were hearing from clients that they were needing top flight advisory services delivered in a very efficient, flexible, and agile manner and at a very cost-effective basis, and so we used that as the foundation to develop our services platform here,” Morse said.

Citadel Partners offers client services ranging from tenant representation to project and construction management. Primarily focused on office and industrial, the firm piggybacked off the two Scotts’ combined decades of experience.

“We both had been part of very small companies and large international companies,” Jessen said. “I think here we just serve our clients better, the ones who prefer more of a regional, high-touch type of service outline. Not only do all of us enjoy that kind of culture and community feel, but it’s just something our clients really appreciate.”

The Scotts ended up developing a distinct approach to advisory services, identifying five key client factors they assess to deliver custom-tailored guidance.

“We’ve had broad exposure to a variety of users [in the industry], and they all have basically five drivers,” said Morse.

Citadel’s website highlights operations, finance, employee loyalty, brand, and corporate culture as critical factors in the development of a comprehensive real estate strategy.

“You need to take those drivers into consideration when you deploy a real estate strategy. Our process and methodology has been very effective at returning value to our clients,” Morse said. “When we’re done, you have a facility that represents the culture and brand of the organization. [Our approach] is very productive and contractually very flexible.”

Hire Slow and Fire Fast

Morse and Jessen have always had an eye for growth, and that’s applied to personnel as well.

In addition to Goldston, Mac Morse was made partner last year. The son of Scott Morse, Mac specializes in tenant representation and lease and purchase negotiations.

“Both Andy and Mac have proven themselves on the production front, on the cultural front, on the leadership front, and so we’re excited about having them as the initial partner expansion group,” Morse said.

Culture is very important at Citadel Partners, where finding the right person for the right job is gospel and the credo “hire slow and fire fast” reigns.

“We built [the company] around our culture, being a results-oriented, performance-driven organization. We want people who are top performers, creative to the culture, who have collaborative skill sets, that show leadership and willingness to participate and do the hard work,” said Morse.

Part of that culture is service.

“We put a major emphasis on community service, whether that be in the local real estate community or the community where that individual lives,” said Morse. “We want to see well-rounded folks, not only professionally but also in their personal lives. We want to see them give back.”

Citadel’s Partners and employees do their share, serving in various professional organizations and local initiatives.

“It’s just something that we take seriously. We think giving back is important, and so it’s a pillar, whether we’re hiring someone new or considering promotions, it all goes into it,” Morse said.

On that front, Citadel Partners is plowing forward.

“Using the momentum of both the office and industrial markets [in Fort Worth], we have made several key hires in both asset classes that have enabled us to increase our market share,” Goldston said.