{"id":1317,"date":"2012-04-26T05:00:07","date_gmt":"2012-04-26T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=1317"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:29:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:29:49","slug":"lucy-billingsley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/lucy-billingsley\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucy Billingsley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lucy<\/a>Lucy Billingsley\u2019s distinguished career in real estate development ranks her among the nation\u2019s leading female industry executives.\u00a0 In the fourth decade of her career, she maintains great passion for the next project to command her attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite deal is always the next one,\u201d she told us during a recent interview. Billingsley Company<\/a>, the Dallas-based company with land, office space, industrial, retail, single-family, multi-family, mixed-use and master-planned developments that she and her husband Henry founded in 1978, is flourishing.<\/p>\n

New phases of 10,000 unit master-planned rental communities The Neighborhoods of Austin Ranch and Cypress Waters are currently underway, and Billingsley is excited about changing the face of the multifamily experience. The company is also expanding its office and industrial holdings.<\/a><\/p>\n

Billingsley also devotes much of her time and energy to charitable work, and her philanthropy has included The Chiapas Project, Grameen Foundation USA, Women for Women International, National Geographic Society Council of Advisors, World Affairs Council (Dallas), Brain and Creativity Institute at USC, Council of Foreign Relations, The Hockaday School, and The Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity Advisory Board.<\/p>\n

In a short conversation, she filled us in on few views of the current marketplace, how she chooses philanthropic causes, and the lessons that her father, famed developer Trammel Crow, imparted to her.<\/p>\n

TBS: It\u2019s been a challenging climate for real estate sales, investment and development over the last several years, although Texas come through the down economy very strongly. What do you see as the most pivotal focal points for property executives as the financial climate nationally continues to improve?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LB:<\/strong> I think the multifamily world is a world that has made a significant and permanent shift in its role in America today \u2013 the shift is because the American dream has moved from one of simply home ownership. The economy and lifestyles are such that people don\u2019t feel the need for home ownership as a prime value. I think people\u2019s values today are values of jobs, relationships, and experiences, over asset. Multifamily living positions you to be able to enrich those aspects of your life, have the best job you can, in the right place, the ability to change and move as need be, have savings that you can spend on trips and relationships, and living where your friends are living and having that ability to stay close. That is a very different experience than rental living in the past in America.<\/p>\n

For the corporate world, we certainly have huge geographic variances in the country right now. We couldn\u2019t be more fortunate than to be here in Dallas. We are strengthening in every sector. Clearly office is very, very strong, not strengthening, it is just strong. Industrial has improved a great deal, and retail is trailing those two categories, and its changing by the very dynamic nature of the impact of online (retail) to the world of stores, but it\u2019s certainly a stable and growing niche kind of business.<\/p>\n

TBS: Your philanthropic donations touch a wide variety of causes and organizations. Can you tell us about your personal philosophy for charitable outreach and how you select the areas that you benefit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LB:<\/strong> If someone\u2019s going to give of themselves, has to be deeply enriching. How do you find what\u2019s going to enrich you in your life. For me, it came down to recognizing what was the gift I was given. I was given the gift of a woman born in America with the opportunity to be trusted and the environment societally to be able to reach out and become whatever I could be. That\u2019s the gift I want to give others. I\u2019ve done it via microfinance.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m doing it very actively through Women for Women International today. We work in eight war zones and post-conflict zones around the country, helping women reach out and find the power within them to grow, achieve and become. That\u2019s one aspect that\u2019s important to me, to give the gift I was given.<\/p>\n

The other thing that I care about and worry some about is how we help the future leaders of the world get these chances and breakthroughs to become great. At National Geographic, I\u2019ve had the pleasure of being involved with sponsoring Young Explorers, young people between 18 and 25, who for $2500-$5000 can be given the chance to go do something remarkable study or exploration in the world. I care a lot about the environment, and every aspect of their research. I think with that engagement, maybe we\u2019ll have some great leaders and thinkers of tomorrow get their first start.<\/p>\n

TBS: As one of the nation\u2019s top female real estate executives, what insight would you offer to young women starting their careers in the industry today \u2013 are there any value sets or work habits that they must adopt to ensure success?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LB:<\/strong> First off, believe in yourself. We\u2019re all our own billboard, and if you let others know you believe in yourself, and you\u2019re competent and you can do it, they\u2019ll read the signals, and they\u2019ll agree with you and they\u2019ll give you the chance. Dream big \u2013 go for it \u2013 it\u2019s surprising, I\u2019m now 58, so I get to look at life a little bit and say you know, somehow your dreams come true if you\u2019re just persistent and drive and work. Don\u2019t compromise your standards. Rules are for other people, that\u2019s one of my little mantras.<\/p>\n

TBS: Are there any lessons or best practices that you adopted from your father, Trammel Crow, that continue to influence how you do business today? <\/strong><\/p>\n

LB<\/strong>: One of dad\u2019s sayings was always \u2013 it\u2019s all up to you. Count on yourself, don\u2019t blame anyone else for anything, and rise to the occasion. He has a quote that I keep by my desk that I\u2019ll read to you just because I love it \u2013 \u201cThere must always, always be a burn in your heart to achieve. In the quiet of your solitude, close your eyes, bow your head, grit your teeth, clench your fists, ache in your heart, vow and dedicate yourself to achieve, achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

TBS: Today you have the chance opportunity to work closely with your husband Henry, daughter Lucy and son George at Billingsley Co. What has that experience been like and do you have any advice you might share for making a close family relationships work well in the business arena?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LB: I left our family business (Trammell Crow Company<\/a>) because I wanted to do it on my own. It\u2019s an interesting set of experiences. At least for me, I enter into working with family members out of respect. It\u2019s respect of their abilities, and its knowledge that my relationship with them is more important than any deal I\u2019ll ever do \u2013 I\u2019ll stand up for my opinions on everything and want them to do the same, but what I want to do more than anything them to have rich lives of deep engagement, and clenching their fists and bowing in their hearts to achieve, to achieve, so how do I make that happen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lucy Billingsley\u2019s distinguished career in real estate development ranks her among the nation\u2019s leading female industry executives.\u00a0 In the fourth decade of her career, she maintains great passion for the next project to command her attention. \u201cMy favorite deal is always the next one,\u201d she told us during a recent interview. Billingsley Company, the Dallas-based […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":413,"featured_media":1524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3245,5,3354],"tags":[8,1430,29,86,87,22,85,116],"class_list":["post-1317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial","category-people","category-team-yardi","tag-commercial","tag-insight","tag-multifamily","tag-office","tag-philanthropy","tag-residential","tag-retail","tag-yardi-client-profile"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYardi Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lucy Billingsley\u2019s distinguished career in real estate development ranks her among the nation\u2019s leading female industry executives.\u00a0 In the fourth decade\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lucy Billingsley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lucy Billingsley\u2019s distinguished career in real estate development ranks her among the nation\u2019s leading female industry executives.\u00a0 In the fourth decade\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/lucy-billingsley\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Yardi Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-26T12:00:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-22T23:29:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2012\/04\/LB.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"230\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"185\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Etling\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Etling\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/lucy-billingsley\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/lucy-billingsley\/\",\"name\":\"Lucy Billingsley - 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