About

Overview

Balcones Real Estate Group is an Austin-based real estate investment firm focused on acquiring, developing, and managing real estate throughout the Central Texas region. Balcones takes a specialist approach to real estate development and ownership with a focus on maximizing long-term performance for our investors and partners. Using its local expertise and by leveraging long-term, regional relationships, Balcones is able to position itself competitively in a variety of product types to place capital in projects with moderate leverage and conservative underwriting that can withstand the cyclical nature of the real estate industry.

By marrying the traditional relationship-based approach to real estate with a modern data-driven mindset, Balcones stands out as an innovative company which embraces change and adapts accordingly.

21

years

Combined Experience

$

159

million

Assets Under Management

447,000

SF

Owned across 10 Buildings

62

acres

Land Owned for Industrial Development

$

465

million

Aggregate Value of Completed Deals

1,600,000

SF

Space Delivered

Our team

Eric Marcella
Co-Founder

Eric has spent his entire career developing and managing commercial real estate in the Austin area. He splits time sourcing new acquisitions and managing all parts of the development process from land planning and financing to construction and asset management. He has developed over 900,000 square feet of ground up construction for a combined asset value of almost $300MM.

Eric graduated with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a Real Estate Certificate from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.

Otto Swingler
Co-Founder

Otto has spent over a decade in the industrial development and investments business in Austin, Texas. He has completed nineteen (19) development and/or acquisition projects, totaling 700,000 square feet with a combined asset value in excess of $150MM. He has been directly involved in the acquisition of 232 acres of land for industrial development in the greater Austin market.

Prior to his career in commercial real estate, Otto attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a B.B.A. in Finance.

Mary Anne Castles
Managing Director of Property Management

Mary Anne is an industrial property management expert with 30 years of management experience. Mary Anne spent 19 years with HPI, beginning as a Property Manager and completing her tenure there in a leadership role overseeing the Industrial Team. Mary Anne transitioned to CBRE, where she served as Director for 7 years overseeing a 15 million square foot industrial portfolio and leading teams in Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso.

She has been an asset to former employers, being recognized for going above and beyond with awards such as HPI Annual MVP, 2020 CBRE National Ambassador, and 2021 CBRE National Property Management.  Developing relationships with clients, tenants, and team members has been a critical part of her long-standing career, working on behalf of prestigious owners such as GLP, KBS, Prudential, Invesco, Met Life, and TA Realty.  

Kolynn Listi
Controller

Kolynn has an extensive background in public accounting which began with a national firm, then included many years with respected local firms where she handled all income tax aspects of closely held businesses and high net worth individuals with a focus on real estate partnerships.  Her career also includes stints in the music and advertising industries.  She has been with Balcones since its inception.  

Following a Bachelor of Accountancy from NMSU, Kolynn received a Master’s in Professional Accounting concentration in Taxation from the University of Texas, followed soon thereafter with her CPA license.

Steven Ocampo
Director of Building Engineering

Steven Ocampo is a commercial building engineer with 20 years of experience in the field. Steven grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he completed trade school for commercial HVAC and the Engineering Program at Local 39 Stationary Engineers Union.

In his 20 years as a building engineer, Steven has worked on a variety of building types including Museums, Biotech, Bioscience, Class A Commercial High Rise, and Industrial. While in the Bay Area, Steven was brought on during the final phases of construction and into occupancy on LEED Platinum Buildings such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Uber Towers, and Workday Headquarters.

Our Partners

Our partners and references are the life blood of our business. That's why we are always striving to maintain strong relationships with our team. By working together, we can explore new and creative ways to collaborate. Let's explore how we can partner.