David Houston

David Houston, a Teaneck-based commercial real estate executive and industry leader, died Monday at 65. The cause was not disclosed.

His commercial real estate services firm, Colliers Houston and Co., merged this year with seven other companies to form Cassidy Turley. Mr. Houston, of Short Hills, was managing principal of Cassidy Turley New Jersey Inc. Cassidy Turley manages 22,000 corporate facilities totaling 420 million square feet nationwide.

Mr. Houston had deep roots in commercial real estate in New Jersey. His grandfather, also David Houston, entered the Newark firm of E.E. Bond & Co. in 1917. The firm became Houston, Bond & Co., then David Houston Co. Mr. Houston, who had an MBA from Columbia University, joined the firm in 1971. It became Colliers Houston in the early 1990s.

A competitor, Bill Hanson, president of NAI James E. Hanson Inc. CQ in Hackensack, said Mr. Houston was "part of the fabric of the real estate industry in New Jersey and nationally." He said the commercial real estate community greatly benefited from Mr. Houston's leadership role in industry organizations and involvement at the legislative level.

Chris Biddle, spokesman for the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, called Mr. Houston "a towering figure in the corporate real estate and corporate relocation world." Mr. Houston participated in NJBIA panels, speaking on economic outlook and economic development.

"He didn't use jargon  he spoke in plain English on trends and issues in his business," Biddle said. "He knew his business |as well as anyone and had an uncanny ability to communicate his knowledge."

Mr. Houston was at his plainspoken best in a September 2009 opinion article in NJBIZ magazine. Discussing how New Jersey can best participate in the national economic recovery, he called for "a lot of changes."

"The first," he wrote, "is to end this insidious cycle of corruption which has made our state the butt of countless jokes. Part of this problem [lies] in 'home rule,' where even minor officials can stop multimillion-dollar projects. It is a strange culture in which public officials are willing to risk jail sentences for a few thousand dollars. They just don't seem to get that bribery is a crime, not a right of public office."

In January, Mr. Houston described the decision to merge his company, which has offices in Teaneck's Glenpointe complex, as well as Parsippany and Somerset. The move meant the Houston name would no longer be on the door.

"Is it a little sad? Yes, but change is inevitable," he told The Record. "And you can only succeed as a business to the extent that you want to manage and attack change. Otherwise, you go out of business."

Mr. Houston held many top industry posts. He had served on the executive committee and board of directors of the National Association of Realtors and as national president of the Society of Office and Industrial Realtors. The Tax and Superior courts of New Jersey, among other governmental bodies, recognized him as an expert in the evaluation and marketing of commercial real estate, Cassidy Turley said.

Mr. Houston is survived by his wife, Jane; sons William, James and Andrew; two sisters and a grandson. Arrangements are by William R. Dangler Funeral Home, Summit.

E-mail: levin@northjersey.com