Team Member Spotlight: Charles Hall

Greens Port Industrial Terminals (GPIT) in the Houston Ship Channel is a massive complex. The facility’s transportation strengths provide the means to move our customers’ goods and its docks, rail access, and connectivity to highways make it a shipping powerhouse. That muscle is backed up by GPIT’s real estate and storage capacity and that’s where GPIT Tenant/Project Coordinator for Real Estate Charles Hall and his team provide assistance.

“My title is a bit of a mouthful, and my actual activity is about as clear as that title. Essentially, I focus on the facility itself, being an administrator for the vertical assets themselves,” Hall said. “It’s everything from filling out permits for construction projects to getting actual lease documents signed.”

GPIT includes 3.3 million square feet of warehouse space and 755 acres of land. That area provides our customers ample opportunity to safely store their weather-sensitive products, plenty of outdoor laydown space, and room to work with Watco to design and develop their own custom facilities to suit their needs.

“Real estate should be viewed as an operation that allows the park to fulfill its greatest value. It’s not just a piece of land. It’s got water access, rail access, close access to the highway. It allows you to take the most advantage from the facility,” Hall said.

Hall worked for Industrial Terminals (I-Term), but joined the GPIT team in March 2018, when Watco acquired the company’s assets and took over the lease for its facility, adjacent to GPIT. He’d been with I-Term since April 2012. With degrees in political science and finance, Hall might not have expected to end up in shipping, but he was drawn to the industry through a family connection.

“My dad had been in the shipping industry for a while, so it was something I was familiar with. I started out here as my first job out of school and tried to get involved in as many things as I possibly could,” Hall said. “There’s been a lot of interesting things to learn about. It is interesting to be a part of such a vital industry, especially in Houston. The ports are an economic behemoth in this region that maybe doesn’t get as much limelight as oil and gas, and the medical center. So, I think it’s interesting to be involved in global trade from such a large hub.”

Since joining Watco, Hall has embraced the new style of leadership and how that’s translated to the port’s operation.

“There’s a culture of entrepreneurship. You get to see a little bit more. Leadership likes to move quickly and take risks but understands that those risks have to be founded on solid financials, solid operations, solid execution. That’s been a great environment,” said Hall.

Houston is one of the largest freight cargo destinations in the country, and with GPIT being the biggest private port in the area, Hall says that instills a real gratification. “There’s a sense of pride here. We’re the largest private bulk, breakbulk, and project cargo terminal in the channel, which is a big deal. It’s totally unique,” Hall said. “It’s good to be a part of these kinds of things, to see the cause and effect of, see the correlations of the trade and how that impacts everything. It’s sort of the first line to the broader economy.”

Outside of work, Hall enjoys spending time with his wife, their two young children, and their extended families.

“I’ve got a son and a daughter that are both under 3 years old right now. Until recently, my wife and I were in school to get our masters’, so home life has been very busy. In the free time that we may have, here and there, I like to read, play golf, and spend time with our families.”