A duo of influential, visionary game changers who helped shape the North Texas region over the past 40 years will be named to the North Texas Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame in 2025. One inductee is known for developing national award-winning master-planned communities in McKinney and on Denison’s Lake Texoma. The other inductee was the impetus in shaping Southern Dallas County into a major US industrial region, playing a pivotal role in bringing the Dallas County Inland Port to fruition.
David Craig, founder and CEO of Craig International, and Mike Rader, president of Prime Rail Interest, LLC and Prime 45 Development LLC, will be inducted into the 2025 North Texas Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at the Arts District Mansion, 2101 Ross Ave. in downtown Dallas. Held in cooperation with NTCAR, the event will begin at 5 p.m. with a reception, followed by dinner and program at 7 p.m.
Linda McMahon, CEO of the Dallas Economic Development Corporation (Dallas EDC) and the former CEO of The Real Estate Council (TREC), will receive the prestigious 2025 Industry Service Award. This recognition is presented to an individual whose impactful contributions transcend the traditional confines of the commercial real estate industry.
Chris Teesdale, Hall of Fame co-founder and Executive Committee member, is chair of the 2025 event.
Sponsorships for the quick-to-sell-out event are available with title sponsorships at $25,000, platinum sponsorships at $10,000 and gold sponsorships at $5,000. For more information, go to ntcarhalloffame.org or email HallofFame@eventlinkintl.com.
“The Hall of Fame event was created 38 years ago to spotlight the men and women whose remarkable grit and leadership not only shaped the North Texas region but led to it becoming one of the most-admired business hubs in the country,” said Teesdale. “Our 2025 honorees – Mike Rader, David Craig and Linda McMahon – certainly illustrate the incredible talent carrying forth that tradition.”
Rader’s Prime Rail Interest and Prime 45 Development helped kick start Southern Dallas County’s industrial district
Hall of Fame inductee Mike Rader has been involved in ownership and development of real estate across the Dallas-Fort Worth region since 1984. Impressed by the great logistics the convergence of Interstates 20, 35 and 45 provided, he began assembling properties, creating numerous investment partnerships, and developing property ranging from land infrastructure to building improvements.
Rader set a vision for what could be developed in Southern Dallas County from Interstate 20 to the Dallas County south boundary. In 2004, after pursuing Union Pacific Railroad (UP) for seven years, UP agreed to locate a $100-million Intermodal facility on Interstate 45 in the cities of Hutchins and Wilmer. Building the intermodal for Union Pacific on time and under budget, the facility was the impetus for the Dallas County Inland Port and the resulting growth in Southern Dallas County.
In 2005 Rader and partners assembled 900 acres on Interstate 45 creating Sunridge Business Park that has 8 million square feet of industrial buildings and will have 60 acres of commercial/retail businesses when completed. In 2011 Rader assembled investors and acquired 2,300 acres in the cities of Hutchins, Lancaster and Wilmer. He subsequently acquired an additional 700 acres to begin developing a 3,000-acre rail served industrial park, Prime Pointe, providing sites for manufacturing, distribution/warehouse, and technology. Prime Pointe is a premier rail-served industrial park with a number of rail-served sites.
Rader has been involved in 8,000 acres in Dallas County Inland Port, bringing multibillion dollars of private investment to Wilmer, Hutchins, Lancaster, Dallas and Dallas County, making it one of the fastest-growing industrial areas in the U.S.
“Mike Rader typifies what this recognition is about. He recognized the opportunity in Southern Dallas County and invested years before others saw the potential in this overlooked area,” said Teesdale. “Through his passion, his efforts have made a huge economic impact and served as a catalyst, turning southern Dallas County into the largest industrial submarket in DFW.”
Craig International brings big economic boost to Collin and Grayson counties
Hall of Fame inductee David Craig is a visionary leader who has worked tirelessly to push the boundaries of his development projects. He founded Craig International, a commercial brokerage and development company, more than 45 years ago in McKinney, and the company has grown to control and/or develop more than 15,000 acres in Collin and Grayson counties.
Craig’s motivation and passion drove the success of Craig Ranch, a national award-winning master-planned community in McKinney that he began developing with his partners 24 years ago. Craig Ranch started with 1,125 acres of farmland and has a current ad valorem value of more than $5 billion. The now-thriving, 2,200-acre community includes 500 acres of parks and green space, a 270-acre employment district called McKinney Corporate Center Craig Ranch, and commercial, residential and mixed-use retail anchored by the TPC Craig Ranch, home of the CJ CUP Byron Nelson Classic. Craig is the chairman of the board of governors of TPC Craig Ranch and is chairman of the TPC Craig Ranch Host committee for the CJ CUP Byron Nelson.
Craig’s current projects include the $250 million District 121, a mixed-use development with retail, office, hotel, high-end restaurants and a multimillion-dollar park, adjacent to Craig Ranch at the northeast corner of the Sam Rayburn Tollway and Alma Road.
In 2024, Craig and his partners announced Preston Harbor, a $6 billion master-planned community on Lake Texoma in Denison. The 3,114-acre project is anchored by a Margaritaville resort hotel and will include restaurants, an upscale marina and approximately 7,500 homes.
“David Craig is a pioneer in the development of commercial real estate; his contributions and commitment to excellence are second to none,” said Hall of Fame Executive Committee member Bill Cox. “His efforts at Craig Ranch have proven to be crucial in the development of Collin County, making it the fastest-growing area in the United States. Now David has taken on yet another challenge – Preston Harbor on Lake Texoma.”
Industry Service Award recipient Linda McMahon is the inaugural CEO of the Dallas Economic Development Corporation (Dallas EDC), a nonprofit entity created by the City of Dallas to drive the city’s economic growth and vitality by promoting Dallas as a globally competitive business destination that fosters economic opportunities for all members of the city.
Prior to joining Dallas EDC, McMahon was the president and CEO of The Real Estate Council (TREC), the largest and most influential commercial real estate organization in the state of Texas with over 2,000 members and 650-member companies. She led transformative change within TREC through her tenure, ensuring that the commercial real estate industry had a seat at the table for all policy issues that impacted the industry and the economic growth of the region. She was instrumental in the creation of the Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund in partnership with Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which was seed funded by the City of Dallas. Under her leadership, TREC Community Investors created the Dallas Catalyst Project that has created over $140 million of leveraged investment in the Forest District over the past five years. She also created the Dallas Collaboration for Equitable Development with a $6 million investment from JPMorgan Chase.
Prior to leading TREC, McMahon spent three decades in banking, including 15 years with JPMorgan Chase Bank leading the Southwest Community Development group.
Actively involved across her industry, she is on the Downtown Dallas, Inc. board of directors; a member of the 2024 Texas Metropolitan Blueprint steering committee; the Comprehensive Land Use Committee for Forward Dallas; the Dallas Assembly; Texas Lyceum; Urban Land Institute; and formerly on the board of the Real Estate Councils of Texas. McMahon was chair of the 2023 International Economic Development Conference in Dallas; a member of the South Dallas Fair Park Area Planning Committee; 2019 Texas Urban Blueprint steering committee; founding chair of Impact Dallas Capital; Economic Opportunity Leadership advisory board; and City of Dallas Amazon HQ2 Bid lead. Linda is an Honorary AIA-Dallas and recently received the Civic Impact Award by D CEO.
“We proudly salute Linda McMahon for her tremendous contributions to the nonprofit sector and the commercial real estate industry in Dallas and North Texas,” said Darrell Hurmis, co-founder of the Hall of Fame event and Executive Committee member. “Linda’s dedication to service and leadership – and her commitment to fostering economic growth and innovation – truly exemplifies the spirit of the NTCAR 2025 Service Industry Award.”
Founded in 1987, NTCAR Hall of Fame has celebrated region’s iconic movers and shakers
The Hall of Fame was launched in 1987, when the first six distinguished real estate recipients were Trammell Crow; Lyn Davis; Henry S. Miller, Jr.; John M. Stemmons, Sr. and his brother, L. Storey Stemmons; and Angus G. Wynne. Later additions to the roster included, among others, John Carpenter; Roger Staubach; Henry S. Miller Company; Jerry Jones; Ross Perot, Jr.; Gerald Hines and Jeff Hines; and Ray L. Hunt.
The most recent Hall of Fame inductees for 2024 were Scott Rohrman of 42 Real Estate, LLC and Bill Vanderstraaten, president of Chief Partners L.P. Last year’s recipients of the Michael F. McAuley Lifetime Achievement Award were Jack Fraker, president and global head of industrial and logistics capital markets for Newmark, and the late Robert Grunnah, a widely respected real estate leader and one of the three co-founders of the Hall of Fame event. Grunnah also worked selflessly on the conception, creation and development of THE BOOK, which is published every five years.
All Hall of Fame recipients from 2024 and prior years will be featured in the fourth edition of THE BOOK – North Texas Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame – which will be released in December 2024.
Originally published in 2008 with expanded editions produced in 2013 and 2019, THE BOOK, captures the stories of past Hall of Fame honorees and Michael F. McAuley Award recipients along with other honorees. The pages of the coffee-table book are filled with historic photos, depicting the legendary figures whose extraordinary vision and real estate prowess played a major role in the Dallas/Fort Worth region over the past 100 years. For details and to order, visit ntcarhalloffame.org/the-book or email HallofFame@eventlinkintl.com.
The North Texas Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame Committee was co-founded by Darrell Hurmis, Chris Teesdale and the late Robert Grunnah. In addition to Hurmis and Teesdale, other Committee members are Greg Cannon, Kathy Permenter, Lynn Dowdle, Bill Cox, Jack Gosnell, Teri Abram Wold, Scott Morse and Kim Vincent Butler.
Holland Morris is executive director of the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors and Real Estate Professionals.
The media partner for the 2025 Hall of Fame event is D CEO magazine.
For more information, go to ntcarhalloffame.org.