Industrial real estate giant Prologis has tapped one of its veteran executives, Damon Austin, to join the firm’s C-suite as chief development officer as the company plans to spend $8 billion over the next four years on data centers.
Austin, whose is currently serving as the firm’s global head of customer development, will step into the new role Jan. 1, the firm announced in a press release.
His promotion comes at a key moment for Prologis and other investors in the industrial real estate sector.
The warehouse market has continued to soften, with the U.S. industrial vacancy rate rising steadily for nearly three years, according to CoStar research. Meanwhile, San Francisco-based Prologis, the world’s largest industrial landlord and developer, is ramping up its data center development to extend its warehouse dominance to the properties and digital networks powering artificial intelligence.
Prologis posted a 9% year-over-year increase in revenue to $2.2 billion in the third quarter as tenants signed 62 million square feet of leases — a company record for any quarter — to secure warehouse space ahead of rising demand.
The firm owns some 6,000 buildings in 20 countries.
Austin, who has been with the firm for a decade, will oversee all the company’s global development activities, including what it calls its “customer-led development” and data center businesses. As part of the firm’s executive committee, Austin will work closely with its capital deployment team, regional presidents and other company leaders.
Since joining Prologis in 2015, Damon has held leadership roles there, including overseeing investment and development activity for the U.S. Western Region. Before joining the company, he served in senior positions at Trammell Crow Co. and Lehman Brothers.
Austin "brings clear strategy, a steady hand and a real commitment to our customers,” said Dan Letter, the company’s president. “His leadership will play an important part in our growth ahead and in the long-term path we’re building for Prologis.”
Austin holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.