Founder
Gillis Thomas founded the Gillis Thomas Company in August, 1975. Prior to starting his own firm, Gillis was Trammell Crow’s first operating partner for 26 years
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Gillis built millions of square feet of office/warehouse space in his lifetime, not only in Dallas, Texas, but also throughout the Midwestern, Southwestern and Southeastern states. Gillis, along with other early industrial developers, pushed Dallas center stage as a national center of distribution and warehousing in the United States.
Continuing the legacy that Gillis started, today the Company has offices in both Dallas, Texas and Denver, Colorado. Gillis’ desire was for future generations to nurture, preserve and to expand the real estate base that he had devoted so many years of effort and energy to create.
As a result of his long and successful career in commercial real estate dating back to 1949, Gillis Thomas was inducted into the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors Hall of Fame in 2002.
Outside his real estate business, Gillis was a very active volunteer in the Dallas community. Gillis served on the board of the Austin Street Homeless Shelter, the Genesis Women’s Shelter, and the First Presbyterian Church Foundation. He was also a long time supporter of the Stewpot Ministry, an elder and a former Sunday school teacher at First Presbyterian Church.
Gillis passed away in March, 2010. He was a 1949 graduate of Southern Methodist University and an avid sports fan.
