Background

Rafael Melara is the Founder and President of ROM Commercial Properties. With over two decades of commercial real estate experience and over one billion dollars worth of closed transactions. Mr. Melara has previously handled over 1+ million square feet of properties for a NASDAQ publicly traded REIT.  He has achieved the coveted Costar Power Broker award 10 years in a row since 2013 and has also been recognized consistently as among Houston Business Journal’s Top Ten Retail Heavy Hitters with $60+ Million in sales and leasing volume annually. He has handled small shop tenants as well as negotiated with national tenants such as Marshall's, Little Ceasars, Dollar Tree, Cici's Pizza, Specs Liquor, Autozone, Ross Stores, Burger King, Tuesday Morning, Family Dollar Stores, Wells Fargo, Skechers footwear, Wing Stop, Ulta, Petsmart, and Subway.  Mr. Melara is fluent in English and Spanish and has particular expertise in the emerging Hispanic retail market in the Houston area. He is also active in participating and facilitating the decision-making process of tenants from major chains as well as small shop first-time business owners.

Mr. Melara was previously the leasing director for 10+ years at Hunington Properties Inc. and also has extensive REIT experience with a focus on landlord and tenant representation, Investment sales, development opportunities, value creation, acquisitions of property management assignments, and other facets of brokerage. He has a degree in Political Science from the University of Houston and studied Law at Oklahoma City University. Mr. Melara is a licensed broker of real estate in Texas and Oklahoma. He is also a member of various organizations such as the International Council of Shopping Centers, The Greater Houston Partnership, the Houston Hispanic Chamber, The Galleria Chamber of Commerce, and the National Hispanic Professional Organization.