A founding partner of Childress Klein, Landon has led the firm’s industrial business since CK opened its doors in 1988, building it from scratch into a portfolio of more than 24.5 million square feet developed across the Southeast.

After earning a B.S., cum laude, from Washington and Lee University and an MBA with honors from the University of Virginia, Landon joined Trammell Crow Company’s small Charlotte office, then run by Fred Klein and Don Childress. His first assignment was leasing Charlotte Plaza, and three years later he was named a partner, responsible for the region’s industrial and suburban office business.

In 1988, when Fred and Don decided to leave Trammell Crow and start their own firm, they asked Landon to come with them, and he didn’t hesitate. Because Trammell Crow kept most of the industrial portfolio, Landon rebuilt CK’s industrial business from the ground up, starting with Brookwood, a park at I-485 and I-77 developed in partnership with Norfolk Southern that CK still owns.

Since then, CK has developed more than 24.5 million square feet of industrial space and manages and leases 13 million square feet. Landon’s model is to secure large tracts on the edge of growth, entitle them and build them out over many years, holding the buildings for the long term. That approach produced parks such as NorthPark Business Park and The Concourse, along with build-to-suits for Home Depot, Daimler Trucks North America, Gordon Food Service and Minka. He approaches every project as a long-term owner, thinking about how a building and its location will perform 20 or 40 years out, building to last, and structuring each deal conservatively so partners’ interests stay aligned through good times and bad.

Landon has also been a leader in the Charlotte region’s growth. He is past chair of the Charlotte Regional Partnership and the Mecklenburg County Capital Budget Advisory Commission and past president of the Charlotte Region Commercial Board of Realtors. He serves on the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance executive committee, chairs the advisory board of UNC Charlotte’s Childress Klein Center for Real Estate and co-chairs the Seventh & Tryon Redevelopment Steering Committee.