Riverside Welcomes Travis Robertson to Lead Retail Brokerage
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Austin-Based Real Estate Firm Expands Retail Platform with Top Market Talent
Riverside, a typically quiet but formidable player in the Austin commercial real estate scene, has brought on a local heavyweight to lead its new retail brokerage division.
Austin-based Riverside, founded in 1990, is the powerhouse behind well-known projects such as Sixth & Blanco, 3rd & Colorado, Fifth & West, Seven Oaks,1801 E 6th, and Centro. Over its 36-year history, Riverside has closed approximately $5 billion in transactions.
To lead the new division, Riverside has named Travis Robertson — a longtime retail industry veteran with nearly 20 years of commercial real estate experience. Robertson brings deep expertise in tenant representation, project leasing, and investment sales.
Robertson joins Riverside from JLL, where he was a consistent presence on the Austin Business Journal's list of retail Heavy Hitters. Prior to JLL, he played a foundational role at The Retail Connection, serving as one of the firm's first brokerage professionals in Central Texas and helping establish its Austin operations. He began his career at the Weitzman Group's Austin office — giving him nearly two decades of deep, uninterrupted roots in the Central Texas market.
Throughout his career, Robertson has advised a wide range of clients — from Fortune 500 companies to beloved regional concepts — on their real estate strategy across Central Texas. Travis closed over 40 retail deals in 2025, with his client roster including Life Time, Rivian, and Charles Schwab. In all, he's closed more than 500 transactions totaling more than 2.35 million square feet and valued at more than $525 million.
"The way Travis approaches his work aligns with everything we've built here. We're glad to have him," said Jeremy Smitheal, Managing Partner at Riverside.
Robertson's addition is part of Riverside's intentional, organic strategy to deepen its capabilities across the platform — expanding into retail brokerage with the same measured approach and commitment to excellence that has defined the firm for over three decades. The move follows the firm's addition of office brokerage services, a division led by Jeff Henley, a longtime and widely respected figure in Austin office brokerage.
"Riverside has a reputation that speaks for itself. The standard they hold themselves to is what brought me here, and it's the same standard I've always tried to bring to my clients," said Robertson.
For a firm that has long shaped Austin's built environment from the development side, the expansion into full-service brokerage reflects a natural evolution — one rooted in the same deliberate, long-view thinking that has defined Riverside for more than three decades.
Austin Business Journal
Austin real estate developer Riverside expands into retail brokerage
The firm has landed one of the market's leading retail leasing agents to lead the new service
Riverside — formerly known Riverside Resources — has launched a new retail brokerage division led by Travis Robertson, one of the market's leading retail leasing agents...
