Edward Taravella is the President of TARACORP, a commercial real estate investment, development and brokerage firm specializing in land and residential subdivisions. TARACORP LC was formed in 1995 as an underwriter and sponsor of single-family residential development investments and is currently or recently involved in the sponsorship and development of six communities in the greater Houston Area encompassing over 1,000 single-family lots. Additionally, Mr. Taravella has also brokered over 3,200 residential lots and over 21,000 acres of land to builders, developers and investors since 1989.

TARACORP was named the Greater Houston Builders Association Developer of the Year for 2005.

Mr. Taravella is currently the President of the Houston Real Estate Council, an industry advocacy organization created to address public policies and regulatory issues affecting the real estate investment and development community in the Greater Houston area and is a trustee of its political action committee REAL-PAC. Mr. Taravella is HREC’s representative on the Long Range Planning Sub-Committee of the Houston Planning Commission.

Mr. Taravella has been an active member of the Greater Houston Builders Association (GHBA) since 1996 and currently serves as the Chairman of its Government Affairs Committee. He is a trustee of its political action committee HOME-PAC and was appointed as GHBA’s representative on the Development Impact Sub-Committee of the Houston Planning Commission as well as the Harris County Landscaping and Monumentation Sub-Committee task force.

Mr. Taravella is the immediate past President of the Houston/Gulf Coast Chapter of CCIM and currently serves on the national Chapter Affairs Sub-Committee of the CCIM Institute.

Mr. Taravella has earned the professional designations of certified public accountant (CPA) and certified commercial investment member (CCIM). His previous experience includes positions with a national public accounting firm, a large lending institution and a prominent international commercial real estate developer. Mr. Taravella received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Wichita State University. He has been a resident of Houston since 1981 and is a licensed Texas real estate broker.