Green Brick Partners, Inc. (GRBK)

[Enterprising Investor]

Green Brick Partners buys tract for $160M residential project in Flower Mound (12/04/15)

By Candace Carlisle

Plano-based residential developer Green Brick Partners Inc. (Nasdaq: GRBK) — which is funded in part by New York hedge fund managers David Einhorn and David Loeb — has acquired a 52-acre tract in Flower Mound with plans to build a $160 million residential community.

This project will bring about 450 townhomes and patio homes to Flower Mound as an integral part of Southgate, a 110-acre mixed-use development near Gerault Road and F.M. 2499 that will include retail, restaurant and office space.

The deal has been in the works for the past 18 months — long before news of Verizon's proposed 157-acre, 3.5 million-square-foot mixed-use campus began circulating in the region — and made a lot of sense for Green Brick Partners, Jed Dolson, the firm's head of acquisitions, told the Dallas Business Journal.
"Flower Mound has historically been a highly sought-after address with its access to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and State Highway 121 that makes it highly attractive," Dolson told the DBJ.

"As the housing prices have continued to escalate, we're seeing more and more demand for the townhome and patio home market," he added.

Construction is slated to begin on the initial phase of homes in Southgate this spring, with the model homes opening in early 2017.

The homes will be built by one of Green Brick's subsidiary builders — CB JENI Homes — with 5 acres of parks and walking trails connecting residents to a $1.5 million amenity center with pool, workout room and entertaining areas.

The Southgate development is Green Brick's fourth neighborhood in Flower Mound and a follow-up to the builder's nearly sold-out Lakeside neighborhoods. It is meant to appeal to empty nesters and young professionals looking for homes with amenities near work and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

"People want to live close to work, and no one wants to sit in an hour of traffic," said Dolson, who cited TD Ameritrade's proposed campus in Southlake and soon-to-be-developed Kubota Tractor Corp. campus in Grapevine.

Green Brick Partners plans to continue to look for land acquisition opportunities near employment centers in North Texas and in Atlanta, he said.

The firm's other North Texas subsidiary builders are: Normandy Homes, Centre Living Homes, and Southgate Homes. The company also has an affiliated builder in Atlanta called The Providence Group.

Einhorn and CEO Jim Brickman sat down with the Dallas Business Journal recently to discuss the company's building strategy and its plans for the future.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2015/12/03/green-brick-partners-buys-tract-for-160m.html?iana=ind_rre