Green Brick Partners exec is "bullish" on Tarrant County
By Spencer Brewer – Staff Writer, Dallas Business Journal
Photo by Fallon Michael
The folks at Green Brick Partners are bullish about Tarrant County.
“You have high paying jobs, good schools, affordable housing,” Jed Dolson said. “That’s a pretty good recipe right there.”
Dolson is the COO and executive vice president at Green Brick Partners (NYSE: GRBK), a Plano-based residential developer and builder behind some of the largest projects in North Texas. In Tarrant County, some of the firm’s largest projects include Ventana, Madero and Cibolo Hills.
Dolson said he’s concerned about how rising costs of materials and land could affect affordability in Fort Worth and North Texas as a whole. However, Tarrant County and Fort Worth still have a viable value proposition compared to other areas of North Texas, he said.
“Tarrant County has always kind of lagged behind the Dallas side of the metroplex, as far as wages and jobs,” Dolson said. “I think Alliance has really closed the gap in the past five years.”
Last year, Green Brick Partners partnered with Scottsdale-based Taylor Morrison (NYSE: TMHC) on Madero, a more than 2,500-home project north of Sendera Ranch in Fort Worth. The partnership recently opened up its first phase and will begin building homes next year. That project will be a 10-year build out, Dolson said.
Recently, Green Brick Partners and Meritage Homes partnered on an upcoming 490 homesite project near Chisholm Trail Parkway. Groundbreaking is slated for the summer, with the first home sales anticipated in fall 2023.
Dolson spoke with the Dallas Business Journal about his outlook for the Tarrant County residential market heading into the new year.
I keep hearing that land prices are rising in Tarrant County. How is that affecting your strategy?
We have three big projects in Fort Worth, being Ventana on the south side, Cibolo Hills on the Eagle Mountain - Saginaw side and Modero, which we’re just about to start our first homes on, over on the Northwest ISD side.
We bought two of those three projects before the COVID-19 outbreak back in March of 2020. We bought Modero very early after we figured out how strong the demand for housing was, as a result of the pandemic.
Since then we’ve seen land prices go up anywhere from 50% to 100% in Tarrant County. So we like the fact that we have big, long plays with 1,000s of lots ahead of us. But the land prices, lumber prices are going up, concrete prices, everything is pushing to a higher-end price for the consumer.
That’s a bit of a concern because that’s what’s made Fort Worth and the DFW Metroplex so good for so long. It’s been an affordable place for corporations to relocate to.
Speaking of those other issues underlying rising costs, do you think labor and supply issues will carry over into next year?
I think the labor problem is a long-term problem, and I think the materials (issue) is another 12- to 24-month problem.
Tell me about the upcoming Chisholm Trail Ranch project. What attracted you to that area?
We really like the area along Chisholm Trail. You do have to pay a toll to drive on it, but man, you can get around. You can get to downtown Fort Worth very quickly on that tollway. Some of the most explosive growth in the Dallas area has come on the Dallas North Tollway. So we think Chisholm Trail is a great road, good schools down there and easy access into downtown Fort Worth.
Read the original article on The Dallas Business Journal