Real Estate Acquisitions in Texas

MCB Real Estate, a privately held investment management and development firm based in Baltimore with over $4 billion AUM, has completed the acquisition of Austin-based Epic Real Estate Partners. The deal transfers operation of 15 grocery-anchored shopping centers (just over 2 million square feet, across 10 states, ~$575M portfolio value) and the Epic operating company (13 professionals) into MCB's platform while retaining property-level ownership structures and the Epic team.

Cresa has acquired Fischer, a Dallas-based occupier advisory firm, adding approximately 110 professionals and Fischer’s proprietary technology platforms ManagePath and Visual Manager. Fischer’s executive leadership join Cresa’s management team and board, expanding Cresa’s corporate services platform, technology capabilities, and geographic footprint.

Yugo, part of The Dot Group, has acquired Campus Advantage to accelerate its U.S. expansion and scale its student housing operations. Campus Advantage will transition to Yugo U.S., bringing over 430 team members and adding reach of nearly 40,000 beds across 88 properties; Mike Peter will lead Yugo U.S. as CEO with Jim Sholders joining as President.

New Home Co. completed its acquisition of Landsea Homes Corporation, creating a privately-held, top-25 national homebuilder led by New Home CEO Matthew Zaist. Landsea common stock was delisted from NASDAQ and shareholders received $11.30 per share in cash; the transaction was funded with equity from funds managed by affiliates of Apollo, $522 million of homesites under option from Millrose Properties, and a senior notes offering by New Home.

Two Fort Worth commercial real estate firms, Ellis & Tinsley, Inc. and Vasseur Commercial Real Estate, have merged to form Team & Vasseur Commercial Real Estate (TVCRE). The combined firm will operate from a renovated office in West Fort Worth and focus on brokerage, property management, and investment services to better serve Fort Worth and Tarrant County West clients.

Chicago-based commercial real estate advisory firm Cresa has acquired Houston boutique tenant-representation firm Axis Tenant Advisors and its founder Scot Ison. The move expands Cresa's Houston occupier services footprint and brings additional tenant-only brokerage expertise to its local office; Axis operated as a single-person boutique at the time of the transaction.

reAlpha Tech Corp. (Nasdaq: AIRE) has acquired Be My Neighbor (Debt Does Deals, LLC), a mortgage brokerage licensed in 26 U.S. states, to integrate mortgage lending and refinancing services into its AI-powered, commission-free homebuying platform. The acquisition is intended to vertically integrate reAlpha's real estate offering, enhance consumer financing capabilities, and create additional revenue opportunities.

Worth Clark Realty has acquired South Estates Realty, a Dallas–Fort Worth area private brokerage, adding 15 agents and expanding Worth Clark's presence in the DFW market. South Estates recorded $54 million in sales volume and 157 transactions in 2023; Jackie South, the former broker-owner, will join Worth Clark as managing broker for the Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler, and Longview markets. Terms were not disclosed.

United Real Estate announced a merger between its United Real Estate | Dallas office and REAL Dallas Properties & Management, bringing roughly 70 agents into United's Dallas operations and expanding its North Texas presence. The deal transitions REAL Dallas agents to United's transaction-fee model and gives them access to United's offices, marketing, support services and technology.

Zonda has acquired Builders Digital Experience (BDX), the operator of NewHomeSource.com and the Envision design platform, to combine its housing data and tech capabilities with the leading U.S. new-construction listings portal. The deal will integrate listings, design and self-guided tour tools with Zonda's dataset to streamline the new-home shopping experience and give builders richer lead-generation and benchmarking analytics.

Landsea Homes Corporation (Nasdaq: LSEA) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Antares Homes, a family-owned Dallas–Fort Worth homebuilder, for $232.2 million in cash (including repayment of anticipated debt). The acquisition expands Landsea's presence and scale in the Dallas/Fort Worth market and is expected to close in early February 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

Sumitomo Forestry America, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire JPI's operating platform, with JPI management (CEO Payton Mayes and CFO Mollie Fadule) taking minority stakes. JPI will retain its name and operate autonomously from its headquarters in Irving, Texas, and the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Kensington Vanguard National Land Services (KV) acquired James P. Lazar, P.C., a Dallas-based commercial title insurance provider. The acquisition expands KV’s commercial title footprint in Texas and brings Lazar’s Dallas leadership and team onto KV’s national platform.

Funds managed by Stone Point Capital made a strategic investment in Lincoln Property Company, backing a leadership succession that names David Binswanger and Clay Duvall as Co-CEOs while founders retain ownership stakes. The minority growth investment will support Lincoln’s national and international expansion and the build-out of its real estate investment management and operating capabilities.

Pagaya Technologies acquired Austin-based Darwin Homes to expand its single-family rental (SFR) platform by integrating Darwin's proptech software, operations and leadership. The deal makes Darwin a wholly owned subsidiary and is intended to create a data-rich, end-to-end SFR offering for residents, investors and service providers.

Frisco-based Rockhill Capital & Investments has merged with McKinney-based Horizon Capital Partners to combine teams and expand real estate investing and development capabilities across North Texas. The combined firm will operate under the Rockhill Capital & Investments name and plans to pursue a broader slate of residential, mixed-use and hospitality development projects in the region.

Pinnacle Realty Advisors has acquired Bay Area technology firm Realthy.io and closed a seed financing round led by Launchpad Capital, raising more than $5 million to date. The Realthy.io team joined Pinnacle to develop PinnacleHQ and support the brokerage's subscription-based BaaS platform; Launchpad's founder Ryan Gilbert will join Pinnacle's board.

Inframark, LLC has acquired Certified Management of Austin (CMA), a family-owned community association management firm serving 39 communities and over 6,200 residential units in the greater Austin, Texas market. The acquisition, which closed August 31, 2022, expands Inframark's Community Management portfolio and significantly increases its presence in the Austin market.

Blackstone’s Core+ perpetual capital vehicles — primarily Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) and Blackstone Property Partners (BPP) — have completed the acquisition of all outstanding common shares of American Campus Communities (ACC) for approximately $12.8 billion, including assumption of debt. The acquisition gives Blackstone significant exposure to the U.S. student housing sector and will allow ACC to invest in existing assets and develop new student housing in university markets.

American Securities has made a strategic growth investment in RealManage to support the HOA and condominium management company's continued organic and inorganic expansion, including acquisitions and branch openings. RealManage, which serves more than 3,000 communities across 19 states and operates the CiraConnect SaaS platform and GrandManors division, will use the capital and partnership resources to accelerate technology investment and geographic expansion.

Pixiu Real Estate, Woodbine Development Corporation and a collective of Austin-based investors (including Bryan Sheffield) acquired The Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin from Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. The new ownership group plans substantial capital investment to preserve and revitalize the 189-room historic luxury hotel and help stabilize the surrounding Sixth Street entertainment district, while Hyatt will continue day-to-day management.

JPAR Real Estate has acquired John Walton REALTORS, a long-established brokerage in Lubbock, Texas, bringing nearly 40 sales associates into the JPAR platform. Wayne Walton will join JPAR as a support broker and the Lubbock office will remain open as JPAR expands its geographic footprint into the West Texas market.

Vino Vault, a fine wine storage provider, has acquired La Cave Warehouse in Dallas from owners Rhonda and Kirk Chandler. The deal marks Vino Vault's fifth U.S. location and its first expansion into Texas, giving La Cave clients access to Vino Vault's concierge storage, inventory services and auction management offerings.

Suntex Marina Investors, LLC acquired Lynn Creek Marina on Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie, Texas. Suntex plans to invest capital to improve amenities and security, rename the on-site restaurant and excursion boat, and integrate the property into its portfolio of marina properties across the United States.

WeWork Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Common Desk, a Dallas-based flexible workspace provider operating 23 locations across Texas and North Carolina and serving roughly 4,000 customers. The acquisition is intended to expand WeWork's flexible-space footprint and leverage Common Desk's operational expertise and management-agreement portfolio to improve member experience and margins.

Funds managed by Bayview Asset Management acquired HomeVestors of America, the Dallas-based franchisor behind the "We Buy Ugly Houses" brand, from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. The deal transfers ownership of the leading residential real estate investment franchisor to Bayview, which focuses on residential, consumer and mortgage-related investments.

Starwood Capital Group, through a controlled affiliate, acquired a majority interest in the assets owned by Land Tejas, a Houston-based residential master-planned community developer. The transaction includes 10 communities with nearly 16,000 residential lots and various commercial assets; the deal provides liquidity to Land Tejas' owners while enabling Starwood to expand its single-family housing portfolio.

Houston-based Asset Living has acquired City Gate Property Group, a Dallas-based multi-family property management firm that manages roughly 10,000 units across Texas and Louisiana and employs about 400 people. The deal expands Asset Living’s portfolio, making it the largest multi-family property manager in Texas (approximately 75,946 units and 468 properties in-state) and one of the largest managers nationally with nearly 120,000 units under management.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (FBRT) completed its merger with Capstead Mortgage Corporation (CMO), with Capstead ceasing to be publicly traded after the close of trading on October 18, 2021. Under the merger each Capstead share converted into newly issued FBRT common stock and cash consideration (with an additional cash component paid by Benefit Street Partners), and the combined company will trade under the ticker FBRT on the NYSE.

Compass, the New York-based real estate technology company, signed a definitive agreement to acquire LegacyTexas Title, a Dallas–Fort Worth title and escrow provider. The deal will strengthen Compass' title and escrow portfolio and enable tighter integration between its brokerage platform and adjacent services; terms were not disclosed and the transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Cadillac Fairview has acquired a 50% interest in KDC, joining KDC management and long-standing partner Compatriot Capital in a newly formed U.S. commercial office and mixed-use investment platform. The partners also closed an initial $800 million fund to support development and acquisition of Class A office and mixed-use projects across the United States.

Dallas-based cloud brokerage Archetape has acquired Pinnacle Realty Advisors and Broker Breakup, expanding its suite of cloud-first real estate brokerage products and growing its agent network. Pinnacle founder Brent Porter will join Archetape as Chief Broker Officer and continue to run Pinnacle as President as the combined platform scales services across Texas and Louisiana.

Houston-based Asset Living has acquired Dallas-based Alpha Barnes Real Estate Services, a leading manager of affordable and multifamily housing in Texas. The deal adds roughly 30,000 units and more than 900 employees to Asset Living's portfolio, expanding its footprint and affordable-housing management capabilities across Texas.

Pittsburgh-based private equity firm Incline Equity Partners has acquired BBG, a Dallas-headquartered national provider of commercial real estate appraisal, surveying and environmental assessment services. BBG operates 37 offices across the U.S.; Incline plans to accelerate growth through investments in geographic expansion, added services and strategic acquisitions.

Capital Title of Texas acquired GPS Title, Inc. (dba Porter Title Company) in a transaction that closed on November 30, 2020; terms were not disclosed. Generational Equity advised GPS Title on the sale—GPS Title is a long-established title and escrow provider in Granbury, Texas, while Capital Title (headquartered in Plano, Texas) is a large independent title and escrow operator expanding its branch network.

Marcus & Millichap, through its Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation (MMCC) subsidiary, has acquired Dallas-based Metropolitan Capital Advisors (MCA), a commercial real estate finance intermediary. The acquisition brings MCA's team and lender relationships into MMCC to expand its capital markets product offerings and strengthen financing coverage, particularly in Texas and the Southwest.

Cushman & Wakefield has acquired Colvill Office Properties, a Houston-based office agency leasing firm that directs leasing and marketing for roughly 17 million square feet of Class-A office space. The acquisition strengthens Cushman & Wakefield's investor services and office-leasing capabilities in the Houston market and brings the Colvill leadership team into Cushman's Houston organization.

Cushman & Wakefield has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Pinnacle Property Management Services, the third-largest U.S. multifamily property manager, which oversees more than 169,000 units across 839 properties. The acquisition establishes Cushman & Wakefield's U.S. multifamily property management platform across 20 key markets and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Scion Student Communities, a joint venture backed by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), GIC and The Scion Group, acquired MUZE, a newly developed 502‑bed student housing community serving the University of Texas at Austin. MUZE was acquired from a partnership of Kayne Anderson Real Estate and developer Parallel Company and complements Scion's adjacent University House Austin, expanding the JV's presence in the UT Austin market.