Press Release | 1/31/2012

Hillwood Properties Expands Multifamily Division

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

3,000 multifamily units planned over next 10 years; Industry veteran Mark McHenry to lead effort

FORT WORTH, Texas (January 31, 2012) – Hillwood Properties, developer of AllianceTexas, announced today a long-term business strategy for the expansion of Hillwood Multifamily, a subsidiary that focuses on multifamily investment and development opportunities. Hillwood Multifamily will initially concentrate on delivering more than 3,000 units of multifamily product over the next 10 years within the company’s 17,000-acre AllianceTexas master-planned development. The additional units will meet the increasing housing demand driven by a sizeable and growing employment and population base at AllianceTexas and throughout the surrounding region.

For the effort, Hillwood has hired multifamily industry veteran Mark McHenry to lead the company’s multifamily division. Prior to joining Hillwood, McHenry led the southwest regional multifamily development operations for Atlanta-based Lane Company, as well as leading regional multifamily development operations for public and private firms including JPI and United Dominion Realty Trust. 

Though the division’s 10-year business plan for the AllianceTexas region involves the construction of over 3,000 multifamily units, the company’s current land holdings at AllianceTexas include zoning for more than 5,000 multifamily units. In total, Hillwood controls over 50 percent of the multifamily entitlements in the competitive submarket. The pace of new development activity, as well as specific product types and amenities, will be market-driven and designed to appeal to a wide audience.  Based on the rate of growth in the region and limited availability of competitive sites, the company anticipates the potential to deliver a new phase of multifamily development every 12-to-18 months.

The majority of the planned multifamily units will be concentrated in the 900-acre Alliance Town Center mixed-use development, which stretches along Interstate 35W from North Tarrant Parkway to Golden Triangle Boulevard. Best known for the retail center, a joint venture with Trademark Property Company, Alliance Town Center is home to some of the country’s leading brands, including JCPenney, Kroger Marketplace, Rooms to Go, BJ’s Brewhouse, Mi Cocina, Best Buy, Cinemark, Sam Moon and Belk, among others. In addition to more than 850,000 square feet of existing retail space, Alliance Town Center will integrate office, medical and commercial uses, including the now open ER at Alliance and Texas Health Resources Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance, scheduled to open in fall 2012. Incorporating the additional 3,000 multifamily units with this strong commercial base will create a true, mixed-use experience for the growing employee and resident population.

Hillwood Properties’ residential experience in the market includes Monterra Village, the first multifamily project that was completed within AllianceTexas in 2008. The luxury townhome and apartment home community was the first 100 percent smoke free property in the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex. The high performing project has stabilized, maintaining 95 percent occupancy for the last year. In addition, nearly 8,000 single family homes have been delivered in the Alliance/north Fort Worth market through the company’s Hillwood Communities division.

“We are committed to the multifamily product sector as a key component of our business strategy going forward,” said Ross Perot, Jr., chairman of Hillwood Development Company. “The multifamily strategy complements our other core business lines at AllianceTexas.  In addition, the ability to deliver quality multifamily housing as a residential option serves to enhance the appeal of the region for corporate employers, and retail and service companies evaluating the location or expansion of their business operations in the AllianceTexas region.”

“The AllianceTexas region has a significant and growing employment base, a rapidly increasing population and a wide range of existing and expanding services in and around Alliance Town Center,” said Mike Berry, president of Hillwood Properties. “This is why Hillwood has chosen AllianceTexas to expand its long-term multifamily investment strategy and create a diverse, branded portfolio of multifamily product in a unique, master-planned environment serving the AllianceTexas region.”  

Longer term, Hillwood may expand its multifamily initiatives in other markets.

“Hillwood has a concentration of multifamily entitlements in the heart of a premier master-planned development that will continue to grow as the economy recovers,” McHenry said. “The development of quality multifamily housing at an appropriate pace of delivery is a natural extension of the AllianceTexas business strategy and enables us to develop a portfolio of over 3,000 units in the next 10-year cycle. We hope to replicate this strategy, expanding our portfolio with high-quality, Hillwood-branded multifamily developments in select target markets.”

Hillwood also has formalized its multifamily management platform and added key staff to its multifamily management team at AllianceTexas. Stephanie Isham has joined the team as property manager for Monterra Village. Isham previously served in senior property manager roles with Lincoln Property Company and Riverstone Residential Group, where she has been responsible for the lease up of multiple Class A apartment communities.  Additionally, Christine Adeeb and Amy Perez, who have served as leasing consultants at Monterra Village for three years, have been hired as full-time Hillwood associates. McHenry and the team will lead the expansion of the Hillwood Multifamily management company as the portfolio grows.  

“The internal management team is an integral component of our long-term multifamily investment strategy,” Berry said. “We believe keeping management in-house gives us the best opportunity to control the operating expenses at our properties, while maintaining a consistent level of product quality and resident services that will lead to higher resident retention rates.”

ABOUT ALLIANCETEXAS
AllianceTexas (http://www.alliancetexas.com/) is a 17,000-acre, master-planned community anchored by the world’s first industrial airport. It includes the Alliance Global Logistics Hub, Circle T Ranch, Heritage, Alliance Town Center, Saratoga and Monterra Village projects. AllianceTexas is now home to 265 companies, which have built nearly 32 million square feet and created more than 30,000 jobs. The community also now includes more than 7,600 single-family homes and 288 luxury apartment homes. Since its inception, AllianceTexas has generated a $40.65 billion economic impact for the North Texas region.

ABOUT HILLWOOD
Hillwood, a Perot company, is ranked as one of the top commercial real estate investors and developers in the country and as the top residential developer in Dallas-Fort Worth. The company’s developments currently house facilities for 58 companies listed on the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private firms. Hillwood is best known for its Alliance brand that includes the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas, 4,474-acre AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center and 2,000-acre AllianceCalifornia developments. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.hillwood.com/.

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