Builder

BUILDERONLINE.COM BUILDER 53

CASE STUDIES

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS /

GREEN BRICK GAINS GROUND

CEO Jim Brickman relies on multiple home building income streams

BY LES SHAVER

A Life Raft

In 2009 , the environment was

bad for builders. But it was a great

year to have home building exper-

tise, no legacy debts, and access

to cash.

“At that point in time, there

was no capital in the industry,”

Brickman says. “Builders were

having trouble everywhere. We

entered the space by buying dis-

tressed real estate notes. By

2011 , that had matured to the

point that we recognized there

was going to be a recovery.”

As the market recovered,

private builders began to look for

more permanent capital, which

presented Brickman with another

opportunity—to buy a controlling

interest in these companies.

In 2011 , Green Brick partnered

with The Providence Group of

Georgia. In 2012 , it bought inter-

est in Dallas- based CB JENI (and

its subsidiary, Normandy Homes)

and established Dallas custom

builder Centre Living Homes. And

in 2013 , it established Southgate

Homes in Dallas.

“The day-to-day operations are

separated from the planning and

capital markets and the fi nancing

side of the business,” says Green

Brick Partners CFO Rick Costello.

“If you ask most private builders

what they spend most of their

time on, they would say it would

be the money side of the business.

Our guys don’t have to worry about

Jim Brickman

CEO,

Green Brick Partners

J

im Brickman had a goal: He wanted to retire from home building by age 50.

In 2000 , at the age of 48 , he achieved that objective. But post-retirement,

he realized he wasn’t happy.

“I did it and get bored immediately,” he admits.

After phasing out his company, Princeton Homes, Brickman worked on an invest-

ment idea in 2002 with billionaire hedge fund manager David Einhorn, who runs

Greenlight Capital. “I got interested in fi nance, and we dev eloped a close relation-

ship,” Brickman says.

That connection eventually led to the formation of a publicly traded home

building company—Green Brick Partners—with multiple income streams. And,

it has given Brickman a chance to revisit his roots.

“I was probably the only building superintendent in Dallas in 1976 with a master’s

degree in fi nance,” he says. “I learned the business from the bottom and then

re- entered it again when the real estate market collapsed.”

Green Brick
bought CB JENI
Homes, which
builds luxury
townhomes in its
Raiford Crossing
community in
Co Carrollton, Texas.

urt

esy Green Bric

k^ P

ar

tners

;^ D

ou

g Lay

ton

Ph

otogra

ph

y (h

ea

ds

ho

t)

DECEMBER 2016