CBA LAND CAPITAL ACQUIRES LOTS IN BALMORAL, LAGO MAR
Lot Banking Program Brings Top Dallas Builder to Key Houston Communities
HOUSTON, TX – CBA Land Capital LP, a private real estate investment firm and lender for residential and commercial development, closed this month on the acquisition of 40+ homesites in the Balmoral and Lago Mar communities. The acquisition is part of a financing transaction with a private homebuilder.
The homesites are earmarked as part of a CBA Land Capital specialty financing deal that allows the homebuilder to purchase homesite inventory as needed for active building, while securing additional homesites for future construction.
“CBA is providing a specialty financing solution for our clients that offers ‘just in time inventory’ and allows them to preserve capital,” said Philip Guyton, Director of CBA Land Capital. “The strength of the deal is that they have effectively reserved locations they want long-term as part of their partnership with CBA and can buy them when they are ready to break ground.”
Balmoral and Lago Mar are two of developer Land Tejas’ top-selling Houston master-planned communities. Balmoral is located just off North Sam Houston Parkway and Woodland Hills Drive. It is a 750-acre master-planned community with gated and non-gated neighborhoods known as the home of Texas’ first crystal clear lagoon. Lago Mar is a 2,033-acre community located along Interstate 45 in Texas City that will feature a 100-acre mixed-use entertainment destination including a 12-acre crystal clear lagoon. The first phase of the complex, which includes the lagoon, opened in 2020.
Even during the pandemic, new home sales remain stronger than this time a year ago. This June the New Home Sales Pending index was 18.1% in Houston, exceeding the national average of 16.7%. There is great demand for continued single-family development. Texas alone is short more than a half-million houses from what’s needed, according to a report by Freddie Mac. The number of households in the U.S. is growing faster than homes are being built. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. housing market is undersupplied by 3.3 million units and the shortage is rising by about 300,000 units a year. The Department of Housing and Urban Land Development reports supply of new housing is at historical lows.
CBA Land Capital provides specialty finance services to master-planned community developers and homebuilders through strategic financing structures. The requirements for a traditional financing structure can stretch capital resources and balance sheets to their limits. However, securing and maintaining positions in the market, whether land or homesites, is crucial to continued growth. CBA Land Capital is a non-traditional lender and offers a structure to alleviate capital and resource strains.
These acquisitions are part of a series CBA Land Capital completed in partnership with Houston-based developers and builders. In May the company acquired 94 Acres at Lakewood Pines Reserve. For its challenges, 2020 has been a busy year. CBA has purchased over 500 acres for future development, secured equity investments for future development, and acquired multiple developed homesites’ positions in various master-planned communities in partnership with local developers and builders.