Southern Impression Homes delivers first Texas community

Southern Impression Homes, a Florida-based build-to-rent (BTR) homebuilder, just cemented its expansion into the Lone Star State, having recently delivered the initial phase of its first community in Texas. 

The expansion reflects a clear indicator of where structural demand is heading. The growth story in Texas, marked by strong population growth and economic expansion, is ongoing and continues to attract more builders and developers. 

However, Southern Impression Homes President and CEO Chris Funk told HousingWire’s The Builder’s Daily that the state’s strong population growth isn’t the only reason for the expansion. 

In 2023, Gehan Homes, now rebranded as Brightland Homes, acquired an 80% stake in Southern Impression Homes. Brightland’s parent company, Tokyo-based Sumitomo Forestry, maintains its U.S. corporate headquarters in the greater Dallas-Fort-Worth area, not far from Southern Impression Homes’ first Texas community.

That community, a 213-unit BTR project in Arlington, is the first step of many in Southern Impression Homes’ Texas expansion. The builder just broke ground on another project in the Austin area, plans to begin construction on another community in the Arlington area soon and expects to start a fourth project elsewhere in the state later this year. 

Having Sumitomo Forestry’s backing is a major reason Southern Impression Homes is off to a fast start in Texas, Funk said. 

“Sumitomo has a great footprint all across Texas, so they give us an immediate trade base at very competitive pricing. We really pride ourselves on two things. One is being very cost-effective for our clients, but also being more than just a GC to the clients that we’re building for. It’s also being a partner, in every sense of the word. From a capital perspective, helping them complete their capital stacks to get some of these projects out of the ground. Obviously, our affiliation with Sumitomo helps us offer some of those creative financing solutions for our clients,” he explained. 

Southern Impression Homes’ growth story

Southern Impression Homes was founded in 2010 during the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis, acquiring foreclosed homes at auctions and renovating and leasing them, then selling stabilized portfolios to institutional buyers like Blackstone and AMH. 

Around 2014 to 2015, once foreclosure inventory dried up and competition grew, Southern Impression Homes shifted to BTR. Since then, the company has delivered more than 8,000 homes for its partners and clients. 

Based in Jacksonville, the builder first expanded into tertiary markets in Florida with strong population growth and aging housing stock. 

“We would find lots throughout these communities that we could build on immediately, without having to go develop something. Once we felt confident in the market, then we would start full-scale development projects and purpose-built, build-to-rent communities,” Funk explained. 

In its more than 15 years of operations, the company has evolved and expanded throughout the state of Florida, and more recently into Georgia and the Charlotte, NC market. The Texas expansion, bolstered by Sumitomo Forestry’s support, is the next phase of that evolution.