Southwestern Financial Group, led by Cole Parks, acquired 93 acres of land in March 2023 to develop a Build-to-Rent community of single family homes in Stephenville TX, just south of Fort Worth. Known as the “City of Champions,” Stephenville, TX is a city of over 20,000 people uniquely located one hour south of Fort Worth with easy access to metropolitan amenities and a major airport. With the lower cost of living, build-to-rent affordable single-family housing here is in high demand. The proposed site will consist of 56 townhomes and 394 1-to-3 bedroom units and has just completed full entitlement, with horizontal construction starting in February 2025. Greenleaf will be lending the developer $2.5M towards Phase 1 of their project, to complete horizontal development. This is Greenleaf’s first partnership with Southwestern Financial Group with the intentions of doing an additional 2 loans on this project as they go vertical and begin receiving cash flow.
Greenleaf has negotiated first lien position with business guarantees from the development company, Southwestern Financial Group, Inc. and its Principal, Cole Gilliam Parks. They plan to use these funds, along with equity, to build out the first phase of the single-family rental units. More detail regarding the Sponsor can be found on Page 4. Depending on their capital stack, Southwestern intends to bring on a lender as needed that could put us in second position.
Stephenville is the retail center for a trade area population of approximately 80,000 Texans. Agriculture is the leading industry, with Erath County in the top 10% in overall agriculture production and ranking #2 in milk production in the State of Texas. In addition to farmers and ranchers, Fortune 500 companies provide a strong manufacturing base to the local economy. Stephenville serves as a regional medical and retail center for the area, with many family-owned businesses thriving as they draw from the strong diverse workforce, educational opportunities and family-oriented atmosphere. Tarleton State University, a part of the Texas A&M University System, is known regionally for creating a culture of excellence in both academic and athletic programs. Erath County is also served by Ranger College, offering a variety of continuing education and workforce training for students of all ages.
Greenleaf will be providing Southwestern with a loan to complete Phase 1 of their three-phase development. We will be raising $2.5M, which will give us the first lien position.
