Builder’s revenue grows brick by brick
Focusing on customer choice — from design upgrades to home styles catering to buyers in different life stages — helped David Weekley Homes increase its revenue last year in all of its 22 markets, including its largest: Houston.
“The Houston business has come back,” CEO John Johnson said. “We’re projecting about a 10 percent to 15 percent increase this year. It could be more.”
David Weekley came in at No. 5 in the Chronicle’s 2016 ranking of private companies, up from No. 11 a year earlier. The 41-year-old company reported annual revenue of $1.8 billion, up from $1.4 billion.
Johnson attributes the company’s growth to its customer-focused model.
Upgrades allow buyers to personalize their homes, which are designed by in-house architects.
David Weekley has 1,599 employees companywide with 269 in the Houston area.
The company last year also introduced a line of homes primarily for master-planned communities for those age 55 and older. This “Encore” line offers single-story homes with two or three bedrooms ranging from 1,600 to 2,200 square feet.
The homes have been built in Tampa, Raleigh, Phoenix and Denver, and the company is looking to add them in Houston.
The millennial generation is another important focus.
David Weekley is reintroducing its Imagination series of homes designed for younger and first-time buyers.
These homes made up a large portion of the company’s business before the great recession.
“Millennials are out buying today, and we want to be there for them,” Johnson said.
The company’s average sales price was around $450,000 last year companywide, and in Houston as well.
More Imagination homes will bring that figure down to around $400,000 in Houston, Johnson said.
Growth is also coming from the company’s expanding its Central Living division, which builds in urban locations.
By Nancy Sarnoff