We buy land below an underwritten ceiling — or not at all.
Ground-up residential development · Dallas–Fort Worth & Tulsa
Latest weekly screen: on-market Dallas & Tulsa land and teardowns, week of July 6, 2026. Zero met our bar — so we source off-market instead. Discipline is the product.
The 20% figure is a modeled underwriting threshold a project must clear before we buy land — not a guarantee, projection, or an investor’s preferred return, which is set per project.
01 · The Discipline
Every parcel passes a fixed set of gates before we commit a dollar. The gates are stricter than most lenders require — and they do not flex for enthusiasm, momentum, or a good story.
Value is set by recently sold new construction near the site — taken from the lowest matched sales, then discounted a further 10%. Never by listings, projections, or optimism.
Construction, contingency, financing at today's real note rates, carry, demolition, utilities — every line is in the model before we look at the answer.
The model produces a maximum land price at which the project clears a 20% modeled return. We offer at or below that ceiling — or we pass.
Every underwrite is rebuilt from scratch in a second model before an offer is signed. If the two disagree by even a dollar, nothing moves forward.
Historic and conservation overlays, demolition restrictions, and FEMA flood zones are checked against public GIS records before a single conversation begins.
We build with licensed builders under transparent cost-plus contracts, with statutory retainage and lien-waiver protocols on every draw.
The gate does not bend.
02 · The Structure
Each project lives in its own limited liability company, with the order of payment fixed in writing before any money moves. A standard development waterfall — debt, then capital, then preferred return, then profit — sized for a single project instead of a fund.
The project's lender is repaid in full at sale.
Our investor's contribution comes back — one hundred percent of it — before anything else.
Investors then earn an agreed preferred return on their capital.
Only then is remaining profit divided between capital and operator, on pre-agreed terms.
Investors participate in individual projects — never in the operating company. Control and capital stay separate, each deal is ring-fenced in its own entity, and every number is agreed in writing before closing. It is the arrangement that keeps partnerships intact.
03 · The Markets
We underwrite infill neighborhoods where new construction is actually selling — verified against county appraisal records and closed sales, block by block.
Primary Market · Infill Spec & Duplex
| Submarket | ZIP | New-build median $/SF (assessed) |
|---|---|---|
| Love Field / NW Dallas | 75220 | $348 |
| Oak Lawn / Turtle Creek | 75219 | $321 |
| Uptown / East Village | 75204 | $313 |
| West Dallas | 75212 | $225 |
| East Dallas | 75223 | $200 |
Median assessed value per square foot, new construction built 2022 or later — Dallas County appraisal records, 2026 tax year (valuation date Jan 1, 2026), retrieved July 2026.
Second Market · Midtown Infill
| Submarket | ZIP | New-build median $/SF (assessed) |
|---|---|---|
| Brookside / Midtown | 74105 | $267 |
Median assessed value per square foot, new construction built 2020 or later — Tulsa County assessor records, 2026 tax year, retrieved July 2026.
Tulsa offers land at a fraction of Dallas pricing, a city program of pre-approved plan sets for fast permitting — and family on the ground. We expand there as each project clears the same gates.
04 · The Process
We go directly to landowners in our target neighborhoods — parcels identified from county records, not listings. The margin lives where there is no bidding war.
Closed comps, full costs, real financing — computed, then rebuilt from scratch in a second model. The model sets the maximum price; we never negotiate above it.
Licensed builders under transparent cost-plus contracts. Statutory retainage held on every draw, lien waivers collected before every payment.
Sell at market, settle the waterfall, return capital with its preferred return — and move the team to the next parcel that clears the gate.
05 · The Firm
Highgrove was founded by three brothers — Roman in Dallas, Alex and Dmitry in Tulsa. Family capital sits alongside every partner dollar, and the family name rides on every build. We pair that ownership with an underwriting system built in-house — built to screen hundreds of parcels a week against county records, closed sales, and public GIS data. In its first full sweep it reviewed 244 and passed zero.
We are deliberately small, deliberately selective, and structured from day one the way serious development is structured: ring-fenced projects, written waterfalls, cost-plus construction, and numbers that are checked twice.
Highgrove is our first ground-up development company, and we treat that as a reason for more rigor, not less: training within a national ground-up building program, family capital committed alongside every partner dollar, and a written rule that we walk from any deal that misses the math.
06 · Capital Partners
Our founding portfolio is now forming. If you invest in individual, fully-underwritten projects — where your capital is first out and every assumption is documented — request the Highgrove Investor Brief. It contains our full underwriting method, the waterfall, and the market data behind it.
Request the Investor Briefor write to us directly — contact@buildhighgrove.com
Project participation is available only to accredited investors as defined by Rule 501 of Regulation D, through existing relationships; verification is required before project-specific terms are shared. Principals’ full biographies, references, and entity records are provided with the Investor Brief.