Payton Mayes

Mayes is the boss and part‑owner of JPI, an Irving-based developer and manager of Class  A multifamily properties nationwide, with a resume that reads as though it’s been written to meet the market these days. 

He worked for Merrill Lynch before co-founding Cephas Partners, where he remains the managing partner. Among his first moves at Cephas was to help the firm link with Blackstone to bargain hunt. During the Great Financial Crisis he led the pair on a multi-billion dollar buy of erstwhile-Merrill Lynch real estate assets after the investment bank imploded and ended up in Bank of America’s hands. He also had a stint as chief investment officer at DHIC Communities, a subsidiary of Arlington-based homebuilder D.R. Horton, where he helped the company expand beyond traditional homebuilding into real‑estate investment and distressed/off‑cycle opportunities. 

Mayes joined JPI just as another cycle of distress was about to kick off, signing on as executive vice president and regional managing partner for the Central Region in 2019. In January 2021, a year into the pandemic and with several successful developments under his belt, he got promoted to divisional president and managing partner, and the CEO’s job came months later.  This year should offer clues on whether Mayes is on the money with his current read of distress, which has JPI shifting focus to “workforce housing,” aimed at affordability for middle-class budgets, a niche where financing can be easier than standard market-rate developments.