Craig Cavileer

Craig Cavileer was a key executive behind the transformation of Fort Worth’s Stockyards into a mixed-use district that attracts 10 million visitors annually. A former managing partner at Ed Roski’s Los Angeles-based Majestic Realty, Cavileer was the billionaire’s right-hand man for years. A recent rupture upended the relationship, as Majestic fired Cavileer and foreclosed on his stake in the company, where the Austin native cut his teeth spearheading the development of the Staples Center – now called Crypto.com Arena and still the anchor of AEG’s LA Live downtown entertainment hub – and revamping the Silverton casino in Las Vegas. 

The Hickman Companies, which has owned a swath of the Stockyards since the 1980s, tapped Cavileer and Majestic about 15 years ago to redevelop the property under a joint venture called the Stockyards Heritage Development Co. The 70-acre project has turned 200,000 square feet of old barns and pens into a mixed-use district known as Mule Alley, with restaurants, retail, office space and a hotel. 

When things went south for Cavileer at Majestic, they were on the precipice of a $1 billion expansion plan to more than double the size of the Stockyards with 300,000 square feet of commercial space, three hotels, 295 multifamily units and two underground parking garages. His ouster puts the project’s expensive next steps in limbo. 

While he sorts out the legal mess with his former employers, he’s operating a new development company, Delightful Development Co., based in Fort Worth.