Texas developer adds $44M to its $1B financing stash

Austin’s StoryBuilt plans 17 mixed-use projects across US

StoryBuilt Cofounders Ryan Diepenbrock and Anthony Siela with Ellie May at 755 Springdale Road in Austin (StoryBuilt) 
StoryBuilt Cofounders Ryan Diepenbrock and Anthony Siela with Ellie May at 755 Springdale Road in Austin (StoryBuilt)

A Texas developer with a story to tell is raking in funding in its quest to build 17 mixed-use communities across the United States.

StoryBuilt, which operates legally under its former name PSW Real Estate, is partnering with California’s IHP Capital Partners on a $44 million deal, the Austin Business Journal reported. The money will go toward a new mixed-use community in Austin, where StoryBuilt is based. The developer will build the Ellie May at 755 Springdale Road in East Austin. The mixed-use community will have 84 new condos, 5,580 square feet of offices and 2,828 square feet of renovated restaurant space. The developer plans to break ground this spring.

Ellie May is in a Qualified Opportunity Zone, meaning its investors are able to get tax benefits under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Ellie May is on the five-acre former site of a small urban farm and a farm-to-table restaurant and is named after the farm’s dog. It’s in a historically underinvested part of Austin that has attracted increased development in the past decade. The 210,000 square feet of planned new development will cost an estimated $80 million, the Austin American-Statesman reported in December.

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StoryBuilt has been scaling up its operations since its founding in 2001. It has built more than 40 communities in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Seattle and Denver. The company specializes in infill projects and has built a range of housing types across Austin, including micro-apartments, condos and single-family homes.

StoryBuilt sold $28 million in housing in 2020 and closed a $7 million funding round led by California-based investor Hearthstone that year. It recently entered a $1 billion joint venture with Swiss private market investor Partners Group AG and plans to develop 17 new projects around the United States. Six of those will be in Austin, Ellie May will be joined by developments with names such as Bruno, George and Clementine.

[ABJ, AAS— Cindy Widner

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