Dallas Developer Zad Rouyama Dies at 67

Zad Roumaya, a Dallas developer known for helping transform the Cedars neighborhood into an arts and residential hub, has died.

He was 67 and died by suicide on May 11, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Roumaya had been an active force in the Cedars since 2007, when he built his first project, Buzz Lofts, a 49-unit condominium that helped kickstart broader developer interest south of downtown.

Over the years, Roumaya amassed five buildings along South Akard Street through his firm Buzzworks, including Digit 1919, and became known as a community advocate as much as a builder.

“He created opportunities,” said Michael Wyatt, owner of Full City Rooster, a coffee shop Roumaya helped open by carving out a space in one of his buildings. Wyatt credited Roumaya’s support with helping the roastery thrive for more than a decade.

Before his real estate rise, Roumaya spent 17 years in the tech world, managing teams across Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Austin.

He steadily invested into boutique infill projects under Buzzworks, focusing on urban renewal and adaptive reuse. His companies developed roughly $35 million in assets, spanning commercial loft offices, condos, market-rate apartments and creative live-work spaces.

After exiting those investments in 2018 and 2019, Roumaya pivoted to multifamily investments across Texas and began assembling a closely held investment fund last totaling $20 million.

A second-generation American from San Antonio and an artist, he was involved in local arts initiatives, supporting efforts like Cedars Open Studios and advocating for affordable artist housing.

His own metal sculptures, drawings, acrylic paintings and poetry reflected the creativity he aimed to bring to his development work. One of his sculptures, Time Management, is on display at the Texas Sculpture Garden in Frisco.

Roumaya’s projects helped anchor the Cedars’ identity as a neighborhood struggling with gentrification. Roumaya was “…someone who saw potential. He saw it in scrap, places and people,” Wyatt said.

— Judah Duke