Gehan Homes

Partnerships

In May 2014, Japanese wood products and home building firm, Sumitomo Forestry America Inc., purchased a 51 percent stake in the privately held Gehan Homes. Terms of the deal were not disclosed to the public, however, the Gehan Homes founding executive team, including brothers Glenn, Peter and Tim Gehan, continued to lead and operate the company with no organizational changes from prior to the investment until 2016.

It made big changes in late April 2016 when the Dallas-based builder sold its remaining shares to Sumitomo. And in June 2016, there was yet another change, John Winniford replaced Tim Gehan as the President and CEO of Gehan Homes. Winniford has had more than 20 years of experience in the new construction home building industry. He previously served as the Division President for Gehan Homes’ Dallas-Fort Worth Division.

For Sumitomo, this move is yet another in its stated quest to become one of the United States largest home builders and deliver more than 5,000 homes per year. It has also acquired an equity stake in MainVue Homes, Bloomfield Homes, and most recently in the mid-Atlantic home building staple, Dan Ryan Builders.

Growth

Gehan Homes has been in the production home building industry since 1991 and has established itself as a staple in the industry being ranked as a Top 100 Home Builder by Builder Magazine from 2005-2006 then again from 2008-2015. Currently, it is ranked as the 29th largest home builder and the 11th largest privately-owned homebuilder in the United States with 1,499 closings and $488 million in total revenue in 2015.

Awards & Recognition

In recent years, Gehan Homes has been awarded and recognized for its products and services in the home building industry. The most prestigious recognition that it has received is being named to the Builder Magazine Top 100 Builders in the United States for the last 8 consecutive years. They have also received the STAR award from the Texas Association of Builders for a number of categories, including; Volume Builder of the Year, Best Product Design, Best Interior Merchandising and more. The Best PRISM Award out of Houston has recognized it for having the Best Product Design, Best Website and Best Brochure. It has also been recognized by Energy Star for the Leadership in Housing award for their energy-efficient homes.

In 2015, Gehan Homes received an honor from Builder Magazine as one of the top homebuilding companies to connect with buyers and market their homes through social media. As of November 2016, it has 23,080 likes on Facebook, 6,022 followers on Twitter, 760 followers on Instagram, and 904 followers on Pinterest.

Philanthropy

In December 2014, Gehan Homes participated in a Toys for Tots drive in West Valley, Arizona at the master-planned community of Vistancia.

Gehan Homes donates annually to Susan G. Koman foundation with their October "Give and Receive" event in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month—for a total of $90,000 over the previous 5 years.

Gehan Homes supports the American Red Cross by donating funds for disaster relief victims in Texas and across the world. Its employees volunteer for the organization by installing smoke detectors in underserved communities across the Dallas area. In January 2016, Gehan Homes supported efforts to provide disaster relief that would help those affected by the deadly tornadoes that struck North Texas. It donated $250 per home sold through the month of January.

Home Building

Gehan Homes offers a multitude of new home options from the floor plan itself to deciding the tile that goes in the bathroom. It offers each client a chance to personalize their new home through Design Centers located in each of the major markets; including Austin, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. Experienced interior design consultants assist in creating a one-of-a-kind home. Currently, it offers over 65 different floor plans with options ranging from 2-5 bedrooms, 2-6 bathrooms, and 1-3 garages in one or two story homes. Floor plans start out at 1800 square feet and scale up to as large as 6600 square feet.

Energy Efficient Homes

Gehan Homes has made moves to improve its building process and designing homes around energy-efficiency by incorporating smart features that lower energy expenditures. It tested 61% more energy efficient than the typical resale home in the United States on the HERS index. The Home Energy Rating System (HERS) is the accepted industry standard rating system in which a home’s energy efficiency is measured. On average, the US Department of Energy has determined that a typical resale home’s HERS score is 130, a typical new home is 100 and a new construction home built by Gehan Homes receives, on average, a score of 69. Gehan Homeowners can expect to have an estimated annual savings of $1080, an estimated $90 per month with a 47% reduction in energy usage.

In December 2011, the San Antonio Division of Gehan Homes was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the 2011 Energy Star Leadership in Housing Award. The award recognizes the contribution that Gehan Homes has made by building more than 206 Energy Star qualified homes, saving more than $92,000 in utility bills each year.

Every Gehan home includes more than 17 smart features designed to conserve energy and reduce excess usage. Some of the features of these energy efficient homes in Texas include:

Moving Beyond Its Comfort Zone

Since 1991, Gehan Homes has built exclusively in Texas until in 2013, it decided to expand into the greater Phoenix area where it has purchased land in three suburbs: Peoria, Surprise, and Gilbert. It was attracted to Phoenix as a job-creating center, and the fact that it’s housing market was finally recovering from the crash of 2008. To introduce itself to the new market, it hired BSB Design to come up with new home designs and floor plans for the market. It purchased over 180 developed and undeveloped, residential lots between each of the Phoenix suburbs.

Arbors at Willow Bay - Dallas

“Willow Bay” will join 21 other new home communities offered by Gehan Homes in the North Texas market. Following a complete buyout from Sumitomo Forestry and a change in CEO, Gehan Homes purchased the last 58 residential lots in the coveted “Arbors at Willow Bay”. The land was developed by Hillwood Communities and located in the sought after East Frisco submarket. The execution of this transaction was a sign of commitment to growth from ownership and their first act in plans to expand its new home construction in Dallas, as well as in its other top markets throughout Texas and in Arizona.

Gateway Parks - Dallas

Gehan Homes, along with two other builders, David Weekley Homes and Horizon Homes, were named as the first 3 builders to begin phase 1 of the Dallas-Area master-planned community, Gateway Parks. The companies are responsible for 439 of the planned 1,800 single-family homes in the 2,000-acre master-planned community. Gateway Holdings’ $1 billion development is the latest in the line of MPCs under development across the country, particularly in Texas. Data has pointed to an uptick in the homebuilding industry in Texas, says a recent analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics data from ABODO.

Lago Mar - Texas City, Houston

Land Tejas, a Houston-based development company has acted on schedule for the new master-planned community, Lago Mar, in Texas City. Gehan Homes, along with D.R. Horton and Westin Homes will be working with 5 other homebuilders to develop the first homes. The community will include around 4,000 homes that will be spread throughout the 3,350-acre area. Lago Mar is set to open Fall 2016.