Global Growth Trust Invests in 316-Unit Texas Community

By Keith Loria, Contributing Writer

Lewisville, Texas—Global Growth Trust, a real estate investment trust, has partnered with Hunt Realty Investments and Trinsic Residential Group to develop a $34.9 million Class A, garden-style apartment community in Lewisville, Texas.

“First and foremost, it’s really about the location,” John McRae, who oversees domestic investment activities for the Global Growth Trust, tells MHN. “The site has excellent access along Route 21 and offers easy access to major employment centers and is a vibrant corridor.”

Known as Aura Castle Hills, the community will consist of 316 units on 15.83 acres, located about 25 miles north of downtown Dallas.

“The Lewisville area is a very well-maintained community, and this is within the Castle Hills Master Plan community, a 2,500-acre community dominated by single-family homes, which range anywhere from $200,000 to over $1 million,” McRae says. “It has a nice golf-course community, so it has a lot of nice amenities associated with Castle Hills.”

Aura Castle Hills will include one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans with units having an average size of 926 square feet.

“We’re building a modern community, which has a clubhouse, a spacious resort-style pool, a business center, dog park, a fitness center, all oriented to allow people to meet within the community,” McRae says. “The units will have 9-foot ceilings, granite countertops, very high end quality finishes, yet we’ll still be able to deliver product at market rents.”

Aura Castle Hills will be the fourth multifamily development Global Growth Trust has undertaken in the last 12 months.

Currently, the REIT has five apartment communities in different stages of development representing a total value of $163 million, including the company’s recently completed 258-unit project in Mount Pleasant, S.C., near Charleston. Global Growth Trust also has communities in development in Charlotte, N.C., and Tampa, Fla.

“Our strategy is to partner with best-in-class regional developers that know the market in and out, know the location and live and breathe within proximity to the real estate so this is an excellent opportunity for us to kick off with Trinsic, who are based in the Dallas market,” McRae says. “We’re looking to provide total return for our shareholders and we’re taking advantage of some of the long-term multi-family demand fundamentals we see in growth markets throughout the Southeast and our best way to take advantage of those opportunities is to partner with these regional operators.”