HIC Land has named Victor Padilla co-CEO alongside founder Stefan Hoyer as the firm expands its historic focus on smaller residential subdivisions to larger master-planned communities, per a press release shared with Multifamily Dive.
Most recently serving as director of operations, Padilla was Hoyer’s first hire and has been with the South Carolina-based real estate investment and asset management firm for more than a decade, per the release. Hoyer founded HIC Land in 2008 and will continue “to work closely with homebuilders, landowners, investors and other partners” as co-CEO.
In his new role, Padilla told Multifamily Dive he is looking forward to expanding HIC Land’s multifamily and commercial sides.
“We'll certainly continue working with our builder partners on smaller projects, but our long-term strategy is increasingly focused on larger master-planned communities,” Padilla said in emailed comments. “A major part of our growth strategy involves developing these components within our larger master-planned communities, which allows us to take a more comprehensive approach to planning and shaping how each community comes together.”
HIC’s core business is buying entitled and permitted land, installing infrastructure to prepare it for construction and selling it to homebuilders, with a particular focus on the Southeast region, per the release. The leadership transition aims to “position HIC Land for its next phase of growth” as the firm expands across the Southeast and does more large-scale work.
Over the years, Padilla’s responsibilities have expanded into acquisitions, dispositions, financing, personnel management and strategic growth initiatives, according to the release. He already oversees much of HIC’s day-to-day operations.
Previously, Padilla was an audit senior at Deloitte, where he advised real estate, manufacturing, government, retail and commodities clients, according to the release.
Focus on more complex communities
Currently, HIC Land owns or controls parcels that represent more than 7,500 multifamily units and over 700 acres of commercial property, “which it intends to develop as part of the future strategy,” per the release. The firm operates in eight states with over $300 million in total investments and more than 48,000 total lots under development, owned or under its control.
Over the past 18 years, HIC Land has increasingly recognized the long-term value of developing larger master-planned communities, which integrate new housing with shops, recreational amenities and municipal infrastructure, according to Padilla.
“While these projects require significantly more time, capital and resources, they also allow us to establish substantial pipelines of homesites within individual communities,” Padilla said. “This scale gives us the ability to deliver lots to our builder partners according to their needs and schedules while maintaining greater control over the overall vision, look and feel of each development.”
HIC Land is privately funded by Hoyer without outside investors, allowing it to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and needs of its builder partners, according to Padilla.
“That flexibility also extends to landowners, as we're able to explore different purchase structures that maximize value while accounting for their financial and tax considerations,” Padilla said.
Hoyer told Multifamily Dive that the firm will leverage its residential lot development program to assess population growth, absorption rates and market demand to determine the optimal timing for multifamily development within its master-planned communities.
“Our strategy is to partner with experienced third-party firms for vertical construction and ongoing property management while retaining long-term ownership of the completed assets,” Hoyer said in emailed comments. “This approach will allow us to build a substantial portfolio of income-producing multifamily properties, generating stable, recurring cash flow and long-term asset appreciation.”
Click here to sign up to receive multifamily and apartment news like this article in your inbox every weekday.
