Affordable lifestyles. Community values.
MacDonald Companies is a group of companies specializing in developing and building multifamily neighborhoods across Texas. Because the MacDonald Companies have remained a family-owned group, the family’s core values are visible at every level of development and management. Even with 5,700 units throughout 48 communities in 25 Texas cities under their belts, MacDonald properties are easy to spot in the marketplace. Today, the MacDonald Companies are led by their third generation, Justin MacDonald.
The genesis of the MacDonald Companies is like many Texas success stories—of necessity and by hard work. In the late 1940s, the growth of Austin and the Texas Hill Country demanded a new level of homebuilding—new designs— including modern floor plans and fine finishes. Growth came quickly for the new company—especially from Austin west to Kerr County and the more rugged topography of the western Texas Hill Country. Jean MacDonald propelled this family business into the lives of hundreds of Texans.
After having grown up on construction sites, Granger MacDonald began leading the business. Because many of the growth opportunities were clustered around some of Texas’s smaller communities, the Company established a course quite different than its peers. In 1993, the Company developed its first multi-family community. By the early 2000s, The MacDonald Companies would become one of the nation’s leading homebuilders by specializing in multi-family developments in suburban, rural and sub-rural communities throughout Texas. Expansion came quickly and successfully.
Eventually, the MacDonald Companies growth required additional management bandwidth to address the larger marketplace. As Justin MacDonald joined the Company full-time in 2003, the Company was ready to begin its fastest growth period. Following the population growth patterns in Texas required a new level of sophistication in economic and demographic survey techniques. The management team implemented these new tools to continue to go places others didn’t. It required extraordinary insight and diligence to go places others didn’t, but it proved a very attractive business model.
Rural multi-family project design had heretofore been known, mostly, for its low construction cost and Spartan aesthetics. The MacDonald Companies countered the trend here, as well, bringing high-quality building methods, custom home finishes and beautiful amenities to its apartment home clients.
The Company maintains a two to three-year pipeline of development projects, led by property acquisition. The Company enjoys some outside investment in many of these projects and provides a stable real estate investment for these partners.
Over the course of his career, Granger MacDonald was regarded as a leader among homebuilders—first in Texas as a Director, Officer, and President of the Texas Association of Builders—and also as a national leader of the National Association of Home Builders. Granger was a Board Member of the NAHB for over 30 years and served as its Chairman in 2017. Justin MacDonald has also served in the State and National Associations for over ten years and is a former President and Board Member of the Hill Country Home Builders Association. He also served as President of the Texas Association of Builders in 2018 and currently serves as its Tresurer.
From humble beginnings the MacDonald Companies were led to bring a finer home to more people in its marketplace. Today, green building, energy efficiency, and home security are more frequent design themes than in the past, but the Company continues its dedication to the same family business principles—Affordable lifestyles with community values.
