Former professional basketball player Edwin Tatum has launched a Dallas residential development company focused entirely on modern homes with an international flair.

Tatum’s company, Detate Property Group, is in the process of identifying and acquiring property in several Dallas-Fort Worth area neighborhoods including locations in South Dallas, Lakewood, the Park Cities, north Tarrant County, and Collin County. In some cases, the company plans to buy individual lots and may tear down an existing home to build. In other cases, it is looking for vacant lots including small tracts — 10 to 15 acres — to build entire neighborhoods.

Tatum has self-funded the startup, but said he’s in the final stages of an agreement with a private equity firm for additional capital.

Tatum, who grew up in Midwest City near Oklahoma City, went to junior college in Oklahoma and then attended Stephen F. Austin State University to play college basketball. From there, he went on to play professional basketball in Aguascalientes, Mexico and Puerto Rico before an injury ended his career.

The summer before his last year in professional basketball, Tatum said he trained in Arlington where he met a real estate investor who encouraged him to pursue real estate. After his injury, he returned to DFW and learned the fix-and-flip business. As his passion for real estate began to blossom, he started taking development courses through the Urban Land Institute.

Detate’s first home plan, Phoenix, was designed by the U.S.-arm of Italy-based LBLR. [Rendering courtesy of Detate Property Group]

DETATE ENLISTS ITALIAN ARCHITECT FOR HOME PLANS

The company hired an Italy-based architect, LBLA, which has a U.S. office in Colleyville, to design its first home plan — Phoenix.

“Andrea [Matteucci] and Stefania [Bertozzi], the U.S. partners of that firm, have been absolutely amazing in providing the European feel,” he said.

The company plans to incorporate Gaggenau appliances and Poggenpohl cabinetry, both from Germany.

“To have Dallas as an increasingly international city, I thought to myself, what a unique opportunity to create something that is aesthetically beautiful.”

Edwin Tatum

The Phoenix line will have five different floor plans and range in price from $500,000 to $2 million. A less expensive home design, Neo, will be released soon with prices expected to be from $200,000 to $500,000. The company hopes to release a design every six to nine months to always be offering new innovations.

Tatum said friends helped develop his affinity for modern design, and he wanted to do something a bit different from the norm.

“To have Dallas as an increasingly international city, I thought to myself, what a unique opportunity to create something that is aesthetically beautiful,” Tatum said. “I think I can develop and dominate a niche and provide consumers of DFW with something different and unique.”

STARTUP EYEING PARK CITIES FOR FIRST PROPERTIES

Tatum said late real estate developer Joseph Eichler is one of his inspirations. Eichler was known for his mid-century home developments that brought modern design to the masses in northern California in the decades following World War 11. 

“Modern homes aren’t only for the wealthy or the Nouveau riche; there are ways to make it affordable and we think we’ve done that.”

Edwin Tatum

“Modern homes aren’t only for the wealthy or the Nouveau riche; there are ways to make it affordable and we think we’ve done that,” Tatum said.

The company will incorporate sustainability into its building practices although it doesn’t plan to pursue LEED certification due to cost. Detate is getting ready to close on its first properties in the Park Cities, but hasn’t yet started to build.

“We don’t dibble dabble. We are 100 percent focused modern, and that, from a Texas perspective is innovative because you just don’t see that,” he said. 

Detate’s first modern home, Phoenix, will offer five different floorplans. [Rendering courtesy of Detate Property Group]

This article was updated Sept. 19, 2018 to remove a reference to the company’s naming.

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