Dallas-based TDI announced the addition of Graham Johnston as senior vice president and partner, and Patrick Crawford as senior vice president and partner to the company’s leadership team.

TDI is a Class A multifamily investment platform with around $3.7 billion of multifamily assets.

The company said that with a growing need for affordable housing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the former Riata Development co-founders aim to expand TDI’s impact on thousands of middle-income residents.

“We feel really honored that Graham and Patrick are coming onboard,” TDI co-founder Bobby Page said in a statement. “Affordable housing is not a new issue for DFW, but it’s becoming more challenging every day as the population grows and inflation continues to drive up housing costs.”

Solving ‘the affordability crisis’

TDI said Johnston will lead its efforts to solve the growing housing affordability crisis in DFW for the thousands of middle-income residents, including educators and first responders, who cannot afford to live within a short distance of their employment.

“Focusing on housing development for the past 10 years, I have seen firsthand the affordability crisis our country, and especially this state, face,” Johnston said in a statement. “Joining TDI provides a significant platform to develop solutions to this crisis and institute meaningful change for our community. It’s time to capitalize on state HFC legislation and work with cities to combat this crisis that is tragically impacting crucial members of our community.”

Johnston formerly was co-founder of Riata Development which was an attainable housing platform focused on providing high-quality living options for individuals and families. Before starting Riata Development in October 2021, Johnston was the vice president of development and acquisitions at Legacy Partners, a national multifamily developer based in California, where he focused on the Texas and Tennessee markets.

TDI said that throughout his career, Johnston has been involved with the development of over 5,000 apartment units at a combined project value in excess of $900 million.

Leading investment strategy

Crawford will lead TDI’s investment strategy, which will focus on deploying capital through preferred equity investments in multifamily development projects and tax-exempt bond investments.

“I was drawn to TDI’s exceptional reputation in the industry and decades of experience the TDI founders have,” Crawford said in a statement. “I have a passion for working to solve the issue of attainable housing supply, and I’m excited to join this team and do that on a larger scale.”

Prior TDI, Crawford co-founded Riata Development.

He previously was employed at the consulting firm Value Inc., where he advised on over $1 billion in client transactions for a wide range of industries, including real estate. He also is a CFA Charterholder and serves as an investment committee member overseeing the H.E. Butt Foundation’s endowment portfolio.

Johnston and Crawford will team up with Brent Ball, who joined TDI as president and partner in April. Ball is leading the company’s efforts to maximize the value of TDI’s existing portfolio, expand focus on attainable housing, and provide third-party capital, the company said.

Focusing on DFW and SoCal

TDI’s current portfolio includes 31 properties (26 in DFW, five in southern California) and it said it expects to close several new projects in the coming weeks.

TDI is a multifamily investment and operating company owned by Page, Ron Ingram, and Brad Taylor, the former owners of JPI. While at JPI, they led the company to develop 115,000 apartment homes across 380 communities representing $18 billion of value.

Having recently sold the JPI operating company platform to Sumitomo Forestry America Inc. in November, TDI retained 31 real estate projects with a total valuation of $3.7 billion.

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