Joseph Design Build __________________________________________________________________________________________
Up until two years ago, Joseph Design Build was in the business of crafting architectural homes ranging from $ 3 million to $ 6 million – bespoke, high-end infill projects in Austin’ s desirable downtown-adjacent neighborhoods. Then the city changed the rules. When Austin began permitting two or three homes on lots that had previously allowed just one, it meant that developers were able to construct more homes at more affordable price points, instead of building a handful of multi-million-dollar houses.
For many builders, that would mean scaling back ambition to hit a lower price point. However, for Joseph Design Build – co-founded by brothers Gabe and Thomas Joseph in 2012 – it raised a different question entirely: could the same architectural precision and design quality that defined their luxury work be brought to a more affordable price point?“ As a vertically integrated designbuild firm focused on infill housing, we’ re specifically addressing the missing middle housing shortage in Austin,” explains Thomas.“ We have a team of just over 60 people here in Austin, and we’ re the full stack – we do everything ourselves: acquisition of the properties, in-house architecture and engineering, procurement, production, marketing, and sales.
Transforming neighborhoods
To date, the group has completed over 90 homes in Austin and currently has 182 in process, with one additional project in Dallas.“ Several of the neighborhoods five minutes from downtown were built in the 1940s and 1950s with very old housing stock and we’ re redeveloping those into modern luxury homes,” he says. Following the city’ s rule change around building lots, most of Joseph
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