This Builder Looks Forward

Southeast builder DSLD Homes created a model for longevity after the passing of founder H. Allen Thomason Sr., in large part due to his mentorship of his successors.

This years, DSLD is on pace to complete almost 3,000 new homes this year. The company's management, Saun Sullivan, Jeff Purpera Jr., and Lee Foster, were all mentored for more than 20 years by Thomason, “A lot of the philosophy and business tactics we use today we learned from him and from working alongside him the last 20 or so years,” Purpera says.

The company's business model prizes consistency in its communities, according to Foster, using "an even flow system,” the company starts and completes 15 to 18 homes per week every week, and buys an average 250 lots per month every month for a total of 3,000 homes a year, all with "obsessive," attention to quality, reports The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.

The company, which has built communities throughout Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, has sold over 800 homes so far this year in the Capital Region. The market, says Sullivan, continues to be the largest for DSLD in terms of volume built and sold. “They’re a very active player in the Capital Region,” says Wesley Moore, an appraiser with Cook, Moore, Davenport and Associates. “They’ve figured out how the control costs and deliver a product that maximizes the bang for every dollar.”

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