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Jack Hill Jr.
CREDE, a national leader in commercial real estate development and project management, has announced the acquisition of Arlington-based commercial construction firm Hill Building Group.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The deal unites father-and-son Jack Hill Sr. and Jack Hill Jr., founder of Hill Building Group. Jack Hill Sr., a renowned locally based builder who was running consulting firm Hill Sports Entertainment, has had a hand in all of North Texas’ major professional sports venues, including Choctaw Stadium (originally The Ballpark in Arlington), the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field, Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, and American Airlines Center in Dallas, home to the Mavericks and Stars.
Jack Sr., a graduate of Texas A&M with more than 40 years in the construction and development industry, will serve as a strategic adviser to CREDE on sports and entertainment projects on a nationwide scale, said Jack Hill Jr., who will remain president of Hill Building Group.
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Hearsay in Choctaw Stadium.
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Hearsay in Choctaw Stadium.
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The gymnasium of Impact, a 501(c)(3) in Arlington.
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Impact, a 501(c)(3) in Arlington.
“Uniting Hill Building Group under CREDE’s leadership is a momentous milestone,” said Colby Durnin, CEO of CREDE, in a statement. “Their combined decades of experience, vision and commitment to excellence make them an ideal collaboration. They are fully aligned with our mission to deliver innovative, high-quality development solutions that positively impact communities across diverse sectors.”
Hill Building Group has established a reputation for delivering projects across Texas, including work on Globe Life Field; improvements at Choctaw Stadium; and the city of Arlington’s 750,000-square-foot Economic Development Corporation satellite manufacturing facility.
Hill Sr. was the general contractor on Choctaw 30 years ago when the city of Arlington and the Rangers partnered on a new stadium to replace Arlington Stadium. Hill Jr.’s company contracted with Arlington Mayor Jim Ross on his restaurant and bar Hearsay in Choctaw.
“So, I got to go in there and renovate my dad’s work [from 30 years ago], which was really cool,” Hill Jr. said on Tuesday.
Hill Jr. is a Fort Worth native who attended Paschal and Aledo high schools before graduating from UT Arlington with a bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies, with a focus on business psychology and human resources, which all came in handy when he went into business for himself.
He learned construction from his father and working in the field, “screwing up enough times,” he joked.
After college he went to work in the subtrade market, subcontracting throughout Fort Worth and Dallas, from masonry to landscaping — “all that stuff.” He next took a job with a large general contractor based in Chicago, helping that company establish an office in Texas.
“After a while there, I got the itch,” he said. “I just decided to try my hand at starting my own thing and everything kind of aligned. I had the connections and the drive.”
That was in 2021. He started by doing small industrial projects. He also collaborated with his father on several projects. His portfolio has grown in 3 ½ years.
"When I started this business, I had no intention of selling it. That was not even on my radar, just kind of like most people,” Hill Jr. said. “I was like, ‘OK, I'm going to go make a good living and make my own hours and do my own thing. And then lo and behold, somebody had something else planned and the opportunity came up and I listened."
CREDE — Commercial Real Estate Development Enterprises — was founded in Kahuku, Hawaii, in 2001. In 2018, the firm began “broadening its expertise through the strategic acquisition and onboarding of industry leaders across the nation,” according to the company.
Today, CREDE’s portfolio includes more than 1,900 projects across diverse asset classes, including education, healthcare, hospitality, industrial, office, retail, mixed-use, multifamily, senior living and single-family.
The Hill acquisition strengthens CREDE’s presence in key sectors such as sports, entertainment, retail, office space, tech, and manufacturing.
As part of the acquisition, Eric Diaz and Ryan Blankers, co-founders of Cattlemen Construction Services, a Hill Building Group partner, will also join CREDE. Diaz and Blankers have managed more than $3.5 billion in commercial construction projects across sectors such as hospitality, retail and multi-purpose sports arenas.
“This really helps us grow and also helps CREDE grow because they've been looking for a foothold into the Texas market for a while, and they do both development and construction services,” Hill Jr. said. “So, it's given them a really good foothold here as well.”