THE RAUB REPORT

Commercial Real Estate Newsletter for San Antonio

May – June  2025

 

Investment Realty Company celebrates its Fiftieth Anniversary this year!

This is a rare accomplishment and one of which we are very proud.

Investment Realty Company was founded in 1975 to form investment partnerships so that San Antonio investors could invest in local properties.  The founders recognized the great growth ahead for our city and the amazing opportunities to place capital in retail centers, apartments and land to grow investors’ wealth.  But there were few options to put money into local deals if you wanted to be a passive investor in a professionally managed investment partnership so IRC was formed to address this need. Many of the founders’ friends and business associates recognized the need to include real estate in their investment portfolio, but they did not personally have the knowledge, expertise or large amounts of capital to do it on their own.  The formation of Investment Realty Company opened the door to them to participate in group investments.

IRC Over the Years

Over the years IRC has formed more than 60 partnerships.  It takes integrity, resourcefulness and perseverance to weather all the changes that the economic cycles bring.  There was a huge building boom in the early 1980’s, followed by the real estate depression of the Savings and Loan crisis from 1986 to 1993.  Then came the recovery of the 1990s, the recession of the dot.com bust, then another expansion in the 2000’s followed by the great recession in 2008 to 2009. Then, another expansion period from 2010 to Covid in 2020.  It takes flexibility and foresight to look past the present circumstances, be they good or bad, and focus on the long-term outcome. In real estate, timing is everything and it takes focus to stay ahead of the curve.

The Founders of IRC

IRC has had some great business people as partners over the years, from founders Vernon Willoughby, George Leeah and John Goolsby; then, merging with firm owned by Bill Rhame, Barbara Condos and Scott Weems. Later, Don Willoughby, Steve Raub and Alex Condos joined.  Finally, in 2008 the two remaining partners, Barbara Condos and Don Willoughby retired, and Steve and Connie Raub bought out their interests.

Weathering the Storms

The year 2008 was the year of a severe market crash, but times of stress are also times of opportunity. Steve and Connie began building a multi-faceted commercial real estate business, including the IRC Commercial Division, the IRC Apartment Group, and the Land Division, as well as commercial property management, overtime building the firm to 15 brokers, one of the largest in San Antonio.

Residential Lot Development

The sharp contraction of 2008 in home building, brought an opportunity in home lot development.  The banks were under severe pressure and backed off from residential and commercial construction.  IRC saw the opportunity to begin a business called IRC DevLand to develop build-ready entitled lots to sell to home builders.  This resulted in the development of seven subdivisions and 1,100 home lots.

The Birth of IRC Capital Residential

Another opportunity was identified, because home builders were having trouble getting construction financing from local banks for new homes.  An expert in the area of private lending to home builders was recruited to IRC and IRC Builders Funding, Ltd was founded, making its first loan in December of 2009.  That partnership was financed with $7-million contributed by local investors.  When the partnership reached its conclusion, a second partnership, called IRC Capital Residential, Ltd. was formed with the same business principles and incorporating lessons learned from the first partnership.  Over the past sixteen years, the combined partnerships have originated over $340,000,000 in construction loans for the construction of over 1,200 new homes.

Shift to Private Debt Company

In 2021, Investment Realty Co. strategically shifted from a full-service Commercial Real Estate firm to a narrower focus on its private debt company, IRC Capital Residential, Ltd.  IRC was going back to its roots of managing local investor money, but innovating by participating in the private debt market, which began explosive growth after the 2008 financial crisis.  Private debt has become a very important part of the U.S. economic landscape, growing nationally from $200-billion in 2006 to over $2-trillion today. As a credit vehicle, IRC Capital Residential produces consistent income for its partners, and has expanded throughout the Texas Triangle, to Austin, Houston and Dallas.

We, at IRC, are proud of the legacy passed on from our founders, back in 1975.  They were exceptional community leaders and astute businessmen and women who cared greatly about the responsibility entrusted to them in managing others real estate investments.  They set a high standard of excellence that present day IRC strives to maintain.

                                                                                                             President

Send comments to raub@investmentrealty.com