Houston, Texas, July 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Empire Communities has acquired Texas builder Centerra Homes, expanding its U.S. presence to include Austin and San Antonio.

Initially founded by Tom Grant and Gene Rowehl in Austin Texas, Centerra Homes has a long- standing history of building quality homes over the last 10 years. Centerra currently builds in 11 Austin area communities and 3 San Antonio communities. Offering a wide range of products and pricing, homes from Centerra start in the low $200,000’s and move to over a million. Plans are to transition all 14 communities to the Empire brand later this year.

“This acquisition aligns with our strategic and aggressive growth plan for the Texas market,” says James Miller, Regional President of Empire’s Texas Homebuilding Division. “Centerra Homes shares similar corporate values and vision and have a strong team and management group that have earned them solid respect in the Texas homebuilding market.”

Empire plans to retain Centerra’s existing management structure with its 30-plus employees. Tom Grant and Gene Rowehl will continue to oversee the Austin and San Antonio markets.

“We are excited to be a part of the Empire family. This is an excellent family-run company that will carry on the reputation Centerra has built through the years of not only building homes, but relationships with our customers,” Grant says. “We have been working closely with the Texas and Toronto teams to ensure a smooth transition and have no doubt that our legacy of building high quality, energy efficient homes will live on through Empire.”

Canadian-based Empire Communities launched its U.S. Homebuilding Division in 2016 in Houston. Empire recently announced its sixth Houston-area community and will start construction soon in two Austin-area developments, Santa Rita Ranch in Liberty Hill and Lakeside in Georgetown. The builder’s pricing ranges from the low $200,000s to around $600,000 with sizes up to 4,800 square feet.

Empire Communities has built more than 12,000 new homes and condominiums over the past 25 years in the Greater Toronto Area and Houston markets.

Centerra Homes was represented by Hazeloop-Walsh and Associates during this transaction.

Haunani Shipper Total PR 972.415.6002 hshipper@totalpr.com