Detate Property Group

Whether it’s affordable housing, urban revitalization, adaptive reuse or luxury residential, Detate Property Group (DPG) is well equipped to handle any challenge. DPG is a fully integrated developer, owner and operator of commercial and residential real estate.

In 2014 Edwin Tatum founded the company in Dallas. Since then, he has led his company with a passion for real estate. His unique ability to obtain site control, reposition assets financially and manage construction has enabled him to successfully assemble difficult transactions, create value and dispose of assets for his company’s clients.

Utilizing its fastidious nature, innovative philosophy and development proficiency, Detate creates value for each firm, consumer and the community in which it invests. The company seeks high-quality, urban-infill assets and/or sites that offer substantial value-add potential with limited downside risk, targeting both ground-up development and repositioning opportunities.

An initiating venture in real estate development

In June 2016, Detate received unanimous approval from North Richland Hills City Council for a special development plan for The Fountains at Iron Horse, a transit-oriented, mixed-use development that will consist of 25,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 241 apartment units. In presenting the project, Tatum says the company was fortunate that city council recognized the potential and benefit of the proposed venture.

The Fountains at Iron Horse is the first major development from Detate.

“It was definitely a meeting of the minds,” he says. “When you have a development like this and the city understands what you are trying to do, it makes the project less arduous from a developer’s standpoint. It also makes it a lot easier to manage the project internally.”

The Fountains at Iron Horse is the first major development from Detate. Tatum’s primary concern with building his company is establishing a brand by taking a niche approach to the market. “I think that is a major aspect missing in the commercial real estate development industry,” says Tatum. “There are a bevy of multibillion-dollar development companies out there but nobody knows who they are. My objective with Detate is to bring us to the forefront and be included in conversations about being a great brand.”

A stamp of quality

Tatum’s initial approach to establishing a great brand is to build relationships with the consumer and identify with the market. Traditionally, developers have opted to develop brand identity one project at a time, rather than focusing on emphasizing their names. Tatum uses the example of when a company such as Nike produces a particular sneaker. While individual products offer different solutions, the consumer is often buying on the premise of brand recognition.

Detate is ultimately focusing more on psychographic relationships directly with its demographic. “We are placing our brand at the forefront of the product,” says Tatum. “We want every development that we create from here on out to be known for quality because it has the Detate name on it. It’s moving away from just project development to targeting the marketing directly to the consumer.”

At the age of 34, Tatum is relatively young in the development industry. He plans to use this to his advantage by not following the traditional techniques of approaching the market. Detate is all about the emotional experience and the lifestyle of its consumers. Rather than looking strictly at age and income statistics, Tatum is interested in finding out how his target market thinks.

“Our consumers are husbands, wives, single parents and working professionals,” shares Tatum. “They are a multitude of different things, so I don’t want to confine them to one type, I just want to get to how they think and make it aspirational for them that if they want a certain type of lifestyle, then we are the brand for them.”

Entering the industry in 2009, Tatum stems from an unlikely background. After playing professional basketball overseas for a number of years, an injury put an end to his career as an athlete. Unsure of what direction he would pursue, Tatum met Todd Dotson, the owner of a fitness center where he had trained in the offseason who was a real estate investor/developer.

“He took me under his wing and I cut my teeth in some single-family developments,” recalls Tatum. “I really enjoyed it and kept digging further into the industry.”

Tatum’s passion for the industry comes from the understanding that as a developer, his company has the opportunity to change the way people live. “From a multifamily perspective, we’re developing places where couples might have their first child or be their first apartment as a married couple,” he elaborates. “All of those emotional drivers are important to us at Detate because the product that we create is so intimate with our consumers.”

Tatum and his team represent a fresh approach to real estate development. Detate Property Group maybe young, but it is hungry and innovating the way real estate development firms are branded not only in the industry, but throughout the world.