Embrey | Embrey 50th

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS. 50,000 HOMES. THE EMBREY WAY.

EMBREY has always believed it is noble work to create places where people want to be.

As we celebrate 50 years in business, and the craftmanship behind 50,000 apartment homes that anchor the center of communities and embrace and nurture families and dreams, we humbly reflect on our record of accomplishment.

We are nationally recognized for excellence in design, attention to detail, and tasteful integration with our surrounding neighbors. We are trusted by our business partners, our industry friends and those we serve to always do the right thing – The EMBREY Way.

As our founder Walter Embrey, Jr. says: “It’s not just luck that we’ve successfully made it through tumultuous times. We spent years crafting this organization in a way that encourages everyone on our team to grow and to do their best work. The strength of our people is the foundation of our success.”

EMBREY is a vertically integrated real estate investment company that develops, builds, acquires, owns and manages multifamily communities and commercial assets in select markets throughout the United States.

Today, we have more than 500 team members working on multiple projects across Texas and in Arizona, Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina and Florida. We have five distinct divisions:

Investments – which builds strong relationships with our institutional and private investors and our business partners;
Development – which acquires the land where we build and develops the concepts for our consistently award-winning communities;
Construction – which builds for us and for our third-party clients;
EMBREY Management Services – our nationally recognized team and manages multifamily communities for EMBREY and for our third-party clients; and,
Corporate – which develops our short- and long-term strategy and pulls together an incredible operational team to support our work.

Walter Embrey had an entrepreneurial vision in 1974.

Just several years out of college at the University of Texas in Austin, he found himself deep into leading challenging and interesting real estate development projects in the city where he went to school. And, as he tells the story, his good fortune was earning the trust of a couple of key mentors who saw his potential and gave him real-world guidance and opportunity.

It all started when, during his junior year at UT, a friend suggested a meeting with the city’s largest homebuilder. Lacking a formal appointment with the builder, he waited all day for the chance to present himself and ask for a job. With a young family to support and studies still to complete toward his Bachelor of Finance degree, Walter was motivated not just by need, but also by a desire. His determination that day led to a job where he learned firsthand the business of development and construction, taking on a variety of assignments and projects that afforded him valuable insight into the real estate industry.

In 1971, Walter joined Jagger Associates, Inc. as Vice President of Construction, and shortly after became Executive Vice President of Operations, ultimately overseeing the development of numerous commercial projects, single-family-home subdivisions, and more than 6,000 apartments.

In 1974, in spite of economic hardships that gripped the nation, he formed EMBREY Investments, Inc., and returned to his hometown of San Antonio, guided by the principle taught to him by his father, a WWII veteran who fought alongside Gen. George S. Patton – “do it right or don’t do it at all.”

Walter had developed a skill for identifying prime real estate and, as soon as he arrived in San Antonio, he secured property that within weeks soared in value. He successfully completed his first project and the rest, as the familiar saying goes, is history – 50 years of it, to be exact.

Today, Walter serves as Founder and Chairman of the company and his son, Trey, is the President and Chief Executive Officer charting a course to the future.

“We’ve certainly been fortunate to build on a strong foundation created by Walter and his leadership team,” says Trey. “My vision is to build a strategy and a strong team that understands how to meet the future on its own terms and capitalize on the opportunities. We’ve proven over 50 years that we’re pretty good at what we do. A successful future means that we have to be even better at it.”

The future is bright.

“I think under Trey’s leadership the company is probably in the best condition that it’s ever been in,” Walter says. “I think we will see a lot of great things to come for a lot more years.”

EMBREY is nationally recognized for creating places and experiences people consistently choose.

We have a proven record of transforming vision to value for our investors, partners, communities, residents and team members.

We love what we do and create difference by design.

From upscale architectural concepts, to best-in-class multifamily property management, to construction and building through the hands of skilled craftsmen, to trusted business partnerships – our team is relentless in attention to the details that elevate our relationship with you.

The EMBREY signature of excellence is always:
– A solid and proven foundation of integrity;
– Properties created and managed as if we live there;
– Inside spaces of harmony, intention, and balance;
– Outside spaces where landscapes embrace you; and,
– Respect for the communities and those we serve.