Drive around Flower Mound and nearby communities and you are bound to see Todd Weaver’s signs seeking to sell or lease commercial property.
Follow the 6 foot, 5-inch Weaver away from his office and you likely will find him leaning on his truck wearing a cowboy hat and boots.
“I love being outside more than inside as evidenced by the lack of artwork in my office,” he said. “I’ve done more deals on the hood of my truck than any other place around. That’s my office.”
You also may find him walking around a property with survey crews, among the few realtors who still do that. While many consider him a dinosaur in the industry because he combines sales, leasing, developing and zoning consulting all in one shop, he sees it as his way of successfully doing business.
“I wear this as a badge of honor but one guy said, ‘Todd you truly are like a Don Quixote.’ I know that Don Quixote is an outdated relic of sorts but I love that guy. He was a jack of all trades and he was honorable. Maybe I am a dinosaur but it works. I don’t know too many realtors who also develop property. And I love development, I can’t believe I get paid for this.”
Among his more notable projects are the portions of Flower Mound’s Town Center anchored by Lifetime Fitness, a large portion of The Shops at Highland Village, Flower Mound’s Highlands and Highlands Ranch area including Super Target, Best Buy and Lowes plus Marty B’s in Bartonville.
While such large developments get the most notoriety, it is the smaller ones involving medical offices, retail and office buildings that are his favorites.
“I appreciate the smaller developments because I will look someone in their eye at their coffee table or office saying to me ‘this is my life’s savings and I need your help,’ ” said Weaver, who also owns property in the area.
But he still gets a thrill from big projects like the Founders Landing commercial and office project on FM 2499 in south Flower Mound where Weaver has been the listing agent with landowner Ron Hillard since 2018. Following various challenges both before and during the pandemic, that project is about to become a reality. After recently selling the center section, Weaver said the first shovels of dirt should be turned by August.
“It is an honor to transfer what was an idea on a piece of paper to reality,” he said. “And I am so lucky to count that as another development that we can notch as I drive through town.”
The first phase recently approved by the Flower Mound Planning & Zoning Commission will feature retail stores, restaurants and medical offices.
“I’ve got a feeling once they bring the tractors out there and break dirt the two other pieces will sell. It’s all because of Lakeside,” Weaver said. “There’s quite a bit of activity there and now people are saying the southern end of town is not dead. In fact, it’s quite vibrant. With The Point apartments and the other developments in and around Lakeside DFW, you will have thousands of people living there. What a great concept.”
Weaver grew up in Lewisville where his father Bill was mayor in the 1960s. After starting his career at Texas Instruments, he followed his dad in the real estate business, first as a residential realtor in 1990. But when he was asked to work on two commercial properties, he quickly knew he needed to switch.
“Real estate isn’t done the way my father did it,” Weaver said. “You can’t just buy a tract of land and build a building. You have to obtain site plan approval, master plan, zoning, everything. There’s really nothing about the difficulty or even the energy it takes to deliver even the simplest of developments, especially in the smaller communities. Besides sales, leasing and development, land assemblage is probably the most difficult thing I’ve done.”
He enjoys the zoning part of his job working with various communities though likes closing land because of the payday. But he is even fonder of something else.
“Of all the aspects of my job, I think leasing is my favorite mainly because it involves little or no municipality involvement,” he said. “It’s basically landlord meets tenant and they negotiate. I believe that leasing is the last vestige of entrepreneurialism in our industry. It’s not tied down by constraints usually other than price per square foot and everything’s on the table.”
In 2018, he sold his house and moved from Flower Mound to a 6.5-acre property with a 4,000 square-foot house in Tioga north of Pilot Point on Lake Ray Roberts and to an office in Hickory Creek. He and his wife and business partner Ellen have three children – daughter Wende and twins Tye and Sarah. Ellen has been a real estate appraiser for more than 30 years, including for the Denton County Appraisal District.
With more than three decades behind him and at age 61 country life has had an effect on him as Weaver is ready to start slowing down and is perfectly fine with that notion.
“I’m blessed, I’ve done well, but I’m at a point in my life where time means more,” he said. “We just lost my mom so time with my wife of 38 years and my kids and family is more valuable than any amount of money. So, there’s no reason to churn so hard and beat my head against the wall.
“I’ve had my time as a top producer, top earner and working on some very successful developments. I’ve been so lucky to have had interactions with people who’ve helped along the way like my parents, Andre Gerault, Larry Smith and Von Beougher and especially Ellen Weaver and Keith Francis. I’m so grateful for it!”
