FIVE WOODS' STORY
Five Woods‘ rich history began in 2005, when the company launched as a residential real estate brokerage firm providing real estate services to families and individual investors. The firm later expanded into providing commercial real estate brokerage services and by 2011 evolved to offering advisory services for apartment developers on affordable multifamily housing projects. Five Woods’ introduction to affordable housing resulted from its targeted market knowledge and extensive relationships within the public and governmental sectors. This expertise would lead to Five Woods providing brokerage, consulting, and development services to an array of regional and national multifamily developers. Since 2012, Five Woods has served as a full-service real estate brokerage, advisory and development firm, and has been responsible for an array of affordable multifamily developments throughout the Greater Houston submarket.
Today, Five Woods serves as a full-scale development firm and continues to execute an array of affordable and mixed-income multifamily developments. Furthermore, Five Woods develops workforce multifamily and urban in-fill single family housing, in addition to providing development consulting services to landowners, investors, nonprofits and public sector entities.
Five Woods is a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), is recognized as a state of Texas Historically Underutilized Business and is a federal HUBZone business.
Vision – To lead as an exemplary housing developer who improves people’s lives by developing thriving communities with a focus on innovation, cost-efficiency, and sustainable design features.
Mission – Five Woods is a leading housing development organization focused on increasing access to and availability of housing that is affordable for working class and middle-income families, doing so in a way that promotes best practices in efficient design, sustainability, energy efficiency, and resiliency.
WHY FIVE WOODS
Five Woods is a purpose driven organization built on a culture of commitment to delivering housing that places a focus on the needs of homeowners and residents who will occupy our development’s. We don’t just build housing, we deliver living spaces conducive to the lifestyle needs of the households we serve.
Five Woods‘ founder launched his career as a residential realtor working with apartment tenants and first-time homebuyers, which provided a great foundation in understanding the needs of working-class residents and their desires in the places they seek to call home. These experiences helped forge the basis of our maxim, “Meeting Clients at the Point of Need”, which serves as the driving philosophy for the firm’s approach to housing design, construction, and property management.
To date, Five Woods has been involved in the development of seven multifamily development projects accounting for over 700 units and two single-family urban in-fill residential developments.
WHAT WE DO
Five Woods is a full-service real estate development firm that builds and constructs single and multifamily housing developments. Five Woods leads the process of site selection, acquisition, design planning, securing entitlements, arranging financing, and construction of the development projects we are involved with. In addition, Five Woods works with partners on their development and/or acquisition/rehabilitation execution strategies.
OUR TEAM
Laolu Davies-Yemitan
Managing Principal
Laolu Davies-Yemitan is managing principal of Five Woods, where he leads the firms focus on affordable/workforce housing development efforts, engages with financial partners, and liaises with key external stakeholders. His responsibilities include coordinating the development process from the project planning phase through securing of entitlements and achieving financial closing on transactions, all the way through construction, lease up, and final conversion.
Laolu has been a licensed Texas real estate broker since 2005, and his experience in the industry spans over two decades, where he has worked with a variety of partners including private enterprises, real estate developers, governmental entities, non-profit organizations and religious institutions. Laolu specializes in implementing strategies that leverage private investment with federal housing tax credits and a variety of private and public funding sources in construction of affordable multifamily housing. Laolu also has extensive experience implementing public engagement strategies, and in facilitating the process of securing all levels of regulatory approvals for development projects.
Laolu holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Houston-Downtown, where he graduated with honors and an MBA in finance from the same institution. He holds the prestigious Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation and is a member of the Urban Land Institute. He is a founding board member of the Houston Housing Collaborative, a leading affordable housing advocacy organization based in Houston, TX, and is active with numerous community organizations including the Houston Association of Realtors, Texas Lyceum, and the University of Houston-Downtown President's Council.
Erika Bush
Development Manager
Erika Bush is the Development Manager of Five Woods and will be focused on planning, analyzing and executing the development of multifamily and single-family residential projects, which may have adjacent or integrated mixed-use/retail/affordable components.
Erika Bush is an Architect with extensive project experience in managing the design and construction of commercial development projects including high-rise office, arts institutions, and performing arts facilities. Her project management experience spanning over 20 years includes managing implementation and documentation of programming and schematic design, design development and construction documents, feasibility studies, site analysis, contract document coordination, and construction value engineering.
Her interest in Residential Development, specifically increasing the quantity and availability of Affordable Housing led her to redirect her career path and focus solely on Residential Development projects.
Erika earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Prairie View A&M University and is a current member of the Houston chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (HNOMA). She also maintains a relationship with Prairie View A & M University by mentoring architecture students, serving as a juror for end of semester project reviews and recruiting graduates at the annual career fairs for employment opportunities within the Architectural field.