Tellus Scores $45M Loan for Community in Forney

22 January 2025

First Continental closed on a $45 million deal with Tellus Group, its largest loan to date, for a master-planned community in Forney, east of Dallas.

The deal between the Houston-based private lending company and the builder, based in Plano, will fund Meraki, a development slated to deliver 2,700 homes and span 1,079 acres, a news release said.

The loan is the sixth from First Continental’s master-planned community fund, which aims to “fill the void” left by traditional bank lenders exiting the acquisition and development space amid the state’s housing shortage, the lender said in July. First Continental’s previous largest loan was $41.8 million, issued in June for Johnson Development Services’ master-planned community in Hockley, northwest of Houston. It was the second loan from the lender’s community fund.

The Meraki community will include an on-site elementary school, several amenity centers, parks and natural features, including over 300 acres of open space, the release said.

Tellus, the developer behind master-planned projects like the 2,000-acre Windsong Ranch residences in Prosper, initially planned a $1.5 billion community named Tapestry on the Forney land in 2022, in partnership with Caravel Ventures, Sumitomo Forestry and Schaffer Michael LLC. It would have delivered as many as 3,100 single-family homes, but did not complete as scheduled last summer.

Meraki’s first phase, out of seven, is scheduled to be completed this fall, delivering 406 homes, according to a brochure. Full completion of all phases is expected by 2035, the release said.

Forney, 6 miles north of U.S. Highway 80 in Northwest Kaufman County, is among the fastest-growing towns in the nation. Its population increased over 50 percent from 2020 to 2023, Census data shows, and retail developers are sprinting to keep up. On top of a Costco warehouse and Tom Thumb on the way, it’s home to one of the largest retail developments in the state, Dallas-based Streetlevel’s Village at Gateway, a 120-acre project set to bring 500,000 square feet of space in its first phase in summer 2026, the Dallas Business Journal reported.

This is First Continental’s first deal with Tellus, though the two have separately funded and developed numerous projects in and about the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

In addition to its communities in Prosper and Celina, Tellus is planning a 3,000-home, $1.5 billion residential community called Sherley Farms on 970 acres it purchased about 45 miles north of downtown Dallas in the boomtown of Anna.

First Continental, which finances projects in several states, has lent tens of millions of dollars to builders around the metroplex in recent years, including $10.5 million to Dallas developer Taylor Duncan Interests for the 235-home community ValleyBrooke in nearby Mesquite, as well as about $7.7 million to Prosper developer James Land & Development for the 50-acre Cottages of Celina community, according to its website.