The president of a legacy homebuilding firm in North Texas is retiring later this year.
Grapevine-based HistoryMaker Homes (HMH) recently announced the 2023 retirement of company President Lane Wright.
Wright held a unique position within the company and his 35-plus-year career in the homebuilding industry.
He became president of HMH in 2017 after serving four years as its chief operating officer. Wright’s move to the role was particularly notable because he is the only non-family member in the company’s 76-year history to serve as president.
As a fourth-generation family-owned business with more than 70 years of operating expertise in Dallas-Fort Worth, HMH defied the odds to become one of the leading homebuilders in North Texas — overcoming the efficiencies of Dallas’ problematic permitting department. According to MarketWatch, the company is responsible for building more than 1,200 homes annually in 40 communities in DFW, Houston, and San Antonio.
In 2022, HMH ranked No.59 on Builder Magazine’s Top 100 Homebuilders Nationwide list.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to work alongside company CEO Nelson Mitchell and the entire team at HistoryMaker Homes,” Wright said in a July 11 news release, reported Dallas Business Journal. “As I reflect back on my 36 years in the industry, I can confidently say that my work with HistoryMaker has been the capstone of my career.”
Wright will be succeeded by Zac Thompson, president of ONM Living, a real estate investment and development firm based in Texas and HMH’s sister company. Thompson has served as ONM Living president for nearly five years and has helped grow the company’s housing units by roughly 600% between 2020 and 2024, DBJ reported. Before his time at ONM Living, Thompson served as president of Gatherings, a homebuilding division of the Allen-based Beazer Homes.
“I’m thankful for the leadership Lane and Nelson demonstrated throughout my career at ONM Living, and for their confidence in me to add value to the HistoryMaker Homes team and its customers,” Thompson said, according to DBJ.
“I’m excited to work closely alongside Nelson and our team to build on the company’s recent expansion into the San Antonio market and carry out HistoryMaker Homes’ vision in Texas’ major markets well into the future,” he added.
As far as legacy goes, Wright said he knows that the future will hold “great things for HistoryMaker Homes as it continues its work providing for homebuyers throughout Texas.”
