In this episode of Breaking Ground SA, Stephanie Reyes and Rob Killen sit down with Trey Dawson, President of Pape-Dawson Engineers, one of San Antonio's most established and respected civil engineering firms. Trey is a third-generation leader of a company his grandfather co-founded in 1965 with $6,000, a six-month runway, and a Sunday school connection that barely kept the doors open.

What started as a two-man land development firm has grown into a 2,000-person operation now active in 10 states, built on a simple mission: not to be the biggest, but to be the most respected.

This is a conversation about family legacy, what it really takes to scale a company without losing its culture, and why San Antonio remains one of the best places in the country to build something.

In this episode:

• (01:53) How Pape-Dawson was founded in 1965 with $6,000, a six-month runway, and a Sunday school connection that saved the company
• (08:26) Why staying in one market for 40 years was a risk and how diversification changed everything
• (17:32) The math behind expanding beyond Texas and why the organic growth model breaks down at 1,000 employees
• (18:56) How Pape Dawson protects its culture through M&A by partnering with firms that already share their values
• (22:12) What Trey learned about leadership from his grandfather, father, and uncle and why being seen matters as much as doing good work
• (23:21) His time chairing the Metro SA Chamber during COVID, including the gala he never got, and what leading RECSA taught him about himself
• (29:48) Why San Antonio punches above its weight as a place to do business and what local agencies need to hear
• (32:32) Rapid fire: steakhouse rankings with his kids, the Spurs playoff game he skipped for the lake, and why he'd be a real estate agent if engineering wasn't an option

Links and Resources

• Pape-Dawson Engineers: https://www.pape-dawson.com/
• Real Estate Council of San Antonio: https://www.recsa.org
• Greater SATX: https://www.greatersatx.com

Sponsor Links:

• IRC Capital Residential: https://www.investmentrealty.com

Podcast Production Services by https://EveryWord.Media

#SanAntonio #BreakingGroundSA #RealEstate

In this episode of Breaking Ground SA, Stephanie Reyes and Rob Killen sit down with Gordon Hartman, San Antonio businessman, developer, and founder of the Morgan's Wonderland family of nonprofits. Gordon built a homebuilding empire from scratch at 19 with no college degree, sold it at 41, and redirected everything toward his daughter Morgan and the millions of individuals with special needs who lack access, opportunity, and inclusion.

What started as a moment in a pool watching his daughter get left out has grown into a $200 million nonprofit ecosystem spanning a theme park, surgical center, salon, sports facilities, dental clinic, broadcast studio, and a first-of-its-kind fully inclusive hotel opening later this year.

This is a conversation about purpose-driven development, what inclusion actually means, and how one builder decided that if it was easy, everybody would do it.

Chapters

• (00:53) Meet Gordon Hartman
• (01:59) Young Gordon: Building His First Home at 19
• (07:44) Lessons From Home Building That Still Apply
• (12:32) Who Is Morgan
• (15:15) The Origin Story of Morgan's Wonderland
• (21:54) What Success Really Means Now
• (23:15) The Fully Inclusive Hotel
• (30:58) Accessibility vs. Inclusion: The Difference That Matters
• (40:51) Advice for Young Builders and Visionaries

Links and Resources

• Morgan's Wonderland: morganswonderland.com
• Morgan's Inclusion Institute: https://morgansinclusioninstitute.org/
• Real Estate Council of San Antonio (RECSA): https://recsanantonio.com/

Sponsor Links:

• IRC Capital Residential - https://www.investmentrealty.com/

Podcast Production Services by https://EveryWord.Media

Ed Cross has spent 40 years shaping San Antonio — and most of it quietly. A CPA turned real estate developer, he pioneered Edwards Aquifer water rights investment before most people knew there was a market, helped bring the Vista Ridge pipeline to life, and spent seven years making the same phone call every 90 days until someone finally said yes.

In this episode of Breaking Ground SA, Stephanie Reyes and Rob Killen sit down with Ed Cross to trace his journey from Beaumont to Houston to San Antonio, and through four decades of deals, partnerships, and projects that have left a permanent mark on the city.

They cover his unlikely path from accounting to development, the inside story of how Laguna Water pioneered a new asset class in Texas water rights, the Vista Ridge deal that secured San Antonio's water future, and the relentless pursuit that finally landed him the Tower Life Building — a 1929 skyscraper he is now converting into 244 apartments in the heart of downtown. Ed also shares his vision for what downtown San Antonio becomes next, and the two headwinds he believes the real estate community needs to take seriously.

If you want to understand how San Antonio got here, who built it, and what one of its most respected developers believes comes next, this episode is for you.

Chapters:

• (01:22) Ed's Origin Story: From Beaumont to San Antonio
• (05:49) Early Deals and Learning the Business
• (07:46) Laguna Water and Pioneering Texas Water Rights
• (15:12) The Vista Ridge Pipeline Deal
• (21:05) Tower Life: Converting a 1929 Skyscraper into Apartments
• (24:45) Seven Years of Phone Calls to Close the Deal
• (31:13) Downtown SA's Next Chapter
• (37:18) Headwinds, Rapid Fire, and Closing Thoughts

Links and Resources:

• RECSA - Real Estate Council of San Antonio https://recsanantonio.com/
• Tower Life Building - https://towerlifebuilding.com/
• Edwards Aquifer Authority - https://www.edwardsaquifer.org/
• Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner

Sponsor Links:

IRC Capital Residential - https://www.investmentrealty.com/

Podcast Production Services by EveryWord Media