Land Tejas has announced the passing of Al Brende, the company’s co-founder and owner, at the age of 80.
Operational oversight of Land Tejas will now be led by Mr. Brende’s son, Alan Brende, and chief financial officer Melanie Ohl.
“My words that describe Al are innovation, energy, and enthusiasm,” said Mike Moser, CEO of Starwood Land, which partnered with Land Tejas in 2021 with the purchase and delivery of 16,000 homesites. “He was a true industry icon who was always striving to bring a new fresh approach to land development.”
Brende helped change the trajectory of Houston’s residential housing growth in the late 1990s when he and his late partner Courtney Grover introduced guard-gated communities with homes priced from the low $100,000s. Today, more than 35,000 families reside in the nearly 25 communities developed by Land Tejas in the greater Houston area.
Born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Brende began his career as a custom builder in California. He began his career as a land developer on the Reno and Las Vegas markets and relocated to Houston in the mid-1990s. Brende founded Land Tejas in 1997 and brought many popular building concepts from Nevada and Arizona to the Houston market.
Land Tejas communities were among the first to offer low-voltage wiring as a building standard, fiber-to-the-home internet, and community-wide solar programs.
“His work ethic was amazing for somebody so accomplished. His passion, his hobbies, and his life were land development,” said Moser. “Al Brende died doing exactly what he wanted to be doing. I hope I pass with the same similar level of accomplishments. The things he did for our industry were truly remarkable.”
Land Tejas was named Developer of the Year in 2000 by the Greater Houston Builders Association (GHBA) and in 2020 was named Houston’s largest real estate developer by the Houston Business Journal.
In addition to his contributions as a land developer, Brende’s legacy includes a strong history of philanthropy. Brende established an Adopt-a-School program in 1997, supporting schools attended by students living in Land Tejas communities and he was honored by the GHBA in 2016 for donating 17 lots to support its annual Benefit Home program.
