Production Power Meets Purpose In Houston’s Urban Core
In a quiet revolution reshaping Houston's inner-ring neighborhoods, Kevan Shelton and his life partner and business co-founder Ayesha Shelton are proving that the future of American homebuilding doesn’t have to choose between scale and soul.
At the helm of Park Street Homes, the Sheltons are advancing a business model that's equal parts production homebuilding science and neighborhood cultural stewardship.
Since its inception in 2016, Park Street has become a living case study in how to blend operational excellence with community-centered design and purpose, deploying production builder discipline in the kinds of communities where corporate development has often stumbled or turned away.
It started as a very, very personal journey," Shelton tells The Builder’s Daily. "Ayesha and I were looking for a house for our family in the area that I grew up in—Riverside Terrace in South Union. But there was no product in the urban core that matched our needs. So we decided to build it."
A Decentralized, Urban-Centric Production Model
Park Street isn’t following the traditional suburban builder playbook.
We’re building a decentralized production builder model intentionally focused on America’s legacy urban neighborhoods — the urban core," Shelton explains.
These are markets that national builders often struggle to enter due to fragmentation, aging infrastructure, and civic distrust.
But we see them as fertile ground for innovation and impact."
The company’s four-part business model includes:
- Affordable for-sale housing
- Fee building for build-to-rent and institutional partners
- Custom and build-on-your-lot offerings
- Entry-level market-rate housing for working families
Their specialty: scattered-site redevelopment, adaptive reuse, leveraging overlooked infrastructure, and forging strong partnerships with public and nonprofit stakeholders to increase affordability and reduce risk.
A Pivot Born of Loss and Vision
Shelton's path to new construction wasn't linear. Park Street Homes initially focused on renovations, investing in distressed properties in historically Black neighborhoods. The idea was to restore not just homes, but entire blocks. But the market wasn't ready.
We got our hat handed to us quite a bit and lost to the tune of about $300,000," Shelton recalls. "That was everything."
Facing appraisal risk and unrecognized value from deep renovations, Shelton pivoted.
On a new field, sticks and bricks are virtually the same," he said. "The cost base was much more favorable to us, and we found that to be the way our company would survive."
Reflective Design, Not Replacement
Park Street’s hallmark is what Shelton calls "reflective design": a process that studies the architecture, rhythm, and spirit of the neighborhoods they work in.
Urban development historically has been opportunistic," he says. "We didn’t want just to come in and be a fly-by-night developer. We wanted to ingratiate ourselves into the fabric of these communities."
To Shelton, this means respecting the storylines embedded in the streetscape, like the 60-year-old neighbor who watched them build a new home on a long-abandoned lot.
She told us the history of everyone on the block. She was so happy to have someone bring life back."
The Production Builder Playbook, Applied to the Urban Core
Park Street Homes brings construction precision honed during Shelton’s years with Highland Homes and CBRE. This operational expertise is what makes the model scalable.
Once you layer those things together—the love for the community, the community-forward design, and the operational efficiency—it does work," Shelton says.
This adaptability allows Park Street to deliver a wide range of products: subsidized affordable homes, entry-level market-rate housing, and even custom builds.
It’s the same process, the same team, the same care that goes into every single home," he says.
Building Trust, Not Just Homes
Unlike master-planned communities, where neighbors arrive together, urban infill building means parachuting into a living, breathing place—and earning your spot. Shelton understands this dynamic intimately.
Development in urban areas has a really bad reputation," he says. "It looks like the big bad wolf is coming into your neighborhood. We lead with service. Our neighbors can be our best friends or our worst enemies."
Every Park Street project involves proactive engagement—from partnering with local police and fire departments to community-based events that introduce new homeowners to longtime residents.
That culture is infectious," Shelton says. "We want our buyers to become members of the block, not intruders."
Black Men Buy Houses: A Personal Movement
Shelton’s passion for equity extends beyond development. His national initiative, Black Men Buy Houses, tackles one of the most persistent homeownership gaps in America.
Even though I built homes with Highland and had a great career, I didn’t take the steps of homeownership," Shelton shares. "Black men are one of the lowest buying groups, if not the lowest."
Through live events, partnerships with groups like Operation Hope and NAREB, and open conversations, Shelton is changing that narrative.
Over 50% of our attendees take the next step in purchasing a home,” he says.
Affordable and Market Rate: No Quality Divide
Park Street builds affordable homes with the same care and aesthetic as its market-rate product.
It’s income-restricted and subsidized," Shelton says. “You can look at our market-rate homes and our affordable homes, and you can’t tell the difference from the street."
Using land subsidies and value engineering, Park Street ensures affordability doesn’t equal compromise.
It’s very much the same product, just a different buyer filter."
Missing Middle and Multi-Gen Housing
Shelton's approach includes small multi-family and multi-generational housing. A Birmingham project features eight ADA-convertible homes designed for fixed-income buyers.
We put the infrastructure in for future conversion,” he says. "It includes the doorways, the backing for grab bars—everything."
From Houston to the Sun Belt
Park Street is expanding. Its goal is to establish a presence in 12 Sun Belt markets over the next decade. But each entry starts with listening.
We don’t want to be a Texas builder in Birmingham," Shelton says. "We want to be a Birmingham builder in Birmingham."
The model starts with an affordable housing anchor, often in partnership with cities or nonprofits. From there, Park Street introduces market-rate and custom homes. The firm also consults with municipalities and private investors on infill strategies.
Shareholder Value, Community Impact, Civic Trust
I call it the Park Street Compass," Shelton says. "Yes, we have to deliver shareholder value. But we also measure success by the communities we serve and the broader trust we build."
That means creating places where people want to live—and where legacy residents feel honored, not displaced. Where new buyers don’t stand apart, but stand with.
In a homebuilding industry reckoning with how to grow inclusively, Park Street Homes is drawing a new blueprint. Not by tearing down. But by building with.