Our Team
Steve Helm Chief Operating Officer/Director of Development

For over 35 years Stephen has served as a commercial real estate and public company executive materially involved in the areas of finance, investment, development, acquisition and property management. Stephen currently serves as a principal and officer of HS Development Group (HS) and New Regional Planning (NRP). As a director of development and finance, HS Development Group (HS) has over $100 million of Class A student and conventional multifamily properties under construction and in the development pipeline. As Partner and CFO of the Houston based New Regional Planning (NRP), Stephen directs the financing activities of the firm’s development, investment, management and leasing platforms. NRP owns and operates Class A suburban office and retail properties in Texas and Mississippi with portfolio market value in excess of $175 million. Prior to the above roles, Stephen served as Regional Director for Imperial Capital Bank/Bancorp (NYSE), launching the Texas/Rocky Mountain commercial real estate lending platform as part of the firm’s national expansion. In that capacity, he funded in excess of $500 million of structured debt (construction & bridge) and portfolio permanent credit facilities up to $20 million for all core property types. Stephen holds an MBA from the Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University and a BBA – Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Harold Sowell President HS Development Team

For over 40 years Harold has served senior management and principal roles in the commercial real estate and construction industries. Such activities have involved directing the development and construction of large scale real estate projects including Class A conventional, student, active adult living multifamily, office, retail, parking garages, bank facilities and a marina. As a director of development and construction for HS Development Group (HS) Harold currently is overseeing $100 million of Class A student and conventional multifamily properties under construction and in the development pipeline. From 1995-2017, Mr. Sowell has constructed and developed over 15,000 units nationwide including Texas, Arizona, Maryland, Colorado, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Such experience has accrued primarily from his affiliation with Allied Orion Group and most recently HS Development Group. At Allied Orion, Harold served as President of Construction and was a Partner in the prominent national and Houston based Allied Orion Group for over 15 years. The financial range of Mr. Sowell’s construction and development experiences with Allied Orion ranged from $9,000,000 to $47,000,000 million. These projects included construction types from conventional garden style to complex podium structures. The geographical scope of properties developed included Houston, Texas, Tucson, Arizona and Denver, Colorado. As a Principle of Allied Orion, Harold coordinated with partners and was a key member of the firm’s strategic business planning committee which formulated the company’s initiatives and direction in the areas of asset/property management, development and construction. Under Harold’s tenure the company achieved portfolio scaling from 6,908 units to almost 22,000 units. Mr. Sowell worked closely with development in the disciplines of site selection, feasibility studies and project financial and feasibility analysis.

John (Gary) Johnson Construction Project Manager - Multifamily & Commercial

Mr. Johnson brings 40 years of construction and project management experience with his specialized project management capabilities having facilitated successful completion of more than 500 projects ranging in value from $5,000.00 to more than $500 million. Over his career, Gary has executed a wide range of projects, including health care, retail, hospitality and multifamily valued at more than $ 1.5 billion. Furthermore, he has managed project workforces consisting of up to 120 personnel to ensure timeliness and quality of project work and allocated resources in response to fluctuating workloads as required. Finally, he has directed the performance of up to 500 subcontractors simultaneously and ensured that they each conformed to rigorous contract requirements. Throughout his career, Gary has overseen all facets of program/ project management including interfacing with clients, developing budgets, establishing project schedules, and overseeing quality performance. His duties included monitoring all project operations including the quality and progress of project work and ensuring client satisfaction. From 1997 -2022 Mr. Johnson has held senior management and executive positions for the contracting division of Tremco/RPM, Centennial Contractors, J.G Johnson Construction and Braeburn Construction for large- scale projects throughout the United States, Recently, Gary has joined the HS Development Group team where he will serve as a senior project manager for the firm’s development pipeline consisting of multifamily, mixed use, retail and build to rent (BTR) single family communities.

Marshall Henry Development Officer

Marshall has worked in the commercial real estate industry for over 4 years. He was born and raised in Houston, TX and began his career with ARA Newmark assisting in underwriting and the brokerage of debt for multifamily acquisitions. He then joined Jones Lange Lasalle as a retail tenant advisor representing both tenants and landlords in retail leasing transactions, as well as the purchase and sale of retail buildings and commercial land. He has since joined Excelsior Partners to assist in the acquisition, financing, development, and management of multi-family assets. He received his Bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas at Austin.

Terry Roy Construction Project Manager - Single Family/BTR

Terry Roy brings over 35 years of experience in residential and commercial real estate development, construction, property management and marketing. After graduating from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business in 1985, Terry began his career in 1985 as a broker with the commercial real estate firm Hartley Realty Group of Houston where he marketed Class A office building space. In 1998, he joined the national commercial real estate firm of Grubb & Ellis in 1998 leading their REO asset management group specializing in the renovation and disposition of office buildings in the Houston market. In 1992, Mr. Roy entered the residential construction industry with Gateway Homes of Houston as Construction Manager and Market Representative for their 120 home residential lot development, Ranch Isabella where is directed market research, floor plan and interior and exterior specifications, permitting, construction management and new home sales. Terry’s leadership led to Gateway Homes achieving the 1993-1994 City leader in new home starts and being named the 1994 Greater Houston Builder of the Year. In 1995 Mr. Roy founded his own company, G. H. Riley Homes, Inc named in honor of his great father, George Riley, a home- builder and developer as well. Over a 15 year life span the firm built and sold numerous speculative and custom new homes in the inner loop of the City of Houston and the cities of the Bellaire and West University Place. in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, Mr. Roy partnered with Bayway Homes and other private investors to begin replating inner city lots into townhome subdivisions in the emerging Washington Avenue corridor and the Houston Heights neighborhoods. In 2002, as a strategic to GH Riley’s custom home and town home business activities and identifying the emerging trend of do it yourselfers wanting to build their own homes, Terry founded Owner Builder Systems, Inc. Between 2002 and 2009 Owner Builder Systems helped 42 homeowners build their own homes in the Houston SMSA. Thru this program, these homeowners saw their equity increase by 15 to 20 percent through this program and two clients started their own home building companies. Recently, Terry and GH Riley has focused its new residential construction efforts as a contract construction manager for hire having built over 80 homes in this capacity for home builders, investors and individuals. Additionally, Terry currently serves his 5th term as publicly elected President of Fort Bend County MUD #19. Terry joins HS Development as Construction Project Manager of HS’s single family build to rent community division.