Legacy Performance Capital was founded four years ago in Austin, Texas, to develop mostly residential projects in and around its backyard. But the firm has already surpassed its growth intentions so much it's hiring its first chief operating officer.

Tommy Tucker joined Legacy Performance Capital to oversee day-to-day operations and assist the company with acquisitions, zoning and overall execution of projects as it seeks its next iteration of growth, including looking at expanding into additional Texas markets such as Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.

Some of the developer's projects include The Station at St. Elmo, a 136-unit condominium development in South Austin that Legacy Performance Capital invested $40 million into last year.

Joining Legacy Performance Capital as it progresses on a multifamily project in South Austin and a master-planned development in Lakeway, Texas, an affluent bedroom community west of Austin on Lake Travis, seemed like a good fit for Tucker.

“What attracted me to Legacy Performance Capital is the platform projects that are ongoing, under construction or soon to be under construction, with many more opportunities on the way," Tucker said in an interview with CoStar News. "It’s a dynamic group doing deals inside the city, as well as suburban deals. My role will be chief operating officer, so I will be working to be a senior leader and lead the growth of this company in the years going forward.”

Legacy Performance Capital CEO and founder Philip Jalufka said the company needed someone who could lead the organization to new opportunities.

“There is a great need for what we do and we’re not going anywhere anytime soon,” Jalufka said. “We have a lot of work on our plate and a lot of work in our future that Tommy’s leadership would further define as we move through the current dynamic marketplace.”

Metropolitan Austin's population jumped 33% over the past decade, reaching nearly 2.3 million residents in 2020, making it the No. 2 fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country in that time.

And unlike other companies that might be rushing to capitalize on Austin's growth, Legacy Performance Capital’s leadership is being methodological in its vision and execution and taking its time to pick the right deals.

“We look at every deal autonomously. I can sit here and tell you we have this business plan of 50 deals in front of us, but we’re looking for the next right deal,” Jalufka said. “We refer to them, from a structural standpoint, as a ‘single and double.’ A single and double means that it’s a boutique or a unique market or sub-marketplace in or around Central Texas, at least for right now, where we can get in an entitlement, horizontally and vertically construct, and exit in three to five years.”

The process seems to be working so far, and some of Legacy Performance Capital's next deals could be outside the Austin market, Jalufka said.

“As a result of our expansion and the growth of our leadership team to include the likes of Tommy, we have our eyes set on additional submarkets and additional Texas markets," Jalufka said.

Tucker, a Houston native who has a law degree from the University of Houston, is joining the company with years of experience in developing high-profile master-planned projects across Texas. One of those developments was the conversion of Austin’s former Mueller Airport into a 700-acre mixed-use project with thousands of housing units and retail, office and medical space.

Tucker helped bring the new Mueller District to life during his time as vice president at Oakland, California-based Catellus Development. The Mueller development was instrumental in changing the course of Austin’s growth, according to Tucker.

“The thing that was unique about Mueller is they took a development of traditional neighborhood design and brought it to … the old airport. They were able to integrate commercial, mixed-use, high-density, institutional uses and affordable housing programs. It packs a lot of punch in a small area,” Tucker said. “I was able to work on both residential and retail development. I learned a lot. It was a fun project to work on while I was there.”

Tucker's other past positions include vice president and general manager at Houston-based Johnson Development Corp., which has developed some of the fastest-growing master-planned developments in the suburbs on the outskirts of Houston.

He also oversaw residential development in Austin for Crescent Communities, a developer based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that builds master-planned and multifamily projects across the nation.

"Given my experience with urban and suburban deals, I was very attracted" to coming on board with Legacy Performance Capital, Tucker said.