The Estridge Group, a fixture in the Indianapolis-area’s homebuilding industry for more than 40 years, is now part
of a Houston-based company.
David Weekley Homes announced Tuesday morning that it has entered the local market by teaming with Carmel-based Estridge
to form Estridge by David Weekley Homes.
Estridge’s decision to team with David Weekley Homes, the nation’s second-largest privately held home builder,
follows Estridge’s struggle in recent months to keep afloat.
Owner Paul Estridge Jr., who will become Indianapolis division president of David Weekley Homes, said in March that he would
be forced to discontinue sales operations within 30 days if he could not line up investors.
Estridge said that he succeeded in raising $4 million in capital to secure construction financing but ultimately chose to
join with David Weekley Homes.
“At the end of the day, the decision was made largely because of the unbelievable respect I have for David Weekley,”
Estridge told IBJ. “Although I have raised the capital, I have very little confidence that the banking environment would
be as such that we could do this on our own going forward.”
Estridge, which traces its roots to 1967, becomes the latest in a string of local home builders to succumb to one of the
worst housing markets in decades. C.P. Morgan Communities LP and Davis Homes folded in 2009, and Hansen & Horn Group Inc.
followed suit in 2010.
Nationally, new-home sales declined from 1.2 million in pre-recession 2005 to 321,000 in 2010. According to the Builders
Association of Greater Indianapolis, home permits during the same five-year period in central Indiana dropped from 13,202
to 3,720.
New-home construction could fall even more this year. Building permits filed in the Indianapolis area during the first three
months of 2011 fell by 31 percent compared with the same period a year ago.
David Weekley Homes, however, is confident it can tap into the Indianapolis market.
“I was intrigued by the idea because I knew we had similar philosophies to business [as Estridge] and saw an opportunity,”
company Chairman David Weekley said in a prepared statement.
Founded in 1976, David Weekley Homes operates in 14 cities across the country and is the latest outside home builder to enter
the Indianapolis market.
Potterhill Homes Ltd. and Fischer Homes Inc., both based in the Cincinnati area, arrived last year.
David Weekley Homes will begin sales next month in Anderson Hall in Fishers and Highland Green in Brownsburg, both Estridge
developments. The company is expected to begin building homes in June.
Estridge had been offering home sites in 17 neighborhoods, according to the company’s website.
Estridge is leaving its headquarters at Clay Terrace in Carmel for 7,500 square feet of space at 1041 W. Main St., also in
Carmel. About six employees will accompany Estridge to the new venture. Estridge said he is hopeful that number could grow
to 24 within the next year.

















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David Weekley is actually a well recognized home builder and is most known for its quality and customer service. Whether or not Paul Estridge will survive with David Weekley will only be told with time.
Sincerely,
A Happy Estridge Customer
First, David Weekley's quote "I was intrigued by the idea. I knew we had similar philosophies to business" (Estridge).....
Words of advice.
Read all the blogs David Weekley, seems there is a lot left to be desired about Mr. Estridge's philosophy and ethics regarding business. A valid track record has been established.
Number two I would rethink the name choice, "Estridge By David Weekley Homes". Agree with the previous blogger, if the media would do a fair and thorough investigation of Estridge's dealings with former customers, I doubt the Weekley company would want their name attached, to the "Estridge" brand.
Paul portrays himself as this great "Christian" man and this great leader but how Christian is it to lie repeatedly at Homeowner's Association meetings and make promises to our faces that he later backs out of? Folks in our neighborhood are dealing with liens against their homes by unpaid subcontractors and Estridge quit paying HOA dues on the same lots he continued to sell and profit off of. This is not the banks fault or the economy...this is a dishonest person with lots of money continuing to get richer off the folks he screwed.
He has used many tactics through the years. He usually employed a crack ,sharp, sales team, well trained in what he calls "The Estridge Home Experience", his team easily seduced customers into thinking they were dealing with a legitimate company. I always found it comical the way his sales team gave Paul a God like aura when speaking of his graces. His communities usually offered fine amenities and it all looked pretty from the outside. The trouble with Paul and his ethics, started the day after a customer signed on the dotted line.
Example the classic "Bait and Switch" scam. Unfortunately, we are elderly people and we fell for it. We were sold on the attached dwelling units as they were promoted as "Maintenance Free". I still have the brochures. We were told, for a quarterly maintenance fee, all outside structures would be taken care of. No worries for homeowner i.e. the maintenance free slogan. Our responsibility, as homeowners, only covered stud to stud. The association would provide all other services outside, with exception of back patio. All we had to maintain was the interior structure and back patio.
Well be did have a problem with the sprinkler system, a broken nozzle sprayed water all over the front of the building, eventually, resulting in lingering mildew, which started on the exterior. Not the home owners problem, right? Thats what we were instructed at closing. 3 months after we bought the property, Paul Estridge, under a general excuse of expanding the needs of the development, REMOVED the clause ,in the covenants, protecting homeowner's liability for any outside damage in attached buildings and slipped in a clause that says essentially any problem, no matter who is at fault (builder, various contractors) are not responsible for any problems on the outside of the building. In other words any outside problem, no matter if it is a construction defect or lack of maintenance is considered to be an interior problem or a homeowners liability. No exceptions. Obviously this is where the bait and switch comes into play. Not only was the clause slipped in with out our knowledge or the knowledge of other tenants, it was done after we purchased the property. No one knew, as the company never bothered to send amended copies, of the covenants, to homeowners, until a new management team came in and took the books over from Estridge.
As Paul lives in his beautiful mansion and finds investors to save his face. My family struggled once again through a cold, drafty winter in a newly constructed home. No answers for why we endure temperatures, in some rooms of 60 degrees on cold nights. Mind you, we went into this venture, trusting this man, so much, we paid him cash. I know stupid and now the best heating source we have is our $65 space heater we purchased from Lowes. I have asked Paul to come by an experience how very cold our house is and what we endure during the winter. Never heard back from him. Though I noticed a couple of years ago he joined HGTV to build an "energy efficient home" for a poor family for charity. He was interviewed at the time and was so pleased the family would be warm during the cold months. He garnered a lot of press for that good deed. My biggest fear, this man will be allowed, unabated, due to private investors and back room deals, to continue constructing these nightmares for unsuspecting customers. He should be ashamed.
Same way the story above implies that Weekley absorbed Estridge. They need to be more specific.
http://centralohionewbuilds.com/home-builder-lays-off-workers-needs-2m-to-stay-afloat/
"Estridge said the $1 billion Symphony development at 146th Street and Ditch Road in Westfield remains unaffected by the Estridge Groupâ??s struggles. He also stressed that his familyâ??s other business, Estridge Custom Galleries, is still strong."
http://www.ibj.com/home-builder-estridge-promises-to-finish-homes-fight-on/PARAMS/article/26010
"He laid out three primary options for his home-seeking clients, he said: Get a refund for deposits on houses not yet started, have the homeowner provide financing for construction costs upfront, or transfer the contract to one of two companies owned by his brothers-in-law (Estridge Custom Galleries and Coronado Custom Homes)."
Is this true or are all 3 companies now defunct? Also, the IBJ also has an article today that says that Estridge is now part of Houston based Weekley Homes. The sentence below implies that the company has been absorbed by Weekley. Does that mean that Weekly absorbs all the warranties?
"The Estridge Group, a fixture in the Indianapolis-areaâ??s homebuilding industry for more than 40 years, is now part of a Houston-based company."
This implies that Weekley Homes is buying Estridge. This is very confusing. If this is the case does that mean Weekley Homes is honoring all the outstanding warranties?
Perhaps its not the banking industry that's the problem, its a company that was run into the ground by the largess of it's owner.