After partnering on two projects, investment firm Hunt Cos. liked what it saw and acquired Atlanta-based development firm Carter.
Hunt Cos. — an El Paso, Texas-based holding company with a broad portfolio of holdings, including in construction, single-family rentals, infrastructure and minor league baseball — secured a majority stake in Carter by buying out Bob Peterson, the firm’s longtime CEO.
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Peterson is retiring as part of the deal, and Scott Taylor, a senior executive with more than 20 years at Carter who had also been acting as CEO, will take over day-to-day operations. Financial details or the size of Hunt’s stake were not disclosed.
“We’re a small entrepreneurial company able to do large deals, and this will give us even more of an ability to do mixed-use projects and projects that take a while to come to fruition,” Peterson said in an interview Monday.
Peterson declined to comment on the size of his stake or what Hunt paid but said he has no remaining shares and is no longer an employee at the firm. A spokesperson for Hunt declined to provide financial details on the deal.
“Carter brings decades of experience and an impressive track record in real estate development,” Hunt President Ryan McCrory said in a statement. “Our successful collaborations demonstrate the strong foundation we already share. With this partnership, we’re leveraging our combined strengths to accelerate growth while maintaining focus on quality, innovation, and sustainability.”
The two firms are currently partnered together on a 22-acre mixed-use project called Lake Wire in Lakeland, Florida. The project, which broke ground in Feb. 2023, is set to include 630 multifamily units and 30K SF of retail.
The first building in the project, a 300-unit luxury apartment building called Prospect Lake Wire, opened in late 2024. The pair had previously built the 180-unit DeSota in 2017 in Sarasota, Florida.
Carter will continue operations and the rest of its management will remain in place, Peterson said, adding that the deal was meant to provide scale to the firm.
“Partnering with Hunt represents an exciting new chapter for Carter,” Taylor said in a statement. “Hunt’s strategic expertise, financial strength, and commitment to long-term growth align perfectly with our mission to deliver extraordinary mixed-use and residential projects.”
Walking away wasn’t easy for Peterson, 73, who said that he will probably check in on old coworkers, now friends, from time to time.
“After being there for 23 or 24 years, I'll hang around to the point where I hope I'm not annoying anybody, but I'll be around occasionally,” he said. “Let’s just say, they don't need me with Scott Taylor's leadership, they don't need me.”
Over Peterson’s tenure, the firm invested $1.5B in multifamily, mixed-use and office real estate and launched two nontraded REITs that have invested $3.5B in healthcare and data center assets across the U.S.
Carter currently has more than $1B in active development across the Southeast, according to the company.
Hunt is a diversified holding company with a focus on real estate, infrastructure and financial services. It has investments in more than a dozen companies, including six in-house firms that specialize in housing loan syndication, development and military housing.
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