Jim Chapman is the President of Jim Chapman Construction Group (JCCG), a Build-to-Rent (BTR) general contractor. JCCG’s services can include home design, pre-construction estimating, value engineering and home/lot/amenity general contracting. A graduate of UVA with an MBA from Kenan Flagler, Jim launched his firm in 1998, first building custom homes, then active adult communities and now BTR communities. Licensed as a general contractor in six southeastern states and Indiana, JCCG provides turnkey BTR contracting solutions for institutional investors and private developers alike and is on track to C.O. 900 homes in 2025 and 1,400 in 2026. Since 2021, JCCG has successfully completed and sold eight BTR communities totaling 1,800 units to institutional investors, with eight more currently under construction and 10 in predevelopment.
A dedicated leader in the homebuilding industry, Jim served as president of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association (GAHBA) in 2018 and the Home Builders Association of Georgia (HBAG) in 2020/2021. A strong advocate for the industry, he actively supports membership growth and advocacy efforts. His contributions have earned him the GAHBA Spike Award (2017 and 2022) and the HBAG BEAM Award (2017). Currently, Chapman is a Life Member of the GAHBA BODs, a Life Delegate for the NAHB Leadership Council, a Build PAC trustee with 11 years of Capitol Club membership and the Georgia State Rep. At NAHB, Jim has chaired the 50+ Housing Council, Single Family Builders Committee, Land Development Committee and Build-PAC. He currently serves on the FGAC and Budget and Finance committees.
Q1: Tell us about your background and how you started in the construction industry.
I grew up watching my dad create amazing architectural structures and walking job sites with him – being a home builder seemed natural. I started my career in Atlanta building custom homes and, from there, moved into the active adult market, building entire communities of homes centered around amenities that served as social hubs. After years of creating these larger communities and seeing how vital the lock and leave lifestyle was, I was inspired to develop a rental version. This was several years before build-to-rent (BTR) was even popular. When a plot of land in Athens, Georgia, showed promise in 2017, we started our first community, The Cottages at Ridge Pointe. The 211-home community with a 4,000-square-foot clubhouse, pool and dog park was a huge success, and we have built seven more since.
Q2: What inspired you to launch Jim Chapman Construction Group, focusing specifically on Build-to-Rent (BTR) communities for investors and developers?
One day, my CFO and I had a conversation and realized it made sense to offer our services to others in the Build-to-Rent (BTR) space. In October 2018, we started building the Cottages at Ridge Point in Athens as a beta test. That project sold in March 2021. Throughout this early BTR period, JCCG served as the building / GC partner and focused on evolving into a commercially oriented general contractor (GC). We shifted from simply building lots and homes for sale to constructing homes specifically for rent. This required us to adapt to the financial and operational demands of more commercial projects, such as managing monthly draws on AIA forms and negotiating AIA GMP contracts. This transformation led us to rethink our business entirely. We repositioned the company to be a commercial GC that could serve others in the BTR market. We also rebranded, changing the company name and operations to reflect our new focus. By promoting ourselves as a southeastern GC, we saw opportunities to expand and establish valuable relationships in the industry. Ultimately, the connections I’ve built through our BTR GC company are the foundation of our success, and those relationships remain the most rewarding part of this journey.
Q3: What is your secret sauce?
Relationships with Land / Investment Brokers have been a significant key to JCCG’s success. I value their connections and am happy to pay them referral fees for introductions to institutional investors and private developers of BTR communities.
Q4: Where are you licensed?
We are licensed in seven states — Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Indiana.
Q5: How many build-to-rent communities have you completed?
We have completed eight BTR communities with a total unit count of 1,322. In 2023, we completed 882 homes; in 2024, we built 440; and in 2025 and 2026, we will build 900 and 1,400 homes, respectively.
Q6: Where are you building new communities, and what upcoming projects are in the pipeline?
JCCG is currently building BTR communities in Fort Oglethorpe, Villa Rica, Dawsonville, South Fulton and Port Wentworth, Georgia; Huntsville, Alabama; and Tallahassee, Florida. Additionally, our pipeline includes 1,950 BTR units in Hampton, Richmond Hill and Milledgeville, Georgia; Auburn, Alabama; Wildwood, Florida; Aiken, South Carolina; Yulee, Florida and Sevierville, Tennessee. Several of these are new or expanded markets for JCCG.
Q7: How does JCCG approach working with clients?
JCCG strives to be 100 percent transparent and honest with our clients while treating their dollars as our own. Things will go wrong during development and building, but how you handle it creates opportunities and character. Tell them the truth, even with the little stuff. Also, I give my clients unfettered access to all my employees even when I am not around. You have to hire good staff and trust them. My staff becomes, in essence, my client’s staff, too. It makes a big difference. My entire staff takes ownership of the project and develops one-on-one relationships with the client.
Q8: Building and development have become increasingly challenging. How does JCCG navigate these complexities to ensure project success?
Half of my business is being a developer and finding raw properties that may not be entitled. I entitle and engineer them and take them to several publicly traded companies with a business plan for the property. In these cases, JCCG becomes their de facto developer as well as their BTR general contractor. The other half of the time, I don’t have to fight the zoning or financing fight, and we get to show up and build because someone else has done the predevelopment work. In these cases, JCCG is less of a developer and more of a BTR GC for others. In the last three years, we have experienced rising interest rates and, therefore, increased capital costs. You can’t fight the Fed. You have multiple inputs for a project: land, bricks and sticks and capital costs. Rising capital costs makes money hard to find and expensive. Instead of looking for financing, JCCG focuses on looking for BTR GC projects. We are doing more GC work for others now.
Q9: What distinguishes JCCG from other BTR General Contractors?
Honesty and transparency are huge. To be successful, we focus on this. Additionally, we are homebuilders at our core; we don’t come from a commercial world. We don’t use commercial subcontractors; we use high–volume, high-production residential subcontractors because they are more appropriately priced to the costs needed to make a project work than commercial subcontractors that you might find on stacked 5-story garden apartments. This saves my investor clients’ money in an elevated capital cost environment. This comes from a residential-based model versus a commercial model. This sets us apart and gives us much more competitive pricing. It is a much simpler approach. Like a commercial contractor, we have hired staff for pre-vertical construction and pre-horizontal development dedicated solely to value engineering, getting multiple quotes, offering land planning input and interacting with our investor clients on dozens of calls before the project starts. These people are vital to our clients getting the best costs and the end results they want. They run variable scenarios on various materials, which is a massive advantage for our clients. This approach offers a unique design-build solution. While BTR housing is designed to be cost-effective and straightforward, there are countless ways to create 1,000 to 1,500-square-foot homes that are both practical and visually appealing. At JCCG, we can provide pre-designed plans that investors can review and customize. We don’t charge for using or tweaking our existing plans, nor do we charge for creating entirely new plans for our clients. Every plan we design is build-ready, eliminating the need for costly re-engineering. Our approach ensures efficiency without hidden fees. We license our plans to clients without nickel-and-diming them, delivering high-quality solutions tailored to their needs.
Q10: Why should investors consider partnering with JCCG?
JCCG provides a comprehensive turnkey solution for Build-to-Rent (BTR) projects. We handle every aspect of your development, from lot preparation and home construction to amenity building, simplifying the entire process. Lot development is a critical and complex component. Without the right expertise, it can lead to costly mistakes. Instead of coordinating with multiple entities for lot development, amenity construction, and home building, JCCG offers a seamless, one-stop solution. This integrated approach eliminates the challenges of juggling multiple contractors and ensures a smoother, more efficient process. Partnering with JCCG gives you a significant advantage, delivering expertise and convenience in a single package.
Q11: Talk more about building the amenities and how that works.
Many developers rely on three separate solutions for Build-to-Rent (BTR) projects—often involving smaller, local operators for development, a commercial general contractor (GC) for amenities, and a national builder for the homes. This fragmented approach can lead to inefficiencies and increased costs. At JCCG, we offer a streamlined design-build solution. We can construct from our existing plans or customize amenities to suit the BTR investor’s preferences. By utilizing our residential subcontractors for all aspects of the project, we achieve greater cost efficiency and consistency across the build. What sets us apart is our single-contract approach. We manage the entire project—from lot development to homes and amenities—much like a commercial GC would oversee a garden-style apartment complex. However, we specialize in the BTR space, delivering a cohesive, cost-effective solution tailored to this market.
Q12: The BTR market has proliferated in recent years. How will the market evolve over the next five to 10 years?
We are still in the early stages of the Build-to-Rent (BTR) market, with significant growth and opportunity ahead. Much like Post Apartments in the 1970s might have been dismissed as a fleeting idea, BTR is proving to be a game-changing housing model with strong and growing demand. It offers unmatched flexibility—you can rent for a year, break your lease for a fee, and move on when life changes. This adaptability meets the needs of people across all socioeconomic levels, abilities, and health conditions, providing housing that works for everyone.
BTR is especially appealing because it addresses key gaps in the housing market. Homeownership remains the primary way to build wealth, but not everyone can save for a down payment or qualify for a mortgage in today’s environment. At the same time, many renters choose BTR communities over traditional apartments because they offer the benefits of a home—like a garage, private outdoor spaces, and the security of a neighborhood—without the burden of maintenance.
The demographic appeal of BTR is broad, including single women, widowed or divorced individuals, active adults and young families with children. These renters value the lifestyle advantages of a BTR home, from quieter environments and the absence of stairs to avoiding the challenges of apartment living, such as noise, lack of parking and limited privacy.
While homeownership remains a cornerstone of financial security for many, it isn’t the right fit for everyone. BTR bridges the gap, offering a housing solution that enhances lifestyle, ensures flexibility and meets a critical need in our undersupplied housing market.
Q13: What’s next for Jim Chapman Construction Group? Are there any upcoming expansions or new markets you’re excited about?
Our BTR investor clients are driving JCCG’s expansion as they bring us into new markets to support their growing portfolios. For example, one of our regional commercial developer clients has several projects under contract in Indianapolis, prompting us to obtain licensing in Indiana and begin working there. Additionally, we’re expanding our presence in South Carolina and Tennessee to facilitate BTR projects for other investors.
Florida and North Carolina are also key growth areas where we’re partnering with existing clients who have requested our expertise to execute their projects. This expansion underscores our commitment to providing seamless, high-quality solutions wherever our clients need us, strengthening our relationships and delivering exceptional results across a broader footprint.
