Multifamily Construction Cost Per Unit in Texas (2026)

What multifamily costs to build in Texas

Multifamily is the most finance-intensive commercial type, and its cost is driven above all by structure type. A wood-frame garden community is the lowest-cost product; a podium or mid-rise with structured parking is materially more expensive and slower to build. Owners often want a single per-unit number, but the honest framing is per square foot tied to structure and finish, then translated to a per-unit and total figure once unit mix and average size are set.

Directional, May 2026: garden and mid-rise multifamily in Texas runs about $270–$380 per square foot, while workforce product can run about $150–$250/SF. A roughly 100-unit community at about 1,000 SF average units lands roughly $27M to $38M for construction before land and financing. Build timelines run 8–18 months depending on scale and structure. These are directional planning ranges subject to final preconstruction review. [Texas multifamily cost benchmarks, May 2026]

What drives multifamily cost

The driver order is structure type first — the swing between garden wood-frame and podium/mid-rise is the single biggest variable — then unit count and mix, then the amenity package, then site and civil work. On a constrained or poor-soils site, the foundation and sitework can move the budget 20% on their own, which is why early geotechnical and civil work belongs in preconstruction, not after design.

• Structure type — wood-frame garden vs. podium/mid-rise (the largest cost and schedule swing).
• Unit count, unit mix, and average unit size.
• Amenity package — clubhouse, pool, fitness, and structured vs. surface parking.
• Site work, detention/drainage, and utility extension — often understated on greenfield sites.
• Financing structure — construction-to-perm, HUD 221(d)(4) or agency for stabilized product.

Financing is part of the cost conversation

Multifamily is where the capital stack and the construction budget are inseparable. Sponsors model construction cost against the loan structure — loan-to-cost, amortization, recourse, and the path from a construction loan to permanent financing. A community that pencils at $30M of construction is, with land, soft costs, and financing carry, a meaningfully larger total project, and the financing terms can make or break the deal's returns.

Pereff is not a lender. What Pereff does is facilitate bank and HUD-insured relationships for qualifying multifamily projects, and bring a defensible construction budget early enough that the sponsor's capital stack is built on real numbers rather than a back-of-envelope per-unit figure. That combination — accurate preconstruction plus facilitated financing relationships — is exactly where the Design-Build-Finance approach earns its place on a multifamily deal.

Where Pereff fits

Pereff delivers multifamily across North Texas and integrates architecture, construction, and financing facilitation under one accountable team — the Design-Build-Finance model that no DFW competitor matches by also facilitating the capital relationships. Highland Crossing Apartments is a real Pereff multifamily project.

On a multifamily deal, the early levers that protect the budget are structure decisions, value engineering, and accurate sitework scoping — all of which happen in preconstruction. Pereff brings those to the table alongside facilitated bank/HUD relationships (Pereff is not a lender), so the sponsor gets a single team accountable from entitlements through certificate of occupancy.