AUSTIN--Atlanta-based Wood Partners LLC is banking on the expanding housing market in the Austin/San Antonio corridor, having recently opened a new office in Austin.

“Austin is a city with rapid growth, a highly-educated pool of local talent, and an incredibly dynamic employment base,” Todd Gaines, Wood Partners director and head of the new office, told GlobeSt.com. “It consistently ranks as one of the highest quality-of-life cities in the country, which is why it's no surprise that people want to live here, and are moving here in droves. This has created a strong demand for new housing of all types, but particularly for multifamily housing, which offers residents a great way to live near many of the amenities that make Austin so unique.”

The Austin launch is the latest city where Wood Partners has expanded; it is also adding offices in Chicago and New Jersey this year, bringing the total to 18 nationwide.

Pursuing more than $1.5 billion of new development and acquisition opportunities in 2015, Wood has the Austin/San Antonio market squarely on its radar.

Market-rate luxury multifamily projects near the downtown core will be a particular focus, says Gaines.

“Opening an office in Central Texas achieves a key strategic objective for Wood Partners--local market coverage in each of the three major Texas metros,” says Todd McCulloch, director of Wood Partners' Texas market. “As a bonus, we are fortunate to be able to open this office with Todd at the helm.”

Gaines, who earned an MBA from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business, said he jumped at the chance to run the Austin office and considers it “a bit of a homecoming.”

Gaines and Gil Dominy, Wood Partners' regional director of construction, will staff the new office, and they expect to hire more, as new development projects go into production.

Wood Partners' Austin office is located at 2009 Ranch Road 620 North.