Dallas-based multifamily investment firm S2 Capital has acquired Fort Worth-based Fort Capital.

The acquisition, expected to close next week, includes Fort Capital’s operating company but not its real estate assets. Fort Capital brings with it an 11 million-square-foot industrial portfolio — largely concentrated in Texas — and a 50-person investment team.

In an interview with Bisnow, Fort Capital founder Chris Powers called the deal an “exciting step.” According to reports, Powers will stay on in an advisory role for six months but will not be staying on permanently.

“I’m grateful for the team at Fort and what we’ve accomplished over the last 15 years,” Powers said on Linkedin. “I’ve known and admired [S2 CEO] Scott Everett for a long time and in some ways could say a deal like this was years in the making. By combining forces with S2 Capital, we’re further positioned to build a world class industrial investment platform and team. The best is yet to come!”

CoStar was the first to report on the deal.

Powers’ real estate journey began when he was just 17, buying a rental home near TCU, where he was a student.  During those college days, he built a small portfolio, acquiring 12 more properties before graduating in 2008. After college, he launched a leasing and property management business and began flipping houses near campus. When the housing crisis hit, his focus shifted to foreclosed homes across DFW, then custom homebuilding, and eventually land development and entitlement — assembling unentitled urban parcels and taking them through the zoning process.

In 2015, he pivoted toward asset ownership, telling Juniper Square he was placing a bet on industrial real estate tied to the growing ecommerce and infrastructure sectors. He focused on tenants involved in roofing, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies — businesses that maintain and build the physical world — and began acquiring the warehouses, plants, and distribution facilities they operated in.

Since then, Fort Capital has executed more than $2.1 billion in transactions, totaling over 21 million square feet, and has raised $403 million in equity.

In 2024, the firm was the fastest-growing private real estate company in the southwest U.S., according to Inc. magazine, and 41st in the country.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on being entrepreneurial, strategic, and forward-thinking — and those values are deeply aligned with S2’s approach,” Powers said to Bisnow. “This partnership supercharges what both platforms can accomplish.”

The transaction marks S2 Capital’s entry into the industrial real estate market.

Under S2’s ownership, Fort Capital will focus on acquiring and managing value-add and core-plus industrial assets in high-growth U.S. markets, with a particular emphasis on shallow-bay infill properties, according to Bisnow.

“We’re thrilled this acquisition allows us to provide an additional strategy for our investors who are seeking to enhance their portfolio returns in a high-growth sector with needs-based resiliency,” said S2 CEO Scott Everett.

S2 is appointing two new leaders to run the industrial platform alongside Everett. Chris Roach, former CEO of real estate appraisal firm BBG, will serve as president. Parker McCormack, who was a senior director in JLL’s Dallas office, steps in as chief investment officer, a role he has held at S2 since early this year.

S2 Capital currently owns a 28,000-unit multifamily portfolio valued at approximately $5 billion and has acquired $7.5 billion and sold over $3 billion in multifamily assets, according to the company.