Alan Stalcup, CEO of GVA Property Management in Austin, has attributed his firm’s recent investment losses to challenging market conditions rather than fraud allegations raised by investors. In an interview with the Austin Business Journal, Stalcup responded to accusations from investor Bryan Kastleman, who claims that GVA and its leadership falsified financial records and misused funds for personal gain. Kastleman invested $11.3 million in several GVA projects and alleges the firm manipulated financial statements to secure and refinance loans. In response, GVA and Stalcup have denied these allegations and filed a countersuit against Kastleman for defamation and business disparagement.
Stalcup is also facing legal action from Benefit Street Partners, a private lender based in New York, as well as an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in January regarding alleged misappropriation of up to $100 million from investors.
Despite ongoing lawsuits and countersuits, Stalcup maintains that external economic factors are responsible for the firm’s difficulties. He cited rising interest rates, inflation, increased costs such as labor and insurance, and a significant increase in apartment supply across Sun Belt cities as primary reasons for declining property values. “Not only do the valuations go down, but debt service went up, and we’re fighting costs of inflation, labor, property tax and insurance,” said Stalcup. “Then supply really kicked in in 2023 and 2024.”
Industry experts note that markets like Austin experienced an oversupply of apartments after years of rapid population growth during the pandemic. Patton Jones of Newmark’s Central Texas office told the publication that about 50,000 units were under development entering 2024. This surge led to lower rents at a time when borrowing costs were increasing—a difficult situation for owners with high levels of debt.
According to Stalcup, GVA’s problems were exacerbated because most acquisitions—about $4 billion worth—occurred after the pandemic began. As market conditions worsened post-2022 due to Federal Reserve interest rate hikes and falling valuations (some dropping by up to 40 percent), nearly all older properties acquired by GVA became unprofitable.
The company defaulted on several loans tied to San Antonio properties such as Solara, Bella Madera, and Melia Apartment Homes while selling other assets below their assessed value. The total number of managed apartments dropped from approximately 30,000 units at its peak to around 5,000 currently.
Since last year, GVA has been seeking sales opportunities, recapitalizations with new equity partners, and negotiations with lenders; however, many lenders declined requests to modify existing loans which led some properties into foreclosure proceedings. Despite these setbacks, Stalcup stated that GVA still employs about 150 people managing what he described as a stabilized core portfolio.
The legal disputes between Kastleman’s group and GVA remain unresolved pending court decisions on both parties’ claims. Meanwhile, Stalcup said his firm is waiting out upcoming debt maturities with hopes that asset values will recover before major loan deadlines arrive around 2028.
