St. Pete homebuilding companies merge

St. Petersburg-based residential real estate companies Canopy Builders and Brick Street Homes are merging – allowing them to expand their portfolio and deliver more homes. 

Canopy Builders has built 135 homes and has 100 units planned for 2023. 

“With this merge, Canopy Builders can better serve our customers, employees and the neighborhoods we build in,” owner Ben Gelston said in a statement. “Building homes that complement the existing architecture of our St. Pete neighborhoods has always been a core mission of Canopy Builders.”

The company was founded in 2013 by Ben and Lauren Gelston. From its 2013 founding to today, the family-run company has designed custom homes, pre-designed homes and townhome projects. It’s known for rebuilding irreparable homes. While the company has been active throughout Tampa Bay, it’s focused its operations on St. Pete for the past several years by constructing homes in neighborhoods such as Old Northeast and Kenwood. 

The home at 17th Ave. NE that was designed by Canopy Builders.

The merge, announced this month, comes only two years after the launch of Brick Street Homes, run by husband-and-wife duo Tony and Kate Mullersman. Brick Street Homes has developed 17 homes and has 16 more homes under construction. 

“Tony and I hit off with many informal conversations about good design and architecture in the context of St. Pete. Tony has an eye for building quality [homes], and it showed in the work he did in Gainesville and the projects he’s built in St. Pete,” Ben Gelston said in a video announcement. 

“Since we started Brick Street Homes, Ben has been rooting for our success. He’s always been very helpful in sharing with us his business knowledge,” Tony Mullersman said in the same video. “As a small business owner with four employees, we are kind of doing a little bit of everything … we realized one day, if we combined forces, it would allow us to create a better business.” 

Through the merger, Brick Street Homes’ employees will relocate to Canopy’s office at 1900 Dr. M.L.K. Jr. St. N. Combined, the merged group will have 14 employees. 

Tony Mullersman will focus on project management while Ben Gelston will concentrate on the sales and marketing component. 

“We will be able to focus on customer service, and offer a tremendous amount of new floorplans, new elevations, and new architecture,” Ben Gelston said. “The combination of these two companies is going to open up a lot of opportunities to expand those offerings and that brand can extend into the future and further develop [us] as one of the most consequential builders in the region.”