“Starting DLP Capital was deeply rooted in my personal journey and what I stand for as a testament to the New American Dream,” says Wenner. “I come from humble beginnings, where I faced many challenges and adversity in my early life.”
Born in Bethlehem, PA, when his parents were just 16 years old, he found himself a child of divorce at an early age—and lived in more than 30 homes by the time he turned 17. No one in his family had ever attended college or owned a business.
“The odds were stacked against me,” he says. “But rather than let those experiences bring me down, I learned the value of resilience, ambition, and setting clear intentions to overcome these obstacles.”
In 2006, Wenner founded DLP Capital—“Dream, Live, Prosper”—as a small, residential real estate sales firm in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. Within five years, he had expanded the firm to include an investment portfolio of real estate rentals. Soon after, he added a lending firm and construction affiliates, growing the company to more than 100 employees.
For 11 consecutive years, the firm, now headquartered in St. Augustine, FL, has ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of “Fastest Growing Private Companies in America”—among the few on the list to achieve consistent growth.
DLP Capital Sponsored Funds focus on impact investments, which aim to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. The firm’s core focus is financing, developing, constructing, and operating safe, attainable rental housing communities for America’s workforces, including multifamily and single-family rental communities.
“As part of this, we’ve created our own model for rental housing communities called Thriving Communities. These communities are places where people want to build a life, not just live,” says Wenner.
“The impact of Thriving Communities isn’t just for residents—we believe these communities can make a difference in the lives of DLP Capital investors, as well. As we develop these communities, we create value that can increase net operating income, which also creates the potential for greater returns for our investors.”
The Thriving Community model can potentially drive net operating income (NOI) in several ways, says Wenner. The combination of affordability and community helps to extend tenancy for residents, reducing vacancies while minimizing the costs of turning over units between leases.
Increased resident satisfaction helps to drive referrals and increase positive online reviews, creating consistent demand and ongoing lease-up. At the same time, offering rents 30% below the area median income (AMI) helps to keep down rent delinquencies, as does the residents' favorable opinion of their community.
As a result, DLP Capital has a track record of delivering double-digit growth, according to its quarterly reports, with targeted annual returns between 9-13%. “This history of strong returns highlights the reliability and profitability of investing with us,” says Wenner.
What makes DLP Capital different, he adds, is that DLP Capital Sponsored Funds have an evergreen structure, “which serves as a huge benefit to our investors because they’re not locked into a long-term investment.”
Investors can redeem their capital if needed without having to wait a set number of years. “Additionally, DLP Capital Sponsored Funds span the risk-reward spectrum, offering investors greater flexibility in finding a solution that matches their risk tolerance, ” he says.
Wenner also wants to make a difference in other ways, too. “I am committed to empowering others to achieve success levels that mirror the transformative journey I have experienced.”
To do that, he’s created blueprints for building and scaling elite, entrepreneurial organizations. The culmination of this initiative is DLP Capital’s Elite Execution System, or EES, a roadmap to help teams get on track by focusing on specific, measurable goals to reach maximum growth and profitability.
It’s a system he uses within DLP Capital. “This system, centered around disciplined thought, disciplined people and disciplined action, helps our team set and achieve goals, communicate and solve problems,” he says. “We focus on a culture of achievement and invest heavily in our people and our culture.”
Wenner elaborates on this system in his bestseller, Building an Elite Organization: The Blueprint to Scaling a High-Growth, High-Profit Business. DLP Capital also offers EES tools to its Elite Members to help them scale their business, hire quality team members and organize their systems to enhance growth.
Wenner currently resides in St. Augustine, FL, and Asheville, NC, with his wife and three sons. When he’s not busy building a $500 billion company—and helping others build theirs—he enjoys devouring books, traveling, hiking, biking and coaching his kids’ sports teams.
“I’ve taken what I think most would consider a childhood filled with obstacles and pulled some incredible life lessons from those experiences. I could have easily used those challenges as excuses, and I think many fall into that trap,” says Wenner.
“But I chose not to make excuses for myself and, rather, use those as the catalyst for my success. I’m building a legacy that will one day outlive me and hopefully benefit my kids, their kids and so on, and I’m extremely proud of that.”
