The Johnson family celebrates Accurate Development’s 35th anniversary.
Story By Tracy Dickinson | June 2026
A number of factors testify to Accurate Development’s success: the company’s reputation for top-quality craftsmanship, the high percentage of repeat clients, even its stability during economic downturns.
But perhaps the greatest testament to the company’s success is the presence of Cari Johnson in residential construction and Jared Johnson in development.
President Kevin Johnson, who started the business in 1991, grew up in the development and construction industry, and he raised his own children in the business as well.
Today, 35 years later, both of his children have joined him in leading the company forward. “I made them work almost since the beginning,” Kevin jokes. “They were out there putting out yard signs with me when they were little.”
Neither of his children ever really considered doing anything else. And each has gravitated naturally to the role that best suits each of them. Cari works with residential clients, helping them create their ideal custom home. And Jared leads the land development and lot sales aspect of the business.
“I started on a slightly different route after college doing multifamily in Arizona,” Cari says. “I realized I liked it better working with individual families. I did multifamily here in Iowa, and I was helping out part-time with my mom. But it didn’t take long after I got my real estate license to move over to doing single-family full-time.”
Jared says he never had any interest in working outside the family business. “My first paid job was mowing the developments. Dad would drop me and my mower off in the morning and leave me there all day to mow and then pick me up in the afternoon.”
Because the family has worked together throughout the company’s growth, the transition has been seamless as Cari and Jared have taken on more of the day-to-day leadership.
“They pretty well do their own thing,” says Kevin. “Every business has to have a captain. You can’t have two people making the decisions or three people making the decisions. So she does the houses, and he does the lots and the commercial. And that’s it. They make the decisions.”
The family talks every day. “When we have family dinners, we talk about dinner or about the new grandkids. We don’t talk about work,” says Kevin.
Both Cari and Jared say family is still their favorite part of the job.
“It’s the relationship piece that makes this work,” says Cari. “We have just more open communication compared to other places I’ve worked. Because of our relationship, things are just more natural.”
Jared agrees. “It’s not just the business side of it. It’s just nice seeing everybody every day. We’re a close family, and we even live near each other. Working together is just a normal part of our relationship.”
Kevin says there’s been no need for a succession plan at this point. As Cari and Jared took on more leadership, his role has naturally waned. “I still have my hand in things, but my role is pretty small. Some of the banking relationships and some of the subs are long-term connections I’ve had, but a lot of those folks are retiring,” he says. “The kids are already building new relationships and expanding the number of relationships we have with the trades.”
That natural growth within the company has been reflected in the natural growth of the company itself. Ask any of the family members, and the answer is the same: We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing in the future.
That means creating developments with natural topography, mature trees, and meandering water features. It means building top-quality custom homes that reflect the preferences of the homeowner and the dedication of the builder.
“With any plan we build, you could do 100 different versions of it,” says Cari. “We’re really starting with nothing and working with clients to get a sense of what they need, how they live, what they like. They’re always shocked that we can come up with a plan that’s just what they’re looking for from just walking through four or five houses with them.”
More than three decades of experience have made that possible. And the company’s experience has provided the expertise that enables Accurate to lead the area in development as well.
“The last ten years, we’ve done a lot more lot sales,” Jared says. “That’s been a change since the early days. We’re doing more land development and selling lots to builders rather than hanging on to most of them ourselves.”
Kevin says, “When Jared took over the lot side of the business, we had something like 600 acres of undeveloped land. That can be turned into about twelve hundred lots, and we build twenty houses a year. That’s a lot of land to be holding onto. I told Jared to go develop and sell those lots.”
In 2026 Accurate expects to develop around 175 lots, choosing to keep about 40 and selling the remainder. The company currently has residential developments in West Des Moines, Urbandale, Norwalk, Adel, and Indianola and commercial projects in a number of other communities.
“We don’t build the same home today that we built 35 years ago,” says Kevin. “Cari has changed floor plans, changed elevations. They look a lot different than the houses I was building at the beginning. But the way we build hasn’t changed.”
And in addition to lot development, Jared has expanded Accurate’s commercial development as well.
“They’re not necessarily doing things I wouldn’t have done 30 years ago,” Kevin says with a laugh. “But I wouldn’t be doing today what they’re doing. It takes a lot of energy, and I’m not 30 anymore.”
A lot has changed in 35 years. But the qualities that built Accurate Development into the premier developer and builder in the metro remain the same. And the Johnson family has no intention of doing anything to change that.