Sales are due to start next year in a mixed-use development outside Dallas that's earmarked for 5,000 single-family homes, including 600 for “active adult” buyers.
The first phase at Lakesong, located in the Texas cities of Midlothian and Grand Prairie, is planned to include 400 homes and an amenity center, according to master developer Huffines Communities.
The company expects to turn over lots to DRB Homes, Castlerock Communities, Chesmar Homes, Sandlin Homes and First Texas Homes by the summer, Kellie Outland, Huffines' marketing manager, told Homes.com. While it's too early to set exact prices, the homes likely will be in the $400,000s and up, she said.
Atlanta-based PulteGroup’s Del Webb brand will build the active adult component targeting 55-and-over buyers, although it's unclear when construction will start at Del Webb at Lakesong Village, Outland said. Those homes will have two- and three-bedroom floor plans, and the project will have its own amenity center.
Midlothian and Grand Prairie are in Ellis County, nearly 30 miles south of Dallas. In recent years, much of the development in the Dallas half of the Metroplex has crept north, closer to the Oklahoma state line, and that's led some developers to look elsewhere, noted Danny Khalil, associate director of market analytics for Homes.com.
"With commute times reaching one hour or more in the northern suburbs of Dallas in some cases, there has understandably been a willingness of new residents to explore options to the south and east in recent years," he said.
While the Dallas metropolitan area is one of the nation's fastest-growing regions, migration has slowed recently amid tepid job growth, according to a report this month from the Residential Strategies consulting firm.
Softer demand has homebuilders cutting into profits to offer incentives and boost sales, the report noted.
Even as the market sputters now, Dallas remains a coveted destination over the long term, necessitating thousands of new homes to address a housing shortage, according to Brad Hunter, head of the Hunter Housing Economics consulting firm.
"In 12 to 18 months from now, it will feel a lot different," Hunter said in an August interview.
At full build-out, the 2,700-acre Lakesong is expected to have 2,000 apartments and 40 acres of commercial uses, in addition to the homes, amenities and a network of parks and trails, Huffines said.