A 13-year-old, master-planned development outside Dallas is entering the next phase of development.
Toronto-based Mattamy Homes said it is building 137 homes at The Bridges at Preston Crossings in Gunter, Texas, about 50 miles north of downtown Dallas.
The first sales for the one- and two-story houses on 50-foot lots are expected to be completed in February, a Mattamy spokesperson said in an email. Prices will start in the mid-$300,000s, and the homes will range from about 1,800 to $2,900 square feet.
The Bridges already has more than 300 households, and "Mattamy is positioned to perform well," even as sales and construction soften for Dallas-area homebuilders, said Ted Wilson, principal of the Residential Strategies consulting firm, in an email.
Master developer Centurion American Development Group acquired the land for the Bridges in 2012, but the project has been slow to develop because Gunter has always been more of a peripheral market, Wilson noted.
With new communities being developed to the south, demand and development in Gunter will continue to increase, he said.
Development will have 1,000 homes
Centurion said it expects to turn over all lots on the more than 200 acres to homebuilders within five years. The Bridges will ultimately have 1,000 homes, according to Centurion.
Centurion targets "high-quality living environments that combine lifestyle, value and long-term growth for the cities we serve,” CEO Mehrdad Moayedi said in a statement.
For instance, residents can access a nearby 18-hole semi-private golf course and a 6,000-square-foot clubhouse.
Other Centurion developments in Grayson County include Cottonwood in Dorchester, Texas, and Platinum Ranch in Gunter.
Gunter is connected to emerging communities along State Highway 287, including Celina and Prosper, two of the fastest-growing towns in the country, according to Bill Kitchens, a senior director of market analytics for Homes.com.
The Sherman-Denison metropolitan area, including Grayson County, is poised for even more growth "following a series of economic development announcements that are expected to bring more demand for housing in the coming years, including Texas Instruments and Globitech, both of which are investing heavily in the town," Kitchens said.