A shortage of available land is leading two Georgia builders to team up on a townhouse redevelopment in suburban Atlanta.
Scott Hudson and Matt Vyverberg, co-founders of Milepost Development, said they have secured about $19 million in construction financing for Drew Valley Townhomes on Drew Valley Road in Brookhaven, Georgia, northeast of the tony Buckhead neighborhood.
"It's safe to say that this area of Atlanta is running out of land," Hudson told Homes.com. "And yes, when land is available, the acquisition is pretty competitive. That could be said about a lot of pockets in the metro area."
Watkinsville, Georgia, a small town about 60 miles east of Brookhaven, has launched an $80 million redevelopment of a longtime wire manufacturing plant. Plans include townhouses, single-family homes and 225,000 square feet of office and retail space.
Similar redevelopments are happening across the country. Developers are replacing old buildings with homes, shops, restaurants, food halls and apartments as part of "live-work-play" destinations.
The Milepost project includes 43 three- and four-bedroom townhouses and one five-bedroom single-family home. The developer will raze four existing apartment buildings on the 2.5-acre parcel and continue site work for the remainder of the year before starting construction in the first quarter of 2026, Hudson said.
Atlanta inventory rising
Milepost, based in Chamblee, Georgia, hasn't set prices, but they likely will range from the $600,000s to the $700,000s, according to Hudson.
Hudson and Vyverberg founded Milepost in 2021. Harrison Homes, Hudson's 18-year-old homebuilding firm, will build the Drew Valley townhouses. Vyverberg is a multifamily developer and architect.
While demand has slowed for homes in the $2 million price range, the market for townhouses under $1 million in the Atlanta area remains strong, he said.
Still, like other housing markets across the country, the Atlanta metropolitan area has softened recently.
In June, Atlanta's median sale price dropped 3% from June 2024, according to Homes.com data. It was the biggest decline in the country and the worst slide in Atlanta since 2012.
In July, Atlanta's median price fell only 0.4%, but it was still one of 11 U.S. markets with a decline, the data shows. Atlanta's home listings in July rose 36.7% from a year earlier, the fourth-highest increase in the U.S., a Homes.com analysis revealed.
"The increase in inventory is giving buyers more negotiating power," Madelyn Bearn, a director of market analytics for Homes.com and CoStar, said last month.
The Drew Valley townhouses range from 1,865- to 3,000 square feet. All the units will include balconies and two-car garages, and some will have fenced-in yards, Milepost said.
Patterson Real Estate Advisory Group arranged the construction financing through Cadence Bank, with Toccoa Capital Management providing an equity investment, according to Milepost.
