‘Starting in mid $400s’: Developer plans 102 townhomes for Durham-Chapel Hill border
A 102-unit townhome community is coming to a fast-growing corridor on the border of Chapel Hill and Durham.
California-based homebuilder Tri Pointe Homes is preparing to build a new subdivision, called Twinleaf Townes, after purchasing close to 8.5 acres of mostly wooded land along Crescent Drive for around $5.9 million.
First units are expected to be complete by late 2024 or early 2025, Tri Pointe Homes land acquisition director Amanda Hoyle told The N&O. Pricing will start in the “mid-$400,000s.”
Described as a “blue-chip” location just off I-40, the property sits in Durham County but comes with a Chapel Hill postal address. Both UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University are about a 10-minute drive.
It’s also situated in the Leigh Village Compact Neighborhood, which is earmarked for high-density housing and mixed use.
Filling a ‘void’
The developer’s plans come as the Triangle faces a critical housing shortage. The Raleigh metro area alone needs at least 17,000 more units, according to a recent Zillow study.
While most builders are still focused on bringing single-family homes to the Triangle’s outlying suburbs, Hoyle said townhomes are the “best match” for this piece of land, which is zoned for “12 units per acre.”
“It’s a compact neighborhood. But the land is so expensive now in the Triangle’s inner core, like Raleigh, Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill, that in order to make the project pencil out, you’re pretty much required to do townhomes.”
With the region’s low housing inventory, higher-end, “urban-style” townhomes like these are also growing in demand for buyers who can’t afford single-family homes. They’re also an option for those opting to downsize or prefer lower maintenance. It fills a “void” in the market, she said.
“Buyers have so few options of other types of housing right now, a lot of them by default are having to go look at new construction,” she said.
The townhomes will be three-story with two-car garages. There will be a choice of five floor plans ranging from 2,100 to 2,300 square feet.
Hoyle didn’t disclose the project’s price tag, but said construction is slated to start this fall. “We’ll expect to start moving dirt pretty soon.”
It’s the latest in a string of investments for the national home construction company. Since 2018, it’s been expanding its presence in the Triangle. It currently has five active communities in Raleigh, Wake Forest, Pittsboro, Apex and Fuquay-Varina.
In the coming year, it plans to open three more townhome communities: Tredenham in Durham with 66 units; Elm Park in Raleigh with 63 units; and Holding Village Lakeside in Wake Forest with 33 units.
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