HBW subscribers keeping up with the Atlanta area’s residential building permit activity trends have known about the major housing developments that are currently underway in Forsyth County. Last Friday, another winner was added to the mix. This October, SunBelt Atlanta & Cummings I LLC will begin building an upscale residential community in the Forsyth County town of Cumming. The 143-acre tract was purchased this week from NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Bill Elliott for $120 million. Located off of Matt Highway/State Route 369, the development will host 300 homes priced in the $350k-$500k range.
SunBelt confirms that it will be working with local home builders to construct these dynamic upscale residences in the town of Cumming, a small resort community located on Lake Lanier. This development will be the first of ten projects which SunBelt plans to build over the next two years in the Cumming area. SunBelt Atlanta/Cummings I LLC have retained the legal firm of Boling Rice, LLC, and the engineering firm of Southeastern Engineering, Inc for the project.
According to SunBelt, the project will generate an economic impact of over $200 million and will create at least 900 new jobs. SunBelt Managing Director Gary Allen says that “our vision for this project extends far beyond the mere construction of new homes. It is about building communities in Forsyth County and spurring job creation and growth in the metro Atlanta region.”
As the home buying and residential construction industries have strongly rebounded in the areas north of Atlanta, SunBelt recognized a lot of development potential. This development benefits greatly from the lack of undeveloped “A-grade” real estate locations near Atlanta. The project will also receive a significant boost from the Go Build: Georgia construction trades workforce development program, one of a handful of such programs in the nation working to increase the number of people entering the building trades professions.
This housing development is the second major residential construction project to come to Forsyth this year. In April, development titan Lennar proposed a $280-million community just west of Cumming along Chamblee Gap. Lennar’s development, Mountain Crest, will feature 572 single-family homes and 124 townhomes, along a trail network connecting to the Big Creek Greenway, which will be completed in multiple phases by 2022.