New housing is coming to a college town in northeast Georgia as a developer prepares an 84-acre site for a major U.S. builder.
Trilogy Investment Co. started work recently on readying land off U.S. Route 129 in Athens, Georgia, for lots where houses are planned. Trilogy said it has a deal to sell the first of the 184 house sites to Lennar at the end of 2025. The Postero development is expected to be complete by 2027.
The development is about 70 miles northeast of Atlanta and home to the University of Georgia's main campus. The pricing and types of residences planned for the development have not been disclosed.
Alpharetta, Georgia-based Trilogy primarily builds houses to rent, but this is one of several sites it is selling to homebuilders that sell their properties instead of renting. The company said the build-to-rent concept does not work financially in some smaller markets where rent growth is moderating as supply increases.
"Partners like Lennar allow us to remain nimble and make decisions that offer our investors the best return while continuing to build attainable housing,” Trilogy CEO Jason Joseph said in a statement. “Postero will bring 184 single-family homes to an area experiencing significant demand.”
Miami-based Lennar, founded in 1954, targets first-time, move-up and 55-and-over buyers. Its $32.4 billion in revenue was the highest of any U.S. homebuilder last year, according to Builder Magazine, and its 73,087 home sales in 2023 ranked second to D.R. Horton, another one of the country's largest homebuilders.
Athens, known as the Classic City, is undergoing a downtown revitalization with new shops, restaurants and cafes. Growth is also occurring in areas near Athens.
In neighboring Watkinsville, a town of about 3,000 residents, the Atlanta-based Monte Hewett Homes and Bluepoint Construction Southeast are building townhouses and single-family houses. The $13 million venture is part of the 66-acre Wire Park, an $80 million redevelopment of a longtime wire manufacturing plant.