A national homebuilder is planning to continue its recent push in the Triad with a new community with more than 400 single-family and townhome units.
The Greensboro Planning and Zoning Commission recently approved a request made by Pulte Homes to annex and zone 71 acres located at 5936 Burlington Road and 626 Knox Road in Guilford from County Agricultural to City Planned United Development. The permitted uses of the land would be limited to single-family homes, townhomes and accessory uses.
The board's approval is a recommendation to the Greensboro City Council, which will make the final decision about the request.
The properties are west of Knox Road and south of Burlington Road in McLeansville.
The development would be called Pulte Knox Road and consist of up to 210 single-family homes and 193 townhomes, according to the staff report created by the Greensboro Planning Department. Two access points into the community are proposed on Knox Road and the expected completion year of the development is 2028, according to the report.
The previous zoning of the property would have allowed for 1.1 units per acre while the new zoning allows for 4.95 units per acre.
Attorney Tom Terrell of the Greensboro law firm Fox Rothschild spoke at the meeting on behalf of Chris Raughley for Pulte Home Company. He said what makes the request significant is its location — since it is east of Greensboro, it is close to where jobs are coming into the region and will fill "what are clearly some growth gaps."
He noted that the site is in a Growth Tier 1 area, which means it already has infrastructure systems in place and can economically supported and that the city will encourage continued annexation of the area over the next six years.
Lois R. Miles, a current property owner representing the Estate of Daphne R. Miles, spoke in favor of the project. She echoed Terrell's sentiments that the community will be well-positioned for the growing area, as it is adjacent to the Publix Distribution Center and the Stoney Creek Whitsett Commercial Area.
"I believe that this project is one of the best uses for the land, much better than some industrial or commercial enterprises that could be asked to be approved," she said.
One neighbor of the property did speak at the meeting expressing concerns about the traffic along Knox Road, but said she was not opposed to the rezoning request as a whole.
PulteGroup is based in Atlanta and is the nation's third largest homebuilder. Triad Business Journal reported in 2021 that the company would be returning to the region with Falls Grove, a planned community in High Point consisting of 123 townhomes and 23 single-family detached homes. Pulte has sold 60 homes since the community opened at the beginning of the year, with prices starting in the mid-$300,000.
In southwest Guilford, Pulte is working on its Mackay Pointe townhome community in Jamestown, located off Mackay Road. The last section of the development is currently selling, according to the community's website, with townhomes ranging from 1,470 to 1,805 square feet and prices starting from $299,000.
In June, the City-County Planning Board of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County approved PulteGroup's subdivision Bethania Forest, located at on 243.12 acres on the east side of Bethania Road and at the northern terminus of Bethabara Road. The subdivision is slated to include 594 homes with a density of 2.44 units per acre.
In January, the Greensboro Planning and Zoning Commission also approved annexation and rezoning requests the would allow Pulte to build a development off Pleasant Ridge Road, just west of the Piedmont Triad International Airport. Kye Bunker, Land Acquisition Manger for the Triad division of PulteGroup, previously told TBJ that the community would be a combination of single-family homes and townhomes and would have a maximum of 375 units, including 110 homes.
Pulte Homes also started selling into Barrow Farms in Kernserville, which is its third new Triad development, in December. The community consists of 33 homes with prices also starting in the mid-$300,000s.