The first homes are on the way in a 1,000-unit community just outside Raleigh.

Suncrest Real Estate’s Brio development in Knightdale is becoming a reality as site work has started. The first phase will be 588 homes built by Pulte Homes and DRB Homes.

Brio is south of Buffaloe Road between Old Milburnie Road and Old Crews Road.

Mark McAuley, director of land development for Suncrest, said the two homebuilders have completed about 40% of the site work. The first homes will be available this fall. Full buildout of the 588 homes will take between two to three years.

Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) is building 267 townhouses and single-family homes. Prices for the townhomes will start in the high $400,000s while the single-family homes will start in the high $300,000s.

Pulte’s homes will be on 91 acres between Old Milburnie Road and Old Crews Road. It paid $13 million for the property.

DRB Homes will build 288 single-family homes and townhomes on 94 acres. The homebuilder has not released listing prices yet. DRB’s homes will be slightly further south with a small portion on the west side of Old Crews Road, but the majority of it falls to the east of Old Crews Road.

Amenities for the first 588 homes include a swimming pool, splash zone, two dog parks, swing pavilion, community garden, fire pit, fitness trail, fitness center and event lawn.

In all Brio will cover 380 acres and have 1,088 homes. Future phases will include 500 age-restricted homes, 100 age-restricted multifamily units and about 4 acres of commercial space.

The homebuilder for the age-restricted homes hasn’t been announced, but construction should start in spring 2026, McAuley said. The age-restricted portion will be north of DRB’s homes.

Amenities for the age-restricted products include a swimming pool, pickleball courts, lawns and fire pits.

The community also has a large amount of open space. About 30% of it is open including both active recreational amenities and preserved open space. Suncrest wanted to focus and preserve active, outdoor living with this community.

TriGate Capital is a development partner on Brio while JPM South is the construction manager.

Suncrest has been working on Brio since 2020 when it began assembling the land. McAuley said the company has worked closely with the Town of Knightdale.

“From the start it was about creating a community that feels active and connected and full of energy,” he said.

“There was a lot of back and forth throughout the process with Knightdale and making sure that we created products that they like — connectivity, open space — a community that blends modern and traditional architectural style. It was a lot of coordination by Knightdale on what they thought would work well here, and creating design standards as part of the master plan that we created to ensure homes flow throughout the neighborhood.”