A residential developer that focuses on master-planned projects appears to be targeting a large site in Gaston County for another one.
On March 3, the Gastonia Planning Commission will hold a public hearing for annexation and assignment of zoning requests for a nearly 326-acre site on Howe Dairy Road. The request is being made by Suncrest Real Estate & Land, which is proposing a project at the site that would include up to 877 residential units, city documents state.
Arizona-based Suncrest is proposing both attached and detached homes at the site south of Gastonia. The plans call for 173 attached homes with the remaining 704 residential units being detached single-family homes, according to a planning staff report available in commission records. The city’s planning staff has recommended approval of Suncrest’s request.
Site plans indicate the project, which would be developed in multiple phases, would be called Howe’s Landing. The land currently has several owners, including Howe Farm Partners LLC, Kenneth L. Howe Sr. and Eleanor O. Howe, and Southwood Realty Co., city documents show. A transportation impact analysis for the project estimates it would be built out in 2027.
Suncrest’s land is currently under Gaston County’s jurisdiction and is zoned for single-family and multifamily residential uses. The developer’s requests seek to annex the property into the city, after which it would need to be given a zoning designation there. Suncrest is seeking a designation of “Planned Development-Revised Residential Development District” for the property.
Planning commission documents state that the requests are tentatively scheduled to go before Gastonia City Council for another public hearing on April 18.
Suncrest first entered the Charlotte market over three years ago with plans for another big project in Gaston County. That master-planned residential project, which is along Union New Hope Road in Gastonia, is now named Nolen Farm and calls for hundreds of homes to be built by both Meritage Homes Corp. and D.R. Horton Inc.
Suncrest specializes in master-planned communities, and its portfolio includes projects in North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Arizona, according to its website.
