Hundreds of homes are expected to be built at the former Howe Dairy Road property in south Gastonia after the project won Gastonia City Council approval. Phoenix-based real estate company, Suncrest Real Estate and Land, plans to build more than 700 single-family homes and 173 townhomes on 325 acres of land off Neal Hawkins Road, near Martha Rivers Park.

City Council unanimously approved the company’s land annexation and rezoning request at a meeting earlier this month.

“The city staff and Gastonia community members have been excellent to work with in this process,” said Sean Cooney, a managing partner at Suncrest Real Estate and Land. The project, titled Howe’s Landing Residential, will also include a 7-acre pond and an amenities area with a clubhouse, pool, grills and more.

The subdivision will have one homeowner’s association for the entire development and include a trail that extends to Martha Rivers Park. “There will be a lot of fun things to do here for folks,” said Chris Todd, the senior project manager for the project’s civil engineering.

The property could have up to 877 homes including townhomes and individual single-family homes.

Townhomes could range from the $200,000 to more than $300,000 and the single-family homes could start in the $400,000 range. “There will be a lot of fun things to do here for folks,” said Chris Todd, the senior project manager for the project’s civil engineering.

Gastonia resident Jessica Underwood was disappointed City Council gave its OK.

“I think that the traffic is the biggest issue,” said Underwood. “I’m just highly disappointed in our City Council. I do feel like all they care about is bringing in tax money and not thinking about the residents that have to live close to this.” 

Underwood wishes that the developers proposed half the amount of homes that were approved.

“It’s just high density,” said Underwood. “The things that are getting approved are really hurting our county.”

The developers told City Council and community members at meetings that they will comply with any traffic study recommendations.

Gastonia City Council encouraged developers to prioritize alleviating new traffic from the development.

“This looks like one of the better projects that we’ve seen in a long time,” said City Councilman Robert Kellogg. “I think this will be a beautiful community right next to Martha Rivers Park.”

The project consists of a multiphase project with the first phase starting with more than a hundred homes. Developers expect to start construction next spring.