Mecklenburg County’s most active homebuilder has secured a large swath of land for a new project in Kannapolis.
Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) plans to build homes and townhomes on a 106-acre site that’s less than 2 miles from the N.C. Research Campus. The Kannapolis City Council approved a development agreement last year with Suncrest to allow for significant residential development there.
The site was previously owned by Arizona-based Suncrest, which acquires land and works with homebuilders to develop it. Suncrest previously secured approvals to allow for hundreds of homes and townhomes to be developed at the site, known as Bakers Creek. It is south of West 21st Street near downtown Kannapolis and is approved for 207 single-family homes and 134 townhomes.
An entity named DRP NC 4 LLC, which is affiliated with asset manager DW Partners, acquired a 99-acre site from Suncrest for over $8.6 million earlier this month, real estate records show. DW Partners is working with Lennar, Suncrest confirmed. The remaining 7 acres will be owned by a homeowner association, Suncrest added.
Suncrest has announced that model homes will be ready at the property in early 2026. Prices for the townhomes are expected to start in the low $300,000s, while the single-family homes would start in the mid-$300,000s.
“Kannapolis is a strategic market for Lennar given its commitment to growth and development of the town’s commercial core,” said Matt Pannell, Lennar vice president of land acquisition, in a news release.
Kannapolis’ downtown revitalization effort, which is centered around Atrium Health Ballpark, has drawn hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in recent years. The N.C. Research Campus is expected to get a new influx of interest as well, after Charlotte-based Insite Properties struck a deal last year to acquire Castle & Cooke’s land holdings in the city.
Pannell said the momentum in Kannapolis “will be a huge attraction to businesses and homebuyers alike.”
Lennar came in at No. 1 on the Charlotte Business Journal‘s most recent list ranking Mecklenburg County’s largest single-family homebuilders by number of permits pulled in 2022. Suncrest is active in the Charlotte region also with a significant footprint in Gaston County, among other locations here.
Charlotte Business Journal