Over-55 community with nearly 1,000 homes breaks ground south of Atlanta
Pickleball, pools and a private lake.
These are a few features of a more than 450-acre retirement community set to rise in Newnan, about 40 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta.
Atlanta-based PulteGroup, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, said Wednesday it has broken ground on a new project under its Del Webb brand. The Coweta County development is geared toward “active adults” or those aged 55 or older, a fast-growing segment of the U.S. population.
Called Del Webb Southern Oaks, the project will feature more than 950 homes anchored by an 11-acre lake. It will take shape near the intersection of I-85 and Ga. 34.
The single-story houses will range from 1,500 to 2,700 square feet, with two to four bedrooms. PulteGroup said the homes would be offered in “various price points” but declined to give the exact figures.
At Del Webb Chateau Elan, an existing Georgia community, prices start at more than $500,000, according to its website. At Del Webb at Lake Oconee, prices begin at about $350,000.
Metro Atlanta’s housing market has cooled amid higher mortgage rates and economic uncertainty, with housing inventory piling up and homes sitting on the market longer.
Homebuilders, including PulteGroup, have increasingly had to offer incentives to entice buyers. PulteGroup CEO and President Ryan Marshall said during a July earnings call that incentives in the second quarter were 8.7% of the gross sales price of homes sold, up from 6.3% last year.
Still, with its Del Webb brand, the home builder sees the opportunity to target what Marshall called one of its “better performing consumer groups” during an April earnings call.
“The Del Webb buyer continues to be a real shining star in our overall portfolio,” Marshall said during the call. “It’s a buyer that is more sensitive to macro and market volatility, but it doesn’t mean that they go away.”
Marshall, during the July earnings call, said the Del Webb homes are among their higher priced and “typically represent our highest margin closings.”
In metro Atlanta, PulteGroup said it has 41 communities spanning 14 counties across its brands, including Del Webb, Pulte Homes, Centex and John Wieland Homes.
The home builder in 2001 acquired Del Webb, a company that launched its first active adult community in 1960 in Phoenix, according to a fact sheet.
The new Del Webb project in Newnan has been planned for several years with tweaks made to the plan along the way, according to The Newnan Times-Herald.
Home sales and a grand opening are expected in 2026.
Among its amenities, the community will have a clubhouse with pickleball, tennis and bocce ball courts, an amphitheater, kayak launch and two miles of walking trails.
“In targeting active adult homebuyers, Del Webb serves what has been the strongest segment of the housing market,” Chad Plunkett, PulteGroup’s Georgia division president, said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
About the Author
