Presales for the Fort Worth neighborhood’s first 580 homes to begin in early 2017.

The developer of a 7,200-acre community under development in west Fort Worth, Texas, has announced four initial home builders for the neighborhood. David Weekley Homes, Drees Custom Homes, Highland Homes, and Village Homes were selected for the first phase, consisting of 580 homes, with model construction to begin this November.

Comparable in size to a small town, Walsh is located 12 minutes from downtown Fort Worth and is the latest development from Republic Property Group, which has more than four decades of success building award-winning communities in North Texas. Current RPG projects include two of the top 25 best-selling master planned communities in the nation in Frisco’s Phillips Creek Ranch and Light Farms in Celina.

“We studied the iconic neighborhoods of Fort Worth as inspiration for the home architectural style at Walsh and visited more than 35 communities across eight states to determine what works best in developing communities for today’s homebuyers,” says Jake Wagner, co-CEO of Republic Property Group. “Our builders bring a unique mix of local, regional, and national character and expertise that will deliver on our vision to make Walsh the next great neighborhood of Fort Worth.”

Village Homes, based in Fort Worth, and Highland Homes, which builds exclusively in Texas, both have a long history in Fort Worth. Drees Custom Homes and Houston-based David Weekley Homes each build in numerous cities throughout the U.S. and Texas, with local offices in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Home builders at Walsh are producing new architectural designs and floor plans to honor the heritage of Fort Worth, guided by a carefully curated 130-page pattern book developed by RPG. Homes will be set on a landscape designed to preserve natural elevation changes – some lots feature as much as a 10-foot grade change – and the property’s rolling Texas prairie landscape. A variety of product types will be offered and homesites will range from 3,800-square-foot lots to just shy of an acre.

“The land’s natural characteristics, from the elevation changes to the prairie and creek systems we are preserving, created an opportunity for a dynamic land plan. Homes at Walsh will appeal to a variety of tastes, whether your preference is for park access, scenic views, neighboring trails, convenience to schools or more. We want to create a place that still feels relevant 100 years from now,” says Wagner.

Walsh will ultimately feature more than 15,000 homes, with prices from the upper $200,000s in the initial phase. Among the community amenities planned for the first phase of development are a 10,000-square-foot gym, a family pool with cabanas, slides and kids’ areas, a separate Junior Olympic lap pool, a recreational lake and miles of hiking and walking trails, with more to be announced in the coming months. Model homes at Walsh will be completed in Spring 2017, with presales beginning early next year.

More than 770 acres along seven miles of interstate-front property are dedicated to future commercial development. Additional builders for Walsh’s initial phase, including high-end custom homebuilders, are currently being interviewed and will be announced in future months.

Builder Magazine, by Jennifer Goodman | October 19, 2016 | Original article here