After three years on the drawing board, construction of a new 336-acre master-planned community is underway in Forney. At build-out, the massive development will contain more than 1,000 single-family homes at a combined value of $300 million

Located on FM 548 between U.S. Highway 80 and Interstate 20, the median home price in Overland Grove is $300,000 with prices ranging from $275,000 to $400,000. 

"As development has gotten more expensive, it's been pretty difficult to build affordable homes," developer Michael Jackson, principal and vice president of Dallas-based Wynne/Jackson Inc., told the Dallas Business Journal. "But Forney has been great to work with to help get the lot prices down low enough to deliver that home price."   

Jackson’s objective is to deliver homeowners a high-quality master-planned community comparable to those in the northern submarkets of North Texas along with more affordable price points and a short 20-minute commute to Downtown Dallas.

Overland Grove amenities run the gamut from a resort-style amenity center, community garden area, and plenty of open space to miles of walking trails and a site for a future elementary school.  

Builders CalAtlantic Homes and Taylor Morrison have all 327 lots under contract to build the development’s entire first phase of new homes, which is projected to begin in April 2019. Other elements of the initial phase center on constructing the community’s infrastructure and grand entrance.

Based on selling 150 to 200 homes a year, build-out should take five to eight years.

Overland Grove is jointly named after Overland Highway — Forney’s original thoroughfare that became U.S. Highway 80 in 1926 — and the development’s agricultural landscape with fruit-bearing orchard trees and gardens.

After transitioning from a small farming community into a thriving suburb east of Dallas, Forney became a hotspot for new home developments. With 10,000 home sites and more than $1 billion in projects to Wynne/Jackson’s credit, the development company has been part of the Forney boom since the early 2000’s. And it is partnering with RAM Real Estate Capital on Overland Grove. Though RAM has offices in New York and North Carolina, this is its first project in the Dallas-Fort Worth market.

"Partnering with Wynne/Jackson in this incredible development in Forney not only is squarely in-line with our investment objectives but also represents an outstanding opportunity for RAM to enter the D-FW market with an exceptional partner," RAM Senior Vice President, John Lincoln, said in a statement.

Construction financing for the first phase of new homes is provided by Landmark Bank.