Taylor Morrison has shelled out roughly $59 million for more than 233 acres of mostly forested land along Old U.S. 1 in western Wake County and is teeing up a new high-end neighborhood called Gracewood. The project is slated to bring 444 single-family homes, primarily four- and five-bedroom plans sized around 3,000 to 4,500 square feet, plus an on-site, four-acre amenity area with a clubhouse, pool and athletic courts. The builder says it expects to deliver the first homes in late 2026, which would plant Gracewood firmly at the upper edge of Apex's already hot new-home market.
Big land buy, big plans
The purchase covers mostly wooded parcels along Old U.S. 1 and will roll out in phases around the central amenity site so the homes read as a single community rather than scattered lots. Per property records and reporting, Taylor Morrison paid about $59 million for the tract and intends to position Gracewood as a higher-end product in western Wake. As reported by The News & Observer, the acquisition totals roughly 233 acres.
Homes, prices and the sales pitch
Gracewood's houses are being marketed as roomy, flexible plans for move-up buyers, with footprints from roughly 3,000 to 4,500 square feet and four- and five-bedroom layouts. In a statement to The News & Observer, Dana Mayberry said, "We're introducing floor plans that deliver exactly what today's buyers want: adaptable spaces that support modern life." The builder lists starting prices in the high $700,000s and top-end homes near $1.3 million, with model-and-lot deliveries slated to begin in late 2026, which is not exactly starter-home territory.
Apex's growth backdrop
Gracewood arrives amid a wave of development across Apex and western Wake County. Local reporting notes Apex's population has climbed past 82,000 and that town planners estimate the community could top 100,000 residents by 2030, fueling dozens of subdivisions and shopping projects. A recent development review shows more than 40 projects under construction in the area, adding roughly 5,000 residential units and about 4 million square feet of retail space. Those numbers help explain the kind of market pressures that make a high-end single-family product attractive to national builders.
How Veridea and the children's hospital fit
Gracewood sits near Veridea, the large mixed-use site RXR is advancing between U.S. 1 and N.C. 540 that the developer has described as a multi-billion-dollar, 1,000-plus-acre community of homes, offices and retail. The Veridea master plan also includes the site for a new North Carolina Children's campus, a roughly 230-acre freestanding children's hospital and research complex announced in 2025, part of the wider build-out that developers say will bring thousands of jobs and significant new housing demand to the corridor. The children's hospital announcement was detailed by UNC Health, and developer coverage of Veridea's overall scope is available in commercial real-estate reporting.
Where Gracewood sits in the market
Nearby projects show how builders are slicing the market, with small townhome pockets sitting alongside large single-family tracts. Parc at Bradley Farm is a boutique townhome community with roughly 37 units and list pricing in the mid-$400,000s, while larger subdivisions such as Retreat at Friendship are marketing single-family homes with base prices in the low-to-mid $600,000s. Those adjacent price tiers help explain why a builder would position Gracewood at a substantially higher price point than nearby developments; local listings and reporting make the range of options clear to buyers comparison shopping across western Wake.
Taylor Morrison's land purchase signals that national builders remain bullish on the western Wake corridor as Veridea, the new children's hospital and other projects reshape demand. The company must still complete permitting, infrastructure and site work before sales ramp up, but for now the $59 million deal underscores that developers expect Apex's housing market to support larger, amenity-rich single-family neighborhoods for the foreseeable future.
