Texas builder investing in new D-FW rental home communities

TX – Top Texas builder David Weekley Homes is teaming up with a North Texas company to build rental home neighborhoods.

Houston-based Weekley is just the latest major single-family homebuilder to expand into the rental housing sector.

Weekley has formed a new subsidiary — ICB Construction LLC — that is partnering with Arlington-based ECM Development to build rental house projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The first three are in the works in North Oak Cliff and in Arlington.

“Right now, the single-family rental market is one of the fastest-growing real estate segments,” T.J. Moore, president of ECM Development, said in a statement. “We are proud to be at the forefront of this growth and thrilled to partner with ICB in building these high-quality communities.”

The builders’ planned Echelon at Reverchon Bluffs community is being built on West Davis Street in Oak Cliff. The project will include 82 detached houses ranging from 1,574 to 2,166 square feet. The gated community includes a swimming pool and outdoor common areas. The houses will have garages and small yards.

Echelon at Reverchon Bluffs will open its first homes this spring.

In downtown Arlington, ECM Development is building 61 two-, three- and four-bedroom homes in a community at a public park.

And builders’ Eden Terrace community in Arlington will have 120 detached rental homes in a gated community near the River Legacy Park, which is north of Interstate 30.

The project also includes a clubhouse, a fitness center and a pool.

David Weekley is already one of the biggest single-family homebuilders in North Texas.

“We are excited to start this new business opportunity with ECM Development,” Ken McDonald, area president for David Weekley Homes, said in a statement. “Dallas-Fort Worth continues to be a very strong market, and we see a lot of potential for future growth.”

Rental single-family home construction is a growing trend in the D-FW area and other major markets.

Arlington-based builder D.R. Horton is working on almost a dozen rental home communities in major markets around the country.

And Arizona-based builder NexMetro Communities has built more than 2,000 homes in a dozen projects across North Texas. NexMetro says it has invested more than $450 million in its North Texas projects.

The builder has done multiple home communities in the Dallas area and is growing in Fort Worth with three new developments.