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A Canadian-owned land management firm has acquired a combined 808 acres in metro Atlanta and south Georgia to allow for the construction nearly 1,700 single-family homes.
Based in Calgary, Alberta, Walton Global started in 1979 and over time has consolidated into one of the largest land asset companies in the world, with more than 98,000 acres under management in North America and a growing global footprint.
The 808 acres span two properties on opposite ends of the state. Some 652 of them cover 1,308 lots located in Paulding County, northwest of the city of Atlanta. Walton is working with homebuilders to gain approval for developing Pinehills Trails, a neighborhood that would sit 10 minutes away from Acworth and 20 minutes from Kennesaw State University.
The remaining 157 acres are located in St. Marys in southeast Georgia near the Atlantic Coast, just minutes from the Florida border. Walton would put the 379-lot Cannon Forest neighborhood there, aiming to take advantage of proximity both to Jacksonville, Fla., — it sits 30 minutes from the city’s airport and just 45 miles away — and the $840 million expansion at the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Camden County.
Walton Global has $3.4 billion worth of assets under management internationally, and the acquisition brings to 11,000 the number of acres it controls in Georgia alone. It hopes to exit these newly acquired parcels by relinquishing inventory in a “just-in-time” fashion so builders can meet demand as it arises.
Metro Atlanta has been facing a new home crunch that has pushed up prices, a setback for efforts to increase affordable housing in the region.