Pushing east: Developer snaps up 76 acres near Knightdale in $2.8M deal
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Developer Gander paid $2.8M for 78 acres near I‑540/I‑87 in eastern Wake County.
- Site plan filed for 120‑unit neighborhood with ~0.22‑acre lots and 67+ acres preserved.
- Move outward driven by housing shortage, high prices inside Beltline and better access.
A developer has scooped up 76 acres of mostly forested land in a fast-growing corridor of eastern Wake County.
Durham-based Gander Development, under the business name Evan Roth, LLC, paid $2.8 million for the assemblage at 5805 Grasshopper Road, according to property records.
The property stood out because it combines “location, size and long-term potential,” said Robert Shunk, the firm’s director of entitlements, in a phone call Monday.
It sits about five miles south of Knightdale, adjacent to the Rockbridge subdivision and near the intersection of Interstate 540 and Interstate 87/U.S. 64. (Construction of the final 10-mile segment of the N.C. 540 Triangle Expressway is underway, aiming to connect I-40 to I-87 in Knightdale by late 2028.)
“We’ll be looking for builder partnerships later this year. The plan is to break ground in early 2027,” he said.
Gander Development is behind several projects in the area, including The Village at Garner Station and Parkside at WestLake in Knightdale.
Vernon Averett, a broker with Durham-based Pickett Sprouse Commercial Real Estate, managed the deal and said you rarely see a tract this size in Wake County.
The sale reflects continued demand for undeveloped land in eastern Wake County, “particularly in areas where new neighborhoods can be developed alongside established communities,” he said.
What’s next?
Gander Development has already filed initial site plans to build a 120-unit neighborhood. It shows detached, single-family homes on small lots (around a fifth of an acre) with several vegetation buffers.
The developer is preserving 67 acres of natural land to help manage wastewater on site.
Renderings and price points are not yet available.
Amid a chronic housing shortage and high prices inside Raleigh’s Beltline, buyers are increasingly moving to smaller, outlying towns like Knightdale to afford homes.
As of 2024 estimates, Knightdale’s population is about 21,800, up from 19,435 in the 2020 Census.
Builders are racing to meet demand.
Morrisville-based Garman Homes recently opened Allen Park at 906 Allen Park Drive, just east of Raleigh. It’s about 10 miles from downtown with access to I-540 and I-87.
Florida-based Dream Finders Homes also launched its new community, Knightdale Station, selling single-family homes starting at $375,420.
As mortgage rates ease, incomes rise and a surge of new construction floods the market, conditions are slowly improving for buyers.
Knightdale home prices were down 8.6% in December 2025 compared to last year, selling for a median price of $447,500, Redfin data shows.
This story was originally published February 9, 2026 at 11:51 AM.
