Southern Land Company (SLC), a national award-winning real estate developer, recently marked 20 years of residents enjoying homeownership at Westhaven, SLC’s flagship master-planned community in Franklin, Tenn. This milestone anniversary serves as a testament to the fulfillment of SLC’s vision for Westhaven—to create a beautiful, engaging community residents are proud to call home.
“When we welcomed the first residents to their homes 20 years ago, Westhaven was still a dream just beginning to become a reality,” said Tim Downey, SLC Founder and CEO. “Whether or not they still reside in Westhaven, I am incredibly grateful to each of the first residents for joining us on this journey as we have continued to build out Westhaven into the neighborhood it is today. Twenty years is only the beginning of this timeless community’s history.”
When home sales commenced in 2003, SLC decided to designate the first 100 homeowners as Westhaven’s founding residents. Currently, 44 of the primary 100 homeowners still call the community home. This exclusive group served as pioneers who helped establish Westhaven in its earliest stages, believing, sight unseen, in Downey’s vision for a traditional multigenerational neighborhood that would be outfitted with modern conveniences to meet the needs of homeowners with engaged lifestyles.
Since the first homeowners moved into Westhaven in 2003, the master-planned community has grown to include more than 2,400 households. Over the past two decades, SLC’s intentional planning and design have shaped Westhaven into a timeless community that blends into the surrounding native Middle Tennessee landscape. This is evident through the superior architecture and design of the various home styles and best-in-class amenity spaces; carefully landscaped streetscapes and sidewalks; dedicated parks, green spaces, and trails; a Village Center with a mix of restaurant, retail, and commercial offerings; Westhaven Golf Club; and a public elementary school incorporated into Westhaven’s infrastructure.
In 2022, Westhaven won a Best in American Living™ Award, a preeminent accolade from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) highlighting achievement by builders and design professionals in the residential housing industry.
In addition to SLC serving as the community’s developer, SLC’s homebuilding group, SLC Homes, has served as homebuilder to approximately 870 residences within Westhaven. Over the past two decades, SLC Homes has worked alongside other reputable homebuilders to bring superior design and construction to the community, including current builder partners Ford Classic Homes, Legend Homes, Stonegate Homes, and Zurich Homes.
“It has been rewarding to watch Westhaven grow and continue to evolve throughout the last 20 years,” said Downey. “Thanks to all of our residents and the dedicated efforts of countless SLC employees, Westhaven continues to exemplify our hope for all of our communities across the country—to foster neighborly connection in exquisitely designed places.”
Upon completion, the 1,500-acre master-planned community will feature approximately 3,500 single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums. Half of the community will be dedicated to green spaces, parks, and miles of nature trails.
The neighborhood will also include 180 for-sale and 200 rental residences in an active adult community for residents ages 55 and older. A few years ago, after noticing that Westhaven homeowners tend live in the community for several years, SLC purchased additional land to create a designated section of the community for active adult options for residents to extend their time within the community by downsizing into these new product types.
Home sales for the in-development active adult community are expected to start in the beginning of 2024, and rental residences are anticipated to be ready in 2026.
Development of Westhaven is expected to finish by 2031.
In addition to Westhaven, SLC is also the developer of the Tucker Hill master-planned community in McKinney, Texas; Westerly in Erie, Colorado; an in-development community in Nolensville, Tennessee; and Lunaroya in Dripping Springs, Texas.
A full list of SLC’s communities across the US is available at https://southernland.com/portfolio/.
