Walton Global, D.R. Horton Buy 140 Acres in Wise County

Walton Global has picked up 141 acres in a tiny North Texas town where D.R. Horton plans to build homes.

The land is in the Wise County town of Rhome, within a master-planned community called North Star. D.R. Horton and Riverside Homebuilders have already constructed about 1,500 homes in North Star, which will have 3,500 homes at full buildout, according to a news release from Walton Global.

Homes in North Star are priced from $340,000 to $440,000, according to online listings.

The acreage was purchased through Walton’s Builder Land Financing Fund, managed by Fortress Investment Group. The fund allows homebuilders and developers to secure land for future projects without paying for it now. The fund acquires the land and concurrently enters agreements with developers for future purchase, according to its website.

The fund also purchased a 14.6-acre tract in Santa Rosa, California, known as Stonebridge, the news release said. Arlington-based D.R. Horton also plans to build homes there, according to the release. Stonebridge, at 2220 Fulton Street in Santa Rosa, has an estimated 108 lots slated for single-family and duet homes.

The purchases mark the end of a $122 million allocation, launched from Walton’s Builder Land Financing Fund in 2022. It has purchased 14 properties.

“With Dallas Fort Worth being one of the country’s fastest growing metropolitan areas, we continue to look for ways to support regional expansion,” Walton Global CEO Bill Doherty said.

Rhome, about 25 miles northwest of Fort Worth, had a population of about 1,600 in 2020, and it has grown to about 1,800 since then.

Wise county’s population was estimated at 75,000 in 2021, up about 9 percent from the previous year, according to U.S. Census data.

The median household income is $85,000 a year, compared to $75,000 in the city of Dallas, according to census data.