Developers broke ground on August 31, 2026, on Westmoore Landing, a planned $2.2 billion mixed use community spanning nearly 400 acres near historic Mooresville, Alabama, southwest of Huntsville. At full buildout, the development could deliver more than 3,500 homes, together with commercial space, parks, and a planned K-8 school, on a site modeled after Huntsville’s Village of Providence.

A Ceremony Years in the Making

The groundbreaking ceremony, held on the property along Arrowhead Landing Road, brought together Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, City Council Member John Meredith, Mooresville Mayor Nikki Sprader, and Alabama State Sen. Arthur Orr, along with developers Donald “Trey” Rochford of Rochford Realty & Construction Co. and David Horwath, president of Land Innovations. Horwath described the event as the moment when years of planning would begin taking visible shape on the site. The ceremony concluded with a ceremonial turning of the soil alongside members of the McCrary family, whose former farmland now makes up the development.

From Family Farm to Planned Development

Westmoore Landing occupies land that was owned by Laurence McCrary and his sister, Margaret Anne Crumlish, through GL McCrary Farms LLC. The city annexed approximately 400 acres near the Interstate 65 and Interstate 565 interchange in January 2025, while the Huntsville Planning Commission approved the community’s overall plan that October. The Huntsville City Council then rezoned 380.93 acres in December 2025, formally creating the Westmoore Landing planned development district. Developers have described the McCrary family’s decision to partner with them instead of selling the property outright as an important part of the project’s long, multigenerational vision.

A Home Count That Has Grown With the Plan

The projected scale of Westmoore Landing has changed as the development progressed through the approval process. When the property was first annexed in early 2025, city officials estimated that the site could eventually accommodate between 2,500 and 4,000 homes. By the time the Planning Commission approved the plan in October 2025, the figure most often reported had settled at around 3,000 units. At the August 2026 groundbreaking, local reports placed the total at more than 3,500 homes, comprising single family houses, townhomes, condominiums, and apartments to be developed in phases over an anticipated 10 to 20 years. A townhome section is expected to start construction within the next 12 months, with the first residents expected to move in by 2027.

Building on a Familiar Model

Rochford Realty & Construction Co. has previous experience with this type of development. City planners and local media have repeatedly likened Westmoore Landing to the Village of Providence, the mixed use New Urbanist community that the company began developing in Huntsville in 2003. Huntsville’s Urban and Long Range Planning Manager Dennis Madsen has said the growth expected from Westmoore Landing will require supporting amenities nearby, telling local reporters that residents will want to shop, dine, and send their children to school without having to leave the community. The city has already designated a site within the development for an elementary and middle school to serve its future residents.

Designing for the Long Term

The development team has incorporated several environmental features into the master plan, including a three acre stormwater pond and dark sky lighting standards designed to reduce light pollution as the community expands. Rochford has characterized the development schedule as intentional rather than rushed, telling a local television reporter that the team is highly conscious of its environmental impact and expects to remain involved with the property for decades. That approach is also reflected in the site’s design: active mixed use areas are planned to transition gradually into residential neighborhoods with a variety of housing types and price points, instead of building the entire community simultaneously.

Part of a Broader Huntsville Growth Story

Westmoore Landing is among several major developments transforming Huntsville’s west side as the region’s aerospace and automotive employment base continues to grow, with the Mazda Toyota manufacturing plant in nearby Madison among the area’s largest employers. CRO has also followed significant institutional investment in the surrounding area, including the $1.3 billion FBI Innovation Center breaking ground at Redstone Arsenal, part of the wider growth wave generating additional housing demand across Huntsville. That model differs from the way build-to-rent developers are addressing similar demand elsewhere in the Southeast: in Charlotte, North Carolina, we reported on Two West End, a 100-unit townhome community developed on only 7.4 acres of urban infill land with a single completion date of January 2027. Westmoore Landing takes the opposite route, distributing a significantly larger and more diverse housing programme across a greenfield site through one to two decades of phased development.

What’s Still Ahead

Several aspects remain unclear as construction gets underway. Developers have not released a phase by phase breakdown of the $2.2 billion total investment, nor have they detailed how many of the eventual 3,500-plus homes will be sold compared with those intended for rental. The commercial and retail elements, together with the planned school, are expected to come after the initial residential phases rather than open at the same time, and no general contractor has yet been publicly identified for the infrastructure and townhome work now beginning.

Project Fact Sheet

• Project Name: Westmoore Landing
• Location: Near historic Mooresville, Limestone/Madison County, Alabama, at the Interstate 65/Interstate 565 interchange southwest of Huntsville
• Project Value: $2.2 billion at full buildout, according to developers
• Site Size: Approximately 400 acres (380.93 acres according to the Huntsville City Council’s December 2025 rezoning approval)
• Client/Developer: Rochford Realty & Construction Co. and Land Innovations
• Landowner: GL McCrary Farms LLC (Laurence McCrary and Margaret Anne Crumlish)
• Key Components: Reportedly more than 3,500 homes at full buildout across single family, townhome, condominium, and apartment types; commercial and retail space; parks and green space; a planned K-8 school site
• Design Model: Form based master plan, modeled after Huntsville’s Village of Providence
• Approvals Timeline: Land annexed January 2025; Planning Commission approval October 2025; City Council rezoning of 380.93 acres December 2025; groundbreaking August 31, 2026
• Construction Start: August 31, 2026, with an initial townhome phase expected within 12 months
• Expected Buildout: 10 to 20 years, in phases; first residents targeted for 2027

Project Team

• Developers: Rochford Realty & Construction Co.; Land Innovations
• Landowner: GL McCrary Farms LLC
• Stewardship Partner: 1818 Farms
• Officials at Groundbreaking: Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle; Huntsville City Council Member John Meredith; Mooresville Mayor Nikki Sprader; Alabama State Sen. Arthur Orr