New Townhomes in Gastonia, NC Near Charlotte — The Enclave at 626

There is a particular moment in every real estate cycle when a market transitions from being genuinely undervalued to being simply affordable. Gastonia, North Carolina is in that transition right now. The gap between what a buyer pays here and what the same buyer would pay in Charlotte proper is still 30 to 40 percent — but the quality of life, the commute, the school systems, and the infrastructure being built around the I-85 corridor have already closed most of the other gaps. Buyers who understand this dynamic are the ones moving first. Buyers who wait for mainstream recognition of it will pay a higher price for the same asset.

Itani Development is bringing The Enclave at 626 to market for exactly this buyer, and for the investor who sees what is happening in Gaston County before the institutional money does. Four brand-new townhome units at 626 N. Modena Street. The Enclave is happy to offer two different models of a spacious three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, each option will contain 1,815 and 1,856 heated square feet per unit, respectfully. Single-car garages. Private six-foot perimeter fencing. No homeowners association. Priced at $305,000 per unit. And less than 0.3 miles from the I-85 Ozark Avenue interchange that puts Uptown Charlotte 25 to 30 minutes away.

This post covers the full picture — the property details, the market fundamentals, the financial case for investors, and the quality-of-life argument for buyers and families. Read the sections most relevant to your situation.

The Property: What The Enclave at 626 Actually Delivers

The Enclave at 626 is a four-unit townhome community built across two separate buildings on a single site at 626 N. Modena Street in Gastonia, North Carolina. Each unit is individually deeded, meaning that ownership is parceled separately per unit rather than held under a single title for the full community. For a buyer purchasing one or two units as a primary residence, individual deeding means you own your parcel outright. For an investor acquiring multiple units or the full community, individual deeding means you have flexible exit options — you can sell units individually rather than being forced to move the entire asset as one transaction.

The floor plans run between 1,815 and 1,856 heated square feet. Each unit contains three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. The master bedroom is 13.5 by 16 feet with a walk-in closet and a large master bath suite. The first floor of each unit includes a laundry room, a spacious living area, a kitchen with extra bar seating, and hard flooring specified for durability. There is a 260-square-foot rear-load single-car garage per unit, accessible from a private asphalt access alley off Modena Street, along with a 15-foot concrete driveway per unit and ample on-street and off-street parking options.

The perimeter fencing is a detail worth highlighting: a six-foot privacy fence runs from the front facade back to the rear and side property lines, with a four-foot fence at the right-of-way spanning all sides of the property. For buyers with children, pets, or simply a preference for private outdoor space, this is not incidental. It is built into the structure of how the community sits on its lot.

New Construction and What the Warranty Covers

Every unit at The Enclave carries a one-year workmanship and systems warranty covering labor, materials, and major building systems. Additionally, a 2/10 HERS Home Warranty package is included with each unit and transfers with the property upon any subsequent sale. The 2/10 designation means two years of coverage on mechanical systems and ten years of structural coverage. This is not the standard minimal warranty that some builders include to check a box. It is a documented, transferable protection package that adds material value at resale and substantially reduces risk exposure for investors in years one through three, when new construction properties typically have their lowest maintenance costs regardless of warranty coverage.

Utility metering is handled individually per unit, with separate water, sewer, and power billing tied directly to each address. There is no submetering arrangement, which simplifies accounting for investors and eliminates the administrative overhead that shared-meter communities introduce.

The Location: I-85, Gastonia, and the Charlotte Access Story

The Enclave sits less than 0.3 miles from the Ozark Avenue interchange on Interstate 85 on the northeast side of Gastonia. I-85 is the primary arterial connection between Gastonia and the Charlotte metro, and the commute from this address to Uptown Charlotte runs approximately 25 to 30 minutes under normal conditions. Charlotte-Douglas International Airport is approximately 15 minutes from the property via I-85 and I-485. Charlotte-Douglas is not only the region’s primary travel gateway but also one of its largest employment destinations — tens of thousands of people work at or near the airport in aviation, logistics, and related industries.

It is also worth noting that the North Carolina Department of Transportation is currently widening I-85 through Gaston County from six to eight lanes. That is a significant infrastructure investment in a corridor that already serves the primary commute route for this market, and it signals the state’s position on where long-term growth in this region is expected to flow.

What Is Around the Property

Daily life from The Enclave is well-supported without requiring significant travel. The primary retail corridor along Cox Road at the Cox Road I-85 interchange is 2.5 miles from the property and includes Target, Ulta Beauty, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sam’s Club, and Walmart. Dining along that same corridor includes Outback Steakhouse, Chipotle, Chili’s, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Texas Roadhouse, along with additional independent options. CaroMont Regional Medical Center, the primary hospital and medical campus serving the Gaston County region, is 2.5 miles from the property.

For green space and recreation, Bradley Center Park is less than half a mile away — a large community park with fields and recreational facilities. Crowder’s Mountain State Park, one of the better-known outdoor destinations in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, is 13 miles out. Riverside Park in Cramerton is 7.5 miles away. CaroMont Health Park, home to the Gastonia Ghost Peppers of the Atlantic League, is 2.3 miles from The Enclave and has become a genuine community gathering destination in Gastonia. Two Kings Casino is approximately 15 miles south on I-85.

The Market: Why Gaston County Is Where Buyers and Investors Are Paying Attention

The median home price in Gastonia is currently approximately $290,000. The median across Gaston County more broadly sits around $335,000. In Charlotte proper, that number is $405,000 and climbing. Those figures represent a 30 to 40 percent price gap on housing in a market that provides substantively the same access to Charlotte’s employment base, healthcare infrastructure, airport, and retail ecosystem. That gap has not disappeared yet, but markets that offer this kind of relative value to a major metro do not stay in that position indefinitely. The trajectory for Gaston County over the next five to ten years is not speculative — it follows a well-documented pattern of suburban outflow from major metros, and Gastonia’s position on the I-85 corridor makes it one of the most logically positioned communities in that outflow path.

Gaston County’s population has grown 3.7 percent since 2020, placing it among the highest growth rates in North Carolina and in the broader national context. The county ranks among the highest in North Carolina for business development activity and job creation, with major distribution hubs and manufacturing centers continuing to establish operations along the I-85 corridor. The active job count in the Gastonia and Gaston County market exceeds 63,000 positions across distribution, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and transportation sectors. This is an employed population with real household income, and it is a tenant and buyer pool that investors need to understand when evaluating rental demand in this market.

Homes in Gastonia are averaging approximately 75 days on market in the current environment, and the market is operating as a seller’s market with steady appreciation. Comparable townhome units in the immediate area have sold between $289,000 and $296,700 in recent months, establishing a documented comp basis for The Enclave’s $305,000 pricing.

For First-Time Buyers: Building Equity in the Charlotte Metro Without a Charlotte Price

The first-time buyer in 2026 is in a genuinely different position than the first-time buyer of a decade ago. The average age of a first-time buyer nationally has risen to approximately 40 years old, up from 33 just five years ago. That shift is driven largely by affordability pressure in urban cores and inner suburbs — markets where renting became normalized not by choice but by mathematics. Gastonia is a direct answer to that mathematics.

At $305,000 for a brand-new three-bedroom townhome with a garage and no HOA, The Enclave at 626 is offering Charlotte-area new construction quality at a price point that the Charlotte market itself stopped offering years ago. The monthly payment on this property at current rates, combined with Gaston County property taxes and a standard insurance premium, compares favorably with rental rates for equivalent space in Charlotte’s inner suburbs, where three-bedroom townhome rents regularly exceed $2,200 to $2,500 per month. When that comparison is made honestly, the rent-versus-own calculation for a buyer who can qualify for this mortgage tends to resolve clearly in favor of ownership.

Down payment assistance programs are available for qualifying buyers in Gaston County through state and county programs, and our team can connect you with current program details. For buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines due to down payment constraints, these programs are worth understanding before assuming that a purchase is out of reach.

For Families: Schools, Safety, and the Community Infrastructure That Makes a Neighborhood Work

Families relocating to the Charlotte metro — whether from within North Carolina, from Florida, New Jersey, New York, Georgia, or elsewhere — consistently tell us that the school question is the one that determines where they ultimately land. It should be, and Gaston County has a documented answer worth taking seriously.

Gaston County Schools have earned both the Schools of Excellence and Schools of Distinction designations from the State of North Carolina. The district operates a successful magnet model with a strong emphasis on technology development and STEM-focused learning environments. The graduation rate is 88.8 percent. The district holds the lowest crime rate among large school districts in the state of North Carolina. These designations and statistics are verifiable through the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and are not marketing language — they are state-assigned ratings based on documented performance metrics.

For families who are relocating from higher-cost markets, the financial case is clear. A family arriving from South Florida, the New York metro, or coastal New Jersey will find that Gastonia delivers a materially higher quality of life per housing dollar than almost any comparable community with equivalent access to a major metro. The concern that many out-of-state relocators carry — that moving to a market like Gastonia represents a compromise on quality or aspiration — is contradicted by the data on schools, healthcare access, retail and dining infrastructure, natural recreation, and commute quality that this market actually delivers.

About Itani Development: The Builder Behind The Enclave

Itani Development is a Licensed Residential General Contractor in both North Carolina and South Carolina, holding an Unlimited License Classification in both states. The company has acquired, developed, renovated, and built more than 40 properties since its founding in 2018, generating over $17 million in total revenue. More than $10 million of that activity has taken place directly in Gaston County since 2020. This is not a company that has arrived recently to take advantage of favorable market conditions. This is a builder with a documented track record in the specific geography where The Enclave at 626 is being built, answerable to the community it works in.

The company’s principal, Dirk Tanis Jr., serves as Chief Executive Officer and is the licensed contractor of record on every Itani project. His professional background spans new construction of multi-home and multi-unit developments, large-scale concrete and masonry work, site drainage and grading, landscape architecture, moisture barrier systems, and the renovation and long-term portfolio management of both single-family and multifamily residential properties — all held and operated by Itani directly. He has also managed a portfolio of more than 150 rental units across his career, which means he has experienced the long-term ownership demands of residential property from the inside. That firsthand perspective influences how Itani builds, because the company understands what happens inside a home after the keys are handed over.

Mr. Tanis also serves on the Tega Cay Board of Zoning Appeals, a public appointment that reflects the depth of his engagement with planning, regulatory, and community development processes in the Charlotte region. His background in Geographic Information Systems and GIScience has been applied directly to site selection and infill development strategy, which is why Itani’s properties are consistently well-positioned within their local markets rather than selected purely on price availability.

Itani currently holds four additional vetted development sites in Gaston County with entitlement for up to 15 residential units in total, as well as a larger site in Kings Mountain with entitlement for up to 30 units. The Enclave at 626 is the next project in that pipeline to come to market, and it is built on the same standards the company has applied to every property it has delivered in this market.

Availability and Next Steps

The Enclave at 626 is now accepting interest list inquiries ahead of public listing. Four units are available. The property is new construction, currently in development, and will not remain available once word reaches the broader market. Buyers and investors who want to review the full pro forma, understand the unit specifications in detail, or discuss financing options are encouraged to reach out directly before availability becomes a constraint.

If you have questions about the property, the market, the financial structure, the warranty terms, or anything else covered in this post, we are straightforward to reach and willing to answer those questions honestly. That is how we have built our business in Gaston County, and it is how we intend to continue.