News Title:Cottonwood Place: more builders, more choices, more competition The New Home-Building Model: Why More Communities Are Turning to Multiple Builders
Cottonwood Place in Tabor City may be a small but telling example of a much larger change taking place in residential development. D. R. Horton initially established Cottonwood Place with plans for 200+ single-family homes, but Century Complete (the Century Communities value-oriented brand) has now recently entered into Cottonwood Place with more than 100 additional homesites. This strategy now gives the larger Cottonwood Place development two builders rather than relying on a single builder to build the entire neighborhood. Century's new section in Cottonwood Place is being developed on the east side of Dotham Road, while D. R. Horton's more established homes are concentrated in the earlier portion of the community on the west side of Dotham Road.
The arrival of Century Communities to Cottonwood Place is noteworthy because it illustrates how developers can use multiple builders to expand a community while giving buyers more choices within the same overall neighborhood. Rather than having one builder responsible for every home, different builders can be assigned separate sections, each offering its own floor plans, sizes, price points, features and incentives. For buyers, that can mean shopping among multiple builders without giving up the amenities, location and identity of the larger community.
There is also a business reason behind the strategy. Large developments, like Cottonwood Place, are expensive and can take several years to build out. Using several builders allows the developer to spread the risk, sell lots or finished homes more quickly and accommodate different segments of the market. One builder may specialize in entry-level homes, another in larger move-up homes, another in active-adult housing and another in luxury product. If one builder slows production, another can continue adding homes and keeping the community moving forward. Sales are supporting the advantages of the multiple builder strategy with master-planned communities (and multiple builders) generally averaging greater sales per month versus individual communities with a single builder. Multiple builders, product types and price points appear to be the primary advantages of the master-planned model.
This Isn't New — But It Is Becoming More Important
Some of the country's largest master-planned communities have embraced the multi-builder concept from the beginning, and the strategy is certainly not new to the Myrtle Beach market. Arcadia, Bella Vita, Grande Dunes, Clear Pond, Waterbridge, Cooper’s Bluff, SayeBrook, Indigo Bay and Ocean Isle Palms are just some of the Grand Strand-area communities where multiple builders have successfully operated within the same larger development. As communities grow larger and more sophisticated, the multi-builder approach is becoming an increasingly attractive way to offer buyers greater choice in home styles, sizes and price points while helping developers maintain momentum and accelerate the build-out of large, phased communities.
Why don't all communities use multiple builders?
The strategy doesn't make sense for every development. A 40- or 60-home subdivision usually doesn't have enough scale to support several builders. A builder also may want exclusive control of a smaller community so it can establish its own architectural identity, control pricing, manage the sales process and capture all of the available lots. In a small subdivision, dividing the lots among two or three builders could actually make the project less efficient.
There is also a question of builder compatibility. A developer has to be comfortable putting different companies next to one another and establishing rules that keep the community visually cohesive. That is much easier when the builders occupy separate sections with defined architectural standards than when multiple builders are competing for lots on the same street. That is why Cottonwood Place is particularly interesting: D. R. Horton and Century Complete are occupying distinct sections rather than having their homes intermixed throughout the neighborhood.
The bigger trend may be segmentation rather than competition
The future of the multi-builder community isn't necessarily about putting D.R. Horton against Century Complete on the same street and seeing who sells more homes. Instead, developers increasingly can use different builders to create a price and product ladder within one larger community.
One section might offer smaller, more affordable homes. Another might feature larger homes with additional features. Another could target retirees or active adults. Still another could offer townhomes or higher-end residences. The developer gets a broader market, the community gets a faster build-out, and buyers get more choices. Industry research is increasingly pointing to this segmentation as one of the reasons master-planned communities continue to outperform many stand-alone subdivisions.
And that brings us back to Cottonwood Place
That may ultimately be the most interesting part of the Cottonwood Place story. Century Complete's arrival doesn't necessarily mean D. R. Horton is being replaced or that D. R. Horton couldn't build the remaining homes. It instead represents a deliberate decision by the developer to bring another builder into a newer section of a larger, phased development. Century announced more than 100 homesites in November 2025, and those homes are now moving from the planning stage into active sales and construction.
The new-home community of the future may increasingly be less about one builder selling one product and more about a developer creating an environment where several builders serve different buyers under one community umbrella. For buyers, that can mean more choices, more price points and potentially more competition — without having to leave the community to find them. Homes for sale in Cottonwood Place