[vundercind]

The structure of neighborhoods I’ve seen pop up in the last couple decades (maybe also earlier, I dunno) is that of a neighborhood developer who farms out the work of building the houses to (usually) a few select other firms, which do the actual GC work and sell the houses, having bought the lots they’re building on from the owner of the neighborhood. The neighborhood developer is mostly in land speculation, they don’t GC the building of houses. IDK if such outfits bill themselves as “home builders” in some contexts, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

[allturtles]

If you're talking about developing an entirely new neighborhood, that involves a lot of work beyond just buying the land, carving it up into lots with a pencil and then selling them for a profit. They have to survey and plan and layout the neighborhood, including the lots, roads, drainage systems and any common areas. Then they have to get all the necessary approvals from the local government, which typically includes drainage studies, traffic studies, school impact studies, architectural reviews, discussions with residents who live on adjacent properties, etc. This often involves multiple rounds that requires revisiting the original design. Then they have to actually get all the infrastructure built out to the point where homes can actually be built on the lots (roads, sewers, drainage ponds, sidewalks, land grading, etc.).

[mikem170]

And they build them for maximum profit, with nothing besides cookie cutter houses, each with a new tree out front, and nothing else unless you get in the car to drive to the nearest gas station or plaza with a chain restaurant or big box store.