Another large tract of undeveloped land in south Montgomery County has been sold to a homebuilder.

Gracepoint Homes has made their largest land purchase to date, a 156-acre site near I-45 just south of FM 1488.

Construction will begin soon on The Forest, a 156-acre residential development in Conroe. Homes could be available for sale as soon as 2015, according to Gracepoint Homes.

With the development of The Forest, the company aims to capitalize on dwindling amounts of open land in the area, along with the current boom of commercial development, Gracepoint Homes President Tom Cox said.

"The Woodlands is simply running out of lots, but it's creating tons of jobs and infrastructure," Cox said. "It's ripe for developers because what you have is really a market that, before Exxon even decided to come here, was in a lot shortage. Basically, there was a lot less supply than there was demand for lots in the far north corridor, which made it good on its own."

The Forest will include 65- and 80-foot home sites for single-family homes as well as a gated section for quarter-acre custom homes.

Construction is slated to begin in May, and the homes are expected to range from the $600,000s to the millions.

Property amenities include several lakes, parks, trails and open space to the tune of The

Woodlands area.

"People that move to Texas, they want trees, they want the country feel," Cox said. "The architecture that we chose blends with it real well, so it's kind of a harmony between nature and suburbia."

Gracepoint has been working with the city of Conroe to provide facilities and to create an in-city municipal utility district, a move to keep taxes lined-up with the surrounding market, Cox said.

David Jarvis, regional director of Metrostudy, a market intelligence firm, said Gracepoint Homes is representative of a company that went into the housing market at an opportune moment.

"I think they were looking beyond the headlines, beyond the recession, to know that markets go through cycles, and they were planning for the future and jumped in the market when prices were more favorable than they are now," Jarvis said. "[The Woodlands] is just growing at an enormous pace.

Jarvis said potential Houston area homebuyers are facing limited options in a time that high demand is causing rapid appreciation in the market. He said he expects supply to meet demand in several years.