Published: September 23, 2026 | Jon Tennant
1,100
Acres
8,000
Homes
12M
Sq Ft Commercial
500
Bed Hospital
Something big is happening in southwest Wake County, and if you are thinking about buying a home in the Triangle, you need to know about it. Veridea, a $7 billion master-planned development in Apex, NC, is now under active construction. It is one of the largest projects in Triangle history, and it is going to reshape this corner of the market for the next decade.
Veridea is a 1,100-acre mixed-use development located at the intersection of US-1, NC-55, and the I-540 extension in southwest Apex. It is being developed by RXR, a New York-based real estate firm, and at full buildout it will function as an entirely new urban district within Wake County.
The scope is massive. When complete, Veridea will include approximately 8,000 residential units ranging from single-family homes and townhomes to condominiums and apartments. It will also feature 12 million square feet of commercial space for life sciences, industrial, and office uses, plus 3.5 million square feet of retail, hospitality, and civic space.
This is not a subdivision. It is a city within a city.
Infrastructure groundbreaking happened in late 2024. In April 2026, construction began on the first industrial buildings. Lennar is actively building and selling single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums within the community right now. Summit House, the first apartment complex inside Veridea, broke ground in October 2025 and is expected to open in early 2028.
This is not a future vision on a rendering board. Vertical construction is happening today.
What separates Veridea from a standard mixed-use development is the institutional anchors being built alongside it.
UNC Health and Duke Health are partnering on the NC Children's Health Campus, a first-of-its-kind freestanding children's hospital that will sit on approximately 230 acres within Veridea. The 500-bed facility is projected to create 8,000 jobs. Groundbreaking is anticipated in 2027 with an opening projected by 2033.
Wake Technical Community College is establishing its Conlon Western Wake Campus on about 34 acres within the development, focused on life sciences and healthcare programs. Construction is expected to begin in late 2026.
An on-site elementary school is also part of the plan.
When a hospital, a college campus, and a school are built into a development from the ground up, that is a fundamentally different investment thesis than a standard subdivision.
If you are buying in southwest Wake County, including Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, or Cary, Veridea changes the calculus in several ways.
Eight thousand hospital jobs alone, plus thousands more in commercial and industrial space, will drive sustained population growth into this corridor for years. More people means more housing demand, which supports home values.
The development is tied directly to the I-540 extension and major road improvements along the US-1 and NC-55 corridor. Better infrastructure raises the ceiling on surrounding property values.
Buyers who get into Lennar's communities within Veridea now are buying at the early stage of what will become a mature, amenity-rich urban district. Early buyers in comparable master-planned communities have historically seen strong appreciation as development progresses.
Full buildout extends into the mid-2030s. Buyers purchasing in and around this corridor today are positioned ahead of that growth curve.
Jon Tennant breaks down the full scope of the Veridea development and what it means for buyers in the Triangle on the Living in Raleigh-Durham With Jon Tennant YouTube channel. Watch the video below for the complete walkthrough.
Jon Tennant breaks down the $7 billion Veridea development in Apex, NC and what it means for buyers in the Triangle.
At Jon Tennant Real Estate and Business Brokerage, we help buyers navigate new construction and investment opportunities across Wake County. Reach out if you want to talk through what the Veridea corridor means for your search.