The Atlanta-based developer plans to break ground this month on 50 recently acquired acres. 

The first of the six-phase strategy covers about 40 acres for 78 new lots in the Edenwood master-planned community. 

New-home inventory rose to 444,000 homes in May from 437,000 homes in April, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported.  

Sawnee Village will have more than 474 homes and be valued at more than $400 million when fully built out. 

The work comes as Roswell officials have cracked down on the construction of new standalone multifamily buildings in an effort to slow population growth and encourage mixed-use development. 

The condominiums and townhouses are in three new developments by Empire Communities. 

New-home completions rose during the month, however, with the increased inventory representing a rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy government report. 

The residential community is part of a larger development rising at the intersection of GA 400 and Settingdown Circle. 

One of the five communities acquired is in Covington, while the others are in Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Work on the communities stalled when the Great Recession hit in the mid-2000s.