Crews could be seen staging heavy equipment on a grassy plain in South Buffalo on Tuesday for a project that’s expected to bring dozens of new residences to Armstrong County.

The site, located in the RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park, sits between the South Buffalo government center and Route 128, near its interchange with the Route 28 expressway.

Bethany Carle, a spokesperson for Texas-based D.R. Horton, the nation’s largest homebuilder by closings, said land development is underway at the site, and construction will likely begin this fall.

In total, the company plans to build 36 single-family homes, Berle said.

RIDC Senior Vice President Timothy White said at least some homes could be completed within a year.

“It’s an exciting development for the park,” he said. “I think it makes the park a lot more attractive.”

Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC), based in O’Hara, runs more than a dozen business or industrial parks in Allegheny, Armstrong and Westmoreland counties, including New Kensington Advanced Manufacturing Park and RIDC park in O’Hara.

It partnered with the Armstrong County Industrial Development Council, which oversees several industrial parks throughout the county, to market property at the site.

The council’s executive director Darin Alviano did not return a TribLive request for comment.

White said he expects more details about the anticipated construction project to emerge at a formal groundbreaking ceremony next week.

Armstrong County Commissioner Pat Fabian also confirmed that work had begun at the site, but declined to offer further information until the ceremony.

The housing plan was announced in 2024. Plans initially called for 90 homes, but that figure was scaled back to 60 last year. It’s unclear if that figure remains firm.

Butler County-based developer America First Enterprises is behind the plan, which would be the first large-scale housing development in Armstrong County since the 1980s.

The firm is owned by Jerry Oliver, who also runs outdoor billboard company Oliver Outdoor. America First is behind several Butler County subdivisions. Oliver did not respond to a TribLive request for comment.

Homes will start in the $300,000 range and sit about 35 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh and 15 minutes from Kittanning via Route 28.