If you’ve wondered what’s coming to south Huntsville where site prep work has been ongoing for months, here’s the answer:

It’s a development called 1805 Development – invoking the year of Huntsville’s founder John Hunt arriving in what became the city – and it will be made up of rental homes, according to developer Luke Allen. The development is on the west side of Memorial Parkway near Hobbs Road amid one of the city’s busiest areas with fast-food restaurants and a Walmart stationed just outside Redstone Arsenal.

Clearing for the hillside project has been ongoing for months but only recently has a banner been hung announcing the pending arrival of 1805 Development. In recent days, construction has begun.

“It’s an exciting project,” said Allen, who lives in Huntsville.

The development will be made up of 175 single-family homes for rent, ranging from one- to four-bedrooms, Allen said. The development will also include a clubhouse, pool, dog park and a “smart tech” package featuring Google fiber and amenities such as “smart” thermostat.

“They’re detached homes,” Allen said. “The vast majority of them have attached garages, fenced-in backyards. So it definitely will have a traditional single family residential feel to it if you were to drive it. It would feel just like a normal neighborhood.”

Beyond the property boundaries, the development has an array of city conveniences. In addition to the Walmart across Hobbs Road, there is an ALDI grocery store across the parkway and the development is just a mile outside of Redstone Arsenal’s Gate 3.

“It’s a unique concept,” Allen said. “It’s a newer product to Huntsville. It’s been around a little bit but these are all for rent only. So it kind of plays into folks who might be tired of apartment living but don’t necessarily want to put down a big down payment or can’t find a house or with mortgage rates the way they are, this is a good option for a lot of people that want their own space and don’t want to have to, jump on an elevator or walk up three flights of stairs to take the dog out. You have your own fenced-in backyard and your own house. It’s not connected to anything so no shared living walls. But it’s only for rent. So you don’t have to worry about a long-term mortgage and what’s going on there.”

The population growth in Huntsville gave Allen reason to believe a home rental development would be successful. Temporary assignments at Redstone Arsenal also made the idea likely to be popular, Allen said.

He also pitched the fact that tenants would not be responsible for routine home repairs.

“We definitely feel that the demand for this product, which is unique, obviously, like, you know, what we just talked about that the supply for current housing, being where it is the influx of our population growth for Huntsville that we feel like we’ll have good demand for this product,” Allen said. “There are some aspects of this that differentiate itself from traditional apartments that but you can have a short term lease.

“And if you’re coming here for a few years with the FBI or (Space Command) or whatever it is, you can come jump into a house and not have to worry about repairs. There’s a full-time on-site maintenance guy, so you just pick up the phone if there’s any problems, it gets fixed. Hopefully it’s a solution to some of our housing needs that we have here in Huntsville.”

The project is moving quickly, Allen said. The first homes will be delivered in April and the development will be completed by the about the middle of next year.