A 45.99-acre formally owned by Troy-based First Bank officially has a new owner.

Wilmington-based Penton Development closed on the property last week for an undisclosed amount to begin development of Shinnwood West – a 94-lot cluster single-family development near the intersection of Greenville Loop and Shinnwood roads.

Will Leonard, a broker with Wilmington-based Cape Fear Commercial and codeveloper of the future housing development, completed the land transaction Oct. 26. 

Penton Development, which is owned and operated by Wilmington developer Howard Penton III, is proposing to build 1,600- to 2,200-square-foot homes on the property. The houses are expected to be priced from the low- to mid-$200,000 range.

Driven by close proximity to the beach, Mayfaire and downtown, the Greenville Loop Road corridor continues to be a hotbed of residential activity, with more the 100 new homes slated for the area next quarter.

The average price for home on Greenville Loop Road currently ranges between $350,000 and $425,000, according to recent MLS filings.

Suzanne O’Bryant, sales and marketing director for Penton Development, said Friday the firm would begin clearing and grading the property in the next 60 days.

She said the firm hopes to begin pre-selling homes in the development by January 2013 and would soon unveil four to five new model homes for potential buyers.

Once plated for larger lots with a former developer, the new plans call for the development to preserve nearly 10 acres of wetland space and many mature, 12-foot trees on the site that include several magnolias, oaks and maples.

All of the homes would resemble low country architecture found in Savannah and Charleston, with master suite bedrooms downstairs and screened in porches.