THE NEXT BOOMTOWN: Granville County's Oxford is poised for growth as the Triangle sprawls northward.

• Author: Barkin, Dan
• Position: GREENSHOOTS--Revitalizing rural N.C.

In a few years, Oxford is going to look different as the Research Triangle area expands up Interstate 85 to the middle of Granville County.

It is a county seat with about 8,600 residents, roughly 22 miles north of the outer edges of Durham and 25 miles or so from Raleigh's Outer Loop. The population is expected to double over the next decade.

Oxford has about 3,900 housing units within its 6 square miles. The city has approved, or has under consideration, developments for nearly 4,000 more residential units, says City Manager Alan Thornton. Some are outside the city limits and have submitted annexation requests so they can get water, sewer and other services.

The median home value of about $137,000, according to the U.S. Census, is much more affordable than in Wake County, where the median sales price has topped $400,000. New single-family homes in Oxford will probably sell in the mid-200s to mid-300s.

Thornton uses a map displaying blue and red splotches to show what's happening. The blue reflects three approved developments that are under construction, with more than 200 acres of grading, utility lines and roads being built. "All these together are close to 750 new homes," he says. The 13 red developments are still in planning phases.

One 76-acre red splotch was approved for annexation in March. It calls for more than 300 single-family homes and townhouses on the Oxford Loop Road, where most of the action is. The owner was CAB Granville in Wilkesboro, but the conditional zoning application also came from APG Capital of Raleigh, led by longtime developer Jim Anthony. APG is active in nearby Youngsville, where northern Wake County's growth has already reached past Wake Forest into Franklin County.

About 18 months ago, Anthony said that "national homebuilders are taking positions up in Oxford because the Durham people don't have any place that they can buy. Supply is so severely constrained there." One blue splotch is a 302-home subdivision, The Meadows at Oxford, being built by Woodlands, Texas-based LGI Homes.

Thornton draws attention to a red tract next to the 76-acre CAB Granville property. It's called the Hunt Property and covers 540 acres. He pulls out a preliminary sketch showing planned housing. "All you really need to do is take a look at the number here at the bottom," he says. It shows 1,335 homes, most of them single-family.

"Up until eight months to a year ago, we were only looking at one or two developments having interest in...