"Fairfield is a great buyer," Timothy Bennett, president of Bennett Realty Group, tells GlobeSt.com. "They do what they say they are going to do." Fairfield Residential, also a California-headquartered operation, is one of a half dozen multifamily developers that has completed multifamily projects in the Euless development.

Bennett says the Villages of Bear Creek is boasting a mid-90% occupancy. The project is located at the intersection of Interstate 360 and Texas 183.

The latest Fairfield Residential signing will put Bennett Realty in a position to focus on actively marketing 200 acres for a master-planned retail lifestyle center. Bennett says that task is still in the "preliminary" stages, but he will let GlobeSt.com know when a deal starts to unfold.

Bennett Realty, based in San Ramon, had acquired the land about eight years ago from the RTC. The firm's president isn't talking money, but the company Web site pegs land sales at $7,230 per unit. Fairfield Residential has just closed on a 14.7-acre tract, paying about $1.7 million, for a 234-unit undertaking and is fine-tuning plans for a 10-acre parcel. In all, Fairfield Residential most likely will be adding upward of 600 class A apartments to more than 3,000 that already exist in the Villages of Bear Creek.