Avilla Railhead

Avilla Homes

Cleburne, TX

December 2025

Avilla Railhead is a build-to-rent (BTR) community in Cleburne, Texas, developed by NexMeto Communities under its Avilla Home national brand. The neighborhood consists of 211 cottage-style 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom homes that offer the freedom and lifestyle of a single-family detached home with the maintenance-free living of a class A apartment. Avilla Railhead appeals to a diverse range of residents including young professionals, new families, people in a mid-life transition, and 55+ downsizers who want to simplify life with full maintenance services. The homes range from 690 to 1,265 square feet and currently start at $1,259 per month for the 1 bedroom, 1 bath plans. Since opening in mid-June 2025, Avilla Railhead is currently in its initial lease up phase toward stabilization (portfolio average occupancy – 94%).

Avilla Railhead

Rather than being platted on individual lots, these cottage-style homes are clustered around courtyards, achieving density of approximately 11 units per acre. This product type lends itself to detached parking. The streets are lined with parking spaces, carports, and four-pack garages that residents can lease for an additional fee. Many garages also have rentable storage lockers tacked on the end, a decision that came as a result of the developer’s last resident survey. NexMetro regularly surveys their tenants across Avilla Homes-branded communities to determine preferred home features and community amenities. Their last results showed that residents wanted more storage since the garages are exclusively for vehicles, so the developer addressed that demand moving forward.

Avilla Railhead

Avilla is the build-to-rent brand of NexMetro Communities. They are the largest exclusive developers of purpose-built rental communities in the Sunbelt with over 60 projects and 10,000+ homes. Avilla Railhead is one of their latest projects to open. These 211 single-story homes are among more than 2,750 homes that Avilla Homes has built in the Dallas Fort Worth area since entering the market in 2017. NexMetro typically compares their Avilla offerings against garden style apartments, where the Avilla homes differentiate themselves by offering four walls of freedom – no one above, below, or beside you.

Avilla Railhead

Central amenities include a pool, hot tub, lounge area, and pavilion with grills, as well as a lawn with games and a fire pit. The pool deck also connects to Avilla Railhead’s leasing office. According to Josh Hartmann, CEO of NexMetro, who recently spoke on John Burns Research & Consulting’s New Home Insights Podcast, the earliest Avilla communities did not have leasing offices. They started including on-site management in 2014 because they realized that residents liked being able to go to a leasing office and meet with the property manager. NHTI data supports the importance of this decision, showing that 70% of BTR tenants say on-site management is one of the most important factors in selecting a home. 84% of BTR tenants say the same about on-site maintenance (Data: May-June-24; Pub: Jan-25).

Avilla Railhead

The resort-style pool includes a Baja shelf for sunbathing and lounging. Along one side, residents can gather with family and friends to grill and dine together under a shade structure.

Avilla Railhead

The amenities are split up into smaller nodes within the pool area and throughout the community, encouraging multiple residents to find their favorite spot and gather concurrently. Avilla Railhead’s on-site management also plans several events and activities throughout the year, including their Whistle Stop Christmas Drive, Pet in the Park events, Water Drives, and Cleburne Chamber Business Socials.

Avilla Railhead

Beyond the pool area, lawn games and firepits covered by string lights continue the lifestyle element. Platting the homes in courtyards that face other homes or shared green spaces helps promote neighborly interaction. Avilla Homes describes the layout of walkways, streetscapes, and pedestrian-friendly paths as a consistent, planned neighborhood feel rather than ad-hoc housing, meant to complement the historic charm of Cleburne.

Avilla Railhead

While the floor plans are generally the same across all Avilla neighborhoods, the elevations change depending on the market. The Clerkly Watkins Group, architect for the project, drew inspiration from the historic charm of the surrounding area. Homes feature horizontal siding, shingle accents, and masonry along the bottom.

Avilla Railhead

The Retreat is 984 square feet with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. This plan is about 35 feet wide, with a backyard that spans the full width of the home.

Avilla Railhead

The Retreat has two bedrooms, making it suitable for a kid, guest, or roommate. The model was merchandised by Studio Dwell, who made each room and space feel equally inviting.

Avilla Railhead

The family room and kitchen are grouped together in one open great room with a peninsula for dining. Homes also come standard with a smart living system, which includes a smart thermostat, smart lock, leak sensors, and smart switches, all of which are accessible through the resident app.

Avilla Railhead

Surveys showed that residents value high 10-foot ceilings, hard surface floors, and private backyards. Based on consumer feedback, NexMetro also introduced new floor plan features at Avilla Railhead that include more storage areas below and above the counter spaces in the kitchen.

Avilla Railhead

Homes in Avilla neighborhoods always have a backyard. At Avilla Railhead, all backyards are at least 10-feet deep with various larger lots available at a premium. According to NexMetro, pet owners love Avilla Railhead because of the private backyards and hard surface floors throughout the home. On-site maintenance keeps the backyards in great condition. There are also no breed or size restrictions at Avilla Homes communities.

Avilla Railhead

With a range of bedroom counts across the single-story floor plans, Avilla Railhead appeals to a diverse renter pool. NexMetro identifies their target resident as a combination of millennial professionals, new families, people in a mid-life transition, and active adults. The lifestyle of single-family living with private backyards in an amenitized, low-maintenance neighborhood appeals to renters across life stages.

Avilla Railhead

The primary bath feels spacious with a large shower, sink along a long vanity, linen closet, water closet, and access to a walk-in closet.

Avilla Railhead

There are two additional unmodeled floor plans at Avilla Railhead. The largest, called the Haven, is a wider plan that can accommodate a larger front porch (seen here).

Avilla Railhead

The Haven is 1,265 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Each bedroom finds privacy in its own corner of the home, surrounding the great room in the middle. This plan is about 44 feet wide.

Avilla Railhead

The Alcove is the smallest floor plan in the collection at 690 square feet with 1 bedroom and 1 bath. The diversity of floor plans offers segmentation that appeals to a wide renter pool with diverse lifestyle needs. This plan would be great for single professionals. NexMetro is always striving to improve their Avilla neighborhoods. Just recently, they added a pantry to this plan as a result of consumer research. Note how this plan also has a dedicated laundry room, instead of a laundry closet, aiming to simplify daily tasks in a smaller home.

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Avilla Railhead

Product type: Build-To-Rent

PROJECT STATS

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Price as of December 2025: $1,259/ starting at

Square footage (min): 690-1,265

Lot size: –/ square feet average

Density: 11

Sales start date: June 19, 2025

Total homes: 211

Sales as of: Avilla Railhead is currently in its initial lease up phase toward stabilization (portfolio average occupancy – 94%)

HOA: –

Target market: A combination of young professionals, new families, people in a mid-life transition and those 55+ who want to simplify their lives with full maintenance services.