A Triangle real estate development team is debuting its first age-restricted, “pocket neighborhood” in Clayton.
Built by Raleigh-based TIMU Group, the Walk at East Village was inspired by pocket neighborhoods the developers had studied and visited in Washington’s Puget Sound region.
The first model homes for the proposed 300-unit Walk at East Village community have opened at the intersection of U.S. 70 Business and N.C. 42 next to the new apartments at Arbors at East Village, and the community will be hosting an open house event April 22.
It’s a project that Joe Smith, president of TIMU Group, says his team has been working on for several years, and they are optimistic that it will be embraced by their targeted homebuying audience in the 55-plus age category.
“Active adults are looking for a sense of community, and that’s what we’re trying to do with this project,” Smith says.
At Walk at East Village, all of the detached houses and cottages will be arranged in “pockets,” or clusters of eight to 12 units facing a private, shared courtyard or garden with connecting sidewalks. Most of the units, which range from 1,600 to 3,000 square feet, will still have garages accessible from the street, but with large front porches facing the communal areas to encourage social interaction with neighbors. The homes are priced from the $290,000s to $500,000s.
Smith says both he and one of his business partners, Devin Steele of Raleigh, have family that live at Whidbey Island near Seattle where they had first learned about pocket neighborhoods. Whidbey Island-based architect Ross Chapin has been championing the pocket neighborhood design concept since the late 1990s and has helped design multiple pocket neighborhoods in that region and consulted on many others projects across the U.S.
“We fell in love with the concept after we saw it,” Smith says. “Ross believes that traditional neighborhoods with front garages that open out to the street can make a neighborhood feel like a prison, you’re isolated with no connection to the community. The only way people are going to talk to each other is if they are facing each other.”
Walk at East Village will have a 12,000-square-foot clubhouse with the traditional neighborhood amenities, including a pool, fitness center and coffee shop, along with walking paths throughout the entire community. The project is about one mile east of Clayton’s downtown district. It is designated as an age-restricted community, which means that at least one member of the homebuying household must be 55 years or older.
Smith says they are estimating a three- to four-year sell-out period for Walk at East Village. The monthly homeowners association dues are $245, plus a one-time capital contribution and amenities fee of $2,700.
Other partners with Smith and Steele at TIMU Group are Mark Gramling of Cary and Chad Collins of Raleigh. TIMU Group is also developing the project in partnership with developers Tom Taft and Hubie Tolson of TH Clayton Development Corp. of Greenville and UHF Development Corp. of New Bern. The Ramsey Team/Coldwell Banker is representing the community for real estate brokerage.
SOURCE: Triangle Business Journal
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