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Mill Creek Meadows, which is off Whites Run Road, near its intersection with Arnoldsville Road, will include 20 homes. (Submitted Photo) -
The layout of the 29 single-family home development in Crawford. The first few homes will be completed in the coming weeks. (Submitted Photo)
Houses are being completed at The Pines at Grove Creek in Crawford and Mill Creek Meadows in Arnoldsville, Oglethorpe County’s newest developments.
The Pines at Grove Creek is expected to include 29 single-family homes, with five nearing completion, said Alexander Purcell, the listing agent for the development.
The Pines, off Bunker Hill Road, doesn’t feature a pool or clubhouse, Purcell said, because the developers didn’t want to worry about having to charge homeowners association fees.
However, the development backs up to the Oglethorpe County Recreation Department, which has walking trails and athletic facilities.
Buyers can pick from three plans:
- The Willow is one story with approximately 1,648 square feet, three bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms. It lists for $339,000.
- The Longleaf is two stories with approximately 2,024 square feet, three bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms. It lists for $359,000.
- The Ponderosa is two stories with approximately 2,243 square feet, four bedrooms and three bathrooms. It lists for $379,000.
One of the goals, Purcell said, was to offer buyers a development with neighborhood-style living without having to look in Athens-Clarke County.
“That was kind of what we were targeting, people maybe that work in the Oglethorpe County area, or that have lived there before, that just really didn't have any new houses to buy in that area, and definitely not any with a neighborhood feel,” Purcell said.
Teachers have been one of the biggest demographics of buyers, Purcell said, with “multiple” showing interest.
The Pines at Grove Creek also has an incentive, which Purcell said he hopes draws more buyers to the area.
“We have three preferred lenders that you’d have to use, but we are basically putting a lot of money toward a permanent interest rate buy-now for our buyers that would get them in these houses at 5.5% interest rate, which is a whole lot less than what the market is right now,” Purcell said.
The Mill Creek Meadows development, off Whites Run Road and its intersection with Arnoldsville Road, will have 20 homes, owner Adam Swann said. The homes range from $319,000 to $399,000, depending on the square footage.
Bulldawg Realty’s Tonya Williams said eight homes are finished and have closed, while the other 12 are under construction.
These two developments are progressing in the wake of another Arnoldsville-area development proposal coming to a halt. Size and use were the key differences between the development proposed by Andy Barrs and the other two.
The Arnoldsville City Council turned down the project after two years of negotiation. Arnoldsville Mayor Danny Morcom said the city is too small for a project of this size.
Barrs’ project included 114 acres, larger than both other developments combined.
The concept also had a 50-lot housing development for both single-family and multi-family use, as well as commercial development.
Both The Pines and Mill Creek developments were already zoned R1, meaning they were designated areas for single-family residential use only, said Jeff Sharp, Oglethorpe County’s director of planning zoning and compliance.
“People want commercial development, they want restaurants, they want these things,” Sharp said. “To get those things you have to have rooftops, and nobody wants the rooftops because that increases pressure on the school systems, ambulance and fire and police, but you’re not going to have the commercial development until you have more people.”