Hubbell takes over long-idle W.D.M. development
KENT DARR Oct 13, 2016 | 3:41 pm
2 min read time
459 wordsAll Latest News, Real Estate and Development
Hubbell Realty Co. is set to begin work in what was once billed as the prime development project in West Des Moines, mostly controlled by Regency Homes and later left on the books of multiple lenders after the company shuttered operations during the Great Recession.
Hubbell has compiled about 60 acres of property, some of it once owned by a lender and the balance under private ownership, to create Mill Ridge, a development that will ultimately have 60 single-family homes and 164 townhomes. It is a $15 million investment in West Des Moines and is calculated to add $850,000 to the annual overall tax base.
The property is located west of South 88th Street and north of Sugar Creek Drive. The paving of South 88th Street is almost a story unto itself. Regency had agreed to pay for paving half of the street, but it remained a gravel road for several years until a Minnesota investment company bought land in the area, generally called Michael’s Landing in honor of the late Regency founder Michael Myers, and entered an agreement to fulfill Regency’s obligation to pave the road.
Hubbell Homes will begin work later this month on the first phase of Mill Ridge, which consists of 31 single-family lots and 75 townhomes on 23 acres of land. The company plans to have six homes under construction by winter, according to a release.
The entire Michael’s Landing development once consisted of more than 340 acres of land that was to be turned into a self-contained neighborhood that would include parks, offices and retail establishments as well as range of residential construction.
WesleyLife did develop the Edgewater retirement community at Michael’s Landing, but other commercial development has not occurred.
Joe Pietruszynski, vice president of land development at Hubbell, said his company’s residential project could bring population of the area to the point where it could eventually support some retail development.
“It’s not going to be anything like what was planned in the past, but more of a normal neighborhood,” he said.
Since 2008, individual builders and the Minnesota investment company have picked up pockets of land, but construction of the scale planned by Hubbell Realty has not occurred. While falling under the generic name of Michael’s Landing, which is a planned unit development, areas have been called Woodland Hills and now Mill Ridge.
The area includes Woodland Hills Elementary, one of eight elementary schools in the Waukee School District.
Hubbell Homes plans to offer 12 single-family floor plans, with custom options available. Lot prices are in the $90,000 range, and completed single-family homes will range from $350,000 to $450,000. The townhomes, scheduled to hit the market in the early summer of 2017, will start at $250,000, according to a release.