While the Traditions subdivision has been booming on the reservoir tract once entirely owned by the Ammons family, it has appeared that the Ammons family’s plans for a retirement and continuing care development similar to Springmoor in the same tract had been either shelved or the land sold to Traditions.
It turns out the plans are very much in play.
“We remain very committed to building the Continuing Care Retirement Community with the road moving that way and all that is happening in Traditions, I hope and believe we are closer than ever,” David Ammons wrote in an email Tuesday.
Andy Ammons expanded on that. “And I’ll add that you’ll probably see an updated site plan coming through the Town soon. We are working with another experienced developer of Senior Communities to handle the single family section of the Traditions Active Adult Community.
“It will be totally unrelated to the existing work going on in Traditions. And David’s group will still be responsible for the Continuing Care Retirement Community.”
The land in question is part of the large swath, 900-some acres, reaching from Wait Avenue north into Franklin County and bounded on the east by the Wake Forest Reservoir. In October 2011 an Ammons family corporation, Wake Forest Reservoir Properties LLC, sold 73 acres to Wheelock Street Capital, a private equity firm in Greenwich, Connecticut, for about $26 million. The family subsequently sold more land to Wheelock to bring the total to 122 acres. In 2012 Andy Ammons said the family might sell off more land but would retain ownership of the 104 acres for the retirement community and the large-lot subdivision with 100 acres of open space next to it along Gilchrest Farm Road. The subdivision has been approved by Wake County. Both tracts extend into Franklin County.
The plans in 2015 will probably be different from those approved by the town in 2007 and 2008 when the family was looking at 376 acres where it would build 439 single-family homes, 193 senior single-family homes, 63 senior townhouses and 90 apartments. The master plan was approved in 2007, the senior community plan in 2008.
Later, in 2011, Ammons Development Group won approval for an amenities center for the senior complex, 96 continuing care units and 64 townhouses on about 18 acres in the same general area.
The problem in those years was the total lack of infrastructure – roads, sewer, water, utilities – on land that had been part of the Gill plantation and not used for 75-plus years. Wheelock Street Capital had the capital to build the streets – Traditions Grande Boulevard, part of the North Loop – move old roads and install water and sewer.
According to a brief search of records on the Wake County website, Wake Forest Reservoir Properties still owns almost 500 acres north of the present Traditions subdivision.
Wheelock Street Capital has also invested in a second Wake Forest development, Holding Village. The private equity firm has a multi-year contract to develop the residential portion of the traditional neighborhood subdivision. Work has been underway on the southern portion of the 256-acre tract which is bounded by the N.C. 98 bypass to the north, the CSX rail line to the west, an undeveloped tract and part of Heritage to the east and runs nearly to Rogers Road to the south.
