Bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment have been sculpting the hills and valleys since last summer, transforming what was once the Holding dairy farm into the basis for the town’s first traditional neighborhood subdivision, Holding Village. The small dam that held back a farm pond was removed and a much higher dam was built. But until recently it was difficult to even see where the streets will be.
Last week Scott Lay, who lives in Wake Forest and is overseeing the first phase of the project for Reader & Partners, said, “The lake is filling up now and we hope it will be full by the end of the winter.” He also said he anticipates the individual home builders will start their presales this fall. “As you know, the rainy and snowy winter has set back all real estate development.” There will be 124 single-family houses in the first section, which lies on the west side of South Franklin Street across from the new construction for senior apartments, the Huntington Springs Apartments.
In early 2014 Wheelock Street Capital, which has headquarters in Greenwich, Conn., and Boston, Mass., announced it had entered a multi-year contract with the American Land Fund (ALF), headquartered in Philadelphia, Penn., to “acquire and develop the for-sale residential portion” of Holding Village. This was the second major investment by Wheelock Street in Wake Forest. In October 2011 the firm purchased 73 acres of the Traditions subdivision from Andy Ammons for $2.4 million and contracted with JPM South of Raleigh to oversee and subcontract the infrastructure and major road construction and develop the residential area just north of the N.C. 98 bypass, the Dr. Calvin Jones Highway.
ALF had partnered with Reader & Partners, a real estate development firm based in Orlando, Fla., to build Holding Farms, and Wheelock announced it would also partner with Reader & Partners.
Holding Village was approved in 2007 as the first traditional neighborhood subdivision with unique specifications about density, setbacks and other design criteria. The 256 acres at that time was owned by Entrust Holdings, a corporation set up by the heirs of W.W. Holding III, part of the 900-acre Holding Farm owned by W.W. Holding and his brother, Walter. Entrust Holdings had planned to develop the subdivision with Roger Perry, a Chapel Hill developer, but the recession hit shortly after the project was approved. Entrust Holdings sold the land and the development plan to ALF in August 2011 for an estimated $8 million.
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The Design Review Board met on May 14 and approved the architectural design of the proposed Franklin Townes on the east side of Franklin Street just north of the N.C. 98 bypass. Developer Mark Iafrate downsized his first plan for 108 apartments to 61 townhouses, and the revised plan was approved in February.
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The Technical Review Committee met on May 21 and reviewed the plans for a South Main retail site and an apartment complex on 26.68 acres in a triangle between Durham Road and Debarmore Street.
The South Main site is between the future Valvoline building and Carter Street and includes the properties at 2013, 2017 and 2021 South Main and 1608 and 1612 Mangum Avenue. It has 2.95 acres, and the applicant, Lat Purser & Associates, want to have it rezoned to conditional use highway business.
