On February 4th at 6:00 I attended the meeting to discuss plans for Hebron Manor. About a dozen people were in attendance, in addtion to Mr. Sang Oh, who is representing the petitioner, and Mr. Bob Corbett, Vice President at Williamsburg Homes. They explained that the intent of the developer is to reduce the size of the community center from 3200 square feet to 2000 square feet, and to eliminate the pool, as contained in the original plans. As a builder, their concern is that the over-sized community center and the pool are too expensive to build (putting pressure on prices in this challenging market), and too expensive to maintain, causing fees to be too high, and thus making the properties less appealing. Judging from the questions from the audience, and the discussion during the follow-up, no one in attendance had any concerns about their proposal.
But there were many other questions.... and to answer them requires going back to a little basic information about the community.
Hebron Manor is a Condominium Community
As most people know, in a condo community, each owner owns their unit, and a share of the entire common area and amenities. When Williamsburg purchased the community, they purchased the entire community, but they did not purchase the two existing buildings. The building closest to Old Mill Rd. is owned by Bradford Bank (or will be shortly) and the building farther in the community is owned by K-Bank (or will be shortly). The fate of the two buildings already under roof is uncertain.... and complicated.......and will probably not be resolved for a while. I will be reaching out to each bank to see the status of the properties, and to attempt to keep everyone up to date on the process.
Williamsburg Homes Will Develop the Whole Community Consistent with the Initial Plans
I for one was glad to hear that the the builder will be required to adhere to the plan that is already in place for the community. This includes:
All the buildings will have the same footprint as the original plan
The number of buildings and the number of units within those buildings will remain the same
The landscaping portrayed in the original plan will be installed
The walking path will be installed
And the Start Date Is?
They are hoping to begin construction the first week of March, pending the outcome of their submission of the "red line" revisions to the original plan on Friday. While some units will sell in the upper $300's, the likely target price will be mid-$400's to around $500k. Architectural plans were just completed, so firm prices are not known yet, and of course are subject to market forces.
I will be working with the developer to make more information available, to include the fiinal plans when they are available.