New homes, same location: Developer to build in abandoned neighborhood

Left abandoned for a couple of decades, streets, sewer lines and other infrastructure in a never-completed, overgrown Center Grove subdivision will be torn out this fall before construction of a new neighborhood begins.

In 1995, a developer planned to construct about 100 homes on nearly 40 acres of land on the west side of Paddock Road, between Olive Branch and Smith Valley roads, in a neighborhood called Cricket Ridge. The developer installed sewer lines and a road and built two models homes, but the plans eventually fell through.

The property became overgrown and was the source of many complaints from neighbors for years before being purchased by M/I Homes in 2013.

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At the time, the developer announced plans for Riley Meadows, a 100-home neighborhood, but that development was put on hold while M/I homes worked to complete the nearby Harrison Crossing neighborhood.

Earlier this year, M/I Homes cleared out some of the heavy brush that covered the neighborhood, and needs approval from the county commissioners to begin preparing the site for roads and homes to be built next spring.

However, before new construction in the neighborhood can begin, all of the old infrastructure along with the remaining brush and weeds must be torn out. That work is set to begin this fall, and the goal is for construction to start in the spring, county planning engineer Allen Kirk said.

Even though some of the infrastructure, such as the stormwater and sewer pipes, can have a lifespan longer than half-a-century, replacing them and starting over with new pipes made sense for the neighborhood, Kirk said.

“We didn’t want to take the chance that the old pipes in there would cause any problems,” he said.

Work on the property will also include digging up a retention pond, as well as grading and smoothing out the ground to prepare for houses and streets to be built. Paddock Road also will need to be widened at the entrance to the neighborhood, he said.

M/I Homes has proposed building about 100 homes on the property. The single- and two-story homes will range from 2,000 square feet to 3,400 square feet and be priced from $240,000 to $375,000, according to M/I Homes.

The construction plans for the infrastructure removal goes to county commissioners for approval in August. Construction plans for the new subdivision need to be approved by the county prior to homes being built next spring, Kirk said.