New townhomes planned for Center Grove area

A unique housing complex targeted to young professionals is planned for a busy Center Grove area intersection.

The Greenwood Plan Commission approved rezoning farmland for use by Redwood Acquisitions LLC, an Ohio-based company that develops and manages several rental communities across the Midwest. Redwood wants to build 186 multi-family, ranch-style townhomes east of State Road 135 and south of Smokey Row Road.

The Villages at Lone Pine Farms would be built around an existing retention pond behind the Kroger, said Russell Brown, an attorney representing the developer.

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The proposed project required the rezoning of about 37 acres between State Road 135 and Honey Creek Road. The site was annexed into Greenwood in 2010, according to city documents.

Now, the city council will have to approve the development, said Bill Peeples, Greenwood’s planning director. The project will be introduced at the council meeting on Monday night, but will have to go through two rounds of votes.

All of the homes in this community would be connected ranch-style units that have features similar to a single-family home, including one- or two-car attached garages and patios on the back. They would range in size from 1,100 to 1,600 square feet, and include two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Rents would range from $1,210 to $2,000 per month.

The project, which would include 26 buildings, would be built in two phases, with construction of the first phase beginning next summer if the project is approved, Brown said. In the first phase, 111 units would be built. In the second phase, 75 units would be built. Based on what Redwood has seen in its established communities, most units would be leased before construction is complete, he said.

“While they’re new to our community, they’re not new to central Indiana,” Brown told plan commissioners on Monday night.

The closest Redwood community is in Franklin Township, off Stop 11 Road east of Interstate 65. That community, which is still under construction, offers 24-hour maintenance, curbside recycling and trash pickup, furnished units and a dog park. Other Redwood communities are in Noblesville, Westfield, Whitestown, Brownsburg, Danville and Plainfield. This would be the first in Johnson County.

The townhomes will be marketed toward empty nesters and young professionals, Brown said. In most cases, one or two people would live in each unit, although up to four could. There would not be any income restrictions.

“They generally attract young professionals who are not ready for home ownership but who want to live in a neighborhood-type feel,” he said. “Community amenities are not geared toward tenants with children. There’s no playground, no swimming pool, no basketball court — those types of things that a family with a child might be interested in.”

The fairly large community would have just one entrance and exit, on Smokey Row Road, but an emergency access road would also be built for public safety purposes, Brown said. A second entrance and exit was not feasible, he said. The emergency access road would feed into the commercial lot to the west of the community, but would only be accessible to emergency vehicles.

Greenwood’s long-term comprehensive plan calls for some sort of transitional housing, such as upscale apartments, between the businesses to the west and single-family homes to the east of this proposed project.

“We believe that this product fits that low-density, multi-family product the city is looking for to a T,” Brown said.

The proximity to businesses in the area, such as Kroger, Pet Valu, Great Clips and a few restaurants, would be a draw for renters, he said.

The developer plans to follow all of the city’s required standards, including using masonry stone on all four sides of the homes and no siding.