Year in Preview: Subdivisions in high demand

People who live in north Shelby County along the U.S. 280 corridor can expect to continue seeing a lot of new neighbors in 2016.

From Hoover to Chelsea and unincorporated areas, demand for new housing continues to rise. New subdivisions are starting to pop up, in addition to homes being built in subdivisions already are in progress.

Signature Homes in mid-December got approval to begin work on the 97-home Brock Point subdivision on land recently annexed into Hoover off Shelby County 41. The 103-acre parcel is just east of The Cove at Greystone and The Crest at Greystone and directly across from Shoal Creek.

Signature Homes plans to build houses that are between 3,000 and 5,000 square feet and sell them for $500,000 to $800,000, with an average price of $600,000, Signature Homes President Jonathan Belcher said. Hoover planning consultant Bob House said he expects 12 to 15 homes to be built in Brock Point in 2015.

Chelsea recently approved a new subdivision off Shelby County 47 called Wide Oak Manor. It will have 16 lots on 140 acres, with each lot being 5 to 10 acres, Chelsea City Clerk Becky Landers said.

In the Oak Mountain area, developer and homebuilder Wayne Scotch Jr. recently started a 10-lot subdivision called Laurel Grove on 14 acres off Cahaba Valley Trace and behind Heardmont Park.

Sharman Brooks, a senior planner for Shelby County, said it’s the first new subdivision of more than five lots that has been approved by the Shelby County Planning Commission since 2008.

It’s a sign that the housing market has recovered enough that developers are ready to start on new projects.

The lots in Laurel Grove are 1 to 1.5 acres each and will be about 3,500 square feet on average, Scotch said. The average price is in the upper $500,000s, he said.

Demand for houses in Laurel Grove was strong — so strong that Scotch had to quit advertising it because there were so many calls, he said. Nine of the 10 lots were sold before he could get the subdivision plans recorded, he said.

Construction is starting on eight of the homes, and all 10 of them should be finished by the end of 2016, Scotch said.

Now, Scotch said he’s planning to buy the Willow Branch subdivision his father, Wayne Scotch Sr., started in Chelsea just before the housing market crashed and never finished. Willow Branch, off Shelby County 36, has land for more than 200 lots, but once the housing market soured, development there came to a halt. There are 28 lots prepared there but only four houses, the younger Scotch said.

Now, he’s ready to pick the project back up, probably starting in February, he said. The lots are half an acre on average, and the homes will average about 2,000 square feet, he said.

Scotch said his market analysis has shown there are a lot of people in the north Shelby and Birmingham area who bought starter homes and are ready to move up into larger, 4-bedroom homes priced from $250,000 to $300,000.

Danny Acton of Arc Realty said the opening of Grandview Medical Center on U.S. 280 has had a big impact on the housing market in the corridor. People feel good about having a hospital close by, as well as the new Brookwood Medical Center stand-alone emergency department at the corner of U.S. 280 and Alabama 119, he said.

New construction sales for the Birmingham area have risen from 1,103 in 2011 to 1,283 in 2012, 1,402 in 2013 and 1,371 in 2014, according to the Alabama Center for Real Estate. New construction sales for 2015 were on a growth track as well, with 1,277 sales in the first 10 months.

Average prices for new construction sales have grown from $227,058 in 2011 to $307,707 for the first 10 months of 2015, according to the center’s data.

Brooks said Shelby County was fortunate in that developers did not leave behind a lot of “zombie subdivisions” with streets and lots but no houses when the market crashed. But there are still numerous subdivisions still under construction in north Shelby County.

Data from Shelby County shows there are still roughly 250 homes to be developed in Highland Lakes and about 600 more homes coming to the Village at Highland Lakes, both by developer Doug Eddleman. Eddleman also recently received approval to build 11 lots in the last residential sector of Brook Highland, Brooks said.

Shoal Creek has about 100 homes now but has room for about 250, said Caroline Little, president of Shoal Creek Properties. Development there has been slow, typically about five lots per year, but the subdivision hasn’t been marketed a lot until recently, she said.

Mt Laurel has about 240 homes but room to grow to about 550, said Julianna Vance, the marketing manager there. “We plan on building 20-25 new homes in 2016,” Vance said. Floor plans range from 1,824 to 4,016 square feet. Houses in Mt Laurel start at $395,000, but most cost at least $500,000 Vance said.

Subdivisions still under development in Chelsea include Chelsea Park, Chelsea Station, Chesser Plantation, Highland Ridge and Polo Crossings, Landers said.

Acton said his brother, Don Acton, plans to start a 24-lot second phase of Chelsea Ridge in 2016 as well.