Active-adult communities booming
Active adult communities have become a major deal in the Fredericksburg area

By RICHARD AMRHINE
Date published: 5/25/2006

Early in its construction phase, Mill Creek active-adult community in Spotsylvania will include 38 homes.

The excitement is evident in Judy Lewis' voice. It won't be long before she and her husband, Larry, become the first to move in at Mill Creek, Tricord's new active-adult community off Courthouse Road in Spotsylvania.

"It's time for Cinderella to have a new coach," as she puts it.

They are part of a growing, no, booming market segment in the Fredericksburg area that assures, if there was ever any doubt, that the home building industry's outlook here remains healthy. According to figures projected by the Virginia Employment Commission based on the 2000 census, the population growth of those 55 and above in Fredericksburg and surrounding counties will have increased 158 percent between 2000 and 2020, from 59,136, to 160,277.

County governments have long favored age-restricted communities because they don't add children to the school population. The residents do, however, spend money locally and frequently volunteer their time to worthy causes.

Some communities in the area are targeting active adults, but are not officially age-restricted in their agreements with local governments

Judy Lewis offers a litany of reasons for making the move to an age-restricted community in general, and Mill Creek in particular. And all of the reasons help explain the growing popularity of the arrangement.

"We have a son in Missouri," she said, "and we'll go and visit him for a while and when we come home, the grass is so high."

Their new place at Mill Creek will let them lock the door and take off carefree, with such chores taken care of as part of the deal.

The Lewises also have a daughter in nearby Bloomsbury subdivision, a mile or so down Courthouse Road, so Mill Creek was also the perfect choice for that reason, as well.

They expect to be in around June 1. "I've never had a dishwasher before, or a trash disposal. We've had a carport, but never a garage," she said, and the new house will provide all those things.

Like many people in the post-55 set, Judy, 64, and Larry, 63, were ready to make a move toward consolidation. They've lived in the same Stafford County house for decades, spending nearly all their time on the main level, with 1,400 square feet of space.

"With the kids gone we stopped using the basement, so with our new house having 1,500 square feet on one floor, we're actually gaining space," Judy Lewis said. "We'll be trading our three bedrooms for two big ones."

She also likes the idea of being surrounded by like-aged neighbors. "People the same age tend to think the same way about some things." She said she is so looking forward to making new friends, getting together with them at the new clubhouse, and generally enjoying her new surroundings.

She loves that Mill Creek is so small, with 38 homes on 10 acres. There are two- and three-unit villas, some with a loft. "We're both from small towns and we're used to knowing everyone."

Lewis said she and her husband thought long and hard before making their decision. Once they'd decided that an age-restricted community was right for them, they looked at several places before choosing Mill Creek.

That's another interesting factor, according to John Knisley, Tricord's sales director for Mill Creek.

"Unlike families who are looking to move quickly, seniors can take their time," he said. Knisley recalled figures showing that seniors will take up to 18 months to make this decision, while younger people and families will take just a few months.

He said this gives builders such as Tricord time to market communities such as Mill Creek well before the first earth is turned. That's also advantageous for buyers, because the land can be resold at last year's prices.

The Lewises came in with only the clubhouse to look at, and that was enough to make them the community's first buyers.

The first villas at Mill Creek started with a base price in the high $200,000 range, though with extras the selling prices generally exceeded $300,000, Kinsley said. He said Tricord will soon have to set the base price above the $300,000 mark.

"A few years ago we could foresee the demand for an active-adult lifestyle that would be one of low maintenance, for ease of living and a community feel," said Knisley.

He said the company took a booth at trade shows outside the region, and advertised in national retirement magazines. The strategy has not only helped sell a third of the 38 home sites at Mill Creek, but also generated ideas for what such a community should offer.

Mill Creek is Tricord's first foray into active-adult housing, but far from its last. At Retreat of Chancellorsville the company will build single-family homes on 290 sites starting later this year. Knisley said 27 sites are already sold. A clubhouse with an indoor pool has been proposed there.

At Pendleton in Caroline County, 1,200 of the 3,500 housing units there will be age-restricted.

Mill Creek is using the villa formula that has proved successful in the area before, at places like Lee's Hill and Salem Fields.

The villas at Mill Creek offer four basic floor plans ranging from 1,569 square feet to 2,064 square feet of living space. The standard plans provide two bedrooms and two bathrooms. When the optional parlor is substituted for the second bedroom, the second bathroom becomes a powder room.

A loft can be added to any plan, and adds about 50 percent more square footage

An optional fireplace is available for the family room.

The standard island kitchens have eat-in, or "cafe," space, with separate dining rooms or areas nearby.

To reach RICHARD AMRHINE: 540/374-5406