City Manager Randy Bridge said the new housing is just part of the larger progress New Carlisle is making.
“We’re excited for these developments to progress, and we’re even more excited about the current progress being made in the city with the McDonald’s and Taco Bell, in addition to the other improvements we have in our parks and other public facilities,” he said.
The city has about 5,500 residents now. The new housing — with potential pricing around $300,000 — will bring in approximately 2,250 residents, including those who work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and others who live in New Carlisle already.
“It’s our first housing developments in a long time ... The base is a big driver behind this housing boom,” Bridge said. “Hopefully we get a diverse set of people (moving to the developments).”
Lowell McGlothin, Clark County commissioner and former New Carlisle city official, agreed with Bridge, saying the base is a big driver in bringing in new housing and new people.
“People move here for new jobs and are looking for new houses, not an older home, and New Carlisle unfortunately doesn’t have that,” he said.
Paul Metzger, director of land acquisition and development for Arbor Homes, said he thinks the new development will help the city grow.
He said it will be a benefit for “people who live in the city now who want a new house and haven’t had a lot of options, and allow people to come to the city as well,” he said.
McGlothin said he thinks it’s wonderful all the new homes are coming to the city because it’s been at least 15 years since they’ve had new housing.
“I think it’s a wonderful attribute for the city of New Carlisle (to) expand. We have a McDonald’s going in, also a Taco Bell going in. Finally some things are happening. I’m all for growth,” he said. “When we put in Twin Creeks a long time ago, that helped, but we need more people, more houses ... Hopefully we will get some new people here.”
A look at the developments:
Monroe Meadows, being developed by Arbor Homes, broke ground about two weeks ago and started moving dirt.
The development is on a 79-acre site where 300 single-family homes will be built.
“It feels very good (to break ground). It’s been a little over two years since we’ve been working on this, so we’re excited about it,” Metzger said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to bring in new homes to the area, and we really pride ourselves in being an affordable option in home building and try to drive to that in our approach and our sales.”
The housing layouts include 12 floor plans with multiple elevation styles per floor plan. Structural options include basements, sunrooms and room extensions; interior options such as gourmet kitchen and deluxe master bathrooms; vinyl siding and masonry, according to the plan.
“The difference in about what we do is we allow our customers (a lot) of selections and adaptations. If you want to buy a basic house with countertops and carpets and vinyl, if you want to upgrade to hundreds of items, they can upgrade to ceiling heights, finishings, cabinet styles, flooring; we offer bump outs. We like to offer a lot of that stuff so it’s really the buyer’s ability to select that and do that themselves,” he said. “We think that’s important. It helps us sell and get the people in the house with the money they want to spend, and they can upgrade and do more.”
The vacant land where the development will be was annexed from Bethel Twp. to New Carlisle.
The developer has submitted their phases of the project, and council will soon start having Tax Increment Finance (TIF) incentive discussions. Each TIF starts with the beginning of a new phase of the project. That requires each phase to have its own TIF start date.
Metzger said they have a long way to go with development work, but the streets being paved is scheduled for the end of this year, and they hope to have home construction start at the end of the year as well.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Reserves at Honey Creek, being developed by D.R. Horton, will break ground on June 17.
This development is on 150 acres of the Brubaker farm property to build 360 single-family homes.
The site plan includes a more than one-mile walking path, land donation to expand Haddix Field and 9.7 acres set aside for commercial development.
At the end of last year, city council approved legislation to create the Honey Creek Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Incentive District. There are no working numbers yet, Bridge said.
The city manager said the first round of work just established the TIF, but there is still additional TIF work remaining. The city is waiting for information from D.R. Horton, Bridge said.
McGlothin said the biggest challenge will be additional traffic, but he is still excited about the city growth.
“Main Street is not built for that type of thing, but there will be two or three different ways to get into (the developments), which will help tremendously with (traffic),” he said. “I think it’s overdue ... And we need to have some restaurants, better restaurants where you can sit and have a (drink), so I think that will help as well.”
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