Development
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29 More Townhouses Likely Coming To Vine Street |
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view a larger map here The Harrisonburg Planning Commission recommended the approval of the rezoning of a 2.25 acre parcel on Vine Street to allow for 29 townhouses to be built as per the proposed site plan below... view a larger site plan here This is one of the many new residential developments in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County that are under construction or in planning phases as outlined here. | |
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54,270 SF of Self Storage Planned For Stone Spring Road |
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![]() view a larger version of this map here Is there a shortage of available storage units? Later this month the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors will consider a rezoning request for a proposed development on the corner of Port Republic Road and Boyers Road that includes, among other things, 91,000 SF of storage units. But wait, there's more... The site plan is currently under review by the County for a development less than a mile from this site, off of Stone Spring Road, for 54,270 SF of self storage in three buildings... download the proposed site plan here So, there must either be an extreme need for self storage right now -- or we are potentially going to see a significant excess of available storage if both of these developments are built out. | |
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Ryan Homes May Be Starting To Help Some Housing Inventory Issues In Rockingham County |
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![]() Ryan Homes, a regional builder currently building homes in 15 different states including Virginia now has two communities underway in Rockingham County and likely will be bringing more on board in the future. SOUTH PEAK is a community of single level, three bedroom (1343 - 1527 SF) duplexes in McGaheysville with current pricing seeming to be mostly between $275K and $350K. While it appears that this will be a community of 72 duplex, thus far, 35 homes have sold, 2 are under contract and one is listed for sale, at least per the MLS. SHADY CREEK is a community of three and four bedroom (1296 - 1903 SF) single family homes (so far, though I believe attached dwellings are to come) in Grottoes with current pricing seeming to be mostly between $270K and $325K. Thus far, 17 homes are under contract and 4 are listed for sale, at least per the MLS. We are definitely having some inventory issues in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County -- with more buyers wanting to buy than there are sellers willing to sell. New home construction at scale can help to address this unmet buyer demand. Thus far, these communities by Ryan Homes are only hitting two segments of our local market but I believe we will see more communities to come that will likely create inventory in other areas and price ranges in our local market. | |
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How Do YOU Think Downtown Harrisonburg Should Look in 2040? |
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The City of Harrisonburg and Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance (HDR) have launched Harrisonburg Downtown 2040, a community-driven plan for our beloved Downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia. Above is a snapshot from the collaborative map that the community is building showing... Special Places (stars) - important places in Downtown and stories about why these places matter Ideas (light bulbs) - ideas for improving Downtown including places to be change or preserve, things that are missing from Downtown, etc. Problems (cones) - problems or concerns to be fixed View (and contribute to) the collaborative map here. Read more about the Downtown 2040 project here. | |
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You Can Buy A New Single Family Home Under $300K, Or Even Under $250K |
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![]() With home prices rising so much over the past few years if you just took a cursory look at the market you might think your only option for a new home under $250K is a townhouse. That's not actually true. In the past year, (20) new single family (detached) homes sold under $250K in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County for less than $250K. Hard to believe isn't it? See them all here. If we expanded that to homes under $300K, we'll find 36 sales! Not interested in what sold over an entire year? Curious about what is currently on the market? There are 40 new homes under $300K that are currently on the market and under contract and 7 new homes currently for sale under $300K. Many of the new homes under $250K are currently found in Brentwood subdivision where a new section just opened up. Many of the new homes between $250K and $300K are in Shady Creek, in Grottoes, where Ryan Homes just started building homes. Now, it should also be noted that some buyers might look at the new homes available under $250K or under $300K and say...
...all of which are valid conclusions -- but just because some buyers won't choose to buy these new homes under $250K or under $300K based on their style, size or location that doesn't mean that they aren't being built -- or that it is not possible to build them. Also, circling back to the beginning -- it is certainly true that you can spend over $250K on a new townhouse -- with the two current obvious examples being Congers Creek and Crescent Ridge. | |
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337 Homes To Be Built On Pleasant Valley Road |
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A new neighborhood is coming to Pleasant Valley Road, across the street from The Springs at Osceola. Way back in 2009, this land was rezoned as a part of the 282.86 acres of land that was to be developed as The Springs at Osceola. Now, however, the developer plans to develop the 71.502 acres on the west side of Pleasant Valley Road as a separate neighborhood, Wingate Meadows subdivision. Wingate Meadows would consist of 337 homes, including...
County staff recommended approving this rezoning on January 28, 2021. The Planning Commission recommended approving this rezoning on February 2, 2021. The Board of Supervisors approved the subdivision on February 24, 2021. You can download the rezoning packet here, and this is the proposed layout... view a larger version here | |
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Site Plan and Renderings For Boyers Crossing, Proposed Mixed Use Development |
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A developer is proposing that Rockingham County rezone a 5.69 acre parcel at the corner of Port Republic Road and Boyers Road for...
The developer has now published renderings of the proposed development which can be found on their website. Some additional details are now available from the proposed development's website...
This is a proposed mixed use development, and you can read more about the mixed use developments that do and do not already exist locally here. Feedback about this potential rezoning can be sent to... | |
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Mixed Use Developments in Rockingham County, Looking Around and Looking Forward |
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![]() Given all of the developments popping up along Boyers Road it is probably a good time to pause and remember that this (Boyers Road) is one of the main areas where Rockingham County anticipates seeing further development in the years (and decades) to come per the Stone Spring Urban Development Plan. The Stone Spring UDA provides a blueprint for the potential development based on a traditional town pattern in four geographic areas that they have called Stone Port, Stone Ridge, Boyers Crossing and Crossroads. Here's the big picture, per Rockingham County... "The UDA Plan presents a vision for the development of new, walkable mixed-use neighborhoods, within the four neighborhood focus areas while preserving existing neighborhoods." "Plans and development scenarios are conceptual and would be phased over the ensuing 20 years, contemplating future generations of development and adaptive reuses of certain parcels over that period. Recommended conceptual alignments, structures and functional uses do not account for parcel boundaries or topographic constraints." One main thing to note here is that the County has a vision of these four areas being developed as mixed use developments. We can think about this most simply as residential and non-residential uses. Non-residential uses might be office space or retail, etc. This type of development (mixed use) will look and feel different than most of the areas that folks are familiar with in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County because there are not many mixed use developments currently in existence in our area. A few examples and non-examples... Crossroads Farm could sort of be seen as almost being a mixed use development in that a bank was built at the corner of the neighborhood where Cross Keys Road and Spotswood Trail intersect. That's probably a bit of a stretch though, as these two areas (residential neighborhood, bank) do not connect for vehicular or pedestrian traffic. Urban Exchange is a mixed use development in downtown Harrisonburg (yes, in the City, not the County) because it has apartments over top of retail and office space, though it is all in one connected building, as opposed to a mixed use development in multiple buildings spread out over a tract of land. Preston Lake was always intended to be a mixed use development with commercial space on the edge of the original development plan, and as a part of the current development plan, but it's only a residential development thus far with detached homes, duplexes, townhomes and now an adjacent apartment complex under construction. Again, all residential development - though there is still a possibility it will have some non-residential development as a part of it at some point in the future. Stone Port, located catty-corner to Sentara RMH Medical Center would seem to be one of our area's first mixed-use development, because it has residential uses (apartments) and non-residential uses (retail, office, etc.) Stoney Ridge is a proposed/planned mixed use development on the south end of Harrisonburg and partially in the County. It would almost entirely be residential development (apartments, townhouses, duplexes, detached homes) but does have some intended commercial lots on the front of the property. Boyers Crossing is a proposed mixed use development on the corner of Boyers Road and Port Republic Road including apartments, commercial space and storage units. More on this in the coming days. Am I missing any current or proposed mixed use developments? If so, email me. I suspect we will continue to see further proposals for mixed use developments in the four areas in the County referenced above. Perhaps as further mixed use developments take shape we will become more accustomed to them and more comfortable with them in this marketplace. | |
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72 Apartments In Six Buildings Proposed in the City of Harrisonburg Adjacent To Planned Mixed Use Development In Rockingham County |
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![]() A new development, Stoney Ridge, is continuing to take shape near the DMV on Route 11 south in Harrisonburg, The majority of the development would exist in the County but a portion of the development land is in the City. The County portion of the development would include...
The City portion of the development would include...
A few downloads of interest... Harrisonburg City Council will consider the developer's request for the rezoning of the City portion of the development land at their meeting tonight. Planning Commission recommends approving this rezoning. City Council will also be considering a rezoning to allow for 142 apartments proposed for the intersection of Blue Ridge Drive and Country Club Road. Planning Commission recommends denying this rezoning. Update 2/11/2021: Per the 2/11/2021 Daily News Record, City Council approved this rezoning request. | |
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Why Is Unmet Home Buyer Demand So High In Harrisonburg? |
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![]() Earlier this week I was chatting with some friends and clients who relocated out of Harrisonburg (out of state) nearly a decade ago. They are now looking to move back to Harrisonburg and are accurately observing that our local housing market is at a drastically different point now than it was a decade (+/-) ago when they left. The most pressing issue at hand for them, as soon-to-be buyers in this market, is the extraordinary high level of unmet home buyer demand. And so we pondered aloud why in the world buyer demand is so high in Harrisonburg. Here's my overly condensed thesis...
Put differently, with some make believe numbers, to illustrate the point... 2010 = population of 50,000 2020 = population of 55,000 Increased population = 5,000 5000 newly built housing options between 2010 and 2020:
The problem, then, is that many more than 500 (10%) of the new population want to buy single family detached homes -- but that is not what has been built over the past decade. Further exacerbating the problem is that plenty of the already existing 50,000 population also wants to move up to a single family detached home, putting more and more pressure on that segment of the market. So - the population is increasing and housing options are increasing, but the housing that is being created is not matching what the expanding population desires. Why!? Basically, it's all about profitability as a developer. For all the ways to develop a 10 acre parcel of land, this is a rough approximation of the ranking of their potential profitability...
At this point, most land being developed is not being developed for single family homes because that is not the most profitable way to develop the land. So long as student housing keeps being rented as soon as it is built, and non-student apartments keep being rented as soon as they are built, and townhouses keep being rented as soon as they are built, and townhouses for sale keep being bought before they are built -- it remains relatively unlikely that land in or close to Harrisonburg will be developed for single family homes. I am now accepting recommendations for more cheery perspectives to write about next week. Call. Text. Email. Help! ;-) | |
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All Of The Developments On Boyers Road |
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Have you heard about that new development on Boyers Road? There are quite a few of them!
Those are all of the major developments I'm aware of along Boyers Road - but who knows what else is to come along this increasingly busy corridor! | |
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Rockingham County Completed (in August 2020) Purchase of 28.878 Acres for Stormwater Management |
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(view a larger image here) I'm late to the party. Thankfully, someone asked if this land transfer had happened, and when I looked, I was surprised to find that it had taken place! As I have mentioned before, Rockingham County had been considering the purchase of approximately 27 Acres between Barrington and Lakewood for stormwater management purposes. This was the lay of the land back in July 2020...
I'll work on getting an update on any potential plans for a layout for use of the land. But in the meantime, I'll point out that the sale of the land has been completed. The "Lake Shenandoah Stormwater Control Authority" purchased 28.878 acres as shown above back in August 2020 for $1,850,000. I'll save you the math and let you know that it sold for approximately $64K per acre. | |
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Office Building, 77 Apartments and 93,600 SF of Storage Units Proposed Amidst Residential Developments, Church, Rescue Squad and Hospital in Rockingham County |
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![]() View a larger version of the map here. In what would seem to be a bit of a controversial proposed rezoning, Baum Investments LLC is proposing the rezoning of a 5.69 acre parcel at the corner of Port Republic Road and Boyers Road. The property is currently undeveloped, but Baum Investments would like to develop it to include...
As noted in the headline above, and on the map above, these proposed uses would be amidst residential developments, a church, the rescue squad and the hospital campus. You'll find the rezoning packet here. The County approved an Urban Development Area Plan (UDAP) for this area in late 2019 though it is not clear whether this rezoning request align with the County's vision for the area. The above referenced UDAP shows as example of mixed use and townhomes as a good potential fit for this property. Sometimes "mixed use" means a mix of commercial space and residential space -- but the UDAP document describes "mixed use" as developments that include "public amenities such as event and recreation space and fine dining." So, you tell me -- do the proposed uses (office building, apartments, storage units) fall within the scope of how the County thinks a parcel in this general location should be developed (townhomes, event space, recreation space, fine dining)? Am I reading the County's vision document too narrowly? Should we understand their vision document to mean that any sort of commercial use is fine within areas where they show potential mixed use? The Rockingham County Planning Commission meets on February 2nd to discuss this proposed rezoning. If you have comments about this proposed rezoning, you can contact... Updated 1/27/2021 per input from Bradford Dyjak, Director of Planning, Rockingham County - The UDA plan does offer examples of potential appropriate mixture of uses, and a broader definition of "mixed use" is also contained within the UDA Plan glossary, "Mixed of Uses - combines residential, commercial, civic, recreational and open space uses in a diversified but seamless arrangement; also combines first floor retail with second floor apartments and/or offices." Updated 1/29/2021 - Case #REZ20-333 has been postponed by request of the applicant and will not be heard February 2nd. It will be rescheduled and re-advertised at a later date. Full disclosure -- I live in one of the neighboring residential developments, about a half a mile from this proposed rezoning. | |
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Juniper Hill Commons, A Multi-Generational Cohousing Community Is Under Development On Keezletown Road |
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![]() A new cohousing community is under development on Keezletown Road to feature (27) homes with 800 to 2400 SF. All homes are intended to include solar panels, spacious front porches and six inch thick walls. There are a variety of house plans intended to be built at Juniper Hill Commons such as this triplex... ![]() What, you might ask, is a Cohousing Community? Here's the vision for this neighborhood...
Learn (A LOT) more about this planned neighborhood by visiting their website where you can find a plat, house plans, neighbor bios and much more! | |
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Overbrook Subdivision in McGaheysville, Virginia Slated to Expand To A Total of 230 Homes |
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![]() Overbrook, a single family and duplex community in McGaheysville, Virginia is expanding. As currently developed - as built homes or platted lots - the neighborhood includes...
The developer is in the process of getting County approval for an additional 125 homes -- some of which will be single family homes and some of which will be duplexes. This will bring the total size of the development to 230 homes. Here's the proposed site plan - where you'll note that the dark green areas are common areas (including a walking trail) and the light green areas are where homes will be built. | |
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The Movie Theater (Regal Cinemas) In Harrisonburg Is Closed, Permanently |
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![]() So much for catching the latest new movie on the big screen!?! The 9.6 acre parcel shown above - known to us as Regal Cinemas plus its very larger parking lot - is now owned by Armada Hoffler Properties. It would seem the tenant of the property (Regal Cinemas) defaulted on their lease and thus the company (Armada Hoffler Properties) terminated the lease. This shouldn't be an enormous surprise as the movie theater closed this past spring due to COVID and its parent company has ceased operating all theaters across the country earlier this month. But... it seems that this 9.6 acre property will not be sold... the owner of the property plans to redevelop the property. I assume this means they will tear down the building and build a much larger mixed use development, as the majority of the land is currently used for parking. Read more about this over at The Citizen... | |
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Tell the City of Harrisonburg What You Think Should Change (or stay the same) In The Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances |
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![]() The Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances for the City of Harrisonburg have not been thoroughly updated in over 20 years! There have been a variety of smaller updates to the ordinances over the years, but, as the City points out the result of all of these small changes since 1996/1997 have been... "ordinances containing outdated requirements, internal inconsistencies, and ordinances that can be difficult for community members to comprehend" The City is currently in the midst of updating these ordinances, and they'd like your input! Click here to take a community survey to provide input as the City works on updating these ordinances. Click here to read more about the process for updating the ordinances. | |
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Large Mixed Use Development With 728 Homes (Plus Commercial Space) Planned On 133 Acres Just Outside Harrisonburg |
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![]() Download the master plan as a PDF here. A 133 acre mixed use development is in the planning / approval process in Rockingham County - just south of the City of Harrisonburg. This development would feature:
This planned development is located just south of the DMV, and backs up to Pikes Church Road. The land needs to be rezoned, slightly (from R-3C to R-5C) for the development as planned to move forward. County staff recommended approval last week and the Rockingham County Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval this week. The next step is for the rezoning request to go before the Board of Supervisors. The developer had previously rezoned the land, in 2009, for a 384 unit residential development. This updated rezoning, 11 years later, would increase the density to 728 units. The developer plans to have common areas for recreational spaces such as turf fields, a playground and walking trails. Download the full packet from the rezoning request here. As a random side note, the developer is seemingly planning to call the development "Bluestone Development" - which might cause a bit of market confusion given the existence of a large neighborhood in Harrisonburg called "Bluestone Hills". Maybe not. I guess if someone says they live in Bluestone, you'll have to ask if that's the City Bluestone or the County Bluestone. | |
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Apartments Instead of Condos on Boyers Road? |
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Cosner Investments LLC was successful in having Rockingham County rezone a 5-acre portion of a 10-acre parcel on Boyers Road to allow for the construction a four-condominium development with not more than 86 condos. Condos are properties that would be sold by the developer to individual homeowners. But now, the developer wants Rockingham County to allow the land to be used to build apartments instead -- and is asking for this change to take place without a public hearing. The developer states that investors could not be found for the condo development, so now he wants to build apartments. Apartments would all be owned by a single entity and would be rented to tenants. As stated, Cosner Investments recently asked the Board of Supervisors to waive the requirement for a public hearing, but the Board of Supervisors denied that request -- a public hearing will be required before the board decides whether to allow the developer to build apartments instead of condos. Read more from the Daily News Record from earlier this month... Read on for a reminder of some details of the condo community originally proposed by the developer. Here's where these condos (or apartments) would be located... Here is what the developer proposed as a site plan for the condo development... Here's what the buildings were to look like... "Specifically, Locust Grove Village will house no more than 86 individual condominiums containing a mixture of 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units. Units will be clustered into four buildings of 20-22 units apiece, with a majority of these units having a ‘townhouse' style and appearance. Building ‘corners' will be comprised of six condominium units served by a common entry and stairwell. Each pair of buildings will encircle a central green, with each townhouse-style condo having direct access through their own private courtyard. Half of the corner units will have balconies/courtyards that face the common green (interior), while the other half will face the exterior." "The central greens will be improved with tasteful landscaping (mixture of trees and shrubbery), paved walkways, a central gazebo, charcoal grills, and benches, intended to promote resident interaction and sense of community. If desired by residents, allowances will be made for community gardens, to be maintained by the residents themselves, and thereby promoting a sense of pride and ownership within the community. Pedestrian connectivity between the greens will be provided through walkways and a mid-block crosswalk through the parking area." | |
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Rockingham County Considers Adopting Stone Spring Urban Development Area Plan Into Comprehensive Plan |
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![]() The Rockingham County Planning Commission will meet tomorrow (Nov 19, 2019) at 6:00 PM in the Rockingham County Administration Center to discuss incorporating the Stone Spring Urban Development Area Plan (pdf) into the Comprehensive Plan. From the plan... The Stone Spring Urban Development Area Plan (Stone Spring UDA) creates a 20-year vision for the development of new walkable neighborhoods and infrastructure investments within four focus areas for growth. This map (from the plan) shows the four focus areas: Stone Port, Stone Ridge, Boyers Crossing and Crossroads... ![]() Further... The Stone Spring UDA provides a blueprint for neighborhood development based on traditional town patterns, known as Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND). TND is based on the principle that neighborhoods should be walkable, achieved by compact, mixed-use development, with pedestrian-oriented development blocks that are sized for easy walking distance and characterized by an interconnected network of streets that are articulated with trees, on-street parking, and a variety of routes for vehicle traffic while facilitating walking, cycling and transit. The Stone Spring UDA Plan focuses on the physical form and massing of buildings—on scale, block size, and the relationship between building edges and the public realm. Here's an example of a potential neighborhood layout in the Boyers Crossing focus area... ![]() And a conceptual layout for Stone Ridge... ![]() A few screen captures don't do justice to this 106 page plan -- so download the final draft of the plan here and take a look through it. And if you live in or near the Stone Spring UDA - buckle up for even more growth in the area... | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
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scott@funkhousergroup.com
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