'Narrow' homes approved for lagging development in Norton Shores
Update: This story has been updated with comments from a representative of the new developer.
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – A stalled neighborhood development in Norton Shores will have a new owner and home sites that are half the size than originally planned.
The Atwater Springs neighborhood is being purchased by the WheelFish Group, which says “narrow” homes are needed to combat rising construction costs.
Originally planned for 53 homes, Atwater Springs now will have as many as 86.
The neighborhood is at the former Lake Fran Campground off Harvey Street south of Pontaluna Road.
The Norton Shores City Council recently approved an amendment to the special use permit for the planned unit development that had been granted for Livingstone Development LLC. WheelFish Group is in the process of purchasing Livingstone and all of its obligations, WheelFish Vice President of Operations Frank Peterson told MLive.
Two model homes have been built at Atwater Springs, one of which had been listed for sale for $600,000, Peterson said. Two more homes have been completed and are occupied and a fifth is under construction, Peterson said.
Price seemed to be preventing the development, which is in the Grand Haven school district, from succeeding and so WheelFish Group came up with a plan to get it back on track, Peterson said.
“Our goal really was to use density to get home costs down so more people can afford them,” he said.
The narrow homes are expected to be valued at about $329,000, Peterson said. Those on the larger lots are expected to be around $450,000, he said.
Last month, the city council agreed to reduce the minimum lot size from 6,004 square feet to 3,152 square feet. Minimum widths were reduced from 68 feet to 30, 34, 35 or 68 feet, depending on the particular lot.
Some lots that are on the Lake Lorraine waterfront will remain at least 68 feet wide.
The higher density and smaller home sizes will make them more affordable and will “jumpstart” lot sales, Peterson wrote the city’s zoning administrator.
The average cost of lots will drop 30%, according to Peterson.
Lots in the neighborhood have been priced at between $54,900 and $114,900, with an average cost of $87,406, Peterson wrote. WheelFish plans to sell them for between $40,000 and $76,500 with an average cost of $61,852.
Livingstone was working with David C. Bos Homes to build the homes, while WheelFish will work with Dave Dusendang Custom Homes as the builder. Construction costs will be reduced 15% because Dusendang “will be building home(s) more efficiently and in greater quantity,” Peterson wrote.
“Based on our analysis of the real estate market, the … PUD amendment will jumpstart the residential home sales for a number of reasons, but offsetting construction costs is (the) main driver for the change,” he wrote.
Peterson, the former Muskegon city manager, compared the smaller homes planned at Atwater to about a dozen that Dusendang build on Webster Avenue between Eighth and Ninth streets in downtown Muskegon.
He said WheelFish Group hopes to build all 86 homes by the end of 2025. It’s possible some buyers will want two lots, so the actual number of homes could be less, Peterson said.
A layout of the subdivision shows a portion of the property on the lake’s south side that features a walking trail will remain undeveloped.
A sample floor plan of a two-story “narrow” home shows three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a single-stall garage.
A major hurdle to developing Atwater Springs was extending the municipal sewer line south of Pontaluna Road to the property that wasn’t serviced by the city’s wastewater system.
The Norton Shores City Council approved a plan in March 2020 to share the cost of extending the sewer line. The city fronted $961,457 and Livingstone paid $74,287 to construct the off-site gravity sewer, lift station and force main and pave Harvey Street.
Livingstone agreed to pay a trunkage or connection charge of $1,900 per home, to help offset public costs. The city had expected to recoup the investment from property taxes within 10 years.
Peterson said WheelFish Group will continue to pay the city the $1,900 per-home connection charge.
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