COOKEVILLE – A new custom-home community in the Cookeville city limits will help fill the demand for higher-end homes – but it will have to compete with the steady influx of townhome and multi-family developments around town.
Glen Abbey, a Capital Communities LLC project that’s currently underway, will include 21 exclusive single-family homes to be priced from $300,000-400,000. The neighborhood, situated off Buck Mountain Road in between Whitson Chapel Road and Dry Valley Road, plans to set itself apart – homes will include natural stone and brick accents, granite countertops, designer lighting, stainless steel appliance packages, and engineered heating and air systems for maximum efficiency, among other features. Additionally, all yards will be maintained by an HOA, or homeowners association, a unique selling point, said Donnie Suits with Capital Communities.
“We’re getting some buyers who are moving up, but we’re also seeing a lot of empty nesters,” Suits said. “They’re wanting to something maintenance free but with all the nice amenities. There’s still demand for a move- up market, with new jobs coming in (etc.),” he added.
Suits, who made his career as a developer in the metro Atlanta market for 20-plus years, recently relocated to the Upper Cumberland. He says Glen Abbey is one of the first new subdivisions – that’s not a townhome or multi- family development – to be built in the city limits in years. That’s not to say he’s putting all his stock into single-family. Suits is currently pursuing a multi-family option as well. And he’s in the stone business, too. If the uptick in the housing wasn’t convincing enough, it’s another sector that’s showing strong growth.
“We ship stone all over the country – field stone, flag stone – and our sales for the last three years have been steadily going up,” he said. “This year, we didn’t slow down all winter long. December and January are usually two really slow months, and they were as good as the rest of the year. All that’s related to housing.”