A new neighborhood is about to be born on Madison’s far East Side.
Jim Hovde and his father, Don, own or have options on hundreds of acres in the rolling countryside between Interstate Highways 90 and 94, Cottage Grove Road, and Door Creek Valley.
And they’re about to pursue an ambitious vision for thousands of homes, commercial development and more.
The so-called Sprecher area is the largest concentration of vacant lands in the city, and near an office and retail construction boom including the American Center, High Crossing and the World Dairy Center. The city has adopted a comprehensive plan for 1,425 acres in the Sprecher neighborhood, and the Dane County Regional Planning Commission recently approved sewer and water extensions.
The Hovdes are under contract to sell a 20-acre parcel north of Cottage Grove Road to Fred Miller Construction, which will develop 27 duplexes and 10 fourplexes for a total of 94 condominiums, they said.
Sewer and water work could start in mid-June, with home construction shortly afterward, Jim Hovde said, adding that units will sell from $120,000 to $150,000.
“It’s the first of many developments to come to the area,” city planning director Brad Murphy said, stressing that projects will need zoning changes and other approvals.
Jim Hovde also has a 75-acre parcel on Cottage Grove Road, and envisions 139 single-family lots, 13 duplex lots, seven fourplex lots, multifamily condominiums on six acres, and a five-acre park there. He said he may sell the land to a developer, or improve the property with water and sewer and market individual home sites.
Sewer and water improvements could begin by late summer, with home construction starting in the spring of 1999, Jim Hovde said.
The Hovdes also have options on 113 acres north of Cottage Grove Road, and another 143 acres just south of I-94 in the town of Blooming Grove.
About 280 to 320 residential lots with homes in the $250,000 to $400,000 range plus some senior housing is envisioned for the Cottage Grove Road property, the Hovdes said. Sewer and water work could start in the spring of 1999, and residential construction later that year, they said.
The Blooming Grove property, now being used for clay removal, would wait several years before development, the Hovdes said. The site will feature residential and commercial development, they said.
Don Hovde, meanwhile, owns a 165-acre tract to the west of Sprecher Road, and will likely increase the site to about 190 acres. He envisions a mix of single-family, multifamily and condominiums totaling about 700 housing units, with additional commercial development.
“It will take in every product of real estate, from starter houses to upscale housing,” he said. He wants to break ground for sewer and water work in the spring of 1999 and slowly develop the property.
Don Hovde also has an option for more land in the area.
The Hovde lands will likely host a commercial “town center” to serve the residential developments, they said. That effort would begin a year or two after the initial housing projects are completed in the neighborhood, they said.
Completing the projects could take 10 to 15 years, depending on the market, Jim Hovde estimated.
“We’re intending to create an entire community,” the father said.
