You’ve retired early with some money in the bank.
The children are gone and you’re tired of mowing lawns and fighting traffic. You want to get away from your children yet live close enough for a visit from the grandchildren.
You want to spend the rest of your life in a community where you can fish or golf. You want to shop and walk to a doctor’s office, bank, barbershop and beautician or take long, undisturbed walks in the woods without leaving your neighborhood. And you want to be with people your own age.
Developer Rick Viars, owner of VanMar Properties, thinks he has just the place for you — a 428-home subdivision called Camelot, one of the biggest developments of its kind in Georgia. The development — complete with a lake, private dock, marina and homes ranging from $150,000 to $250,000 — will be limited to residents age 55 and up.
The project, begun in April 1999, reflects one of the growing demands in specialized housing.
“This is all part of a larger trend going on with the Baby Boom generation,” said Douglas Bachtel of the University of Georgia’s College of Family & Consumer Sciences. “It’s a niche market, and you’ll see more and more of it.”
Georgia has 1.3 million residents who are 55 and older. Many of those seniors have different expectations in housing than seniors of previous generations.
“What we are seeing is that the 55-plus population is growing exponentially. This age group is healthier, has more disposable income, and what they are buying at this stage is lifestyle, not more real estate,” said Leslie Mark of the National Council on Senior Housing at the National Association of Homebuilders.
To meet the demand, 55-plus communities are springing up throughout metro Atlanta.
Developer Bob Adams’ Village of Spring Creek has been featured on national news programs as an example of the new niche housing for seniors. Over the past two years, seven speciality senior subdivisions have been built in and around the city of McDonough, where one-fourth of the city’s 5,300 residents are 60 or older.
In neighboring Clayton County, the senior subdivision of Rights Walk has been developed and construction is under way on Spivey Village. Other targeted senior subdivisions have been built in Fayette, Fulton, Cobb and Newton counties.
Senior communities are permitted by law, with a restriction that no more than 20 percent of other residents be younger than 55.
The 107-acre Camelot development, 40 minutes south of Atlanta, is almost surrounded by High Falls Lake and includes 1.5 acres of lakefront property.
Twenty acres is natural green space, including walking trails. Ducks swim in a man-made lake. Residents pass by a mini-castle gate, complete with a tiny moat and lions’ heads spewing blue water. The one- and two-bedroom homes line streets with names like Sir Launcelot and Guinevere.
Initially, a developer wanted to turn the 107 acres into a mobile home park. County commissioners rejected that idea.
“I recommended approval because I thought it was a good concept,” said Ed Baker, Butts County’s planning and zoning director. “We had no preconceived notions about this piece of property.”
However, the county’s planning and zoning board said it thought the mobile homes would have had a negative impact on traffic and schools. Camelot is in an area zoned for residential developments. Viars, a developer with 25 years’ experience, built the VanMar office park in neighboring Lamar County. He also has plans for a $20 million, 800-home community off Johnstonville Road in adjoining Monroe County. Viars said he is negotiating with pro golfers Arnold Palmer and Nancy Lopez to design two 18-hole golf courses on that site.
At Camelot, Viars hopes to attract residents like Yvonne Gredler, president of the Henry County chapter of the AARP, who lives at the 88-home senior speciality Carlyle subdivision outside McDonough.
Gredler opted for Carlyle after she found the acre and a half of land she once owned was too much of a responsibility.
“Some of the things I have now I didn’t know I was ready for,” said Gredler, a 71-year-old retired school psychologist.
Gredler said those new features at Carlyle include conveniences for seniors such as wide doors for easy entrance and grab bars in showers. And her one-story home has no steps to fall down.
Homes at Camelot have features designed to appeal to seniors, including a security monitoring system that allows residents to have direct voice contact in case of emergencies.
A retractable chandelier lowers to almost knee level for access for cleaning. VanMar handles outdoor maintenance.
Three acres on the site will be set aside for visitors using RVs. An additional 20 acres are earmarked for commercial development that will include a seafood restaurant, banks and a row of retail shops. In addition, a clubhouse, exercise room and swimming pool are planned.
As construction on the project continues, Viars plans assisted living housing for residents who need it so they will remain near their friends.
Nine speculative homes have been built, and several contracts are pending. Nine other houses are under construction.
