PORT WENTWORTH - The company developing what is touted as the first completely master-planned community in the coastal Georgia region has purchased 300 additional acres in this community near the Effingham-Chatham county line.
The land, in the northern portion of the Rice Hope development, is zoned for 1,500 single-family homes and townhomes and will be the largest acreage subdevelopment in the community. At build-out, developers expect the entire community will have 4,500 homes.
"This announcement is major news for Port Wentworth and for residents of Chatham County," said Mike Langella, president of Sivica Communities, the development firm, in a released statement. "To add another 1,500 homes to Rice Hope will make Port Wentworth even more attractive to commercial retailers and leading grocery stores. This landmark sale will take Rice Hope to an even higher level of success."
Highridge Partners will develop the Mulberry Park neighborhood, which will feature homes with the same neotraditional style that has set the development apart since its first community debuted in 2006.
Sivica spokeswoman Kristen Lewis said Thursday there are 85 homeoweners in the Lakeside community and two in the Parkside neighborhood. About 190 homes already have been built in the two communities combined, and both subdevelopments are still in the process of being built out.
"We expect the entire development to be complete in seven to 10 years," Lewis said. "But all that, of course, will depend on velocity of the market and how quickly homes are built and sold."
Regarding the new Mulberry Park neighborhood, Lewis said a parkway first would have to be built to gain access to the property before construction would begin.
"How fast the parkway can be built, which will take several months at least, and the market will decide how quickly the homebuilder can get out there and start building homes," she said.
With this announcement, Highridge Partners is officially the fourth major builder at Rice Hope. The community originally launched with houses by Sivica Homes of Alpharetta in the Lakeside neighborhood and residences by Advent Homes LLC in the Parkside neighborhood. SC Bodner of Indianapolis is building garden apartments at The Village, which is located in the community's western quadrant.
Benefits of living in Rice Hope
Every home at Rice Hope comes pre-wired with fiber-optic cable, with Wi-Fi service available in most of the community's common areas. By providing this powerful fiber-optic network directly to each home, residents enjoy more than 1,000 times the bandwidth provided by traditional coaxial cable. Homeowners have the opportunity to enjoy a convenient high-tech package, which bundles telephone, cable, high-speed Internet, high definition television and community intranet into their monthly homeowners association bill.
Amenities at Rice Hope include a 3,100-square-foot clubhouse, 300 acres of protected woods and wetlands, tree-lined sidewalks and walking trails, community parks, volleyball courts, kayaking, fishing and a fitness trail surrounding the 27-acre Indigo Lake. A highlight of the neighborhood is the community water park, which features water slides, splash gardens, a lap pool, a beach entry pool and a lazy river for hot Savannah summers. Additional amenities - including facilities for baseball, soccer and tennis - are planned for the future.
In the future, the community's residential areas will be complemented by a commercial village along Ga. 21 that developers say will make the entire neighborhood self-contained. Proposed plans for a 66-acre Town Center, which can accommodate up to 500,000 square feet of commercial space, include a major grocery store chain as well as smaller retail locations, which cater to the needs of the residents.
Rice Hope, which is located on Ga. 21 just five minutes from Interstate 95, features single family homes, townhomes and carriage houses ranging from $150,000 to the $400,000 range.
"We create communities that provide a real sense of belonging for the people who live, work and play there," Langella said. "Our goal is to build neighborhoods that connect our residents to one another and exceed expectations on every level. With its emphasis on amenities, tradition and technology, Rice Hope truly is the ultimate 21st century community."
For information about Rice Hope, visit www.rice-hope.com.