Hillcrest's new Greens take shape: Housing development going up where golf course once stood

Sunday, March 29, 2015
Elizabeth Dohms, Leader Telegram staff

Larry and Dale Cornell fondly remember their long-ago days at Hillcrest Golf & Country Club in Altoona, where nearly 60 years ago they spent summers at the private course working as caddies for some of the Eau Claire area's most prominent residents.

Larry, 72, and Dale, 71, eventually married and lived in Eau Claire and Fall Creek, but they could spend their twilight years catching the same smoky scent of Hillcrest's oak trees and stepping on the same greens that were once kept trim with horse-drawn mowers.

Now, however, the scene won't be quite as green, as the former 18-hole course - located along U.S. 12 just east of Eau Claire - is being converted into a housing development called Hillcrest Greens with a variety of options for everyone from young families to senior citizens.

"What we're hoping to have within the development is a community or neighborhood where people can rotate through as they grow," said Bill Albright, vice president of Heartland Contractors, a company owned by Jim and Jennifer Rooney.

Rooney Properties bought the land for $1 million in 2012 after the bank foreclosed on the golf course. Albright said the property already is worth about $25 million.

The 178-acre site will be developed in at least two phases, Albright said. The first phase is under way and includes 90 single-family lots, about five of which have spec homes built on them. Prospective homeowners can buy lots and hire their builders of choice to construct their homes, as long as the designs are approved by the development's architectural committee.

The project's first phase also will include 20 bay homes owned by residents who live there, but yards and driveways will be maintained as common spaces paid for by monthly dues, said Paul Canfield, the ReMax agent for Hillcrest Greens.

The site also will be home to The Classic, a four-section building on the far west side of the campus that will be devoted to senior citizen housing, with space for independent and assisted living apartments as well as memory care.

Natalie Robarge, sales and marketing manager for The Classic, told more than 100 attendees of an informational meeting Wednesday that a nearby park would provide many options for grandchildren when they visit.

"It's a nice way to entertain the whole family," she told the group.

That park is 65 acres of Otter Creek frontage property that has been donated to the city of Altoona for a public park, Albright said. Within that space, Heartland spent about $100,000 installing a pavilion, a playground, and basketball and pickleball courts.

"We got feedback from the community about how they walked through there or golfed, and we wanted to be able to give back to the community on a good portion of that," Albright said.

The Classic

Jim and Robin Underwood of Fall Creek attended Wednesday's meeting to explore the options offered at The Classic. Jim Underwood said he would miss the 80 acres of land he currently owns. But eventually he and his wife will have to move from their current home, he said.

"It's just a fact of life," he said of getting older and becoming less independent. "I want to be as informed as possible."

Of the 99 apartments within The Classic, 36 comprise a secured memory care center, leaving open 63 apartments for people interested in individual and assisted living arrangements. The units range in size from 480 to 1,170 square feet.

The main entrance to The Classic provides access to a general store that would include necessities such as toiletries, milk and bread; a community room; a bistro and a restaurant; and an outdoor patio with a fire pit.

Two wings jut out from the main entrance into the assisted and independent living apartments. People living there will reside together on four floors. Any additional care requests are a la carte; residents can purchase those care levels as needed.

"They don't have to move out of their apartment. Instead, the caregivers come to them," said Jamie Smith, executive director of The Classic who is an employee of Ecumen, a Minnesota-based management company hired to provide services for older adults.

Even therapy sessions can be contracted to take place in the home "to avoid removing people from the apartment so they can keep living in their homes," Smith said.

Smith said residents who develop forms of dementia could be moved into the memory care center that will be locked down to prevent residents from leaving unattended. The layout would benefit residents with memory ailments who would already be familiar with the layout of Hillcrest Greens, Smith said.

Construction is about 80 percent completed, Albright said, adding that the center should be ready for inspections by June 1, with a move-in date of July 1. Smith said six to 10 reservations for apartments in the center were expected by Friday.

Prices vary depending on number of bedrooms, occupants and services. The lowest-cost rooms start at $2,250 per month for an independent living studio apartment, which includes all utilities, wireless Internet and cable, a full kitchen, and one meal a day. Assisted living rooms start at $3,600 per month, and memory care apartments cost, at their lowest, $4,650 per month. A second occupant costs $450 per month in the independent living apartments.

"We priced ourselves competitively," Robarge said, noting some units already have been rented.

Hillcrest Greens

A few houses have popped up along the edges of some of the site's cul-de-sacs and streets within the Hillcrest Greens community that are named for famous golf courses. Most lots remain vacant, however.

Of the five bay homes on the site's northeastern side, two are still for sale.

Mary Ann Selvig, 69, owns one of the bay homes that overlooks the outer edge of the former golf course. Each morning the sun peeks through the windows that completely encircle her living and dining room.

The covered porch, access to trails and segmented housing units all were major factors in Selvig's decision to buy the home, which includes a 5-foot radius around the house.

"My grandson brings his basketball over and plays on the court," she said.

One of the bay homes and single-family homes will be open during the Parade of Homes tour this year, and most of the available homes are scheduled for open houses from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

Albright said about 14 acres are set aside for future phases that may include the construction of multiplexes, but that decision is still up in the air. Phase two and beyond will expand construction east to Highway A.

"We want to appeal to the masses instead of segregating out a portion of the community," Albright said. "The more people we can appeal to, the better off the neighborhood will be. That's how we tried to design it - all inclusive and all to grow with the individual."

Dohms can be reached at 715-833-9206 or elizabeth.dohms@ecpc.com.

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