Acadia Jumps Ahead of the Game

But many developers may soon follow

GREENVILLE, SC – (November 11, 2005) Clay Driggers leaned back in his chair and tried to explain, why Acadia had hired 12 builders for its mega-sized town center project on the banks of the Saluda River.

"It's more than just a group of builders:' he said. "It's people we wanted for this project and who wanted to do this project."

Acadia's planners went with the, somewhat unorthodox idea of a builder’s guild for the project, but that shouldn't be surprising since the plans for the 300-acre project have been ahead of the Greenville market since it was announced in the spring.

Instead of the cookie-cutter style subdivisions that seem to grow faster than kudzu along Greenville County thoroughfares, Acadia strives to be a large scale mix of homes, businesses and parks, explained Caleb Freeman, the group's president.

"It's personal to me," he said. "It's spe cial. It's something I want to last. I want to leave a mark."

The builders guild is part necessity and part innovation, said Driggers; Acadia's project manager. That many builders are needed because of the sheer size of the project, which could have more than 700 homes built in the next decade.

But because Acadia wants to resemble a traditional neighborhood with a; mix of house styles and sizes, the developers went with the large group of builders to ensure a variety, he said.

"It will rea1ly be 12 different personalities," ha said. "They will be creating on their own."

Acadia has hired four architects to design the deve1opment, but will give the builders the opportunity to use their own architects and come up with their own plans for houses and buildings, Driggers said.

"We rea1ly want to be unique," he said. County Planning Commission Director Jimmy Forbes said he was unaware of any other projects in Greenville that have used so many builders.

Forbes said he hopes more of these types of projects emerge because they promote smart growth in the Upstate, which has suffered from sprawl issues.

"They provide a lot of open space and are good environmentally," he said. "These are very large projects."

Acadia is not the first of these new urbanism style projects in Greenville, but it has distanced itself considerably from others by doing things such as the builders guild, setting up a design showcase shop in the West End and finding an area in the southwest section of the county not often sought by developers.

New urbanism is the planning concept that gets people living and working in the same general area.

Recent U.S. Census trends showed an almost 100 percent jump in the Greenville city's population during work hours while suburban' communities such as Taylors and Wade Hampton became ghost towns at the same time.

This is one of the trends new urbanists hope to re verse especially as the Upstate battles planning issues.

There are little less than 1 million people living in the 10 Upstate counties. That is the same amount as the Charlotte area in 1980 and Atlanta in 1950.

Both of those markets exploded in terms of population immediately after that, and the Upstate is following the same course, Barry Nocks; a Clemson professor told the crowd that included numerous Upstate political and business leaders during a conference two weeks ago.

But Nocks warned that community leaders need to act now to prevent the traffic headaches and planning nightmares that compound those two metros that bookend the Upstate.

Or, if the Upstate wants, it can stay. The course and become like those other metro areas.

Nocks said more than 300,000 people, 150,000 new housing units and nine million square feet of commercial space as well as the equivalent of 20 downtown Greenville’s in office space and 135 WalMart's worth of industrial space will be added by 2025.

The Upstate will have to spend $21 billion in new roads, parks, police and fire and schools just to keep up with the growth.

And so far the Upstate has not handled its growth well, Nocks said. The amount of developed land doubled during the 1990s while population increased a little more than 15 percent.

He predicted almost half of the Upstate's 4 million acres will be burled under concrete by 2025.

Which is why more developers are looking at new ur-banism projects such as the 326-acre, $300 million town center project at the intersection of West Georgia Road and Fork Shoals Road. Developers are seeking public input on the project this week at a workshop at the downtown Hilton.

There are similar projects in the works along Verdae Boulevard in Greenville and near Lake Robinson north of Greer.

The Acadia homebuilders are Addison Homes, American Eagle Builders, Dillard-Jones Builders, Five Star Construction, Hollison Homes, Hip & Gable Corporation, Milestone Custom Homes, Renaissance Company, Rome Construction, Simons Homes, Tapio Builders and Tutman Construction Services.

SYS Constructors has been selected to build the Acadia Village Centre with live/work condos, offices and retail spaces.

Acadia will feature five neighborhoods built in phases, that includes condos and town homes, gatehouses and bungalows, to cottage, manor and secluded estate lots and homes.

Architectural styles will range from Arts and Crafts, Adirondack, English and French country manors, Old World estate homes, to Charleston, Savannah and other Custom and traditional Low country styles.

Lots will go on sale this spring, Driggers said.

In addition, it will include retail shops, live/work offices and condos, galleries, a non-denominational chapel; soccer field, tennis, pools, canoeing, kayaking and biking, all incorporated into 100 acres of natural greenspace, along two miles of wilderness river frontage, Freeman said.

The Acadia community and each of its neighborhoods are designed to assure an attractive, safe environment that offers a true sense of southern living, Freeman said.

"This is really about creating something unique,” he said.

Contact John Boyanoski at : 679-1227 or jboyanoski@greenvillejournal.com

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Acadia is Greenville’s answer to suburban sprawl, featuring a balance of small-town feel with convenient amenities and quick, easy access to downtown Greenville. With up to 700 homesites planned, Acadia incorporates mixed-use shops and offices, civic amenities, natural resources and greenspace to create a unique community for both residents and the invited public. Come visit, play, work and stay in Acadia. www.AcadiaSC.com