38-unit townhome development proposed next to Cary Village Hall

A new proposal for the vacant lot in Cary neighboring the Goddard School and Village Hall is on the table after a previous 98-unit apartment plan was dropped for financial reasons.

Developers Ridgefield Homes are looking to create a 38-unit, single-family attached residential community called Ridgefield Park at the northwest corner of Industrial Drive and Reuben Lane. The plan is to have 15 buildings – seven with two units and eight buildings with three units – on the 4.5-acre site. Each unit will be about 1,700 to 1,900 square feet, Jay Dulla of Ridgefield Homes said.

Previous developers Sterling Hall proposed a 98-unit, multifamily rental community in January before backing out because of financial reasons, Mayor Mark Kownick said at a State of the Village address in March. The plan for eight two-story apartment buildings and a clubhouse was more than double the Cary density standards.

The duplex-style buildings will have 30 end units and eight middle units selling between $350,000 and $375,000, Dulla said. A park site, walking trail with benches and a possible dog run will be part of the development. Some units will have basements, but developers still are working on the floor plan, Dulla said.

“I’d like to be moving dirt by the fall,” he said.

Dulla is no stranger to developing homes in Cary, having built ranch-style homes in the Cimarron subdivision and the Walnut Ridge single-family homes next to Cary-Grove High School.

“He’s got a great record with the village. He’s very easy to work with,” Kownick said. “He’s a very good representation of the product that we want and that our community is asking for.”

Dulla also is working on Ridgefield Landing, a plan to construct two buildings with a total of 10 residential townhomes at the northeast corner of Route 14 and North Second Street. Dulla requested the village to cover more than $73,000 worth of infrastructure improvements for the project in March. The Village Board tabled the request and has not voted on it.

For the Ridgefield Park project, Dulla asked the village to waive the requirements of completing a traffic study, market study, village service demand analysis, off-site utility improvements, drainage plan and open house. Village Board approved the request without objection on Tuesday. The project will need to go through the village’s Board of Zoning, Planning and Appeals to rezone the property from B-3 fringe business to R-3 multifamily residential.

The village supports the developer’s drainage plan waiver request, since the site would be part of the Kaper Commercial subdivision, and stormwater detention already is provided from a basin nearby, Cary Director of Community Development Brian Simmons said. Village staff also agreed that a traffic study isn’t necessary because the existing roads are designed to accommodate future growth, according to village documents.

Cary’s comprehensive plan designates the vacant plot of land, which neighbors Village Hall, for industrial or business uses that would “contribute to the economic health of Cary,” according to village documents.

Kownick said he hears many residents asking for this style of duplex townhomes.

“A lot of people want to stay here in Cary, but they’re aging in places, they say, in the wrong place, and they need something they want to step down into,” he said. “The more opportunities that we could offer our residents so they could stay put, the better.”