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Revitalized housing project aimed at Mojave Ca
Single-family home community set to be easy on environment
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Friday, February 27, 2009.
By ALLISON GATLIN
Valley Press Staff Writer
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MOJAVE - A Moorpark-based company is looking to create an environmentally
sensitive community on the southern edge of Mojave, revitalizing a defunct
golf course in the process.
WCH Mojave LLC has a plan to develop a community of 476 single-family
homes on 243 acres surrounding the former Camelot Golf Course, a vision
company officials presented to the Mojave Chamber of Commerce during a
Thursday luncheon.
Their plan is to not just build homes but a complete community, with the nine-hole golf course, swimming pool, parkland and mixed business and residential units, the officials said.
"Stucco box after stucco box after stucco box is not the way we want to go," said Christine Childers, company president.
The plan calls for energy-efficient modular homes, a more affordable option that offers flexibility for the developers to build on an as-needed basis.
"Stick-built homes are just too expensive to build anymore," said Thomas Henry, vice president of development.
Henry, an architect, praised the homes' design, saying they do not look like pre-fabricated homes.
The development will use recycled materials wherever possible, homes will have tankless water heaters and individual graywater recycling systems for landscape irrigation.
The houses will be a Craftsman design and all will have front porches, in an effort to encourage residents to spend time there and get to know their neighbors.
"We want people to talk to their neighbors," Henry said. "Think about 'Leave it to Beaver.' Everybody knew everybody else."
Instead of block walls, lots will be separated by fencing, either solid or an open, picket-fence type depending on the owners' preference.
The idea is to create a more open feeling in the neighborhoods, Henry said.
Each home will have a two-car garage and deep driveway, as street parking will be discouraged. Designated parking areas for guests are part of the plan.
The project will offer five floor plans, ranging from roughly 1,300 to approximately 2,400 square feet.
All will be single-story homes, a more cost-effective design and one with an eye toward older home-buyers, as well.
"As we go up in age, we don't want to go up and down stairs," Henry said.
The development is aimed at the spectrum of possible homeowners, from first-time home-buyers to retirees, with a goal of having a diverse mix of residents, Childers said.
"We don't want to make it a hoity-toity, fancy-schmancy community," she said. "We want a place for the policeman to live, place for the nurse to live, a place for everyone to live.
"You're a pretty unique community. You have all sorts of people here, a lot of mavericks. And that's the kind of community we want."
With existing market conditions, the houses are projected to sell for an average cost of $250,000.
Despite the downturn in the housing market, the company believes a demand exists for this type of community in Mojave.
"There are definitely people out there who want new homes," Childers said.
As employment has grown at the Mojave Air and Space Port in recent years, newcomers have often not been able to find the housing they desire in Mojave. Consequently, a large number of airport employees live outside the community, chamber leaders said.
The project is planned in three phases, with the first focusing on renovating the golf course and construction of 95 homes around it.
"We're going to make it a really nice course, make it as challenging as possible," Henry said.
In keeping with the environmentally friendly theme, the course will not have sod but an artificial turf surface to conserve water. Several courses in Las Vegas use such surfaces, he said.
The company hopes to use the Mojave project as a model for future developments elsewhere.
"We have the technology to do this. We have got the group of executives to put this together. We have the expertise," Henry said.
"We've done this before," he said of the company's partners, who have worked for other developers. "We got tired of lousy projects."
The project is still very much in the preliminary, conceptual phase, and has yet to be presented to the Kern County Planning Commission for approval.
However, should everything go as planned, company officials expect to begin breaking ground early next year.
agatlin@avpress.com
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