Fifteen years after design, Haymount moves forward

Fifteen years after the initial design, the proposed town of Haymount in Caroline County, Virginia, is financed and moving forward with construction, says developer John Clark. Clark and his partner, Edward J. Miller, closed on a $14 million, five-year revolving loan in August with GMAC-RFC, a General Motors real estate finance division. Clark is applying for building permits for the wastewater and water treatment facilities that will serve Haymount and other developments in that part of the county, and expects to deliver the first residential units in 15 months. Phase 1-A of the 1,682-acre, 4,000-unit development will include 425 units, including condominiums, attached and detached houses, and live-work units. The first phase will also include 180,000 square feet of retail, and 200,000 square feet of offices and light industrial uses. The developer plans to build a 600-student elementary school, designed by world- famous architect Leon Krier, and give it to the school district, Clark says. Original project designer Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company of Miami is collaborating with Ayers Saint Gross of Washington, DC, on the urban design, Clark adds. Haymount was held up for many years due to three factors: a lawsuit on the part of adjacent landowners, which took over three years to resolve; permits for the discharge of treated wastewater, which took a year and a half; and, since 1998, financing. Clark explains that a New York insurance company was ready to fund the project, but backed out three months after 9/11. “We had to pick up and start all over again,” Clark says.