The Villas at Pleasant Valley Country Club, a luxury condominium development in Sutton, is currently under construction. Prices for the 111 manor-style townhouses start at $697,000.
Wellesley, Dover and Newton, step aside. Three thousand-square-foot homes with million-dollar price tags are no longer exclusive to your neck of the woods.
The taste for luxury homes has been spreading into Central Massachusetts, with million-dollar homes popping up in towns like Northborough, Southborough and Westborough.
Now the trend for upscale housing is even filtering to towns in the south central part of the state like Grafton and Sutton, where median prices for single-family homes hovered in the $200,000 range last year.
In Sutton, a new condominium development under construction near a private country club and golf course will feature homes with starting prices of $697,000. The development, called The Villas at Pleasant Valley Country Club, will have 111 manor-style townhouses, with approximately 2,800 to more than 3,000 square feet of living space.
“Houses in that price range are not all that uncommon in Central Massachusetts,” said Guy Webb, executive officer of the Builders Association of Central Massachusetts. “Whole developments of them may be less common.”
Towns inside Interstate 495, including Westborough, Northborough and Southborough, have a bigger share of expensive housing, according to Webb, while high-priced homes west and south of Worcester are not as common.
However, the recent addition of the Millbury exit on the Massachusetts Turnpike may change all that. The exit has opened up the entire Blackstone Valley for more residential and commercial development, explained Jon R. LeClaire, developer of The Villas.
“The whole area in the last few years is really being developed,” said LeClaire, president of Jon R. LeClaire Builders, a Grafton company that builds between 50 and 60 custom homes a year in various parts of Worcester County.
In addition to The Villas, LeClaire is starting construction on a 60-lot single-family subdivision in Grafton in August. The homes will be priced between $600,000 and $1 million.
Expression of Interest
These projects are a departure from the more affordable homes typically found in the region. Median prices for single-family homes in towns like Sutton and Grafton have not increased as sharply as in other parts of the state. In fact, the median price for a single-family home in Sutton dropped $4,500 last year to $220,500, according to The Warren Group, parent company of Banker & Tradesman. Meanwhile, the median condominium price in Sutton was $208,500 last year, a 16 percent increase from the median of $179,729 posted in 2000.
Last year, 98 single-family homes and five condominiums with prices exceeding $600,000 were sold in all of Worcester County, according to The Warren Group. The majority of those sales were either in Southborough or Westborough. None of those sales were in Sutton or Grafton.
“It’s probably some of the most expensive housing in this area,” acknowledged LeClaire, referring to The Villas.
But if there’s any community south of Worcester that can sustain this type of upscale housing it’s Sutton, according to some familiar with the town.
“If it’s going to happen anywhere, Sutton is the town that can harbor that kind of project and do well,” said Webb.
Perhaps one of the biggest attractions in Sutton is the Pleasant Valley Country Club. It is one of the few private membership clubs in the state, and its golf course used to be a stop on the PGA Tour in the 1990s.
The Villas are in many ways designed for golf lovers. The homes will be constructed in clusters of three around the Pleasant Valley course with some on the fairways. Two of the condominiums will be attached, and the third will be a freestanding single-family home.
The location of the development should also be attractive to Boston, Worcester and Providence commuters. The Villas are located within a 10-minute drive to the Mass. Pike exit and seven-minute drive to the commuter train station in Grafton, said LeClaire.
A longtime Grafton resident, LeClaire is a member of the country club. LeClaire said he knew that the country club wanted to develop surrounding land it owned. Several years ago, town officials rezoned the land the club owned to a limited-density residential development, effectively blocking the club’s plans.
The rezoning allows for more units to be built per acre, according to LeClaire. LeClaire said he approached the country club about developing condominiums on the land and about two years ago hired a Virginia-based firm to conduct a marketing analysis. The country club eventually sold the land to LeClaire Development.
LeClaire hired The Martin Architectural Group, a firm based in Philadelphia, to design the buildings. The architects and builders worked with the town to design buildings that fit in with the architecture of Sutton. In less than a year, LeClaire had the permit to start construction on the $128 million project.
“The town officials opened their arms to us,” said LeClaire.
Marketing for the homes started about two weeks ago. Already, four condominiums have been sold and two are on hold, according to Lynn M. Congdon, sales manager and broker of LeClaire Development.
“The people who have expressed interest and have bought so far are people who are selling large single-family homes,” said Congdon.
The buyers are not necessarily looking to downsize, but are seeking more luxury living and a specific lifestyle, said Congdon. Two of the buyers are already members of the Pleasant Valley Country Club. Buyers who aren’t members can apply and will be given preferential treatment, meaning they will not be placed on a waiting list to join the club, said Congdon. They will also have the option of purchasing a golf membership.
Buyers can choose from four models, three of which will feature first-floor master suites. The condominium amenities include granite kitchen countertops, hardwood floors in the living and dining rooms, two-car garages, a golf-cart garages, lofts, gas fireplaces, whirlpool tubs, two walk-in closets in the master bedrooms, decks and central air conditioning, vacuum and alarm systems. Buyers can choose either tile or wood floors for their kitchens and foyers.
Prices start at $697,000 and go up to $926,000. The price depends on the model, location – those on the fairways cost more – and whether the homes have walk-out basements.
Several months ago, LeClaire Properties, a resale division of LeClaire Development, was launched to market and sell the properties of people buying condominiums in The Villas. The division is opening an office in the center of Grafton in July.
Congdon said the division was started because so many buyers requested LeClaire’s help in selling their current homes. LeClaire Properties has just started doing marketing analysis of some The Villas buyers’ old homes to help determine from which geographic and demographic areas future interest in The Villas may come.
This week, foundations are being poured for the model and presold homes. The first phase of the project, which includes 42 homes, should be complete within a year.
