A golf course community in Ipswich that got mired in the rough during the housing downturn is moving forward with more expansive designs under its second development team.

The 311-acre Golf Club of Turner Hill was originally proposed in 2004 by Raymond Property Corp. of Boston. It gained approval for 182 homes, but only the 18-hole championship golf course, 14 houses and eight duplex units were built before the market collapsed.

A new development group headed by Eyk Van Otterloo of Marblehead purchased 29 acres and headed back to the drawing board in 2010. The group, The Residences at The Hills LLC, also bought a minority stake in the private golf club.

The new development team’s first phase was 18 townhomes on two acres, 11 of which have sold. But the cluster-style development wasn’t suitable for the rest of the buildout, said John Gillis, project manager for The Residences at The Hills LLC.

“The initial village-style plan was interesting, but it was too dense,” Gillis said. “That’s when we started to look at opening (the next phase) up.”

A market feasibility study determined that few similar projects were scheduled to hit the market on the North Shore in the next few years, despite the housing market’s recovery. That gave the developers confidence to move forward with the current phase of 110 condos and duplexes, of which 46 have been built so far.

Single-family homes in the Hill Estate section range from 3,300 to 4,500 square feet and are listed from $1.1 to $1.4 million, while at the other end of the spectrum, village townhomes start at 2,000 square feet and $689,000.

In another twist for a golf course development, the homes are only located on three of the fairways.

“On the hill, the interior units have spectacular views,” Gillis said. “Even in the village, there are people that desire that type of privacy.”

-STEVE ADAMS

A Golf Community Developer Bets That Bigger Is Better

by Banker & Tradesman time to read: 1 min
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