Scott Nishimura snishimura@bizpress.net
Village Homes, a 17-year-old Fort Worth developer, has staked out Fort Worth’s Linwood Park neighborhood in the hot West Seventh corridor for 54 townhomes that will start at $285,000. Village Homes, a partnership of Michael Dike and Jim Harris, has taken 27 lots under contract, with plans to replat them and build two townhomes on each, Dike said in an interview. The bulk of the lots are held by the Linwood Redevelopment Corp., Dike said. Linwood Redevelopment is one of two primary property owners that have acquired lots in the modest neighborhood west of the Montgomery Plaza development in recent years, betting on redevelopment prospects in the corridor. Village Homes is prepared to pour slabs on four of the townhomes, and has already sold two, Dike said. The partners will start construction of the remaining two as spec, he said. “If the weather would cooperate, we’d be able to pour some slabs,” Dike said in an interview Monday. The lots are on seven streets in the area bordered by West 5th Street on the south, Whitmore Street on the north, Templeton Drive on the west, and Foch Street on the east. About a dozen of the lots front or back up to Fort Worth’s Linwood-Jesse D. Sandoval neighborhood park. Lee Harvey Oswald, President John F. Kennedy’s assassin, once infamously lived on Mercedes Avenue in the neighborhood. The townhomes will be 1,900 square feet with detached two-car garage and 2,100 square feet with attached two-car garage. The townhomes will each have 2.5 baths, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and wooden floors in the entry, family, kitchen, and breakfast areas. Interiors will feature an “open, modern feel,” Village Homes says. Energy-efficient amenities include radiant barrier, quick-recovery water heater, high-efficiency central air and heat, and dual-glazed windows, Village Homes said. The 54 townhomes should be complete within three to four years, with the first four being done within four months, Dike said. Village Homes is calling the 54 homes its first phase. Dike said the 27 lots represents everything the partnership has “under control” today, but it’s interested in acquiring other lots in Linwood. Property prices have jumped in Linwood, and some lot owners are asking too much, Dike said, citing one $230,000 current asking price. “We can’t buy every lot,” Dike said. According to a Village Homes brochure, there are at least 150 other Linwood lots the partnership doesn’t own. Dike said he and Harris expect younger buyers who are now renting in the area will be interested in the townhomes. “That’s what we’re seeing,” he said. “They’re paying $1.50, $1.60 (per foot) in rent, but they’re ready to take that next step.” The $285,000 start price “is a lot of money, but for this location and these amenities, we are selling a good value,” he said. Village Homes was established in 1996. The company’s designs blend early 20th Century architecture with high-end construction and amenities. The partnership has done several other residential developments, including the 80-lot Trinity Heights in southwest Fort Worth. Linwood “is a big deal for us,” Dike said.