The property where a 149-acre subdivision is planned along N.C. Highway 119 South in Mebane has been sold to a new developer who has filed an annexation request with the city of Mebane.
Burlington-based real estate developer Shawn Cummings had purchased 149.1 acres for the subdivision from Hawfields Presbyterian Home for $1.8 million in June 2017, according to documents that were filed with Alamance County’s Register of Deeds at the time. The nursing home was later sold and is now known as Compass Healthcare & Rehab Hawfields.
Cummings’ company, Agency Partners, sold the land for $8.65 million in early November 2021 to LeoTerra Development in Kernersville, based on documents that were filed with the Register of Deeds’ office.
LeoTerra has filed a petition requesting annexation into Mebane’s city limits, Ashley Ownbey, the city’s planner, said in a recent interview with The Alamance News.
A site plan has been filed with the city for the subdivision, and the Technical Review Committee (TRC) discussed the annexation request in December, Ownbey explained.
“Part of the property is zoned B-2, which is general business,” the city’s planner told the newspaper, “and a portion is zoned R-20 for residential.” A third section of the property isn’t within the city’s jurisdiction, so the developer would need to seek annexation, Ownbey said.
“They have to petition for that portion of the property to be annexed before they make the rezoning request,” Ownbey added. “Right now, they’re working out a few things with their [traffic study]; there were some revisions that were needed. Once the traffic study has been resolved, it will likely move forward to the council.”
Since the property changed hands late last year, the new developer, LeoTerra, has modified the original plans for Hawfields Landing.
Cummings had originally proposed building 160 townhomes and 354 single-family homes. The Burlington developer had envisioned marketing the townhomes to seniors, though they wouldn’t have been deed-restricted to a specific demographic, Cummings told The Alamance News in late 2020.
The latest iteration calls for Hawfields Landing to have more townhomes (184) and fewer single-family homes (310) to be built, based on the preliminary site plan that LeoTerra has submitted to the city.
The latest site plan that has been submitted to the city shows that 310 single-family homes would be built on 116.22 acres (or 2.67 units per acre); and 184 townhomes would be built on 32.76 acres (or 5.62 units per acre).
Lot sizes for the single-family homes would have a minimum of 6,000 square feet, with 15-foot setbacks at the front and back and five-foot setbacks on each side, according to the latest site plan.
Amenities would include a community pool and cabana; multipurpose recreational field; several other “amenity” areas with mail kiosks; and a common playground area with space for grilling.
Like the previous version, the project’s “proposed to be strictly residential,” with city water and sewer serving the subdivision, she said. The property would still need to be annexed and rezoned for the subdivision, the city’s planner explained.
LeoTerra hasn’t yet discussed specific details for the houses and townhomes, or potential price points, with Mebane city officials. “[The] TRC might hear from them soon,” Ownbey told the newspaper.
The Hawfields Landing subdivision would be LeoTerra’s first project in Alamance County.
The Kernersville developer’s residential construction portfolio includes: one subdivision in Davidson County; our subdivisions in Guilford County; three in Forsyth County; two subdivisions in Randolph County; and one each in Mecklenburg and Pitt counties, according to LeoTerra. The company’s largest project – the first phase of Olive Branch – is underway in Wake County and will have 363 homes once complete.
