Work starts on 140 acres of housing near major Prattville retail artery
PRATTVILLE ‒ Heavy equipment along Prattville’s main drag has caused a lot of speculation about which major retailer could be on the way, as work on two projects churn away in the heart of the city’s retail corridor.
Is Costco coming to town? A Sam’s Club? Wait, it has to be Buc-ee’s, right?
None of the above. It’s houses. Lots and lots of houses.
Some of the work is for Magnolia Ridge, just behind Lowe’s on Old Farm Lane. The development has finished building streets and putting in drainage systems. It covers 24 acres and will have 67 lots, plans on file with the city show.
The big one is Highland Farms, which recently began site-clearing work. It sits atop a hill and can be seen from Cobbs Ford Road, the main artery in town. That project covers 116 acres and will have 315 lots at final build out, plans show.
Highland Farms is between Old Farm Road and McQueen Smith Road.
“I’m surprised we have that much open land right in the middle of town,” said Glenn Stone of Prattville. “With all the development we’ve seen going back to the 90s, I thought open land of that size would have been used already.”
Both projects are in the Elmore County portion of Prattville. Retail development has been plentiful throughout the tract and several apartment complexes have been built. But single-family home projects, like Magnolia Ridge and Highland Farms have been scarce.
Children living there are zoned for Elmore County schools. In the past developers have operated from the premise that homeowners wanted to live in the city where their children went to school. Students in the Elmore County portion of Prattville attend schools in Millbrook and Coosada.
“There is a shift that has taken place because large tracts of land in the Autauga County part of Prattville are just about unavailable,” said Scott Stevens, city planner. “They have either already been developed or the owners of the property have no plans for development.”
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Work starts on 140 acres of housing near main Prattville retail area
