Boom time
Fast-growing Rockdale gets its first million-dollar subdivision
By DONNA WILLIAMS LEWIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They were living in Okinawa, Japan, when they began looking for a home close to his mom in Madison but also with easy access to I-20 and metro Atlanta.
"We researched this over the Internet," Regina Cain said. "I would find different places for my husband to tour when he'd come back stateside."
They found what they were looking for in the Mission Ridge subdivision, where they chose a five-bedroom-plus bonus room two-story house whose fence abuts the playground of Flat Shoals Elementary School. A perfect situation for their 5-year-old twins, Alaina and Marcus.
"We love it. The kids love it," Cain said. "It is our dream home."
The Cains and hundreds of other families helped Rockdale County grow last year at a pace surpassing much of metro Atlanta.
In 2003, 865 new homes were sold in Rockdale, 34 percent more than the year before. That gave Rockdale the second-highest growth in sales of new homes among metro counties in 2003.
Rockdale's "good schools and good health care -- things as residents here I think we sometimes take for granted" are among the amenities enticing newcomers, said County Commission Chairman Norman Wheeler.
Some of the newcomers are streaming in from the North, particularly New York City, builders say. But many are coming from right next door: predominantly black south DeKalb County. Rockdale's black population has grown from 8 percent in 1990, to 18 percent in 2000, to an estimated 24 percent now.
As more people discover the state's second smallest county, they're paying more for what they find.
Rockdale is touting what is billed as the county's "first million-dollar subdivision." Wellington Creek Estates, in northeast Rockdale, will feature 17 homes ranging from the high $700s to $2.6 million. Three homes there are already finished.
Overall, the median price of new and resale homes in Rockdale grew by 14 percent last year, making the county the sales price growth leader in metro Atlanta.
Prices of new homes in one ZIP code, 30094 in south Rockdale, increased by 13 percent to a median of $237,150, up $27,150 in a single year. That made that ZIP code one of the top 20 metrowide last year in new home sales price growth.
"Developers' costs have gone up, therefore the cost of the finished lot has to be higher" in order for them to recoup their money, said Karl R. Kelley Sr., deputy director of Rockdale's Department of Public Services and Engineering. Land prices are rising, and new conditions are being imposed on developers by county commissioners when property comes in for rezoning, he said.
Among the typical rezoning conditions, which are set based on the surrounding community:
• Single-family detached houses usually must be at least 1,800 square feet for a one-story home and 2,200 square feet for a two-story home.
• Smaller homes typically must have fronts entirely of brick, stucco or stone. Larger homes usually must have three sides of brick, stone or stucco.
• Two shade trees in the front yard; sidewalks on at least one side of the street, sometimes on both sides; and trails are commonly included among the conditions.
The rezoning conditions are an effort to make new development compatible with the surrounding area and to ensure a higher quality development, said Marshall Walker, principal planner for the Public Services Department.
In the meantime, planners are wrapping up a unified development ordinance that will turn many of those rezoning conditions into standard requirements.
Developer Scott Huff has opened four subdivisions in ZIP code 30094, with houses priced from about $250,000. With the new requirements, "You have to build a bigger house now to recoup your money," Huff said.
Still, he said, houses in his developments would cost twice as much in north Atlanta.
Chris Banker of Columbus moved to Huff's Deerwood subdivision after his job at Sherwin-Williams transferred him to Rockdale. He and his wife, Alix, were sold on the house, the area's schools and the neighborhood.
"This subdivision kind of gave us that country feeling, being out as far as it is," Banker said.
Parents of two young children, they wanted a ranch house with a full basement and a large lot. They got it all, and at a price that was right, Banker said. "It's practically a double lot for regular lot pricing," he said.
County officials are scrambling to make sure Rockdale's infrastructure keeps pace with all the newcomers, and they don't anticipate a building slowdown any time soon.
Hundreds more homes are being built this year in new subdivisions across the county. McCart's Landing will have 424 homes in eastern Rockdale. Also coming to that area are 57 homes in Brynlyn Woods; 67 at Blueberry Hill; and 154 at Old Covington Junction. Western Rockdale will get 68 new homes in South Mill; 77 at New Haven; and 55 at Montclair Estates.
The Sphinx Group Inc. already is pre-selling Wellington Lake, 23 luxury homes on lots ranging from 2.5 acres to 9-plus acres. The Sphinx Group is led by two cousins from Egypt -- Victor and Adel Saad.
At the nearby Wellington Creek Estates, restaurant manager Tim Howard and his wife, Arlene, a nurse, moved into their home last Thanksgiving.
"When I saw the land out here, I fell in love with it," Tim Howard said. "It seemed very peaceful. It's kind of like you're up in the mountains, away from the hustle and bustle of Atlanta life."
Their 5,000-square-foot homes features Brazilian cherry hardwood floors and a curved staircase leading to a balcony overlooking the home's first floor. A double-sided fireplace opens to both an expansive master bedroom and a luxurious bathroom with a Jacuzzi.
Among the Howards' new neighbors will be a McDonald's franchisee, an engineer, a day care operator, a doctor and a retired real estate agent. And like the Howards, many of them are moving from -- you got it -- south DeKalb County.
If you're in the market to spend a cool million or two, or just want to see how the other half lives, there's an open house from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday at Wellington Creek. The subdivision is on Miller Bottom Road off Ga. 138.
