Haseltine Estates makes developers' dreams come true

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Just west of Springfield where the land becomes country again, the hills slope gently and there are woods and ponds and peace and tranquility.|ret||ret||tab|

And development; namely, Haseltine Estates.|ret||ret||tab|

Michael Taylor, as he is identified on the covenants and restrictions agreement with Haseltine Estates homeowners, would rather be called Mike. "The only time I've ever been called Michael was when I was in trouble," he said with a smile. "Mostly with my parents."|ret||ret||tab|

Taylor is certainly not in trouble these days, and neither is his partner in the 70-acre development, Tom Plemones. Of Haseltine Estates' 14 spacious tracts ranging from 4.75 to 4.81 acres 10 are sold. |ret||ret||tab|

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Option|ret||ret||tab|

Even as he spoke, Taylor was approached by another developer wanting to place an option on a remaining lot. |ret||ret||tab|

"I'm very pleased they've sold so well," he said. "But I'm not surprised. People want to own land."|ret||ret||tab|

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Benchmark|ret||ret||tab|

Haseltine Estates may be a benchmark for what has come to be called "smart development." Set on Farm Road 115 roughly a mile west of the Springfield city limits, its nearly 5-acre tracts are surrounded by woods and preserve as much as possible of the natural contours of the land. As an added bonus, there are deer, "lots of deer," Plemones said, and, as Taylor noted with obvious pleasure, wild turkey.|ret||ret||tab|

The homes in the development range from $250,000 to $400,000. Taylor and Plemones themselves have designed several of the houses with the help of contractor Dennis Mathews. The three roads in the development named for Plemones' grandchildren, Quade, Skyler, and Brecklyn are long and curving and dead end. They are maintained by the county.|ret||ret||tab|

Neither Taylor nor Plemones is a developer by vocation. Taylor owns and operates the nearby Briarwood One-Stop convenience store on Highway 60. Plemones is a former schoolteacher who works at Pinegar Chevrolet in Republic. |ret||ret||tab|

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Friends|ret||ret||tab|

The two have been friends for several years and share an unusually high regard for the countryside west of Springfield. About three years ago they decided to buy some land and create housing that would put those sentiments into play.|ret||ret||tab|

"Everybody wants to be a kind of farmer," Plemones said. "People are just tired of living elbow to elbow. We wanted to give them some room."|ret||ret||tab|

Taylor agrees. "Greenspace is tranquility to me," he said. "Everybody has the dream of owning 5 to 10 acres they can control. They'd have a place they can come home to, where their children can ride a bike safely, where they can walk down the street if they want. They have the privilege of standing out on their patio or porch and looking out and saying, I control this. Nobody can build here if I don't want them to.'"|ret||ret||tab|

Taylor said that if he and Plemones were commercial land developers they would've "run water and sewer" and broken the 70-acre site into 2 1/2 to 3 lots per acre. "That would have been a $2.5-$3 million project and might have brought millions in returns," he said. "But what you would end up with is tract housing. I don't belittle anything or anyone. That's fine for people buying a first home, and for some people, that's all they really want. But we wanted to do more."|ret||ret||tab|

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Amenities|ret||ret||tab|

Haseltine Estates' amenities feature quick access to Republic schools, Plemones said, and "We're also only three minutes away from Chestnut Expressway or the James River Freeway and 15 minutes away from almost anyplace in Springfield."|ret||ret||tab|

For Plemones and Taylor, historical heritage also plays an important part in the Haseltine Estates development. Farm Road 115 was known for many years as Haseltine Road, a name many in the area recall fondly. |ret||ret||tab|

"We felt it was important to preserve the Haseltine name," Taylor said, "because the Haseltine family owned all of this land from Highway 60 all the way to the airport. Thousands of acres. It was all apple orchards. This was great apple-producing country." |ret||ret||tab|

Plemones added, "That old building of field rock near the railroad tracks, the old Apple House, was the loading dock where they loaded the apples onto the trains. I believe those were Frisco tracks."|ret||ret||tab|

Haseltine Estates is one of several recent developments in the area along Highway 60 west of Springfield. Taylor believes that the completion of the James River Freeway and the recent opening of the nearby Wal-Mart Super-Center will stimulate further development in the area. |ret||ret||tab|

"Once you build an artery, a city moves to it," Taylor said. "Springfield will move to the James River Freeway. Every-thing's going to grow here. In just a few years, who's to say what will happen? I don't know. I really don't know. But we're proud of what we've done."|ret||ret||tab|

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