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Posted by Jack Polson
South Bend Tribune
Sunday, September 20, 2009 OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
By GENE STOWE Craig Taelman and Bill McCarthy have launched Portage Woods, an 84-lot subdivision on 70 thickly wooded acres off Portage Road north of Adams Road in German Township. Lots in Phase 1 range from one-half to three acres and from the $40,000s to the $90,000s, and home prices will range from the upper $200,000s to the upper $700,000s. A model under construction will be about $600,000.
The subdivision is featured in the St. Joseph Valley Home Builders Association's Fall Builders Showcase Oct. 3 through 11. Now that the road off Portage is in, McCarthy says, "There's a lot of people that come out here to have lunch. It's a very restful setting. They enjoy their lunch. "We're within two miles of restaurants and shopping, one mile from the Portage Prairie development, six miles from downtown and Notre Dame, less than a mile from the state line. We're 30 minutes from Lake Michigan with one stoplight." The terrain is unusual for St. Joseph County. "It's crisscrossed with ravines," McCarthy says. "That's allowed us to build in a very natural setting with a lot of walkout and lookout lots. One thing about the northwest side is you begin to get some rolling and wooded sections." Portage Woods eventually will connect to nearby Northwood Hills and Whippoorwill. "All three of these neighborhoods would have a similar feel in the wooded aspect and the rolling, curving roads," McCarthy says. The thick woods shelter thriving wildlife - one neighbor mentioned that a flock of wild turkeys moved to her yard after the road was installed - and Purdue students study a certain tree on the land because it's the oldest sample of its type. "There are flocks of wild turkeys that come through here," McCarthy says. "There's herds of deer. It's deep forest." Developers are working to preserve the trees, partly by offering the option of a modern septic system that works without clearing the land. "We can leave every tree in the backyard that we want to," says McCarthy, adding that not having to clear the lots offsets some of the cost of the upgraded septic system. "The side and rear yards can be left natural with only the front being landscaped." The model home, with brick, stone and siding, nestles in the trees with a walkout basement that has 10-foot ceilings and a second-story deck that overlooks the eight-acre pond formed by damming a ravine. "Different areas of the subdivision have different square footage requirements for houses," Taelman says. One section, for example, has a minimum of 1,800 square feet for ranch houses, 2,000 square feet for two-stories; another has 2,400 square feet for ranches, 2,600 square feet for two-stories. "We expect there will be diverse styling and architectural features," McCarthy says. The project started about three years ago when Taelman was looking for land to build for a client and called McCarthy, who knew about the parcel that had been a farm - aerial photos show a long-ago farmhouse - and was held by the heirs of a developer who bought the tract but never built. In spite of an economic slowdown, especially in real estate, "we're seeing some demand in the market this subdivision services," Taelman says. "The activity has been much stronger this year than last year," McCarthy says. "The interest level is high, and that generally translates into sales. We're getting the usual variety I see in the northwest section - professionals, Notre Dame people.
"We're getting people who want a natural wooded environment, a more restful setting."
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