Developers moving forward with Jefferson despite DeSoto's slower housing market

Construction is in full swing at the Jefferson, a new $70 million, 89-acre residential development in Hernando.

Jefferson Group, a partnership among four businessmen, is developing 200-225 lots in the southeast corner of Jaybird Road and Holly Springs Road in East Hernando. The partnership is made up of Rip Walker, owner of appraisal agency Rip Walker & Associates; commercial real estate broker Richie Burnette; retired banker Pat Davis; and Roy Holmes of Roy Holmes Construction Co.

The group bought the land for the subdivision in 2005 for $1 million, Walker says. The agricultural land was then rezoned and annexed by Hernando. Site preparation work began in late 2006.

Three homes were recently completed, including one model home. Two additional homes will be completed next month, says Sean Green, president of Dream Home Construction LLC.

The first five speculative homes, part of the 66-lot phase one, were designed by Memphis-based architectural firm Looney Ricks Kiss. LRK will also plan the second and third phases of the community.

"The Jefferson employs New Urbanist planning principles," said architect Carson Looney, LRK principal, in a statement. "Developments such as these are economically sustainable and tend to attract well-educated, high-end buyers. The master planning goal is to create a sense of neighborhood."

Walker says it will take two to five years to complete the subdivision, but wouldn't estimate when the second phase will break ground.

"The housing slowdown affected everything," he says. "It's very difficult to predict the future."

In January, five residential building permits were issued in Hernando, compared with 24 in January 2007, according to the DeSoto County Planning Commission. DeSoto County, among the 40 fastest-growing counties in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau, felt the impact of the national housing crash in 2007, with 1,681 permits issued throughout the year. That's down nearly 35% from 2006, when the county issued 2,581 home building permits.

Another sign of the housing uncertainty in the county is the downsizing of its largest homebuilder, Reeves Williams LLC . The builder has reduced its work force from 130 to 40 employees in less than one year and expects additional reductions, Doug Heppe, executive vice president at Reeve Williams' parent Kalian Cos., told Memphis Business Journal last month.