News

Miami builder has big plans for Horse Shoe Farm

By Bill Moss, Published: September 28, 2016

HORSE SHOE — The scenic Horse Shoe Farm on South Rugby Road would be developed as a nature-oriented community of 136 cottages and 84 apartments if a Miami developer wins county approval of the plans.

John Turchin, a third generation developer from Miami who developed a similar larger-scale model in Banner Elk, has an option to buy the 85-acre property, which he hopes to turn into the Sanctuary at Eagle’s Nest.
“We’re developing a lifestyle destination community that’s a cross between a 55-and-older and independent living. It’s a hybrid product” that he plans to market not just for retiring baby boomers but younger people seeking a healthy lifestyle in a walkable community.
Turchin has ambitious plans for the property, which he first learned about when he tried to sell it. He was the listing broker for the land when he started casting a concept for a cottage development with plenty of green space.
“As I went through the uses of it — for single-family homes, a farm, I looked into the horse world in Tryon — I couldn’t get any interest there. I started looking at where is there a real need in the marketplace and it’s the retirees. I did all this ultimately to market and sell the property and then when I did all that I said, ‘Well, let me just develop it myself.’ I’m not new at this. So here we are. It started from trying to sell the property to becoming the buyer.”

‘Alternative to golf course’

His plans call for a 150-seat farm-to-table restaurant, walking trails, vegetable gardens and a wellness center in a development that would be “an alternative to the golf course country club community.” He built a 1,200-acre development in Banner Elk called the Lodges at Banner Elk. The Horse Shoe development scales that down, both in acreage and home size. The development on the French Broad River would be made up of 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom cottages in “pocket clusters” of eight to 10. His market, he says, is people of any age who are interested in nutrition, exercise, gardening, aging well and open space.
“There’s no age limit so it’s not a 55 or older” concept, he says. “It’s really an active lifestyle destination. We have had had much success in Banner Elk and now we’re bring it here on a more scalable basis to the masses.”
Renting, he says, is an option that’s underserved.
“Right now the model has always been for sale,” he says. “Not everybody wants to buy. Big builders make you buy something. I believe there’s an alternative to buying by renting. People can take that money, invest it and you live on it the rest of your life. You stay there for about 20 years until you need some type of care. Most of the independent care developments require a large buy-in price of $150,000 to $200,000 and you get nothing for it except the right to live there. Not everybody has the cash to buy in to a place and that’s an old model. …. We’re trying to build an alternative in the marketplace for the baby boomer.”
He envisions developing similar communities in Charleston or Wilmington and possibly building in the option to share units.
He quoted an “all inclusive” rent of $3 to $4 a square foot, which would come to $3,600 to $4,800 a month. It would include utilities, wellness center and other amenities and one restaurant meal a day. “If you can imagine living in the Ritz-Carlton suite hotel for the rest of your life where everything is inclusive” — that’s the Sanctuary, he says.
Founded in the mid-1920s in Miami, the Turchin Companies has put up more than 200 high-rise structures in the Miami area and constructed more than $1 billion in projects, the company said in a news release.

Zoning hurdles

The developer has several zoning and environmental hurdles to clear before the project becomes a reality.
The property is now zoned R-2, which allows one-acre residential lots. Turchin plans to ask for a rezoning to R-1 mixed-use category that would allow the restaurant, wellness center and residential units, said Autumn Radcliff, senior planner for Henderson County. The developer also is seeking a state permit for wastewater treatment and he must submit a traffic impact study for review by the county Planning Board, Board of Commissioners and NCDOT.
“It’s still residential in nature,” Radcliff said of the mixed-use zone. “A good example is Biltmore Park. That would be like the maxed-out full version (although Turchin’s plan is much smaller in scale). They’re wanting to keep a lot of the natural beauty.”
The mixed-use zone allows a maximum of 16 units per acre “but because of the floodplain they’re limited,” Radcliff said. “They could never do the maximum. What they propose to do is 136 detached residents and 84 apartment units.” That number comes to about 2½ units per acre.
A barn on the property has a second floor that contains residential space. Turchin wants to make those available for guests of residents.
“They’re going to create five guest rooms,” Radcliff said. “If you live there, they can stay there in one of the guest rooms. It’s like a hotel but it’s really just for the folks who live there on site and their guests. They really want to promote people to live on site (without driving). They have a whole network of trails they’re proposing that would be for biking, walking or golf carts.”
The property has city water but no public sewerage. The developer plans a wastewater treatment system that is “a cross between a package plant and individual septic tanks,” Radcliff said. That plan requires state review. “It would be July before they get approval,” she said. “The development is really going to hinge on whether they get the permit. Apparently it’s an easier process than going through and doing the discharge into the river like a traditional package plant.”
If Turchin submits plans on time, the rezoning request could come before the Planning Board on Oct. 20 and go to the Board of Commissioners in December.