Two projects for 55-and-over in the pipeline

The owner of the New Meadows Golf Club in Topsfield is seeking to build a condominium complex for residents 55 and older adjacent to the course, marking the second age-restricted development to be proposed in town this year.

Frank Iovanella, the golf course owner, has had discussions in public meetings with the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board about his proposal, which calls for 24 two-bedroom units of high-end housing.

The six-building development, which will require a zoning change approved by Town Meeting, would be constructed just off the second fairway of the nine-hole golf course, which is on Wildes Road near the Ipswich line, according to Iovanella, a Topsfield resident who also owns the adjacent North Shore Auto Auction in Ipswich.

C.P. Berry Construction of Topsfield began discussions this year with town officials about plans to build a 55-and-over development on part of a Route 1 site in Topsfield owned by Boston College. That development would consist of 52 attached condominium units and a clubhouse clustered on 19 acres. The remainder of the 68-acre site, near the Danvers line, would remain open space.

Opened in 1964, New Meadows Golf Club is a public course that averages 20,000 to 25,000 rounds of play a year. The course would remain open under the development plan, according to Iovanella, who purchased it in 2001.

The site of his proposed development is 10 acres, but the buildings would be clustered on 5 of those acres, an area where a house now sits. Iovanella said the future condominium association would provide the golf course with an easement to continue use of the other 5 acres as the course's parking lot and part of its second fairway.

The plan calls for deed restrictions to be placed on the remaining 43-acre portion of the 53-acre golf course site requiring that it be used only for recreation.

Iovanella said he was prompted to seek the development in part because business at the course has been flat in recent years, the result of a general decline in the golf industry and poor weather conditions in some years.

His would be the latest in a series of development projects at area golf courses, including a planned village-style development on the Sheraton Colonial Golf Course in Lynnfield, and a planned 54-unit luxury townhouse development on the site of the Rowley Country Club.

Iovanella said his development plan could provide him with some financial relief from the effects of the slumping golf industry, while at the same time preserve 43 acres from development in perpetuity. He also said the project would provide the town with about $200,000 in new annual tax revenue and add to its housing stock, while having only a minimal impact on town services.

"Hopefully everybody wins - me, the town, and the townspeople," said Iovanella, who is pursuing the development under the legal entity, New Meadows Enterprises LLC.

Like the Berry project, the proposed New Meadows project would require a vote by Town Meeting to designate the development site as an elderly housing overlay district. In such districts, multifamily housing for seniors is allowed by special permit. Both developers plan to seek those approvals at the annual Town Meeting in May.

They also will be seeking an amendment to the town elderly housing district bylaw to allow condominiums in such districts. Currently, the bylaw only allows for cooperatives. Since the bylaw was adopted in 1988, only one elderly housing district has been approved - the site of Great Hill, a 73-unit cooperative off Ipswich Road.

John J. McArdle, the chairman of the selectmen, said the board, which met with Iovanella and other New Meadows representatives last week, reacted positively to the plan.

"They appear to be nicely done," he said of the preliminary plans. Referring to Iovanella, McArdle said, "He's looking to put in a reasonable number" of units. "And he's also talking about putting the golf course into some form of permanent restriction" from development.

McArdle said one question, though, is "whether the market is there" for two 55-and-over developments.

Iovanella, who estimates his units would be marketed at $700,000 to $800,000 apiece, said he believes there will be enough demand for both developments based on the "growing number of baby boomers" in town and the shortage of options for those who want to move out of their homes but remain in Topsfield.

"I think being on the golf course as an amenity is a very attractive option for people," he said, "and the proximity to Route 1 is another positive for people who want to commute to the city."

He also noted that the Berry project and his would be located at different ends of town.

Alan Berry, co-owner of C.P. Berry Construction, is also confident there would be sufficient demand for the two projects.

"The market changes all the time. Right now, everything is difficult. But it won't stay that way.

"The demand for over-55 housing is growing because there are more and more people entering that age group."

Iovanella said that New Meadows will continue meeting with town boards to discuss its plan. At the suggestion of the Planning Board, it also intends to meet with neighbors of the proposed development.

The Planning Board will hold a meeting that neighbors of the site will be encouraged to attend, officials said.

A formal public hearing on any proposed zoning change would have to be held before it could be placed on the Town Meeting warrant.