Once-bankrupt Mundy Mill development planning 'Grand Re-opening'

GAINESVILLE - The Mundy Mill neighborhood, once touted as a major planned community and economic generator in southern Hall County before succumbing to the housing recession, is celebrating its "grand re-opening" as a "refocused, competitively priced single-family housing option" for the region.

Butler Property LLC bought the subdivision off Mundy Mill Road and Mountain View Road in 2010, offering a fresh start for the financially troubled neighborhood.

The "grand re-opening" is scheduled for 11:30 Tuesday April 17.

The previous owners' development of the Mundy Mill neighborhood was hindered by housing market crash. Mundy Mill was approved and annexed into the City of Gainesville in 2004 as a mixed use 604-acre community 1,148 single-family homes, 578 townhomes, 460 apartments, an elementary school, recreational sites and hundreds of thousands of square feet of commercial and office space.

The plan was hindered along the way by financial problems and never got completely off the ground with only 67 homes being built. Homes were priced from $150,000 to $300,000. Beginning in July 2009, four banks seized parcels of the development over the next year until Butler Property bought the property in 2010.

Butler Property revived the project by offering homes priced from the $130,000s with enhanced amenities that include extra-wide sidewalks, a pool, playground and picnic pavilion. The entrance to the neighborhood has been dressed up as well.

Company officials say recently constructed homes have been well received with most either sold or under contract with several pre-sale homes now in process.

"Our plan is to offer affordable housing to this Oakwood corridor and create a sense of community in the neighborhood by providing top quality amenities," said John Schwartz, sales manager for Main & Main Realty, which markets Mundy Mill. "With the proximity to Interstate 985, Gainesville State College, shopping areas and Lake Lanier, location was the key factor in Butler Property's decision to undertake this project."

More construction could be planned over the next few months based on continued sales.