Building for the later years

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Sep 22, 2000 by Ray Dozier The Journal Record

The fall season begins at 12:27 this afternoon. As the greens of summer turn to red, brown and gold, a new development will spring up in Moore to accommodate those who have reached the autumn of their lives.

Construction at Autumn Oaks, the new gated garden-home community, will begin in a couple of weeks on homes targeting people in or near their retirement years.

Autumn Oaks, located one-half mile east of Interstate 35 between S. 19th and Fourth streets in Moore, will be a 75- to 80-home community offering residents a trouble-free lifestyle. Each unit has its own security system and the homeowners association will provide for exterior maintenance to each unit.

"It's going to be completely maintenance-free," said Randy Atherton, developer of Autumn Oaks and owner of Autumn Leaf LLC Development. "Anything from the sheet rock out is maintenance free."

Atherton noted that each unit has a 10-year homeowner's insurance warranty for "worry-free living."

"If they move in, all they're going to have to be concerned about is the inside," he said.

Once the construction is complete, Joan Osborn of Interiors Plus in Norman will help design the interior.

"She will help select the interiors," Atherton said.

The homes will range from 1,350 to 2,160 square feet and begin at $113,000. Five model homes will be built initially featuring two- and three-bedroom designs, with fireplaces, an oversized two-car garage, large kitchen, dual-vanity sinks in the master bathroom, French doors, and full-brick exterior in a colonial style.

The construction will include 2x6 exterior wood framing to create a soundproof environment.

"We decided to build a sound-tight residence, and one of the ways we do that is with 2x6 exterior construction walls," Atherton explained. "We've got a 2x6 wall that goes from floor to ceiling plus an air gap, plus another 2x6 wall, so we've got 13 inches of insulation between each wall. It makes them soundproof."

Atherton has demonstrated the effectiveness of the soundproofing by turning up a television "as loud as it will go" but it cannot be heard in the home next door.

Each home also will feature Thermo-Pane windows, a covered concrete patio, decorative lampposts and mailbox, ceramic tile in the entry and baths, marbled window sills, oak cabinetry and a Jetta Whirlpool tub in the master bath. The kitchen will be highlighted by a Spacesaver microwave oven, self-cleaning range, dishwasher and disposal all made by General Electric.

Atherton bought the property last November for an undisclosed price. He said plans for the project began in June 1999, but took a few months to have the financing approved. Financing was arranged through Bob Osborne, vice president at Metro Bank.

"It's always been our intent to do the development and improvements and to complete all the construction and it's about $8.5 million including construction costs," said Atherton, who has experience in commercial construction and civil engineering. "We're going to be building five to 10 at a time."

Last December, Atherton's company began improvements to the development, including cutting the roads. But prior to all the preparations, Atherton researched the community's needs to find out what people desired in a new neighborhood.

"When we started back in June, we went to the City of Moore and to several of the retirement communities and asked them what they were looking for and if they wanted to stay in the City of Moore," he explained. "At that time, a private gated-community for people who essentially are empty nesters was not available for Moore. They could go to Norman, they could go to Oklahoma City, but they really didn't have any place in Moore.

"The City of Moore was extremely beneficial and accommodating. As far as the zoning going on around it, it's already been decided so we're not going to have issues. This is on a non-arterial street, so its going to be relatively quiet."

Lynne Raymond and her daughter Trishelle, both sales associates with Bob Linn & Associates/GMAC Real Estate , have the exclusive listings of the Autumn Oaks homes. Lynn said that most of the people she has talked to about the new community have been "empty nest" people or retired executives who desire a quiet neighborhood. Lynne and Trishelle have about 25 people interested in buying a home in Autumn Oaks.

"We're seeing a lot of retirees or people in their pre-retirement stages," Lynn noted. "They have been waiting for these units to be built here. When we ran an ad, the empty nesters were just swarming us. They are really looking forward to it."

One of her clients is a couple who live in a 3,000-square-foot home and travel five to six months per year. They are interested in a smaller home with the maintenance-free lifestyle.

"They said they didn't want to worry about the security part of it or the maintenance part of it, and that's what they're looking forward to," Lynn said. "The homeowners dues are going to take care of the insurance, the taxes, they're going to have all the swimming facilities and security."