Residents enjoy sociability of Brushy Meadows
Richard Minish can sit behind his desk in the Lazarus Shouse Communities model home in Brushy Meadows subdivision , in Greenville, SC and contemplate a job done too well.
"I've just about worked myself out of a job," he says, without a hint of regret. Minish's job has been to sell homes in the 9-year-old subdivision, and with houses going up on the last 10 unsold lots in the 145-acre development, his job is about done. Even the model home has been listed.
And he's going out on a strong note.
"We started out at (homes costing) $190,000 to $250,000," he said. "We're now at the $200,00 to $270,000 range. ... We're building mostly the bigger plans now than when we started, and we seem to be getting more families."
The Greenville real estate in the neighborhood is a blend of everything from young families to retirees, with many Brushy Meadows residents moving to the subdivision because of nearby industries such as BMW and Michelin. That was the case for Rich and Jacqueline Rice, who moved to Brushy Meadows in 1995, when there were only a handful of homes in the neighborhood.
"My wife was with BMW up in New Jersey, and transferred down here," Rice said. "We rather like it. We like the mixture of older people and young people. It's not just retirees."
The development began in the early 1990s, when a group of local partners, PC Developers, bought the 145-acre tract with plans for build-out in about five years. But as the economy began to sputter, sales waned.
With growth stalled under PC Developers, the remaining 92 lots were sold to Lazarus Shouse Communities in 2001. Having a new developer on board for phase two re-energized sales within the subdivision, Minish said.
Brushy Meadows boasts tennis courts, a swimming pool and a clubhouse with a meeting room and fully equipped kitchen. Dues for the Brushy Meadows Homeowners Association are $350 a year.
The association sponsors events for kids and adults throughout the year, which is one reason Sandy and Gene Ostrander have enjoyed their two years at Brushy Meadows.
"Everybody seems to get along," Sandy Ostrander said. "We have a lot of functions at the clubhouse. We have a lot of different cultures here, and everybody gets along real well."
On the other hand, Lin and Bob Greene were drawn to their Brushy Meadows home because of its location on the perimeter of the development.
"We're from Colorado, and we were looking for land where we had something to look at," Lin Greene said. "Here we had trees behind us, a nice forest behind us. ... When you grow up in the Rocky Mountains, you've got to have something to look at."
Greer provides services to Brushy Meadows, including garbage pick-up and police and fire protection. The city also maintains its own water system.
Brushy Meadows feeds into three schools: Woodland Elementary, Riverside Middle and Riverside High. The quality of the local schools was one reason Katy and John Hoffler moved to Brushy Meadows almost a year ago. The couple have two children: Nikki, 9, a fourth-grader; and Christopher, 5, who is in kindergarten.
"We came from St. Louis and when we bought there we didn't have any kids and we ended up buying in a terrible school district," Katy Hoffler said. "We already had our daughter go through three years at a not-very-good school, so that was one of the big things."
John Hoffler said the family has been pleased with the schools.
"The school is much better than the school we left," he said. "They were probably a month and a half or two months ahead of the school my daughter left. For the first two months, they were doing review, and it was new stuff for my daughter."
And that's not all: Nikki was also a member of the Brushy Meadows swim team.
"It seems to be mostly activities for the kids," he said. "They have the swim team, but they also had water aerobics for the adults."
By John C. Stevenson, Staff Writer, the Greenville News
PRICE RANGE: $200,000 - $270,000 YEARS BUILT: 1994 to 2003 SQUARE FOOTAGE: 2,500 to 2,800 square feet
SCHOOLS: Woodland Elementary, Riverside Middle, Riverside High
PARKS AND RECREATION: Tennis courts, pool
Greenville SC real estate, homes for sale click here.
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