The Village at Providence Point has recently submitted its latest proposal for the plot of land formerly known as Crystal Spring. After what National Lutheran Communities & Services CEO Larry Bradshaw calls a “very productive” 7 months with the City’s Planning and Zoning Department, all parties feel that this latest iteration will move forward. “Of course there will be some minor things to work out as we move along.” said Bradshaw in a phone conversation. The various designs of the project are seen above with the most recent one at the right.The prior plan was to accommodate 430 residences and under the new design, they have reduced that number by about 20%. Now, there will be 303 residences and 48 units in the health care section of the facility. They have moved all of the construction closer to Forest Drive enabling the bulk of the property to remain forested. 75 acres will be placed in a conservation easement for retention and reforestation.
Traffic has been a major concern. The City hired an independent 3rd party to evaluate the traffic and it was determined that the community would have little impact. The study indicated that a traffic signal was not warranted at the entrance; but that significant upgrades to the signal at Forest and Spa would be needed. Incoming traffic headed south on Forest Drive, would use a deceleration lane. Similarly, outgoing traffic headed south would primarily use that same exit with an acceleration lane onto Forest Drive. Other directions woudl use the Spa Road entrance onto Skippers Lane which may ultimately connect with Skippers Lane behind the CVS on South Cherry Grove Avenue. NLCS estimates that there will be 1.2 cars per unit; however there will be internal transportation options for residents and they do plan to build an Annapolis Transit stop within the community to facilitate residents and employees. The bulk of the parking for residents and employees (estimated to be 130) will be in an underground garage.
The minimum age for residents is 60; however Bradshaw estimates the average age will be between 73 and 77. Bradshaw also noted that residents in these communities (they own several) typically will not follow traditional traffic flows and feels that the project might add about 65 cars per hour in the AM and PM rush hours.
The Planning and Zoning Department is reviewing the latest plans now and from there, NLCS will submit the Forest Conservation Plan, and the final design. If all goes well, ground could break sometime in late 2020.
However, since this is a continuing care community and subject to State laws, they are not legally able to break ground until 65% of the units have been pre-sold. This is a consumer protection law that will insure that a project will be completed as designed. NLCS must submit pre-sale contracts to the Maryland Department of Aging throughout this process and will not receive approval until 65% have been pre-sold.
When asked about when The Village at Providence Point might be up and running, Bradshaw said, “it will take us about 18 months to market the property, so I might think late 2022 or early 2023.”
