Come join us at Evans Farm’s Christmas Party and tour homes from the following builders:
When: Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Time: 4:00pm – 7:00pm
Hors D’ Oeuvres & Drinks Will Be Provided.
RSVP to khall@evansfarmoh.com
Music, Hors D’ Oeuvres, Drinks and Holiday Merriment Will Be Provided.
When: Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Where: The Evans Farm Office
Time: 4:30 In The Evening
RSVP to kpiper@evansfarmoh.com
Courtesy of The Columbus Dispatch
Planned for construction in Evans Farm, Project Grand Slam will include six baseball diamonds, an indoor arena, and facilities suitable for a number of sports including baseball, softball, football, lacrosse, soccer, and track and field. As the population of Orange Township and the need for recreational facilities continue to climb, the complex will help meet a major need of the community.
Read about it in The Columbus Dispatch.
Written by: Tracy Schiefferle, Assistant Executive Director, BIA of Central Ohio
Since 1943, the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio has represented single- and multi-family homebuilders, developers and remodelers throughout the area. The BIA Parade of Homes has been wowing hundreds of thousands of visitors for 66 years, via its tour of new homes featuring the latest and greatest in-home design and decor. Each year, central Ohio’s premier builders showcase their homes, offering Parade guests the opportunity experience the most current trends firsthand.
On behalf of the BIA, we are very excited to present the 2019 BIA Parade of Homes at Evans Farm.
The concept of Evans Farm becoming a Parade of Homes site has been discussed for a while now. Finally seeing it come together is exciting. The New Urbanism living and design concepts that Evans Farm brings to the table will be a bit different for the Parade of Homes and we think that the public will respond with enthusiasm.
Evans Farm checked all the boxes for our Parade of Homes site selection committee. The roughly 1,200-acre mixed use development offers Olentangy schools, a convenient location just north of Lewis Center Road. The New Urbanism concept promotes walkable neighborhoods and a variety of architectural custom homes featuring front porches and hidden parking. The concept of connecting neighbors and bringing people together is front and center with the network of paths and ponds, parks and green spaces.
Our BIA member builders find the site appealing for the above but also the community’s architectural diversity of styles that include Craftsman, Italianate, Victorian and French Eclectic. With a dozen plus BIA member builders participating in the 2019 Parade, we are excited about the opportunity to showcase some new builders to the Parade as well as the return of some veteran Parade builders. It’s always exciting to see what different designs and floor plans the builders bring to a Parade home and with the Evans Farm design concept this will be a must-see Parade.
Evans Farm will be the 67th year the BIA has presented a Parade of Homes to the central Ohio Community. Our first Parade was in 1952 and was a scattered site Parade throughout Upper Arlington. Since that time the Parade has been at locations all over central Ohio. We recently completed uploading the past Parade guide books to our Parade website and it’s been so fun to look back and see how the locations, homes and décor has changed over the past 66 years.
The one thing that fortunately hasn’t changed is the community’s interest in coming out each year to see the latest and greatest in new homes. One of the best parts of my job is just strolling through the Parade site and listening to the attendees’ comments. Everyone has an opinion about the styles and décor and it’s as varied as the homes can be.
As one can imagine, there is quite a bit of planning that goes into a Parade. Aside from the builders working on their homes, the BIA event team goes to work to secure sponsors and exhibitors, site and parking layout, staffing, publicity and on and on. Each location presents a different set of circumstances and all of that must be considered when trying to put together the best Parade experience for our guests. There are lots of planning meetings well in advance. Tony and Dan have been working with us to start plans and they have visited with our team during the past two Parades to get a good understanding of some of the behind the scenes issues. I am excited to be working with them on plans for 2019. It’s going to be fantastic Parade of Homes and I look forward to seeing the central Ohio community out to tour it July 13-28.
YMCA UpdateThe YMCA of Central Ohio recently completed its Market Analysis for a new YMCA, an important milestone in the effort to partner with the community to develop a new Y at Evans Farm. The study, completed by Triangle2 Solutions, revealed a great amount of interest in supporting a new YMCA through participation in membership and programs. As it pertains to the facility, the greatest amount of interest centered around swimming pools, a walking/running track, fitness center, gymnasium and outdoor turf. The YMCA’s Senior Vice President on the project, Brian Kridler, had this to say: “All of the amenities that we would expect to hear about were there, but there was also a significant amount of interest expressed in arts programming, so we are taking that into account with our initial facility design. The preliminary concepts will be completed by the end of October at which point we will begin holding community meetings to collect feedback and solidify the vision so that we can begin the really critical work of fundraising. There will soon be opportunities for everyone to get involved.” When asked what surprised him the most, Brian shared, “The number of members that the study said we would attract was larger than we anticipated. It was great news, but we had to rethink the size of the building needed to serve this family-focused community.”
Evans Farm has expanded its staff to include two new personnel, Bob Kuederle and Joshua Perry. These recent hires will positively impact the development as the community continues to grow. As Phase 1 nears completion, Phase 2 is in progress of engineering and approvals.
Mr. Kuederle is a licensed professional engineer, directing our engineering and construction operations. Mr. Kuederle joined Evans Farm after serving as a Vice President for American Structurepoint in its Columbus office for six years. Before that, Mr. Kuederle served in various roles with Woolpert, a national design, infrastructure and geospatial firm.
As our Director of Development, Mr. Kuederle oversees our capital program including design, engineering, permitting, construction and site management. He is responsible for procurement and managing a wide range of vendors including professional services consultants and construction contractors.
Mr. Perry, well known in the area for graduating from Olentangy High School and continuing to The Ohio State University while pursuing his football career, graduated from OSU with a degree in Consumer Sciences. During his time in college, Mr. Perry spent time with M/I Homes and Continental Realty (now Newmark Knight Frank), and through his time with these firms learned many skills that will help him transition into his position at Evans Farm.
His position will mainly focus on client and customer relations. He will bring his relationships and knowledge of the area to this team. In addition to his position at Evans Farm, Joshua is a licensed Realtor with Buckeye National Realty, locally.
As homeowners are eager to move into their newly constructed houses, Evans Farm is excited to announce that Phase I construction is nearing completion. All of the utilities are wrapping up, while the paving of all the roads and alleys are also finishing. It is estimated that the paving will be completed before Thanksgiving.
With approximately 20 houses under construction and a few expected to be finished in the next few weeks, Evans Farm is progressing into the Lewis Center neighborhood that everyone has been talking about. Several of our approved builders have started homes onsite, with some still available for purchase. If you are interested in learning more about the community or the builders, please contact us at 740-548-0113 or stop in our sales office.
The Ohio State Buckeyes rallied against the Penn State Nittany Lions to upset the white-out crowd in a 27-26 game at Happy Valley. This ‘edge of your seat’ match-up was pre-gamed at the Evans Farm site by 200-300 people who wanted to learn more about the community, hang out with their future neighbors, walk through the nearby house, play cornhole, make buckeye necklaces, and meet Joshua Perry (former OSU linebacker).
Three Joshua Perry signed footballs and a signed a pair of cornhole boards were raffled off to some of the attendees. All of the proceeds of this raffle went to support the Joshua Perry Family Foundation.
The lead article of our newsletter typically features a local leader who shares with us their perspective on the values of community. With all of the wonderful things going on in the Evans Farm neighborhood, we elected to take this issue’s lead article and highlight some of these. Our next issue will return to feature another community member.
The 2018 BIA Parade of Homes opened in Jerome Village on September 1. The designs of each of these are wonderful, with each being uniquely designed and crafted. The creativity and craftsmanship displayed throughout each home truly represents these builders as among the finest that we have in our community. Likewise, the landscape and interior designs were equally appealing. Bob Webb’s wall-less kitchen and outdoor entertainment area; 3 Pillar’s spacious first floor living space and beautiful brick exterior; Coppertree’s 3-story rotunda; and Romanelli & Hughes’ wrap around deck were just a few of the memorable moments in our visit to the Parade.
This year’s Parade features several preferred builders of our Evans Farm community, including Bob Webb Homes, 3 Pillar Homes, Romanelli and Hughes Homes, Manor Homes, Arthur Ruttenberg Homes, and Coppertree Homes. Congratulations to Jon Melchi, Tracy Schiefferle, Krissy Ciacchi, Craig Tuckerman and the many volunteers and workers who have contributed to the outstanding event! Take a couple of hours and treat yourself to a visit this year’s Parade at Jerome Village!
The BIA is pleased to announce that Evans Farm will be hosting the 2019 Parade of Homes. We at Evans Farm are honored to be welcoming the BIA and all of their members to our community! The BIA is currently accepting builder-members to participate in the Parade. This terrific showcase of homes, craftsmen and design will be held along Evans Farm Drive with each home oriented towards our central green space. The 2019 Parade will be the crowning jewel of the initial phase of Evans Farm. We are thrilled to welcome all of the builders, designers and craftsmen, as well as, all of the guests who will be viewing (and possibly living in) these showcase homes. The initial plan of the BIA is to hold the event in July of next year. Please stay tuned for details as they become available through the BIA.
It’s becoming difficult to keep up, but Evans Farm currently has 14 beautiful new homes currently under construction, with a number of new plans under review and soon to be approved for beginning construction! Several of these homes are being designed and constructed for families and are already sold. 3 Pillar Homes, Silvestri Group, Stonecliff Homes, The Bellepoint Company, Bob Webb Homes, Custom Elite Homes, and GreenTech Construction are currently active in constructing beautiful single-family homes in the Evans Farm community.
We are anticipating the start of construction of the townhomes and the first phase of the marketplace, commercial district as well. Our plans have been submitted to Orange Township for their reviews and approvals. We are optimistic that the first phase of the townhomes and marketplace will begin in late-2018 or early-2019.
We also anticipate the completion of the construction of the streets, alleys and infrastructure for Phase 1 by the end of October 2018.
Freshly picked sweet corn, smothered in butter with juicy watermelon and grilled hot dogs attracted approximately 50 people to the Evans Farm Corn Roast on July 24. Future families, builders, real estate agents and local neighbors met on the sales center patio to visit with each other while enjoying a beautiful July evening. Over 200 ears of corn were picked that morning, boiled and covered in butter for the community to enjoy. The corn that was not shucked and boiled, but left over from the event, was given to the families at the end of the night.
Written by: Brian Kridler, Senior Vice President, YMCA of Central Ohio
The YMCA remains committed to working with Evans Farm and the local community to bring a YMCA facility to the development. In July and August, the YMCA contracted with a third-party market research firm that specializes in YMCAs to scientifically gauge the interest in a new YMCA in Lewis Center. The detailed results from that study are forthcoming, but one thing was clear from the early analysis, the community wants pools! Initial schematic design for a facility is underway and will be completed once the details of the market study are fully reported. At that time, the development of several major gifts will begin in earnest and the formation of a new facility steering committee will be underway. Look for a gathering to be hosted by the Y to fully report what the community shared and a sneak peek at early design concepts. If you have an interest in being a part of the volunteer team that will work with the Y and the community to make a YMCA happen, please contact bkridler@ymcacolumbus.org.
At the beginning of the summer, several elementary students in the Olentangy Local School system attended a summer camp at Arrowhead Elementary. Approximately 30 students chose to learn more about survival training. The Evans Farm staff helped organize with local educators to teach important topics about surviving in nature. Among these educators were Delaware Soil and Water Conservation District, Army Corps of Engineers – Olentangy Watershed and Preservation Parks of Delaware County. Some of the topics included, How to Build a Fire, Water Cycle for Animals, Water Safety Training, Tracking Ohio Mammals, and Wildlife Competition Lesson. The students seemed to have a great time learning about nature and developing skills that could help them survive in the wild!
This is your opportunity to learn more about the custom home building process from the experts!
Light Hors D’ Oeuvres and Beverages Will Be Served.
Where: The Evans Farm Sales Center
Time: 5:30pm to 7:30pm
RSVP to kpiper@evansfarmoh.com
Sierra Custom Homes, Cua Builders, Silvestri Homes and Bob Webb Homes
Written by: Christopher Bland, Cell Site Capital
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you have certainly heard the term “5G” on television as each wireless carrier tells you it is the fastest network ever! Simply put, “5G” is the next generation of wireless connectivity. It will make everything you do on your smart devices better. Better how? Well, let’s keep it simple and call it faster. By faster, I mean 50x to 100x faster than you get it today. As an example, if you were to download a movie on an iPad, it might take you 6 minutes today. Who has time for that, right? 5G will accomplish this is less than 4 seconds!
The second critical part of 5G is capacity. If you have ever been to an Ohio State football game at the Shoe and tried to get a signal, you understand! It’s not that there is no coverage within the stadium. The issue is there are 110,000 people trying to post pictures and videos on social media at the same time. It’s not a coverage issue, it’s a capacity issue. 5G is designed to solve most of the capacity issues. It is estimated that each cell site in the U.S. will need to simultaneously handle over 50,000 connections with 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Why do speed and capacity matter? In Evans Farm, that means ease of access to entertainment options that are happening in the town center or checking online for restaurant wait times. It’s a Saturday afternoon in the fall, and your favorite college football team is playing…and instead of sitting on your couch, you and the family choose to picnic in one of the many parks in Evans Farm. With 5G you can set up your iPad to watch the game in 4K HD as your spouse reads a book or just enjoys the sun.
One of the most impactful benefits of 5G is the ability to self-monitor our own health in real time. If you wear a smart watch, you may see some of this today. Most of these benefits are recognized through “activity tracking” which can tell you how many calories you have burned or how many minutes you have or haven’t exercised. 5G can and will take these benefits to the next level, by warning you about a potential negative health event that may happen. Imagine getting a call from your doctor in real time inquiring about how you are feeling because they had an alert sent to them raising attention to an abnormality that is currently happening. This is extremely important for us as an aging population. The biggest reason why our older adults move from their homes is predicated largely by the growing need for ongoing health monitoring. If we use technology to help us self-monitor our own health, it gives us greater flexibility and longevity both in our independence and lifestyle.
Robust wireless connectivity offers the ability to connect to emergency services such as police and fire departments. Today, over 70% of U.S. households are “cellular only”, meaning they no longer have a home phone line. This is important because the way emergency services find a location from a person calling from a cell phone is to “triangulate” the signal. Meaning, the emergency personnel are trying to find and confirm your precise location from the three closest cell towers to which your phone is connected. Sometimes, these cell sites could be located miles away. 5G requires much smaller, but higher numbers of node (cell) locations that are integrated into our communities.
Overall, what 5G will allow is real time access to information and the ability to use that data to live our lives in the most efficient way possible. Families residing in Evans Farm have one of the best school systems in the state with their children attending Olentangy Local Schools. Daily, teachers ask students to access information from their devices to find answers to problems. Our schools are able to create real-time surveys or tests for the students to take or respond to using their smart devices.
So, what does all of this speed and access to information truly mean? Within Evans Farm, this will help with keeping the community safer with access to information and entertainment options. All of this while being integrated within streetlights or on building with as little visual impact as possible. It will be there when you want it and hidden when you don’t.
Christopher Bland is the Founder of Cell Site Capital based in Columbus, Ohio. Since 2013 Cell Site Capital has helped communities develop responsible wireless services. Focusing on integrating communication facilities with minimal impact to the community.
Written by: Mitch Greenwald, Creative Spot
Over 400 people enjoyed the Grand Opening Event at Evans Farm on May 6. Those in attendance were able to see the new homes that are under construction as well as meet with the staff and representatives from the preferred custom builders. There were also food trucks, face painting, balloon artists and recreation and pony rides provided by the Y. Sunny 95 was also on site to give away prizes and play music. The weather was fantastic and it was a great opportunity for those interested in the Evans Farm community to learn more about this exciting community.
Written by: Kristin Piper, Sustainability Director
Each year, in the Olentangy Elementary Schools, a week is designated to teach the first graders about the sciences and life skills. The teachers and volunteers schedule guest speakers to come into their classes and coordinate activities with their students. After speaking with a few of the students in one of the schools, some of the guest speakers they had this year focused on yoga, rocket launching, karate, and, of course, Evans Farm trees. In one of the classes, we even stood up and did the yoga tree pose for a few minutes.
At Heritage Elementary, the first-grade students planted Chestnut Oak acorns earlier in the year (see January/February 2018 newsletter). After that activity, the Evans Farm staff brought the potted acorns back to the greenhouse to allow them to grow in an ideal environment. During that time, the acorns were given warmth, sunlight, water and fertilizer. The tree saplings were returned to the students during the Camp Skeeter presentation. The saplings ranged between 6-10” tall.
An additional presentation was made at Johnnycake Corners Elementary School. These students were each given a Burr Oak from the Evans Farm greenhouse, with hopes and expectations that they will get planted by the students.
During each of these presentations, we asked the students what trees need in order to grow, what do trees give us, and the parts of a tree. All the classes that we visited were very knowledgeable and had fantastic answers. Following the lesson, the conversation was opened for any questions that they had related to trees. Many great questions were asked by the students. A few of them included:
Evans Farm appreciates being able to partner with the Olentangy School district and looks forward to coordinating with Arrowhead Elementary during their “Survival Training” during the month of June!