News & Events

There’s No Place Like Home

Written by: Joshua Perry, Realtor/Director of Business Development

When I made the tough decision to retire from the NFL late this July, the decision of where I wanted to go wasn’t tough. I knew that Lewis Center was going to be home for me. It is a place that is extremely familiar and somewhere that has always felt like home. Growing up across the lake in Galena, I went to school in Lewis Center, made some long-lasting friendships in Lewis Center, and as an athlete, I cemented the foundation of my career in Lewis Center.

Before I left for training camp this summer, I stopped into the Evans Farm sales center. I started to see some of the homes going up and like many people around, I was curious to see what it was all about. When I pulled up to the office in Old Lewis Center, I walked up the steps to a porch and when I entered, I took a look around and found a charming little office that felt more like a living room than a sales floor. I was welcomed in and was immediately introduced to what was happening. Krista, a sales consultant, explained to me the vision for Evans Farm- New Urbanism. New Urbanism is what so many of us have gotten away from, but still deeply desire. Its community living based off front porches, social town centers and open recreation. You can live, work and play all in the same neighborhood. It takes on functional design- sweeping streetscapes with no breaks in the curb due to alley loaded garages, sidewalks leading to amenities no further than a quarter of a mile away and mindfully constructed homes that take inspiration from classic architectural styles. I was a bit taken back. It is such a stark departure from what we’ve all gotten accustomed to. We’ve become used to spacious homes with rooms that sit bare, on at least 100 feet of lot frontage (which you can still get here) and so much privacy that you almost feel in danger because you don’t know your neighbors. Evans Farm brings back a sense of community. I was intrigued.

After retirement, I had to find work. I took real estate classes and eventually became a REALTOR for Buckeye National Realty. My next journey was just beginning. Shortly thereafter, I received a call from the folks at Evans Farm. The rumblings around town were that I was home and trying to make a name in real estate. They were interested in meeting with me to see what other plans I might have. After a few meetings, I decided to take on another role- Director of Business Development at Evans Farm. The game plan would be for me to help develop a rapport between local REALTORs, businesses and Evans Farm. As a kid who grew up here there was a unique opportunity to reach out to the community. But through the number of meetings I had at Evans Farm, I was sold on the vision. Having a neighborhood development that strengthens the community not only through economic infusion, but the tenets of New Urbanism, was something in which I wanted to be involved. I imagined how different my childhood would have been in a place like this. Instead of having to wait on a ride to the park or my friend’s house, it could have been a short walk away. The ability to walk with my brothers to an ice cream shop during the summer would have created lasting memories. Spending time by the pond with my dad would have been special. But even now, living in a home of just two people, the allure of Evans Farm is strong. The sense of community just outside my door would be valuable and being just a short walk away from social life and entertainment, while experiencing all the conveniences of the suburbs, is a game changer. Regardless of what walk of life you’re in, this place will make you feel at home. Evans Farm won’t just be a place to live, work and play- it will be a vehicle that provides infrastructure to keep Lewis Center strong via partnerships with Olentangy Local Schools and the Evans Farm Foundation, and that impact will be sure to last.

I’m excited to watch this project as it evolves. It’s as organic of a community project as I’ve been around and it’s just the thing that will keep Lewis Center the type of place it is.

First Residents

November brought our first residents into Evans Farm. Shortly after, the next family moved into their new home. The anxiously awaiting families were thrilled to move into their newly constructed houses prior to the busy holiday season! It is expected that a few more families will move into their homes before the end of the year.

There are still some spec homes that are available for purchase for those that wish to be in Evans Farm within the next few months. Please make sure to stop by our sales center for more information regarding spec homes or building your own custom home with one of our 12 approved builders.

BIA Parade of Homes Update

As the first half of December progresses towards Christmas, over half of the parade houses have started to be constructed. These larger houses that face towards a wooded park are beautifully constructed by 12 different builders. Many of these builders have participated in the BIA Parade of Homes events in the past. However, there are a few builders that are new to this exceptional showcase of Central Ohio homes. Among these 12 builders are:

• Cua Builders
• P&D Builders
• Guzzo & Garner
• Sierra Homes
• Maronda Homes
• Bob Webb Homes
• ALTA
• Coppertree
• Arthur Rutenberg
• 3 Pillar Homes
• Kenric Fine Homes
• Stonecliff Homes

Promotional Video

In early November, LP Smart Siding partnered with Evans Farm to create a promotional video. The video team flew in from Minnesota to obtain almost two days of footage of Evans Farm. This included two families that will be moving into Evans Farm, some of the Evans Farm staff, a few of the businesses, onsite footage and nearby footage to help share the image of what makes Evans Farm unique. The promotional video will be released to Evans Farm before the end of the year. Check our website in the upcoming weeks at EvansFarmOH.com to view this video.

Evans Farm Marketplace

Phase 1 of Evans Farm commercial is scheduled to start during the first quarter of 2019. The image to the left is a visual representation of the first building on the east side of Evans Farm Dr. and is expected to house a bank, ice cream parlor, restaurant with a brewery, and a wine and cheese bar. On the second story small business spaces are available and the third story will be apartments for those interested in living in the downtown area of Evans Farm.

Also included in Phase 1 of commercial, are condos. These will start on the east side of Evans Farm Dr., just north of the Phase 1 building, shown above. All of the condos are planned to be a townhouse-style, rather than a ranch-style.

Christmas Open House(s)

Three builders opened their houses to over 100 visitors on December 12 and offered them free beverages and hors d’ouerves. The Open House(s) Tour began at 5773 Piatt Road built by Custom Elite Homes. Guests were treated to a beautiful sunset over the west lake from the wrap-around porch of this Craftsman Farmhouse style home. The full-sized refrigeration and freezer pair along with the stainless farm sink received the most compliments.

A short walk past one of Evans Farm’s first residents led guests to the Stonecliff Homes offering. Amish cabinetry and exquisite multi-layer millwork were favorites. This home offers a first floor master suite and a flexible second floor layout that boasts more than 2,500 square feet.

The final home of the tour is being built by 3 Pillar Homes. Visitors were wowed by the wide-open main floor plan. The kitchen is truly the heart of this home located in the center of the action. The deep front porch will overlook the downtown district and a private covered rear porch will offer residents a quiet place to relax.

The 2019 BIA Parade of Homes

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 Update

The 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.”

New Faces

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.

Onsite Update

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.

Tailgate Throwdown

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.

What is 5G?

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.

Current Happenings

• We are pleased to announce that, at the time of this printing, we now have 10 homes under construction!
• Construction is proceeding in our Phase 1 residential area.  Fiber-optic, natural gas, and electric lines are currently being extended through the alley corridors of the community.
• Preliminary plans are being reviewed on the initial phase of our commercial area.  We are optimistic that, following plan reviews and permitting, construction will begin in the 4^th quarter of 2018.
• We recently held the Evans Farm Tree Sale, with trees grown from our nursery stock.  We enjoyed meeting with many of our neighbors in the community and were able to sell a number of trees.  Proceeds from the tree sales were donated to the Evans Farm Foundation.
• We have begun the process of moving our nursery, currently located near Radnor, to our new site at Evans Farm.  We are moving over 3,600 trees! Our new location is at the corner of Shanahan Road and North Road. Look for the old red horse stable, it’s our new nursery!

Grand Opening Celebration!

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.

Camping out with Camp Skeeter

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:

• How does a tree change carbon dioxide into oxygen?
• What are trees made of?
• How many types of trees are there?
• How could the oldest tree be almost 5,000 years old when it is only 2018?
• When do trees make bark?
• How fast do trees grow?

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!