Homearama builder wants to bring $200M development to Liberty, West Chester townships

A new $200 million mixed-used development is set to bring restaurants, office space and hundreds of apartments to the northwest corner of Liberty Way and Butler Warren Road in Liberty and West Chester townships.

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Plans for Village North, a 48-acre project, call for:

• 472 residential units in four, five-story buildings with a 1-acre courtyard within the interior of each

• 110 senior independent living center units in a four-story building

• 54 for-sale condominium flats

• 43 townhomes

• 14 single-family Courtyard Homes

• a 15,000-square-foot office building

• an 11,400-square-foot building dedicated to both office and retail use

• a grocery store

• three restaurants with outdoor dining areas overlooking a lake

The bulk of Village North — 34.6 acres — sits in Liberty Twp., with the remaining 13.6 acres in West Chester Twp.

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The township’s zoning commission earlier voted to recommend denial for the rezoning, citing issues with density, buffering and building heights. However, Liberty Twp. trustees voted Tuesday to approve rezoning for the site.

The developer made “significant changes” in those areas to bring them into compliance since that vote occurred, Liberty Twp. Trustee President Farrell told the Journal-News.

A public hearing on the development is set for Tuesday in West Chester Twp., with trustees planning to vote on it at a meeting later this month. West Chester’s zoning commission unanimously recommended approval of rezoning of the site.

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An Atlanta-based developer is spearheading the project along with Justin Doyle of Justin Doyle Homes, which has been a featured builder at local Homearama.

More than 40 percent of Village North will be green space to minimize the “typical monotony of urban concrete,” according to Neil Hughes, managing member of the Atlanta-based Village North LLC and president of Southeast Investment Realty.

“Our goal is to enrich the community and create a quality development where people can live, work and play,” he said.

The project is set to be constructed in four stages, with the first buildings opening in 2021 and buildout expected by 2026, according to plans for the site reviewed by the Journal-News.

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