Development on project to start

Hidden Village subdivision will feature 277 homes on 100 acres

Work is about to begin on a long-delayed housing subdivision in Perry Village.

Site development is slated to start in September at Hidden Village, a planned unit development bordered by Maple and Main streets.

Hidden Village will consist of 277 homes that will be constructed on 100 acres owned by Loreto Development Co. Ryan Homes will be the exclusive builder for the project, according to a June 25 letter from Perry Village signed by Acting Mayor James Gessic and Councilman Philip Cassella. That letter was mailed to 76 property owners whose homes, businesses or organizations will abut the subdivision.

Although Hidden Village initially was approved by the village in 2009, landowner Loreto Iafelice said he decided to put construction plans on hold when the housing market crashed at about the same time.

“Within the last year, we got together with Ryan Homes and brought the project back to life,” Iafelice said.

The latest version of Hidden Village is a bit different than the

“Within the last year, we got together with Ryan Homes and brought the project back to life.” — Landowner Loreto Iafelice

original proposal because of an amendment to the planned unit development approved by Village Council last month.

In the 2009 plan, the 277 sublots in Hidden Village were intended to include a mix of single-family homes, detached condominiums and attached townhomes, according to the village’s letter.

“The recently approved modification to the site plan also consists of 277 sublots, however, the entire subdivision will be built as ranch-style homes,” the letter states.

Hidden Village will be accessible by two roads being built into the subdivision: one on Main Street, east of Center Street, and the other on Maple Street, just south of its intersection with Main Street. The subdivision will stretch westward from Maple, parallel to Main Street, although situated behind other existing homes and buildings on the south side of Main.

The western border of Hidden Village is located west of Center Street, in the vicinity of the Perry Public Library.

Gessic said Hidden Village will be a welcome addition to Perry Village.

“It’ll bring more rooftops to the village and hopefully

spur more economic development,” he said.

In business terminology, “rooftops” refer to the population density of a specific area. That term came up at a recent community meeting in Perry Village during which the Champion Farm Joint Land Study was unveiled. The 232-acre Champion Farm is a former horticultural nursery located in Perry Township and Perry Village. Government officials in those communities, and the Perry School District, which owns the property, are hoping that Champion Farm could attract future business and residential development to bolster tax revenue in the area.

However, when it comes

to luring new businesses — especially nationally known ones — to the former Champion Farm, the planning study said the primary market area surrounding the site is marked by population density that is too low.

“The area is more spread out, with rural developments and lot of farms still in place,” said Emil Liszniansky, one of the consultants who presented the planning study. “The lack of rooftops is a challenge to getting intense commercial development on the Champion Farms site.”

Home building activity at Hidden Village is expected to begin during the first quarter of 2019, Perry Village’s letter stated.