Originally published in The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report
Developers Brian Dantin and Ross Bruce have for years searched for a tract of land in Prairieville on which they could develop a new subdivision. On Tuesday, the co-owners of Dantin Bruce Development closed on a $2,790,105 deal for roughly 60 acres located just over the Ascension Parish line on which they’ll build Hidden Farms subdivision.
“We’ve been looking for quite a while for the right deal. We didn’t want to overpay and we feel this is a fair price,” Bruce says. “We feel like it’s the right deal at the right time.”
Hidden Farms will include 142 lots and will be built out in two phases, says Bruce. Work on the first phase, which will include 71 lots, is expected to begin next spring. The subdivision will be located on Brown Jr. Road, just off Old Jefferson Highway.
“The infrastructure work will take about six months to complete and then it will be another four or five months to get some homes up,” Bruce says. “Right around this time next year hopefully we’ll start to see some homes out there.”
There is no firm timeline for the second phase of the development, Bruce says, adding sales in the first phase will dictate further development. As for the homes within Hidden Farms, Bruce says specifics on price range and size have yet to be nailed down, but that the homes will be aimed at first- and second-time homebuyers.
The land, which is currently vacant except for some cows that graze on it, was not on the market, says Troy Collins of Sperry Van Ness/Graham, Langlois and Legendre, who brokered the deal along with his colleague Steve Legendre. When Legendre and Collins learned the owners were interested in selling the land, they contacted Dantin Bruce, knowing the firm was looking to build a subdivision in the area.
“The location and physical characteristics of the site made it an obvious candidate for single family development,” Collins says in a prepared statement. “The ongoing industrial expansion and quality school system continue to fuel the demand for quality residential development in Ascension Parish.”
—Steve Sanoski