Were it not for the nation’s economic downturn in 2008, local homebuilder and developer Barry Payne believes he would have been the butt of many jokes in Ooltewah, not the builder of one of the most expensive residential communities in eastern Hamilton County.
“The original plan for Cambridge Square was to start with the houses and then build the [commercial] development next to it,” said Payne. “Then the whole world came unwound in 2008, and that caused me to rethink the whole project.
“As it turns out, the downturn in the economy was the best thing that could ever have happened. If I had started building $250-a-square-foot houses without Cambridge next to them, I would have been laughed out of Ooltewah. The reason the homes can command the prices they do is Cambridge Square.”
Payne has sold 38 of the 46 ready-to-build lots in Phase I of the development with home prices ranging from $500,000 to $1.2 million. The median price of single-family homes in Hamilton County is $191,200, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
The residential development sits behind Cambridge Square, a mixed-used community located near Highway 64 and Ooltewah-Ringgold Road just east of I-75 off of Exit 11. It features a wide range of locally based restaurants, office space, and offers a weekly entertainment menu including live music and a farmers market.
The current commercial development is fully leased, with six more commercial buildings scheduled for the next three years, Payne said.
Fulin’s Asian Cuisine opens this week in Cambridge Square and craft butcher Spek Artisan Meats will occupy the last available retail space this fall.
Fifteen families have moved into the residential portion and eight more homes are under construction. Payne will begin preparing 46 lots for Phase II in the next six weeks, and a community clubhouse, pool and walking trails will be completed this fall.
“One of the missions of Cambridge Square was to be the central point for Ooltewah, because there wasn’t one,” Payne said. “In my mind, Ooltewah was whatever anyone wanted it to be, but we wanted to give it an identity.”
Payne graduated from Ooltewah High School and attended UTC. He has spent his entire life around Ooltewah and east Hamilton County. He started building homes when he was 26 and watched his company, BP Construction, grow. He said he has now built around 1,000 homes in East Brainerd and the Ooltewah area.
“Not everyone is an urbanite; not everyone wants to be in downtown,” said Linda Brock of Linda Brock Homes, one of the county’s leading sellers of upscale real estate. “This is a great option for people scaling down the size of their home but upsizing their amenities. They have the best of all worlds, which is to walk to high-end restaurants for dining and shopping. Barry has done a great job.”
Payne said the Cambridge housing development is attracting homeowners from Council Fire and Mountain Shadows who are looking to downsize but not give up high-quality living space. He said active retirees from West Virginia and Texas have also chosen Cambridge Square as their final home.
“I ran into a man from Knoxville over the weekend who can live or build anywhere he wants, but he’s coming to live at Cambridge Square,” said Payne.
Payne and River Street Architecture offer interested homeowners a variety of home designs intended to mimic some of Hamilton County’s oldest residences. Payne said his team looked at historical architecture in St. Elmo, Fort Wood, Highland Park and other old neighborhoods, and incorporated what they saw into their home designs.
“We were very purposeful and very authentic with the architecture,” he said. “I think we are modernizing the designs downtown from 100 years ago. We are bringing a lot of what people like about downtown to Ooltewah. These people like downtown but don’t want to live there.”
Payne first envisioned a “centerpiece” for Ooltewah in 2004. It took eight years before the first shovel of dirt was turned in 2012 on Cambridge Square, but seven years later, his vision has become a reality.
“There is no question that Cambridge Square is the center of Ooltewah,” said Steve Ray, who opened Midnite Oil service station in 1983 and is widely known as the unofficial mayor of Ooltewah. “Cambridge Square is making everything around it better.”
Email Davis Lundy at davislundy@aol.com