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60+ new homes coming to WB Village starting in July
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · July 06, 2022
The first of more than 60 homes may begin arriving later this month at the expanded West Branch Village, according to parent company Havenpark Communities.
The company in July 2021 announced it would expand the southern section of the mobile home park to include two new roads and the first connecting road between the two sections.
Havenpark’s Jon Bergeson said last week that the company conducted a growth survey of West Branch and found the city “very attractive” to potential new residents.
That prompted the company that purchased West Branch Village in April 2019 to initially propose a development that could hold 65 new lots and up to 156 parking spaces. Since its initial proposal, Havenpark reduced the number of lots to 62 to make room for more guest parking to get more cars off the street, Bergeson said.
The development lengthens Reagan Boulevard to the west and two new roads — West Road and East Road — stretch between Reagan and Washington boulevards.
The new development planned to add a short connecting road to the northern section at the northwest corner of the southern section but changed it to the northeast corner where Washington Boulevard and Lincoln Street connect.
Bergeson said Havenpark initially planned to add a playground to the southern section, but the new connection to the northern section will allow southern residents access to the existing playground without walking over the separating berm or taking North Fourth Street.
The southern section will get its own storm shelter, which will go up on Lincoln Street south of the north-south connecting road.
Clearwell engineer Joseph Mailander, whose company is overseeing the work, said that despite heavy rains in the fall and spring, “things are going pretty well.” The company initially hoped to bring in the first batch of new homes in mid-May, but weather complications moved that target date back to late July.
“We made a lot of progress” this month, Mailander said. “All in all this has been a good project and we’re moving through the process well. I appreciate the city — they’ve been very accommodating and easy to work with.”
The rectangular addition which fills in the 7-shaped southern section was already relatively flat, he said, making this expansion “pretty straightforward.”
“A lot of the site had already been preliminarily graded to allow for new homes,” he said. “There was not a lot of earth to move.”
The larger contractors are all local: Larry Lynch and Lynch’s Excavating for water and sewer utilities, Ryan Bowers and All-American Concrete for concrete work, and Bruce Barnhart and Barnhart’s Custom Services for dirt work.
Bergeson said Lynch “is about as knowledgeable as anyone” in the field.
“I’d put him up against anyone we’ve worked with,” Bergeson said.
He said Bowers “is really good” and that Bowers impressed him with his knowledge.
Bergeson said the same of Barnhart and noted that Havenpark interviewed all three before choosing them as contractors.
“We do expansion projects nationwide and do our due diligence before we start,” he said. “We’ve been terribly impressed with West Branch.”
He noted that not all cities have a favorable view of mobile homes or manufactured homes like those in West Branch Village.
The company also met with Mayor Roger Laughlin and Mayor Pro Tem Colton Miller, the latter of whom for years managed West Branch Village.
“Roger Laughlin seems like a smart guy and Colton Miller is very knowledgable about manufactured homes,” the Havenpark representative said.
He said Amanda Miller, who has been managing the site prior to Havenpark’s acquisition, “has been helpful and knowledgable,” and that Alliant Energy and the cable provider have been cooperative partners.
Alliant will work on the site over the next two to three weeks, Bergeson said, and then Havenpark will apply for permits to get new homes connected to utilities.
When the first batch of homes move in, Havenpark hopes to host a grand opening.
“We’re proud of the product and what it will lead to,” he said.
Editor's note: This article was corrected to state that Ryan Bowers works for All-American Concrete.
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