Home building in Americana TND to begin this month

After more than eight years, residential construction is scheduled to begin at the end of this month on the first spec homes in the 90-lot, first phase of Americana, the $500 million traditional neighborhood development in Zachary along Highway 64. John Engquist, whose Old Towne Development is developing the 413-acre TND, tells Real Estate Weekly Level Construction is building the initial homes, though talks are under way with other builders as well. No lots have been pre-sold. “It’s been a long time in the making,” says Engquist of the project, which in 2008 became the center of a protracted lawsuit among the original developers. In 2009 Engquist and his partners bought out the former partner with whom they were feuding, though work on the TND did not resume until 2012—a delay related to the economic downturn. Among the key features of Americana is a new YMCA, which will open at a ceremony Thursday at 10 a.m. The 26,000-square foot facility—the ninth in the Capital Region—sits on 5.25 acres in the back of Americana and cost an estimated $13 million to develop. Its amenities include a fitness center, outdoor pool and splash pad, tennis courts, and a meeting facility. Plans call for Americana eventually to have more than 800 single-family homes, as well as condos, live-work units, and nearly 500,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. —Stephanie Riegel