Condo Builders Fill A Need
Low Maintenance, Ideal for Elderly
By Jeff McKinney - The Cincinnati Enquirer, June 2005

DEERFIELD TWP. - John and Ruth Richardson bought a condo at The Maples at 20 Mile Farm this spring for $235,000. The couple sold a two-story, three-bedroom home in Madeira that was getting difficult for them to maintain. John is 84 and Ruth is 76.

"When you reach our age, stairs become a chore," John said. "This condo will allow us to live a life of ease."

The Richardsons' condo is one of 45 that have been sold at The Maples, a 90-condo complex being developed by three former University of Cincinnati football players.

The condos are priced from $189,000 to $239,9000 and are 1,400 to 1,900 square feet. The $21 million development, on Montgomery Road south of Fields Ertel Road, is expected to be completed by spring 2007.

The development also shows how Warren County, and particularly Deerfield and Hamilton townships, continue to be magnets for new residential projects.

In the eight-county region of Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana, Butler and Warren have led in permits issued for new residential housing units through the first five months of this year, according to HMS Marketing Services, a Montogomery-based housing market research firm.

There were 971 permits issued for Butler County and 970 for Warren County during that period.

Though both counties' numbers were down slightly from the same period a year ago, the 2005 activity is much higher than in the next two counties: Hamilton with 669 and Boone with 666, HMS Marketing Services data showed.

Jeff Wieland, president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati, said residential building in Warren and Butler counties is strong in part because the area sits on the meeting point between the Cincinnati and Dayton metro areas and is served by two major interstate highways.

Mike Gates, managing partner at Gridiron Development, Inc., the Mason-based developer and builder of The Maples said that the ranch-style condos are designed for older residents, and 95 percent of the units have no steps, to make getting around easier. Bathrooms include sit-down shower benches.