By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Nearly 20 years has passed since the Zeeland Township Board approved a planned unit development rezoning that opened the way for construction on the Prairie Farms subdivision off of 64th Avenue, north of Byron Road.
However, a subsequent collapse of the housing market and financial woes on the part of project developers resulted in just 81 homes being built out of the more than 200 residences that were planned at Prairie Farms.
Now, there’s a new development in the works for the undeveloped portion of Prairie Farms. The Township Board March 18 approved on a 6-0 vote a preliminary plat for the first two phases of what is being called Prairie Farms West.
Wyoming-based JTB Homes is proposing to build 244 housing units in Prairie Farms West, with a combination of single-family condominiums, single-unit and two-unit ranch condominiums, four-unit townhouses and single-family villas that have garages in the rear. The project will be built out in phases.
The first phase of Prairie Farms West consists of construction of a new road called Dayflower Boulevard that will come off Byron Road and the construction of 15 single-family condominiums. Phase 2 calls for construction of another 10 single-family condos, 12 single-family villas, eight two-unit ranch condominiums (16 units total) and two one-unit ranch condos, JTB land development manager Howie Hehrer said.
“We will pave both phase 1 and phase 2 by early fall – September or October. (Construction on) houses will start shortly after, with first closings in spring 2026,” Hehrer wrote in an email to the Zeeland Record.
Planned unit development zoning allows developers to cluster residential units in order to preserve open space. In the case of Prairie Farms West, JTB plans to cluster 32 single-family villas on six acres of the property just west of Dayflower Boulevard, 12 of which will be built in the second phase.
Not everyone is thrilled with the clustering of the villas. Scott Pepper, a Byron Road resident, said that such an idea is more suited for an urban community, not a rural one like Zeeland Township.
“I can see it being in a city, because that’s a city-type thing, but not out in the country, putting that many (homes) with a small amount (of space in between) and just putting an alleyway through it. It reminds me of what they do in Grandville, what Holland did, and most of the time those things turn to crap after awhile,” Pepper said.
“They don’t get maintained. The value of the houses don’t go up, they go down, because you’re putting too many houses too close together.”
The township’s planned unit development ordinance requires any residential PUDs to preserve at least 30 percent of the development as open space. JTB proposes to preserve 42 acres of the total 114.3-acre Prairie Winds site, which includes the original development off 64th Avenue, as open space, representing 36.9 percent of the development, according to project documents.
Township Manager Josh Eggleston sees the development of Prairie Farms West as addressing a need for additional housing in the township. Eggleston met recently with representatives of the economic development organization Lakeshore Advantage, who shared with him a concern of several local companies struggling to keep employees because they could not find housing close to work.
“They’re losing employees to companies in Grandville, because that’s where people end up living because that’s where the affordable housing is … We do need to have housing available to a broad economic spectrum,” Eggleston said.
All of the homes to be built will be owner-occupied. Estimated costs of the homes will range from about $350,000 to $600,000, Hehrer said.
Zeeland Record
Nearly 20 years has passed since the Zeeland Township Board approved a planned unit development rezoning that opened the way for construction on the Prairie Farms subdivision off of 64th Avenue, north of Byron Road.
However, a subsequent collapse of the housing market and financial woes on the part of project developers resulted in just 81 homes being built out of the more than 200 residences that were planned at Prairie Farms.
Now, there’s a new development in the works for the undeveloped portion of Prairie Farms. The Township Board March 18 approved on a 6-0 vote a preliminary plat for the first two phases of what is being called Prairie Farms West.
Wyoming-based JTB Homes is proposing to build 244 housing units in Prairie Farms West, with a combination of single-family condominiums, single-unit and two-unit ranch condominiums, four-unit townhouses and single-family villas that have garages in the rear. The project will be built out in phases.
The first phase of Prairie Farms West consists of construction of a new road called Dayflower Boulevard that will come off Byron Road and the construction of 15 single-family condominiums. Phase 2 calls for construction of another 10 single-family condos, 12 single-family villas, eight two-unit ranch condominiums (16 units total) and two one-unit ranch condos, JTB land development manager Howie Hehrer said.
“We will pave both phase 1 and phase 2 by early fall – September or October. (Construction on) houses will start shortly after, with first closings in spring 2026,” Hehrer wrote in an email to the Zeeland Record.
Planned unit development zoning allows developers to cluster residential units in order to preserve open space. In the case of Prairie Farms West, JTB plans to cluster 32 single-family villas on six acres of the property just west of Dayflower Boulevard, 12 of which will be built in the second phase.
Not everyone is thrilled with the clustering of the villas. Scott Pepper, a Byron Road resident, said that such an idea is more suited for an urban community, not a rural one like Zeeland Township.
“I can see it being in a city, because that’s a city-type thing, but not out in the country, putting that many (homes) with a small amount (of space in between) and just putting an alleyway through it. It reminds me of what they do in Grandville, what Holland did, and most of the time those things turn to crap after awhile,” Pepper said.
“They don’t get maintained. The value of the houses don’t go up, they go down, because you’re putting too many houses too close together.”
The township’s planned unit development ordinance requires any residential PUDs to preserve at least 30 percent of the development as open space. JTB proposes to preserve 42 acres of the total 114.3-acre Prairie Winds site, which includes the original development off 64th Avenue, as open space, representing 36.9 percent of the development, according to project documents.
Township Manager Josh Eggleston sees the development of Prairie Farms West as addressing a need for additional housing in the township. Eggleston met recently with representatives of the economic development organization Lakeshore Advantage, who shared with him a concern of several local companies struggling to keep employees because they could not find housing close to work.
“They’re losing employees to companies in Grandville, because that’s where people end up living because that’s where the affordable housing is … We do need to have housing available to a broad economic spectrum,” Eggleston said.
All of the homes to be built will be owner-occupied. Estimated costs of the homes will range from about $350,000 to $600,000, Hehrer said.
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