Somerset seems to be a nice big slice of Americana – parks, trails, picture-perfect homes, well-manicured lawns, Friday evening gatherings and a corner pub – which feeds into its slogan: “A Better Way of Life.”

Yes, it is 2005. But developers of this Ames “village,” who were originally slow to latch onto the concept, believe they are creating a neo-traditional, community-based development with great potential and opportunities for success through a mix of residential and commercial development.

“It’s one of those things that we feel only gets better with time,” said Chuck Winkleblack, a broker associate with Hunziker & Associates in Ames. “The more things you see done, the less vacant lots there are, the better it continues to evolve. In the last two to three years, we’ve really made some nice progress and now we feel like it’s turned the corner and Somerset’s kind of taking on a life of its own now.”

The 125-acre village was created by Hunziker and its partners on the project, Friedrich Iowa Realty and Furman Corp., in 1997. The “neo-traditional” development, Winkleblack said, includes a mixture of different housing types and a commercial center that are all in close proximity.

But the village plan came out of a change the city of Ames made to its land use policy plan, which now states that a village is its preferred type of development. Matt Flynn, the city’s director of planning and housing, said several factors led to the change, including a desire to get away from sprawling urban development.

“Unlike a lot of planning done elsewhere (the city) looked at its ability to provide urban services and with a compact development pattern they found that was desirable,” Flynn said. “There were indications from the community that they wanted to see something different, yet similar to older parts of the community.”

Both the city and the developers agree that Somerset was slow to start, and Winkleblack conceded that was primarily due to a lack of enthusiasm by the developers, who were venturing in to uncharted territory, at least in Central Iowa.

“We probably didn’t always put our best foot forward,” he said. “We felt like the city didn’t give us a lot of options, so we just weren’t excited about doing it initially.”

What provided the biggest boost to Somerset was the establishment of a three-year, 100 percent tax abatement for commercial developments and single-family homes within the village. Winkleblack said construction of single-family homes in Somerset was lagging behind the rate in other Ames subdivisions.

On March 8, the Ames City Council voted to extend the 100 percent tax abatement for all commercial uses through 2008.

“There’s a fair amount of momentum that has been established, but commercial seems to be there area that still needs assistance,” Flynn said. “The city extended (the abatement) for another three years because that style of development is still the preferred development option, and if this is our preferred development pattern, it is critical that Somerset be successful.”

The success of businesses in Ames has appealed to other businesses such as Ames Racquet and Fitness Center, which as of press time was scheduled to open a facility in Somerset on Monday. Owner Tom Durkin estimates that he will save approximately $275,000 because of the city’s tax abatement on the building.

“That was a big incentive for us to go that route,” he said. “The design covenants are much higher than in anywhere else in the city. For instance, the buildings have to be all brick. For people to go up there and spend that much money on a facility, there has to be some concessions made. And I think the city made a wise decision.”

NEARBY AMENITIES

Businesses such as Ames Racquet and Fitness contribute to a goal of the city and developers: that the village’s commercial center will provide convenient services for its residents in an appealing and attractive manner.

“The idea is to get enough things within walking distance so that people who live in the neighborhoods can come here without having to get in their car and drive down to South Duff,” Winkleblack said.

Greater Iowa Credit Union was the first business to establish a presence in Somerset, and it has been followed by businesses such as Brewer’s neighborhood bar, Coe’s Floral and Gift, Dentistry at Somerset and the Village Wine Market. Joanna Anderson, the Somerset association coordinator and clubhouse manager, said The Café, a popular restaurant, has served as an anchor in the commercial district and has helped to attract other businesses. Ames Raquet and Fitness will include a McFarland Clinic physical therapy office and Leedz Salon, and will also offer dry cleaning services for club members.

“The more traffic we get, the more businesses that open and the more houses that get built,” Winkleblack said.

The city recently changed an agreement with Hunziker, Friedrich and Furman regarding an area on the northwest quadrant of Somerset, which will now include commercial development rather than more apartment buildings. Anderson said that change will allow the number of businesses with Somerset to nearly double.

The developers are hoping to add additional service providers to the neighborhood, such as a convenience store. They have run into roadblocks in getting that established because traffic counts in the area have not yet reached a level that is desirable for those companies, and the village’s design requirements have been another hindrance.

“We’d like to see the gas pumps in the back and the store situated up to the street to where it hides the feel of a gas station,” Winkleblack said. “Some of the local operators have been a little hesitant to acquiesce to that.”

He doubts that something as large as a grocery store would ever be included in Somerset’s commercial area, primarily because of size issues. The majority of the businesses in the village are no more than a few thousand square feet in size, and a 30,000-square-foot supermarket might not fit into that landscape.

BUILDING CHARACTER

Though Somerset’s commercial center functions as its focal point, the surrounding residential areas are its heart and soul. With more than 90 acres fully developed, the village includes nearly 100 single-family homes, about 70 townhouses, nine rowhouses, which are similar in style to those found in cities such as Boston and Washington, D.C., 26 owner-occupied condominiums and 480 apartment units.

Those residences, like the commercial buildings, must conform with a laundry list of covenant restrictions, covering everything from garages and fences to gables and driveways.

“The design criteria are more designed to have some character, to have some things be different,” Winkleblack said. For instance a house style cannot be repeated on the same block, which is intended to dictate some variety in façades.

With the mix of housing styles comes a mixture of residents, from college students to young families to retired empty-nesters.

“Trends have probably been the hardest thing for us to find,” Winkleblack said. “In the single-family homes, there are an awful lot of people with young children. In the townhouses, we’ve got everything from young, single professionals to retired empty-nesters and everything in between. In the apartments there are some college students, elderly people and working professionals.”

Anderson, a Somerset resident herself, said the diverse environment has contributed to the emphasis that has been placed on community and its theme of “A Better Way of Life.” Several residents of the single-family homes belong to a Friday morning coffee club, and on Friday evenings many townhouse residents grab a cocktail and meet their neighbors at the nearby pond and pavilion.

“The front stoop is kind of a theme in Somerset, and it does work,” Anderson said. “In the summer, everyone’s in the street and all the kids gather and use each other’s tricycles and share Popsicles. That’s that ‘new urbanism’ that residents don’t necessarily think of when they buy a home.”

Homes that are physically close together, a trail system that interconnects the different neighborhoods and the commercial center, several parks and village-wide activities, such as an Easter egg hunt, have contributed to the creation of a close-knit community that has attracted and continues to attract residents such as Anderson, who said Somerset “fills a niche that people really wanted and needed.”

“I think the community is pretty pleased, but at the same time it’s a lifestyle that doesn’t suit everybody,” Flynn said. “But it’s definitely a viable alternative in terms of lifestyle choice in Ames.”

FUTURE EVALUATION

It will be another three to four more years before Somerset is completely built out, at which time the city of Ames and the developers can take a step back and consider future village projects, which is still the city’s preferred type of development, and one that within Iowa is unique to Ames. The Peninsula Neighborhood is beginning to take shape in Iowa City, though the development is strictly residential and existing plans do not include commercial development. Flynn is not aware that any other municipalities have adopted a village plan for their land use policy plans.

“It’s hard for anyone who visits to see it as nothing more than an experiment,” Flynn said. “Once Somerset builds out, that will be a better time to ask if there will be another village in Ames, and I suspect there will be.”

Despite the developers’ initial reservations about the village-style development, Winkleblack said they have come to understand the concept and embrace it.

“There are a number of things that have been learned,” he said. “I think we’d have to sit down with the city and say, ‘How do we wrap all the amendments that we’ve done to this into a new plan so that we don’t go down some of the same paths we went before?’”