Town Run Commons
Smart Growth Planners Design State’s First Live/Work Community
This story ran in the State Journal as a picture and extended caption.
Developers Tim Halfer, left, and Peter Corum relax for a moment in Town Run Creek, an important feature in Town Run Commons soon to become West Virginia’s first planned Creative Community. The development, located on the Route 480 corridor near Shepherdstown, will also be Jefferson County’s first approved mixed-use property integrating commercial use, public spaces and residential dwellings.
Corum says the community was designed with a commitment to environmental and economic sustainability. The developers believe it will serve as a model for "smart growth" to the rest of the country.
By locating the community in close proximity to existing infrastructure, Corum hopes to reduce residents’ dependence on automobiles. The development’s environmental standards preserve natural areas of the property, including the creek and adjacent green spaces. The scale and style of proposed structures, 10,000 square feet each of commercial and studio space and 32 residential sites, are intended to be respectful of the area’s traditional rural architecture.
"Town Run Commons was created to provide a welcoming and productive environment for the Creative Class, particularly artists and artisans," Corum says, "But it will also serve the community by attracting 21st Century green, high tech, and creative-economy business, providing the quality of life required to attract the workers they need."
Corum expects final renderings to be completed by October and hopes to break ground on Town Run Commons by the end of the year. www.townruncommons.com
Photos by Tom Conant, www.studio105.com