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Schools lure buyers to Wakefield
by Debra A. Golden, Wake Weekly Staff Writer
December 4, 2003
It won't be ready this holiday season, but movie fans can expect next summer's blockbusters to open at Wakefield's new Marquee Cinemas.
Wakefield Associates' Rick Rowe expects to see the 12-screen theater open by next summer. He also hopes to eventually bring in a bowling alley. While new businesses have been cropping up in the 2,200 acre development on practically a monthly basis, there's more to come. "One thing everyone keeps asking for is more restaurants," Rowe said. In less than five years, Wakefield has evolved into a community of roughly 50 businesses and hundreds of homeowners, and the transformation from forested hills to places for people to meet and shop is still not complete. The goal in developing the commercial portion of Wakefield was to "establish a community within itself," said Rowe. The purpose was not to exclude, but to make the development a convenient place to live and shop, he added. Wakefield already has a good mix of amenities. Homes run the gamut from townhomes to million-dollar mansions, and the development includes everything from a day spa to a fire station, a skating rink and a framing shop. Wakefield offers places to bank, buy new tires, purchase jewelry and includes a hotel for out-of-town visitors. But for Nancy Broda, the real draw to Wakefield was the schools. Broda and her husband, Bob, moved to Raleigh from Plano, Texas, four years ago. At the time, two of their children were in high school, one was in middle school, and the youngest was in elementary school. Faced with the logistics of placing four children in three different schools and knowing growth in the area could lead to redistricting, the Brodas agonized over their decision. "It was a headache to try to figure out what to do," Broda said. In Texas, the matter was simple -- choose a private Christian school or go public, she added. In contrast, Wake County offered a dizzying array of magnet, year-round and traditional schools to choose from. The Brodas found just two communities with an elementary, a middle school and a high school situated close together -- Leesville and Wakefield. "We wanted to simplify our choices," Broda said. She and her husband chose to live in Wakefield in the hopes that their children would be assigned to the Wakefield schools. Vicki Grant, the mother of three, also moved to Wakefield with her husband largely because of the schools. Relocating from Washington, D.C., the Grants knew they wanted to live within the Wake County school district. And they were told, Grant said, that if they lived in Wakefield, "we had a very good chance of staying at the same schools." The Grants live within walking distance of the Wakefield schools, and the YMCA is only a quarter of a mile away. The Kroger store is close by and the Triangle Town Center mall is just 15 minutes away. "It's wonderful," she said. While Rowe tries to bring additional businesses to Wakefield, not just any enterprise will do. "We have turned some projects down," he said. For example, both major commercial areas include a day care center; Rowe said that's enough. To keep a good balance, it's best to avoid bringing in too much of any particular use, he said. One Wakefield tenant Rowe is particularly proud of is the new School of Communication Arts. Students are trained in digital filmmaking and digital art and animation -- techniques used by George Lucas of Star Wars' fame and Sony productions. "It was quite a coup for us," Rowe said. The surge of new homes and businesses is also driving a demand for office space, Rowe said. The market is "not as strong as we would like," but smaller tenants are looking for space, he said. A number of doctors have opened offices in Wakefield, and Rex Hospital has plans to build a full-sized hospital some time in the future, Rowe said. The development's network of roads is almost complete; Forest Pines Road, which will connect to the new N.C. 98 bypass, is under construction. The road will give residents several ways in and out of the development. As homeowners in one of Wake County's largest communities, Broda and Grant are well aware of the development's somewhat ritzy reputation. Wakefield does, after all, include a Hale Irwin designed PGA tour golf course, a private clubhouse and a number of homes that cost more than $2 million. Both shrug the perception off. Broda, who works at Wakefield Elementary, thinks "the community is lovely. The reputation for being uppity is totally false." She thinks the development's highbrow image might have come from the Estates, a neighborhood of homes which start at $700,000. But she insists that a good number of those homeowners are "just like the good ole boy down the block." Wakefield's reputation for being exclusive is "totally invalid," she said. Grant agreed. Although she is active in the Wakefield High School PTA and her family frequents the Y, she hasn't joined any of the Wakefield country or social clubs. And snobbery, she said, isn't evident in her Stratford Hall neighborhood. The Grants chose Wakefield partly because it was a new community. Knowing that "everyone was interested in meeting and making new friends" was important, she said. And the Grants' experience has been a good one. This weekend, they plan to attend a progressive dinner -- stopping off to eat different courses -- at neighbors' homes along their street. Grant said she is aware of the perception of Wakefield being an exclusive area, but "we're working to get rid of the stigma." While more families like the Brodas and the Grants move into Wakefield, Rowe is continuing to market more real estate. In addition to the cinema which will be built near the Kroger site, Rowe expects construction to begin soon on an ice cream shop and a Moe's Southwest Grill. He is also close to making a deal with a coffee shop, and wants to bring in another dry cleaner and a Japanese restaurant. An eight-acre tract near Capital Boulevard was recently purchased and the office space, not yet built, is already leased. Another, smaller office building will be built nearby. The development includes three apartment complexes, but the market sets the pace, and right now, it's slow, he said. Grant, who carefully researched the budding community before she moved her family here, is pretty satisfied, but still hoping for the library which was approved in a new county-wide bond referendum. And, she added, "we're waiting ... for the theaters."
Last Updated On: December 4, 2003
Copyright 2003 The Wake Weekly