Looking for a home near the Ruston Sports Complex will get a little easier very soon.
A groundbreaking for Country Club Estates, across from Ruston Sports Complex and at the location of the old Ruston Country Club, was held Friday morning.
Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker said these new homes will fill a needed gap in Ruston.
“With the jobs that are coming, if you look at Buc-ee’s, if you look at Chase, if you look at a couple of others that will be located very close to this, we’re looking at 600 to 700 employees,” Walker said. “So there’s a real need for these homes, and it couldn’t come at a better time.”
Walker added that having the Ruston Sports Complex helped bring this plan to fruition.
“The reason we built the sports complex on the south side of town was to bring more people to our city. We knew people would be coming to that,” he said. This year on the weekends we’ve had 140,000 visitors to the sports complex.”
Justin Sevier, Managing Partner of VAS Construction and Vintage Homes, which is the group overseeing this development, said the reason he even knew that the property was available was because when his son played baseball at the sports complex, he saw it was for sale.
“The reason that I’m standing here is the sports complex,” Sevier said. “That’s how I knew this property was available. My son played at several baseball tournaments at the complex, so that’s why I’m here.
“We really hope more than anything that it’s a gateway for us to do more in Ruston because we see so much potential. The leadership, just the open door; the communication, everything has been really good. If I’m thankful for that. And we want to be an asset to Ruston.”
Sevier said he hopes construction will begin after the new year.
“There are about 300 houses that are lots of different sizes, homes from 1,500- to 3,000-square-feet,” he said. “This will be put in over a four-year period, roughly 60 to 80 lots at a time.”
Will Dearmon, president and CEO of Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, said the mayor and the city were huge partners during the spring housing summit, when area housing concerns were addressed.
“You can talk to any local employers, you can talk to any regional partners. Ruston is a place to invest,” Dearmon said. “It’s a place to start and grow your business. It’s a place to relocate your family to be a part of the community. We just need more places to live. This is a celebration of that investment. This is a celebratory event.”
