HOMEARAMA coming to Loveland August 6-21

The Homebuilders Association of Greater Cincinnati and Loveland dignitaries were on hand Thursday morning for a Groundbreaking ceremony at Chimney Ridge  

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (January 21, 2022) – Frigid temperatures didn’t stop Loveland City leaders, and the Homebuilders Association of Greater Cincinnati (HBA) from extending a warm welcome to developers, builders and guests attending the official groundbreaking  at Chimney Ridge, the site of HOMEARAMA 2022.

The Chimney Ridge single family home development located just across from Brandywine on the Little Miami, on 26 acres of wooded land off Butterworth Road is being developed by Greg Berling and Ken Campbell. It is set in the Warren County niche of the City of They’ll showcase six homes complete with the latest in home design for indoor and outdoor living and landscape during the HOMEARAMA August 6-21.

Dave Stroup, President of the HBA of Greater Cincinnati offered welcoming remarks and served as emcee introducing city leaders, the developer and builders to those in attendance. He talked about what it means for the community to have a new home development and host the HOMEARAMA.

“They estimate when a new home is built, five new permanent construction jobs are created,” said Stroup. “Homebuilding touches about everything right. You’re not just building a house, but you’re getting appliances, furnishing, landscaping, into patronizing local businesses, restaurants, retail and all those types of things. More rooftops lead to more new businesses.”

Stroup pointed out overall expansion of the tax base leads to more money for public services like police, fire, parks and school funding. He says the welcoming they felt from the City of Loveland had a lot to do with the HBA selecting the Loveland development for the 2022 HOMEARAMA. The whole revitalized historic downtown area played an important role in the selection.

“We’re promoting a show, but we’re also promoting a cool place to visit and live,” Stroup said. “We thought the City of Loveland had a ton to offer. You can go to the show, check out five or six cool houses then go down check out some of the new things happening in the City of Loveland.”

Stroup first handed off to Loveland Mayor Kathy Bailey who expressed a welcome to the developer as well as thanks for their efforts to bring a quality new home development to Loveland. She spoke of the process city leaders went through turning down multiple proposals before approving this Chimney Ridge development team and plan. Her remarks included an expression of gratitude to the developer and builders for the ease and cooperation in the planning for this project.

“We’ve been waiting for something like this on this property,” said Bailey. “We were hoping for a quality development for years. We could not have dreamed in our wildest dreams for something this wonderful, this quality developer, a wonderful guy to work with in Greg Berling. We are just thrilled with the development. It’s going to be a beautiful neighborhood and a beautiful addition to Loveland.”

The property has been a wooded vacant property for many years. As noted by Mayor Bailey, multiple proposals have been discussed over the years, but none ever approved. Some even caused neighboring residents from Brandywine and Butterworth Glen to offer opposition to development. Developer Greg Berling reached out to the community to learn what the people wanted

“I went out and listened to what the people wanted,” said Berling. “They were very helpful sharing their ideas for the development. They wanted a quality development. We listened to the neighbors from Brandywine and Butterworth Glen along with city leaders and the builders to come up with a development plan that’s good for Loveland.”

It is not a development of multi-family units or condominiums people expressed concern about. In the end, it is the first HOMEARAMA in Loveland since The Glen of Claiborne in 1989 – 33 years ago. Loveland City Councilman Tim Butler talked about the quality of the development versus other proposals which were rejected along the way.

“I think it’s great for the city,” said Butler. “A HOMEARAMA always helps define a city. It’s a nice signature project for any community.”

Butler echoed the mayor’s comments about council having looked at several different projects before approving this project. He says none offered the “panache” of this project. He believes it is good for the neighbors, will likely enhance their property values and will be an exciting time for the community. Again, that contrasts sharply with some of the proposals rejected.

“Some of the other proposals were things like multi-unit apartment buildings that would be crammed in there,” Butler said. “They were not very high quality, high value properties. It would not have been fair to the neighbors to have that kind of project in this area.”

Instead, Chimney Ridge will comfortably nest 30 single-family high quality modern homes on larger lots designed and built by a list of quality builders. Dave Stroup introduced those builders on hand for the ceremony Thursday including representatives from AR Homes, Drees Homes, Fry Homes, Justin Doyle Homes, Redknot Homes and WP Land Company, LLC. The homes are expected to sell from $750,000 to over 1 Million dollars. Stroup also introduced City Manager Dave Kennedy and Chamber President Cee Cee Collins. They each made brief remarks offering gratitude to the developer and HBA and expressing excitement for what is to come at Chimney Ridge.

“Open concept has really taken hold,” Stroup said. “These houses will offer that open concept living. Your kitchen is connected to your living room so it’s not separate spaces. You’ll see a lot of really neat outdoor living spaces. The pandemic and things have changed how people use housing, home offices are really going to start popping with a lot of cool ideas as well. It’s not just a place to sleep, you can work there and you can play there.”

Stroup noted the experience and professionalism of each of the builders. He says the hard work they put in to make this project happen with material and supply challenges will be a feat worthy of recognition. Yes, the dignitaries did all grab a shovel and turn the ceremonial shovel full of dirt. Next stop, HOMEARAMA, August 6-21, 2022.

“To have HOMEARAMA, to have little old Loveland chosen for the first time in 33 years is incredible,” said Mayor Bailey. “We really have come a long way the last 10 or 15 years. We all know what we have here. What a wonderful way to showcase our city, bring in thousands of visitors and show them what we have to offer. We’re thrilled that it’s here, thrilled about the development, about HOMEARAMA. It’s going to be a fun few months.”

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