Oak Island, NC, March 22^nd, 2017 – The newest addition to the Oak Island community is well on its way to becoming a reality. Pine Forest Plantation is a planned Active Adult Community with an integrated continuum of care. What does that mean for residents? This community will provide a healthy and active retirement experience for seniors 55 and older, in addition, Pine Forest Plantation offers peace of mind knowing residents health and care needs are accessible without the need to relocate later in life or travel many miles away. Home owners in the community will be able to reside in proximity to aging parents or loved ones who may soon or currently require care that out-reaches the capabilities the family can provide. The integrated mixed-use healthcare campus, private amenities, and public commercial town center has recently cleared additional hurdles in the planning of the development.

Pine Forest Plantation’s ownership, executive team, and project managers have already overseen construction of one of the first components of the medical campus. Groundbreaking construction began in 2016 on a 10,500 square foot Novant Primary Care Health clinic that will serve not only Pine Forest but the entire Oak Island community. The medical offices are expected to be operational before the end of the year. Hickory-based Affinity Living Group has announced plans to partner in the continuing care retirement community, their services will include assisted living, memory care, and transitional independent living. Affinity is a leading and one of the largest providers of assisted care in the southeast and one fo the top five memory care providers in the Nation.

The current plans include 2,850 housing units to be constructed. The property will include single-family houses, townhomes, multi-family dwellings, retail and commercial areas, parks, green spaces, walking trails, and various health, wellness, sports, and social activity amenities.

Pine Forest Plantation
Oak Island, NC

The application submitted to the Town of Oak Island provides a sense of what the completed community will offer and how it will help to encourage growth in the surrounding areas: “Pine Forest Plantation of Oak Island will create a work and play lifestyle, facilitating a sense of community with safe havens for recreation and inter-community pedestrian walks and trails. Accessibility to (N.C.) 211 and Midway Road will highlight the Town of Oak Island’s emphasis on strategically planned growth, environmental sensitivity and a wealth of natural resources. Each district within Pine Forest Plantation will be both individually unique and integrated by architecture and landscape design with other districts.”

Jake Vares, a town planner in the Oak Island community, is also on board with the project. “What they’re proposing looks good,” said Vares. “It’s going to be an asset for the town.” Vares also went on to say that the community-supported farm will be one unique aspect of the complex that many other continuing care retirement communities don’t offer. The 16.5-acre working farm will provide residents with an opportunity to stay active in the community and contribute towards a healthy and engaging retirement experience. The massive campus will also integrate parks, gathering spaces, greenbelts, and trails to increase pedestrian and bicycling activity and accessibility.

A unique aspect of Pine Forest Plantation will be a farm. “The community-supported farm will be one unique aspect of the complex that many other continuing care retirement communities don’t offer” says Jake Vares, Oak Island Town Planner

Pine Forest Plantation
Oak Island, NC

Planning board chairman Ted Manos also offered high praise to the developing community and said that he was impressed with the progress that is being made at the site. “They’ve got a beautiful layout,” Manos said. “It’s well-designed, and the idea is more planned through than any of the other developers who’ve come before us and requested their vested rights.”

Manos believes that the area is poised for growth and that Pine Forest Plantation will be a cornerstone establishment in the area; “In 20 years, this whole place will look different.” Manos has also said that the planning board would continue to “balance the inevitable forces of growth with the desire by many local residents to maintain an uncrowded, family-friendly beach atmosphere.” Pine Forest Plantation and other developments on the mainland of the town appear to match that goal, according to Manos.

Developers have stated that they intend to start building assisted living and some residential aspects of the community in late 2017 and begin work on mixed-use projects in 2018.

For more information about Pine Forest Plantation, explore our website and see what the community of Oak Island can offer you.