A.D. Makepeace Company developing 1,200 home traditional New England neighborhood in Plymouth

Plymouth, MA Much like the Pilgrims did 400 years ago, Redbrook residents came to Plymouth to form a new community. They found a village that’s just minutes from Rte. 3 into Boston, yet offers a 1,000+ acres of protected forest, ponds for fishing and swimming, and miles of trails for walking and biking.

Here, the A.D. Makepeace Company is developing a haven for those who love to be outdoors but who also want the traditional neighborhood they grew up in. In partnership with a builder team that includes Campanelli, The Valle Group, The Stabile Companies, and Whitman Homes, Redbrook offers a wide range of housing options, from estate homes with panoramic views to affordable rentals, and everything in between. By the end of its 10-year buildout, Redbrook will have some 1,200 homes.

“It’s rare for a new community to offer such diversity,” said Michael Hogan, president and CEO of Agawam Development Company, LLC, the A.D. Makepeace company that is building Redbrook. “We see it in our residents as well, with a demographic richness that people typically give up when they choose to buy a new home in a new neighborhood.”

Hogan, former president of the state’s economic development agency MassDevelopment, was a scheduled panelist at the South of Boston Summit on March 5. 

Since construction began at Redbrook in 2014, 276 homes have been built and occupied, and 105 of 184 apartments have been leased. The village and its amenities are of particular interest to the fast-growing millennial market.

Full-Service Village
In February, Redbrook marked the opening of its third commercial building – a 12,000 s/f office housing Beth Israel Lahey Primary Care and Long Pond Physical Therapy, along with a branch of Rockland Trust Bank.

Next up: an expansion of The Meeting House will accommodate an Italian restaurant to complement the existing The Farmers Table bistro. A pop-up convenience market is in the works, offering beer and wine, and specialty foods. A weekly farmers’ market has made its home on the Village Green, where residents can also enjoy gathering around an oversized firepit, movies on summer evenings, dog walking, and more.

It all began with the opening of the Old Colony YMCA at Redbrook, a state-of-the-art facility that has been attracting thousands to the community since it opened in 2015.

“We always viewed the Y as symbolic,” said Hogan. “Unlike most master-planned developments, we are directly connected with community around us. The Y is an example of that, and so is the work we did to rebuild the playing fields at nearby South Elementary School, the MassAudubon summer camp we sponsor and host, and so much more.” 

The commercial buildings are situated around the Village Green, which is within an easy walk of each of Redbrook’s neighborhoods.

Those walking trails extend into some 1,200 acres of protected land and beyond that, the 15,000-acre Myles Standish State Forest. Redbrook also offers a unique feature: acres of cranberry bogs. The Wareham based A.D. Makepeace Co. is, in some circles, better known as the world’s largest cranberry grower and a founder of the Ocean Spray co-op.

Range of Housing Options
Every year, Redbrook has introduced a new housing concept that broadens its appeal. First were high end custom homes built by The Valle Group of Falmouth, MA. Then, The Stabile Companies of Nashua, NH offered maintenance-free living in detached single-family condominiums and single-family homes. Then, Whitman Homes of Canton, MA constructed townhomes and twin homes, and they were purchased as quickly as they could be built.

In 2019, Campanelli, of Braintree joined forces with the A.D. Makepeace Co. to offer luxury rentals, with an affordable housing element. The fourth award-winning building was scheduled for release at the end of February.

This year’s big news is a Nantucket style cottage homes by Barefoot Cottage Co: new construction available for less than $300,000, unheard-of in eastern Massachusetts.

Because of this diversity and the innovative zoning changes made by the town of Plymouth, Redbrook has been cited as an example of how the Baker-Polito Administration’s Housing Choice Initiative can work.

“We could have built a traditional subdivision of 600 cookie-cutter homes here and been done by now,” said Hogan. “Instead, Redbrook is a model of how open space protection, walkable neighborhoods, and a mix of uses is genuinely appealing to homebuyers.”