Agreement ensures local management of the award-winning community
TOPSHAM – Highland Green active lifestyle residential community is pleased to announce the transfer of its Management Agreements to HG Community Association LLC, which is composed of its five cooperative ownership boards. The Management Agreements cover services to the homes including lawn care, landscaping, snow removal, exterior maintenance and the resale of homes.
Highland Green is an award-winning community set on a 650-acre campus including a 230-acre nature preserve, Scottish-style golf course, and a pub. With more than 250 new freestanding homes and approximately 400 residents, Highland Green is among the largest master-planned communities in the state of Maine.
“We have always prided ourselves on delivering a high-caliber lifestyle to our residents. As a growing number of housing communities get sold to out-of-state investors, this change ensures that this high standard will be maintained in perpetuity, and under complete control of the residents,” said John Wasileski, owner and developer of Highland Green. “I’m very proud of what we’ve created with Highland Green, and happy to know that it will remain in local control for years to come.”
Don Auten, president of HG Community Association LLC, said that residents enthusiastically embraced the change. He noted that in a survey of cooperative members, 92 percent of respondents voted in favor of the change.
“It’s good for everybody,” Auten said. “John has been a great steward of Highland Green, and this will allow us to have control over our own community. It will be very important to maintain the value of the homes and our lifestyles here. And the assurance of self-management will help attract residents to our community in the future.”
Under terms of the agreement, management of Highland Green transitions to the residents over a period of time, and Wasileski retains ownership of the land on which the homes sit as well as development rights for the additional living units that are planned for independent-living apartments, cottages, assisted living, and memory care.
Residents of Highland Green currently pay monthly fees, including a monthly management fee, to cover the cost of services under the Management Agreements, and a resale fee when they decide to sell their homes.
The acquisition is being financed by loans from Bath Savings Institution and Wasileski. The monthly management fees and the resale fees will continue to be paid by the residents and will be used to repay these loans.
The transaction closed on Aug. 15.
Highland Green is situated in Midcoast Maine on a 650-acre campus, featuring a 230-acre nature preserve and Ecology Center with five miles of hiking near the Cathance River, Scottish-style golf course, and resident driven independent community rich in cultural opportunities offering custom-built homes abutting nature and open space.