Luxury resort provides new housing community for its employees
By Quinn Purcell, Managing Editor
Welcome to Wisteria, a new 33-home community for Nemacolin's luxury resort associates wishing to live where they work. Developed in partnership with 84 Lumber, the nation’s largest privately held building materials supplier, Nemacolin’s Wisteria is one of the nation’s largest residential communities for resort associates that live on the property.
New Luxury Resort Community Wisteria
The Wisteria community features a slew of exclusive amenities, including a market, pub, and fitness center. The development will bring 33 new patio homes to the resort’s pre-existing options of co-living, split, and private apartments. When combined, this will provide housing for approximately 300 Nemacolin associates.
The luxury resort sits on 2,200 acres of land in Farmington, Pa., and touts itself as “a real-life wonderland” offering outdoor adventures, fine dining, and events, according to co-developer 84 Lumber.
“Being situated in rural Pennsylvania, for the type of talent we would like to attract and retain at the resort, we just don’t have something like this in the area, so we built a suburb inside of the resort community itself,” said Trey Matheu, Managing Director, Nemacolin. “We wanted to bring the same level of luxury at the resort to our associate housing.”
Employee Housing History
While Wisteria presents a fresh foray for associate housing in the hospitality sector, the concept itself isn’t new. We’ve seen school districts build workforce housing for its staff in order to curb high turnover rates (influenced by a lack of affordable housing in the area).
One project by the Jefferson Union High School District is the first K-12 school district to pass a bond exclusively to build an affordable housing community for teachers and staff. 705 Serramonte, built specifically for the district’s faculty and staff, provides Bay Area teachers with housing at a fraction of market rate costs—as low as 50 percent.
Meanwhile in the mountainous regions of the U.S., ski resorts and vacation areas have begun building housing for employees as well. The Grand Targhee Resort in Alta, Wyo., constructed 16 units for its staff in response to the influx of people purchasing second homes around the area.
Similar situations have affected workers all over the country—from nurses and laboratory technicians in Bozeman, Mont., to real estate developers in Panama City Beach, Fla. Employee housing benefits workers with a reliable home at a reasonable price, and gives companies the potential of a competitive advantage.
“As the [Nemacolin] property continues to grow and expand, it is crucial that our associates have better and easier access to quality resources and an inviting community to call home,” says Maggie Hardy, Owner and CEO, 84 Lumber.
On the Building Team:
Owner/Developer: Nemacolin, 84 Lumber
Architectural Design: OBA Design
Interior Design: Melissa McLay Interiors
Retail Design: King Retail Solutions
General Contractor: Martik Brothers, Inc.