Small City Being Built in Brandon

In five to eight years, a self-defined “small city” will appear on Highway 18 in Brandon. Stonebridge, complete with 403 acres of land with a school, over 1,000 residences, and shopping strips with an anchor store, will be a small city, according to Senior Vice-President of Heartland Development Company Edwin Sallis. His company is the developer of the project. “With a development of this size, it gives us a lot of opportunities smaller developments don’t have.” Sallis said there has not been a comparable development since Crossgates.

The signature of the development, a stone bridge, greets residents entering the residential area. But how did the name derive?
“We knew we were going to have to have a bridge, and it was obviously something we wanted to include in our name,” Sallis said. The bridge crosses the 52-acre lake.

“It was literally named in five minutes, and we realized we had a bridge to cover in stone,” he added. The bridge has 200 feet of pre-cast stones and is “an inviting entrance into the development. It is the primary ingress and egress to the development,” Sallis said.

After entering Stonebridge and crossing the bridge, on the left sits Stonebridge Elementary. It is scheduled to open for the 2009 school year. It will only consist of second and third grades. Assistant Superintendent Hugh Carr said, “It was great configuration to include the school in the development. We are able to pull one grade from Rouse and one from Brandon Elementary.”
 

According to Carr, the school district was in search of land in East Brandon on which to locate another elementary school. Sallis’ company “showed up with an offer we couldn’t refuse,” Carr said. “This new school gives us an opportunity to take all of our youngsters in kindergarten through fifth grade and balance them out where they will be in regular buildings and classrooms. It’s an overall balance effect.” He added that the next thing the district has to work on is middle grade levels.
 

The school will have over 700 students in its 78,000 square feet of space with approximately 36 classrooms. Its capacity will be 900. Sallis said there will be “dedicated science labs, art rooms” and the common spaces, a library and cafeteria.
 

The development features a clock tower, walking and bike trails, along with a series of pools, clubhouses, and playgrounds. Sidewalks will also “meander through a portion of the development,” Sallis said.
 

The sidewalks are unique, Sallis said, because the students will be able to walk to school “without having to cross a busy boulevard to get to school.”
 

Carr added, “The sidewalk will go from the homes to the front door of the school.”
 

The homes will be in a variety of styles, one to suit everyone’s taste.
 

“No matter what stage in life, there is a home product — dream home, starting a family, or downsizing, retirement community, assisted-living with dedicated memory care portions, townhomes, or single family homes,” Sallis explained. There will also be homes considered care-free with no yard maintenance required.
 

The retirement community is one aspect that appeals to the school officials. “It’s a wonderful draw for the element of mentoring for elementary students. Statistics have shown that having older adults involved in the life of students could give them longevity of life and increase the knowledge of the children. The retirees will be able to come over to the school and participate,” Carr explained. Carr said the statistics are pulled from educational journals.
 

He added that the retirement community, which will be positioned between Brandon High School and Stonebridge, will bring another plus to the retirees’ life. “Statistics show that they like to come outside and listen to nearby music from schools such as from the band. This will be possible with the community being located near the school.”
 

Much closer to the school will be a professional tennis center. Currently, according to Sallis, the City of Brandon cannot host professional tournaments due to a limited amount of courts. The requirement is eight courts, which the new tennis center will have.
 

The homes will be built in three phases by Marcus Martin Builder. Within those three phases will be a total of eight sections of housing built in a simple Acadian-style or traditional French Acadian-style or custom-built. Those eight sections will be identified by different-style mailboxes and possibly different entrances. Plans are still being developed for this.
 

The Sembler Company of St. Petersburg, Florida has been contracted to build 500,000 square feet of commercial and retail where residents or parents can stop on the way home.
 

“There are several tenants under contract,” Sallis said, “and an anchor store is currently being negotiated with.” Sallis said he knows the name of the anchor store, but “I don’t want to say in fear of jeopardizing their negotiation. I wouldn’t want to say and not deliver.” He did say an announcement of the anchor could be expected in six months.
 

Stonebridge, according to Sallis, has been in the planning stage for three years. “Thousands of man hours have gone into designing, planning, and excavation of the development. We have teamed up with talented landscapers.” Trent Rhodes with Trent Rhodes Landscape Architect of Ridgeland has been contracted to do the landscaping. He is a native of Brandon, as well as is Sallis.
 

“We graduated together,” Sallis said. “Stonebridge posed as an opportunity to give back to our community. We are building something in our hometown.”
 

Sallis recognizes the “luxury of size” in developing Stonebridge. With it being a small city, “it is arguably the largest development in over 40 years since Crossgates.”
Sallis said the location was ideal for the development. “With the growth pattern in Brandon, it’s coming to where we are. It was only natural to locate there,” he said.
 

With the increased traffic on Highway 18 and future traffic once the development is complete, the two-lane roadway is a concern. Sallis addressed this concern by saying that the two lanes “will sustain the traffic to date. However, once the school opens and growth happens, it will definitely need expansion. MDOT has already secured right of way to add two lanes, so I don’t see that being much of a problem.”
 

The proposed East Brandon loop that will tie in to the new Grants Ferry Parkway will start at Stonebridge.
 

“The East Brandon loop will start at the entrance of the Stonebridge development,” Sallis said. It is his understanding that the proposed connector is in its environmental study phase. “They’ve also gone to receive funding for it.”
 

Sallis said of the overall $300 million development, “We want to make this a family-oriented development where you can live, work, and play, and we have added the element of learning with the new school.”
 

Brandon Mayor Carlo Martella said that Stonebridge “will be one of the premier subdivisions in this area. I’m excited that it is here. It will benefit not only the citizens of Brandon, but all of Rankin County. We’re looking forward to the commercial development around it. We’re just very excited.”