By Scott Sullivan
Editor
Tangram Development Group LLC co-founder Johnny Walker wants to build an Enclave of 40 Scandinavian modern single-family homes and duplexes on 9.13 acres on the northeast corner of Blue Star Highway and Old Allegan Road in Saugatuck Township.
The firm bought the 6549 Old Allegan parcel from Howard Peschke for $1.2 million in November 2025, per the Crain’s Grand Raids. Hudsonville-based DeHaan Homes, whose co-founder/president Douglas DeHaan is a partner in Tangram Development, will design and build the homes.
The project, first presented to the township planning commission as a planned unit development (PUD) request Jan. 20, drew criticism from neighbors Nick Cappelleti, whose Capizzo Studio/Gallery lies directly north a 3279 Blue Star, his attorney Silas Kok of the Grand Rapids-based Varnum law firm, Joe and Jennifer Novakowski, Cathy Fucile, Joe Shashaguay and Darrell Bonds, who voiced concerns about potential wetland encroachments, nose and increased traffic, among others.
Cappelletti had cautioned them in an email the day before, that “a PUD is not a routine zoning request. It’s a mechanism that allows a developer to depart from standard zoning rules — things like density, setbacks, building size, use and overall intensity — in exchange for what are supposed to be clear, public benefits.
“When used carefully, it can make sense,” he went on. “When used loosely, it can fundamentally change the character of an area.
“In plain terms, a PUD can set precedents that affect:
“• How dense future development can be
“ • How large and intense projects become
“• What kind of community Saugatuck evolves into over time
“• Once approved, these decisions are very hard to unwind.”
Varnum’s Kyle Konwinski echoed his firm’s client’s call to arms, that day writing the PC, township planning and zoning director Lynee Wells and attorney Nick Curcio that Walker’s application had “serious procedural and substantive deficiencies, and, even if corrected, “the project should not be approved because it fails to satisfy multiple mandatory standards under the ordinance.
“While the applicant’s narrative and benefits summary repeatedly invoke concepts such as housing diversity, land preservation, architectural quality and community benefit, those assertions do not withstand scrutiny when evaluated against the actual characteristics and constraints of the property and the surrounding area,” the lawyer’s letter said.
The commission Jan. 20 paused its vote on the matter “to allow the developer time to revise his plans.”
They have so far been through at least two renditions. Tangram repitched it March 17 at the most recent planning commission meeting, where it was postponed that busy evening till the next April 21.
Tangram’s Walker and Exxel project engineer Robb Lamer made presentations before the St. Patrick’s night meeting adjourned, and the firm’s latest synopsis was part of the packet presented. It described project benefits as:
“1. Innovation and creativity – The Enclave has rewritten the map on innovative and creative land planning. The site plan demonstrates a unique design with internal one-way roads, while embracing both internal and exterior sidewalks and pathways for walking and bike safety.
“The sidewalks the Enclave provide will lead to future neighboring developments, connectivity to bike paths along Blue Star Highway, and without exception it provides direct access to the roundabout feature at Blue Star and Old Allegan Road,” it goes on.
“This connectivity will lead to the heart of downtown Saugatuck with its retail stores, myriad of restaurant choices and quaint coffee shops to take your laptop computer.
“2. Creative and imaginative approaches in the development of residential areas, especially through the complementary mixture of housing types in one development.
“The Enclave presents a creative approach to architectural facades and material fenestration. With 4-5 housing types of Scandinavian, clean line, modern design, it demonstrates an approach and wide appeal to this marketplace.
“The exteriors will be completely maintenance free – lightening HOA (Home Owners Association) fees – while offering a ‘quiet’ approach to this modern design. Higher-pitched roofs, standing seam metal, natural wood look entry statements that surround full wall, floor-to-ceiling glass-paneled walls, will certainly become a model to follow in the community.
“3. Conservation and preservation of natural and cultural resources.
More than 2.5 of the 9.13 total acres are dedicated wetlands. With the parcel’s west side now zoned C1 Commercial, “this development not only protects the natural wetlands and preserves trees, it provides a perimeter of conservancy land with trees and plantings at the corner of two busy roadways — that would normally be formatted with asphalt and parking lots if this remained as zoned.
“We have engaged the Outdoor Discovery Center,” Walker said, “to design and install landscape plan comprised of native fescue, prairie grasses and wildflowers for a natural environment which will pair nicely with wetland species on the property.
“The combination of a maintenance-free exterior and native plantings without grass to mow will yield much lower HOA dues than found in nearby developments,” he says.
“The Enclave solves a number of land planning challenges that townships face when trying to expand but stay organic in approach,” Tangram’s prospectus continues.
“4. Efficient land use by facilitating well-designed arrangements of buildings, streets, utilities and other features.”
The PUD’s purpose “is to use and develop the property allowed, outside of wetlands and signature trees, which by design centers the development within the property itself.” It lets the township run dedicated utilities under roads and pathways, provide sewer through it plus a public water loop increasing pressure for domestic and fire department use.
Tangram has offered use of the southeast corner for a new sewer lift station that will serve the next 100 acres east for future developments.
Extending public utilities relieves the burden of individual septic systems and wells that have lifespans much shorter than utility infrastructure while endangering wetlands.
“The costs of these utilities,” Tangram says, “will be less than if the utilities were built around the property … The reduction in cost of these systems also benefit the entire community.
“5. Energy-efficient buildings, such as following LEED principles.
“The Enclave has worked hard to adopt many LEED principles and are incorporated within the design. These include:
- Fewer impervious areas
- Maximizing green space
- Building energy-efficient homes featuring:
- 2×6 construction,
- open-cell foam insulation,
- conditioned attic spaces,
- spraying roof decks using highly-efficient HVAC equipment,
- Low E and Energy Tint/Sunglass protection within window specs,
- low-use water fixtures,
- LED specs for energy and resource savings.,
- Deep overhangs for reduced sun intrusion that produces heat buildup, without sacrificing sunlight …
“6. Dedication of open space to ensure access to and from adjacent greenway corridors and promoting development of passive and recreational activities.
“The Enclave PUD limits future development of the property and sets aside 1.8 acres as ‘open space’.” It proposes a small public park at the northeast corner shared with neighbors providing Bocce Ball, picnic area, firepit, pavilion …
“7. Preservation of rural character or small-town appeal.” It does so by preserving wetlands at the corner of Blue Star and Old Allegan, the most visible part of the property for the drive-by public.
“The preservation, along with maintaining all perimeter tree lines and canopies, creates that rural and small-town appeal by protecting the development to the interior — which is exactly why we named this development – The Enclave,,” the Tangram synopsis says.
Home prices, reported the Grand Rapids business magazine, are expected to start in the high $600,000s and range up to nearly $800,000. The estimated $20-million Enclave would include 20 detached single-family homes and 10 duplexes, for 40 total units, all with zero-step, barrier-free main floors for aging in place.
“We have a lot of people,” township manager Daniel DeFranco told Crain’s reporter Rachel Watson, “who want to retire in place, so they’re looking to downsize.
“They’re also interested in homes that are more accessible, like that zero-barrier entry,” he went on.
“We also have a lot of one-or-two-people households looking for smaller footprints. When you look at homes outside of downtown Saugatuck, we’re not seeing home styles like that,” Walker told Watson. “You’re typically seeing larger, single-family homes, multiple stories, with large lots that require a lot of maintenance.”
Walker estimated $3.2 million for infrastructure costs. With a PUD granted, Tangram plans to apply to Allegan County’s brownfield authority for tax increment financing incentives to defray the project cost, which would largely be financed through undisclosed private equity investors.
Tangram is working with former Douglas planning and zoning director Ryan Kilpatrick, now founder/owner of Flywheel Community Development Services, on that application.
Walker said after the new lift station and water force main are installed, a 1-mile stretch of Blue Star Highway would be able to accommodate denser housing development for as many as 300 to 350 homes.
He has since closed on 3 acres north of this site, at 3277 Blue Star, owned by 3291 Blue Star Ivy House wedding and event venue owners Candice and Brian Grant, for an undisclosed sum. “We will concept a second phase in the future,” Walker told The Commercial Record Saturday, April 4.
“Meaning,” Cappelletti told The Commercial Record, “I’m surrounded on three sides.”
DeFranco said The Enclave project aligns with the township’s goal to develop housing along its major corridors near existing amenities to preserve forested areas and farmland.
“We are attempting to support development that meets the community’s needs, but in key locations that do not undermine our ability to preserve ecologically valuable land in the community,” he said.
The site’s wetlands, along with a dense mature forest canopy, would be preserved as green space and restored with native plantings in partnership with the Outdoor Discovery Center and Saugatuck Township-based RiverWood Council.
Tangram hopes to start construction by the end of this year, with the first 6-8 homes completed
by late summer 2027.
Units will range from about 1,450 to 1,800 square feet for families that opt for first-floor primary suites instead of garages. The development would have 60 parking spaces between surface and garage parking.
The Enclave would be served by a new private road with sidewalks, pedestrian and bike paths connecting Old Allegan Road to Blue Star Highway, and a bike service station near the new sidewalks. It also would have a path connecting the roundabout to the new neighborhood.
Walker told Crain’s he has since received “a lot of positive feedback” when presenting new plans to the community, particularly at a Feb. 26 public open house.
“It’s a segment that’s needed, and it’s the right location for it,” he said of the housing. “I’m excited for people to see the type of product we’re looking to do.”
