Brunswick Forest: Building An Uncommon Sense of Community

March 8, 2018
Beth Burgee

Wilmington Star News 11/17- What makes Brunswick Forest special? It’s not just the beautifully executed master plan that has won numerous national real estate awards, or the equally celebrated amenities. It’s not just the enviable location, just over the Cape Fear River Bridge from historic downtown Wilmington, NC, and within a short drive to several area beaches. It’s not just the excellent selection of lovely homes and living styles, from elegant custom residences on the golf course to high-style, low-maintenance townhomes.  Ask those who live there, and they will tell you those incredible attributes are just the beginning. The most significant, and cherished, thing about Brunswick Forest is the people who live there.

The developers of Brunswick Forest didn’t hand pick the people who live in the community, but they did design it to encourage interaction and inclusion, thus drawing a remarkably gregarious group of residents.  “It’s unquestionably the top reason our residents love it here,” said Jerry Helms, Director of Sales and Marketing for Brunswick Forest. “People are as active and engaged as they choose to be, with most saying it’s the busiest and happiest they’ve been in their lives.” A highlight of the master plan, all of Brunswick Forest’s homes and amenities are linked together by the community’s vast system of walking and biking trails, and wide porches are strategically built within hailing distance of the sidewalk. Waving at friends and stopping to chat is simply built into the lifestyle. Resident-run clubs are nearly too numerous to count, with like-minded people getting together for social, recreational and cultural pursuits daily. “I think there is a club for every conceivable interest,” said Helms. “But we always say if there isn’t already a club for what our residents like, they just start one.”

 

SO MUCH TO DO, SO MANY FRIENDS

In addition to the walking and biking trails, residents meet to play golf at the renowned Cape Fear National®, a public course located within Brunswick Forest. Residents enjoy immediate access to this pay-as – you-play course, with no initiation fee.  Tennis is enormously popular here, too, and Brunswick Forest leads the entire region in pickleball play. The community has a total of 10 pickleball courts at two locations, and Brunswick Forest’s Pickleball Club has hundreds of members who are enthusiastic about playing and teaching others. In summer months, neighbors gather around two outdoor pools, and in the cooler months they keep fit in the indoor pool that is part of the vibrant Wellness Center.  Also year round, residents propel standup paddleboards, kayaks and canoes on Hammock Lake and Town Creek, both part of Brunswick Forest, and find the shops and restaurants of The Villages at Brunswick Forest ideal for gathering in groups large and small.

 

WHAT RESIDENTS GET, WHAT THEY GIVE BACK

“Perhaps the strong sense of community within Brunswick Forest makes people want to expand that to the region,” speculated Helms. “It’s an amazing thing to watch our residents join forces and give to the community in whatever way they can—money, time and effort. It’s quite touching.” Helms pointed out that in 2017, Brunswick Forest residents raised $13,000 for Lump to Laughter by hosting a Dink for Pink Pickleball Tournament. And with their home course, Cape Fear National, hosting the 6th Annual Brunswick County Golf Tournament & Games Day, residents helped organize and run the event. The tournament and the day’s other activities benefited the Good Shepard Center, a nonprofit that works with the hungry and homeless in Brunswick, New Hanover and  Pender counties.”

“Our development team has also been inspired to give back,” said Helms. “We did a school supplies drive at the end of the summer and a food drive for the holiday season. We’ve recently initiated another school supplies drive for Town Creek Elementary and are looking for additional opportunities in 2018.”