Audubon Village Big Canoe New Construction: What Buyers Should Know

"Big Canoe Company has decided that we would retain ownership of the roads and handle any repairs that need to be made up until the point when the community is finished." Mike Zeigler, the developer's representative on the POA board, said this while introducing Audubon Village at the March 26, 2026 board meeting. Smoke Signals later quoted him word for word after a dispute over what had and hadn't been annexed.

That one sentence explains a lot about how Big Canoe's newest section works. According to Smoke Signals' account of the March developer update, Audubon Village sits off Kilmartin Point and is the newest section of Big Canoe. Each person who buys a home there becomes a full member of the Big Canoe Property Owners Association at closing. The developer keeps architectural and development control until the village is more than 95% sold. It also handles construction-related road repairs until the community is finished, and it starts new homes only as earlier ones sell. So an early Audubon buyer is getting a finished house in a neighborhood whose final shape depends on how quickly the remaining homes sell.

Two Sets of Rules Under One Gate

Older Big Canoe villages followed a simple sequence. Land was annexed, the roads were deeded to the POA, and the association took over from there. Audubon splits the arrangement in two.

At the March meeting, board members confirmed that Audubon remains under Big Canoe Company's control "for architectural and development matters until it is more than 95% sold." They added that this does not exempt anyone from membership. Once a house sells, according to Smoke Signals' March Q&A coverage, "that owner becomes a POA member and is subject to the same covenants, rules and assessments as other property owners." The first buyer of each new home also pays Big Canoe's $5,000 capital contribution fee at the time of sale. In June the board repeated that every annexed home is subject to that fee.

For a buyer, that means two sets of rules apply at once:

The last row matters most in daily life. In June, construction trash and food waste in Audubon were raised as concerns; in Big Canoe, that waste draws bears. The board answered that the development "remains under the developer's control until substantially completed, limiting the POA's authority." POA President Sandy Pullara said she would take specific reports directly to Zeigler.

Why the Developer Kept the Roads

Zeigler described the road decision as a way to spare the association a cost. Under the old practice, the roads were deeded to the POA on the day they were annexed. That made the association responsible for "any repairs, maintenance, patching, or whatever was caused by construction traffic." Under the Audubon plan, Big Canoe Company handles those repairs until the community is finished, so damage from heavy trucks stays on the developer's books.

At the June 25 meeting, the board said negotiations were "nearly complete" on an agreement for Big Canoe Company to pay road impact fees in advance for all 42 planned homes before the roads are eventually transferred to the POA. Pullara called the advance payments favorable for the association. No dollar figure was reported, and the coverage found so far doesn't confirm that the deal was finalized.

Title is less settled than the March description suggested. Zeigler said Big Canoe Company would retain ownership of the roads. At the June meeting, the question was whether Audubon's roads had been annexed. The first answer was no. In an editor's note, Smoke Signals reported that Pickens County property records as of June 25 listed The Village on Blackwell Creek Homeowners Association as the owner of the roads. After the meeting, Pullara told the paper she had misspoken and confirmed that the roads, the green space and Lot 2863, believed to be the model home, have been annexed into Big Canoe.

Being annexed, being covered by the declaration, and being owned by the POA are three different things. Under this arrangement, Audubon's roads have the first two and not yet the third.

A Neighborhood Built at the Speed of Its Own Sales

The pacing is where the developer's incentives show most clearly. In March, Smoke Signals reported that Zeigler said construction in Audubon and in Choctaw Village, where Big Canoe Company is also building single-family homes, "will depend on sales activity." The plan is to start new homes as existing ones sell rather than build everything at once. He presented this as a way to finish faster than some older neighborhoods with long, drawn-out build-outs.

The first phase in Audubon was described as two model homes and eight spec homes, all by Reeside Properties, as Smoke Signals spelled it. The developer's grand opening materials use the spelling Rezide Properties. In Choctaw, Big Canoe Company owned 15 properties at that point. It planned to start with one or two homes, on lots 836 and 806.

A build-to-sales model shifts some timing risk onto whoever buys first. Spec homes and models establish the look of the street. What the lots around a finished home become, and when, follows the sales pace. Because the developer controls architecture until the 95% mark, those future homes will be designed under the developer's standards during that period.

The total count has moved as well. Zeigler described 39 homesites in March. By the June meeting, residents and board members were talking about 42 homes and a construction period of more than two years. Board Director Craig Price called it a temporary "growing pain" expected to last about two years. The coverage doesn't explain the change in count.

Either number is far below what the land might have held. Big Canoe Company had looked at extending sewer service to the property, which could have allowed about 90 homesites. It chose septic instead, which Zeigler said lowers density and is meant in part to lessen the impact on the rest of the community. That choice roughly halves the neighborhood's size. It also means every Audubon home will run on a septic system, as many Big Canoe homes already do.

The Route In Is Part of the Plan

Audubon has one routine way in, and it runs through the rest of Big Canoe. Contractor traffic comes through the controlled gates and along Highland Trail and Summit Road. At the June meeting, nearby residents raised speeding trucks, after-hours work and unmarked vehicles. A concern was raised that a project this size with a single entrance was unfair to the people living along it.

There is a gate between The Village on Blackwell Creek and Audubon Village. The board explained that leaving it open would allow uncontrolled access into Big Canoe from outside, and that security outweighs the convenience of rerouting trucks. Board members also said they had discussed a gate relocation with Zeigler early on. According to the board, Big Canoe Company found it unacceptable because routing traffic through the developer's property would interfere with bringing prospective buyers through Big Canoe to see the Audubon homes.

The drive itself is part of how the homes are sold. A buyer who comes in through the gate and past the golf course sees Big Canoe before seeing the house.

Some adjustments were already in place by June. A new speed reminder sign near the Cherokee golf course crossing was reported to have slowed construction traffic. Staff said they had trimmed vegetation along Summit Road after a report of close calls and poor sightlines near the new entrance. Pullara said enforcement of construction rules depends on reports to Public Safety, which investigates and issues citations. The board asked residents to report problems through Ask the POA when they happen rather than waiting for a monthly meeting.

All of this describes conditions as of June. Smoke Signals coverage of the summer and early fall board meetings hasn't surfaced with updates on traffic calming, the road impact fee agreement or the road transfer, so those items are best treated as still in progress.

What the Price Band Includes

In March, Zeigler said Audubon homes were expected to range from the mid-$500,000s to the high $700,000s. Each would be built on a slab or over a basement depending on the lot's topography. He addressed condominium rumors directly and said only single-family homes are planned.

That price covers the house. Several things that shape life in it sit outside the contract with the builder: the $5,000 capital contribution fee, the same POA assessments every other owner pays, roads the developer repairs until the build-out ends, and design control over the lots that are still empty. Big Canoe's amenity memberships work as they do anywhere else in the community. Owners choose a membership or pay to use individual amenities, and membership in the POA doesn't automatically bring free access to everything.

One more detail from March is worth following for anyone who walks. Big Canoe Company met with Trails Committee representative Mitch Waldman to review Audubon's green space, in the hope of extending the trail system alongside the new homes. No decision or route had been announced in the coverage reviewed.

FAQ

When can the public see the Audubon homes? The developer has scheduled an Audubon Village grand opening for Sunday, October 18, 2026, from 1 to 5 p.m. Guests check in at the Sales Center on Wolfscratch Village Circle and ride a van shuttle to the model homes. Visitors tell the gate attendant they are attending the grand opening.

Does an Audubon buyer have a say in POA elections and rules right away? Board members said in March that each owner becomes a POA member once the house is sold, under the same covenants, rules and assessments as other owners. The developer's separate control covers architectural and development matters inside Audubon until the village is more than 95% sold.

Who fixes an Audubon road damaged by construction trucks? Under the structure Zeigler described in March, Big Canoe Company handles construction-related repairs until the community is finished. The June board discussion described the roads as eventually transferring to the POA, with the developer prepaying road impact fees beforehand.

Before you sign on a home in Audubon Village, it helps to know who controls the street, the lots and the build schedule on your closing date, and how that will change as the remaining homes sell. If you'd like to talk through how an Audubon contract compares with a resale elsewhere inside the gates, including the lot-by-lot questions about topography, septic and construction traffic, Steve Yambor is glad to go through it with you. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.