Hampshire College wants to create a condominium community for the retiring professors and alumni of institutions in the Pioneer Valley.

A small college in Amherst is planning to create a condominium community that will be targeted to alumni and retiring professors of the Pioneer Valley’s major colleges and universities.

Hampshire College, a 36-year-old college with 1,400 students, has selected Beacon Communities of Boston to develop about 129 condos that will be marketed to people 50 and older who are interested in living near a college campus. The community, known as Veridian Village, will be built on a 54-acre parcel owned by the college.

“This is a real opportunity to create a very exciting living environment for people who don’t want a golf-course community,” said Pam Goodman, president of Beacon Communities Development. “Given the existence of five colleges in the area, the culture that exists in the Pioneer Valley is quite extraordinary. This is a phenomenal opportunity for people who are interested in living in a very rich cultural academic community environment.”

Goodman, who described the village as age-targeted but not age-restricted, said the community is being marketed to – but is not limited to – alumni and professors of Hampshire College and four surrounding institutions: Amherst College, Smith College in Northampton, Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The project is in the early design stage.

‘A Growing Trend’
Colleges throughout the country that are searching for new sources of revenue have been exploring development opportunities. Educational institutions are leasing or selling off unused land for residential development, and some are charging fees for resident use of facilities like libraries or fitness centers.

There are between 20 and 30 retirement communities that are linked to colleges around the country but the majority are designed for older individuals who need assisted-living services or full-time nursing care, according to Gerard Badler of Campus Continuum, a Newton-based firm.

There are very few college communities, like Veridian Village, that are geared for active adults, Badler said. “[Veridian Village] will appeal to a younger community,” he said.

Active-adult communities that are associated with colleges are expected to grow in popularity. “We think that it’s going to be a growing trend across the United States because it will appeal to aging baby boomers, as opposed to their parents,” Badler said.

In Massachusetts, one of the most widely known college retirement communities is Lasell Village in Newton, a development that Lasell College opened about six years ago. But unlike Veridian Village, Lasell Village includes a skilled nursing-care facility, and its residents are required to complete 450 hours of course work as part of a learning program.

Another college retirement community in Massachusetts, Reeds Landing at Springfield College, also provides assisted-living services and nursing care.

Johan Brongers, vice president of finance and administration at Hampshire College, said the idea for the development emerged five years ago when the college began exploring possible uses for certain parcels of land as part of its master-planning process.

“It was out of that process that we decided there were going to be some tracts of land that would suit themselves for development,” said Brongers.

The college decided to develop the 54-acre parcel that sits just east of Route 116. It plans to retain ownership of the land and lease it to Beacon Communities. Brongers declined to say how much it will be leasing the land for, but acknowledged that a “financial return” on the parcel is important to the college.

“We are hoping to grow the financial resource base of the college in a very limited way by targeting a few tracts of land for development,” he said.

Brongers said the village will enable the college “to extend the community overall by inviting residents to this community who have an interest in lifelong learning and opportunities to interact with the campus community and with the students.”

Residents will be able to take classes and use campus facilities like the swimming pool and tennis courts. They also will have access to programs and services offered by a group of 10 museums in the area, including the National Yiddish Book Center. And residents will be able to intermingle with – and even mentor – college students.

Gerard Frank, the architect who is designing the village, said the community will activate the college campus year-round because homeowners will be using the campus facilities even when semesters are completed. Frank also noted that the new village will help create a “there” for Hampshire College that other colleges already have because of their proximity to town or city centers.

The community, which will be built on only 24 acres with the remaining land being preserved, will include three 3-story buildings with ground-level parking that will each contain 24 one- and two-bedroom units, according to Frank, of Bechtel Frank Erickson Architects in Lexington. The condos will range in size from 1,000 square feet to 1,400 square feet.

The remaining homes will be townhouse-style duplexes and triplexes, ranging in size from 1,900 square feet to 2,070 square feet, with two bedrooms, loft space and two-car garages. The village also will feature a 5,000-square-foot clubhouse that will feature space for lectures, yoga and art studios, a kitchen and working greenhouse.

Home prices are expected to range from $350,000 to $650,000, according to Goodman.

Since Hampshire College has expressed a deep commitment to creating a environmentally friendly, or “green,” community, the village will incorporate sustainable-design elements, according to Frank. Sustainable wood products will be used during construction and for cabinetry and finishes, bamboo floors will be installed, and low VOC [volatile organic compound] paints and glues will be utilized. Waste materials produced during construction will be recycled. High-efficiency heating and cooling systems will be installed and a storm-water management plan will be developed and water retention basis will be included on the property to save water runoff that will be used for irrigation.

The village plan already has started drawing attention. At a recent informational meeting to discuss the project that drew about 50 people, 14 people reserved a unit by placing a refundable deposit, according to Goodman.