200-home development in Ash Grove on hold for now

In February, the Greene County Commonwealth reported that Ed Hurley spoke to the Ash Grove Board of Alderman about a plan he had to develop his 120-acres of farmland into a 200-home housing development. For now, however, that development is on hold.
Hurley said he believes a recession could hit the economy next year. For that reason, he wants to wait awhile to develop his land.
“If you haven’t been paying attention, there’s certain things happening that don’t look very good for the economy right now,” he said. “And that’s why I’m backing off, because I don’t want to lose my tail-end on this.”
Hurley also said he hasn’t seen any interest from anyone in buying one of the houses after they’re built.
For now, Hurley plans to continue to use his land for agriculture.
“I’m farming it right now,” he said. “Hay and cows are what I’m doing now.”
Hurley said he’d look at developing his land when the economy looks better, but for now, he doesn’t want to invest a lot of resources in the development, only to see them lost if a recession hits.
“To me, it feels like we’re staring at another ’08, getting ready for a crash,” he said. “I don’t know if anyone else has felt that or not, but that’s the feeling I’m getting. It’s like (we’re) on the verge of a huge depression. I’ve just got to be careful, not stick my neck out. You can sink really fast, with something like that. So, I’m just going to sit back and wait a little bit.”