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SouthField’s pioneers have no regrets

Amber Maher Gilbert (left), with her cat Zeus, enjoys the amenities of her SouthField apartment complex; Steve and Molly LeMott (right) appreciate the closeness of the neighborhood after moving to SouthField so they could be near their two daughters in Boston.Photos by David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

When a massive plan to redevelop the old South Weymouth Naval Air Station was first unveiled with much fanfare in 2004, it was just that: massive, with the developers projecting up to 2,855 homes and 2 million square feet of commercial space built over a span of 12 years.

The vision for what is now known as SouthField grew to include offices, restaurants, retail shops, a golf course, artificial-turf athletic fields, an Olympic-size skating rink, and — for an attention-grabbing spell — a movie studio.

For residents of Weymouth, Rockland, and Abington, redeveloping the 1,400-acre property into a new community with top-notch amenities brought hope of much-needed jobs and tax revenue .

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But racked by the recession, the ambitious project hit numerous delays and began to shrink almost as rapidly as it had grown on paper. Ten years later, a mere 15,000 square feet of retail space has been developed — none of it yet occupied — and 404 residential units, accommodating not quite 700 people, have been built.

SouthField’s cluster of newly constructed homes sits about 1,400 feet from the hustle and bustle of Route 18, an isolated subdivision surrounded by open space, abandoned landing strips, and other remnants of the former Navy facility .

As yet another year dawns in the SouthField saga, big things — if not quite so big as before — are promised once again. Since a new developer took over last year, the master plan was rescinded, plans for the golf course were scrapped, and the redevelopment authority in charge of overseeing the project was ousted. Whether those changes will kick-start development remains to be seen.

For now, the fledgling community remains a work in progress, and the residents who in 2011 began settling into its first neighborhood, SouthField Highlands, view themselves as pioneers.

How have they fared? We spoke to several to find out.

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Alison Craig and Gary Thorp

To get to where Alison Craig and Gary Thorp live from Route 18 in Weymouth, visitors take Shea Memorial Drive, a wide roadway with clearly marked bike lanes lined by trees and Victorian-style street lamps. When, after a half-mile, they turn right onto Memorial Grove Avenue, the landscape becomes more open. They drive past grassy plains and the old airfield until they reach a solitary hamlet of new homes.

There is a large four-story apartment complex, and rows of attached townhouses with facades painted in muted tones of beige, bluish gray, and pale yellow. And there is Sandpiper Green, where the couple’s newly built 1,400-square-foot cottage sits in a cluster of 32 cottages much like it.

Craig and Thorp, long an unmarried couple — “engaged for 35 years,” Craig quipped — left their home on a cranberry farm in Pembroke and moved to SouthField last year.

“We decided it was time to downsize,’’ said Thorp, 60.

Being part of something new, they said, was also part of the allure.

“When we got involved in this, I realized you have to feel like a pioneer,” said Craig, 65. “You’re on the ground floor of something that’s ever-changing and evolving.

“My kids are all grown up, and I wanted to do something different,” she said, “and I wanted a more community type of environment.”

They say they have found just that with neighbors who range in age from their late 20s all the way to their 80s.

Thorp, who grew up on Randolph Street in Weymouth, said SouthField reminds him of his old tight-knit neighborhood.

“I like the people here,” he said. “We all get along. Everybody knows everybody.”

“A lot of people here are definitely really making a difference,” said Craig.

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Craig and Thorp are trying to do the same: Both serve as trustees of their homeowners’ association, and Thorp also sits on the board of the SouthField Neighborhood Association.

They are happy with their cottage. They are paying less for electricity and heat than before, and they are finding the place generally more affordable. They said they look forward to seeing their new neighborhood grow and expand.

“I still think it’s a good investment,” said Thorp. “It has such potential.’’

Steve and Molly LeMott

For Steve LeMott, 69, and his wife, Molly, 66, moving to SouthField was never about potential or investing. It was about living in retirement closer to their two daughters in Boston.

When they arrived in July 2011, they were true pioneers, the only people on their street — indeed, the first residents of the entire development. The marketing folks at the welcome center nicknamed them “Mr. and Mrs. SouthField.’’

After Steve ended his long career at Pfizer Inc., the couple sold their home in East Lyme, Conn., and settled on SouthField.

“The location, you can’t beat it,” said Molly, 66, a Quincy native. “It’s just been perfect for us.’’

The LeMotts were the first arrivals in a neighborhood of town homes priced at $349,000 and single-family houses starting at $500,000.

Steve and Molly LeMott.David L Ryan/Globe Staff

They chose a single-family house on a short tree-lined street called Thistle Lane. The house was built by Whitman Homes of Canton. It has 1,800 square feet of living space, and features three bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms, and a spacious living room with a stone fireplace and built-in shelves.

As they unpacked and settled in, they would watch bulldozers and construction crews working on the homes of their future neighbors.

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Today, those homes are occupied, and the LeMotts are surrounded by dozens of people.

“Everyone that has moved in here are all different ages,” said Molly. “People are always friendly. It’s been a dream. We can walk to dinner parties; we can help people who are locked out of their houses. It’s been truly magical for us.”

Steve agreed.

“This is a really close neighborhood,” he said.

Amber Maher Gilbert and Gary Gilbert

Amber Maher Gilbert rents an apartment at the Commons at SouthField Highlandswith her husband, Gary, and their two cats, Zeus and Gwenevere. The four-story apartment complex on Trotter Road is just one-third of a mile from the MBTA commuter rail’s South Weymouth Station. They moved into their one-bedroom unit last December after living in Worcester for two years.

The 37-year-old photographer and filmmaker is from the area (she graduated from North Quincy High School) and first became aware of SouthField when there was talk about building a movie studio and making it “Hollywood East.”

“I had SouthField on my radar for a while,” she said.

Although the movie studio project never got off the ground, Maher Gilbert and her husband found other reasons to choose SouthField. They did not find many options while apartment-hunting in Braintree and Quincy, but they liked what they saw at SouthField. Their apartment is on the third floor and looks out over the old airfield.

“The view,’’ she said, “is beautiful.”

The location was perfect for Maher Gilbert’s commute to Boston. South Station is just two or three rail stops away, depending on the time of day.

She and her husband enjoy all of the apartment complex’s amenities: a saltwater pool, outdoor grill, fitness center, furnished common areas, and wireless Internet.

The couple said most of their utility bills remain low, thanks to the unit’s good insulation and energy-efficient windows and lighting fixtures. In November, their heating bill was $14. Maher Gilbert said a friend living in Boston paid $600 for heat that same month.

The water bills, on the other hand, are rather high, as SouthField residents pay a surcharge for water supplied by Weymouth. The Gilberts typically pay between $60 and $100 per month for water; one month when they hosted guests, the bill reached $175.

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Maher Gilbert said that, when out and about, she occasionally meets someone who knows chapter and verse about SouthField. But she said the more common response is: “Oh. Where’s that?”

“Nobody knows about this place,” she said.

For the present, she said, she and her husband are happy at SouthField, but they do not plan to stay forever. They are saving toward buying a home some day. Marshfield, she said, would be nice.


Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney.