It will likely be mid-2026 before we see a groundbreaking at the Berrien Hills River’s Edge project on the site of the old Berrien Hills Country Club, along the St. Joseph River at Napier Avenue.
A newly defined ‘floodway’ map from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, places a significant portion of the 102-acre project within the official St. Joseph River floodway—thereby making that section likely uninsurable and probably unbuildable in terms of permanent structures and improvements.
The new developers of Berrien Hills, The Ridge Group of Muncie, Indiana, became aware of the new FEMA maps only a few months ago— after their fall 2024 announcement of an aggressive development plan that includes a variety of housing options, a new marina and commercial and public spaces utilizing the entire former golf course, both atop and below the St. Joseph River bluff.
Now, The Ridge Group finds itself reassessing its plan, determining what’s possible on ‘higher ground’ under the new FEMA flood map, as well as considering what legal appeals may be possible to modify the Federal restrictions for portions of their original master plan, as submitted to St. Joseph Township, where the Berrien Hills property is located. The Township has been strongly supportive of the project as preliminarily defined last fall by Ridge.
MoodyOnTheMarket.com sat down for an extensive conversation with Tyler Ridge II, the President of TRG Development, for an update on this FEMA setback and The Ridge Group’s plans going forward for Berrien Hills River’s Edge.
Ridge emphasized that the FEMA re-mapping was not targeted at his project and did not flow from any complaints or objections to the development. FEMA was likely simply doing a routine review and Berrien Hills landed squarely in the middle of that review and remapping.
“We know that it’s a larger, much larger picture than just our development and so we’re basically advised just to ‘hang tight for now’ and perhaps at a later point we change our plans. But for now, we’re going to just move forward on Phase One (the Upper Level atop the bluff) with what we know, and start working on a new Planned Unit Development for the lower level (the old golf course along the River) based on the updated FEMA mapping.”
That means the project will now proceed in three or more phases. Phase One, atop the bluff, largely the former Berrien Hills club house area, parking lot, tennis courts and upper level golf holes. Phase Two, directly below the bluff on ground that is NOT in the FEMA floodway but requires additional review and major infrastructure construction. And Phase Three, a totally re-imagined and re-designed lower level area still to be designated in compliance with the final FEMA determination.
Ridge says Phase One will likely begin construction in mid-2026, after design and architectural work is completed later tis year and receives Township approval. The centerpiece of Phase One is a major apartment development plus retirement duplexes.
“Phase one will consist of roughly 120 apartments. I believe there’s 30 in each building, so 120 Class A apartments. We have not come up with rent rates, but right now we’re just assuming market rate Class A, basically high-end apartments. And then you would have ten Senior Cottages, ten buildings with two units in each.”
The apartments and duplex cottage would be adjacent to the existing St. Joseph Township neighborhood along Elm Terrace.
“Those apartment structures would be primarily up against that neighborhood that’s existing. And then we would put in a new street and the senior cottages would go there. This would be a great place for Empty Nesters or really anyone. They won’t be age restricted, but we are calling them ‘senior cottages.’ We just believe that’s the best use here between the neighborhood and rest of the development, It kind of’ softly lands’ the development so it makes sense from the neighborhood perspective.”
Ridge cautions observers that a good development takes time. He projects several years for Phase One to play out in an orderly manner, with a nice restaurant near the former Clubhouse location marking a successful completion to that chapter in 2029 or later.
“You’ll have the apartments kick off first and then you would have the cottages and then lastly, we foresee the commercial building. (roughly where the former Berrien Hills clubhouse stands) The building plan is roughly 19-20 thousand square feet with a roof deck. We would see our restaurant with the rooftop deck that overlooks that upper bluff and the St. Joseph River. You could go have a drink or a coffee or have a nice meal and overlook the water.”
Longtime residents will remember decades of drinks & dinner, family gatherings, weddings and large public and private events at the former Berrien Hills Country Club on that same site. It’s not difficult to see a new restaurant achieving success there, especially with a nearby affluent residential neighborhood of apartments and senior-targeted duplexes.
Ridge said that once Phase One is clearly a success, they will turn their attention to Phase Two, the area below the bluff but outside the floodway. He pointed out that construction there will be a massive undertaking, starting from ‘square one.’
“It’s 102 acres total. If it can move quicker, we would sure love it to, but that’s a lot. That’s a big undertaking to develop spaces that have virtually zero infrastructure. There are no roads, there’s no utilities, there’s nothing (below the bluff). That’s the stuff that that I think takes the longest, that no one thinks about. It’s burying all the power lines. Where’s the gas coming from? And all the engineering behind that. It’s pretty amazing.”
Any development in the FEMA floodway would come after Phase Two.
Asked for a realistic long range target date for Berrien Hills River’s Edge to be completed as envisioned, Ridge said 2035 would be a reasonable expectation, assuming normal economic conditions over that time period.
Ridge said the project continues to have four major investors, The Ridge Group, former Berrien Hills Golf Club owner Chris Neuser, Michigan investor Donald Miller and a Bloomington, Indiana investment firm that has partnered with Ridge in the past on several projects.
Ridge explained that Berrien Hills is the second major multi-use Planned Unit Development that his firm has undertaken. The other is moving forward in Bloomington, with prior successful Ridge residential apartment projects completed in several Indiana cities.
“Since 2018, I think we’ve completed almost 1400 units. Almost $400 million worth of work. We’ve just been really blessed and have met the right individuals and have had a lot of opportunities come to us.”
With several past Berrien Hills projects having been announced but then fallen through, never turning a shovel of dirt, MOTM asked Tyler Ridge why his project stands a better chance of becoming reality. He said it comes down to people doing what they say they’re going to do.
“We’re not greedy. We’re very honest. We’re very transparent. We send municipalities our model on Excel. They can click around and see where our profit is coming from.
We’re good stewards. When we say we do something, we do it.
Municipal partners know whether it costs us money or make us money.
And we just always strive to do what we say. I know that sounds so simple and so easy, but it’s not. There’s not a lot of people out there who just simply tell the truth and do what they say. And so that has worked out really well for us. A lot of doors have opened because of that.”
Related Ridge companies have a long history in the construction of underground fuel storage facilities and large gas stations in several Midwest states over more than 35 years.
More background information on the company is available at www.RidgeCorporation.com
By Gayle Olson, MOTM Contributor
