Cook to build 300 homes in Owen, Orange, Lawrence counties; sales price below $200,000 and to sell many to their employees at cost

Cook has finished construction on the first homes in French Lick, where a Cook subsidiary owns the French Lick Resort and Casino. It also just purchased a 62-acre plot of land across the road from its Cook Medical manufacturing facility in Spencer, where it hopes to build an initial batch of six homes before year’s end.

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“There’s a tremendous need for housing,” said Steve Ferguson, board chairman of Cook Group and the first president of its real estate arm, CFC Properties.

In Orange County, Cook already has built and sold four homes and has two others under construction. Ferguson said he hopes another nine will be built by summer. In Lawrence County, the company is looking for a site near Ind. 37.

The Orange County site involved a $1 million investment and matching state grant. As the project involves state dollars, the homes are being built for any worker in Orange County, not just for those who work for Cook.