Page 18
— Land & Development Quarterly — July 2016
©2016 Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. 0716 228509
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Residential
O
ver the past 14 years, home
sites for custom homebuy-
ers have dwindled. Fewer
developers are offering these
home sites within their
existing and new communities in
favor of selling home sites to nation-
al and local merchant homebuilders.
The strategy has paid off for the
real estate development community.
Developers are able to sell and close
more sites more quickly and move
on to the next project. The offsetting
opportunity has been missed by the
developer to sell the best sites to
custom homebuilders and/or their
buyers at premium prices that mer-
chant builders are not paying.
Additionally, a community with
custom home sites makes it easier
for lower-priced new home product
to sell faster due to the pricing elas-
ticity that introduces new product
into the community that enhances
all price points. Homebuyers are
reassured with their purchases
when they witness higher-priced
homes selling in the community in
which they are buying their home.
Finding custom home sites.
The prin-
cipal remaining new home commu-
nities in south metro Denver are:
• The Preserve (Greenwood Village)
• Back Country at Highlands Ranch
(northwestern Douglas County)
• Ravenna (northwestern Douglas
County)
• Castle Pines (Castle Rock)
• Colorado Golf Club (Parker)
• Pradera (Parker)
• The Timbers at the Pinery (Park-
er)
• The Keep (Sedalia)
• Banbury Cross (Louviers/Sedalia)
The above com-
munities have dedi-
cated sales teams
to help builders
and homebuyers
with their home
site and home pur-
chases.
There are scat-
tered home sites
available through-
out the Denver
metro area. Real
estate brokers can
facilitate the pro-
cess of selecting
the best home site(s) and working
through due diligence to determine
acceptable utilities, metropolitan
district/homeowner associations,
design guidelines and permitting
issues.
Not every community, city or coun-
ty has standard approval processes.
Each jurisdiction must be evaluated
for interpretation of their approval
process and permit issuance. You
may receive the approval process
but may be delayed by six months
or more to a receive building permit.
Remember: lost time is lost money.
Colorado Springs, Fort Collins,
Loveland, Greeley and Windsor all
have ample areas for homebuy-
ers to consider choosing custom
home sites. If you are willing to look
beyond the Denver metro area, there
are many choices with outstanding
pricing values.
Other choices.
You can also consid-
er buying an existing home within
the city, suburbs or in the country-
side, and remodeling or scraping the
home from the home site. Should
you choose to buy and scrape a
home, make sure the home you
want to build will meet the require-
ments of its jurisdiction.
The further away you find a home
site from the core of the market, the
more affordable home sites become.
An exception is Douglas County,
where some of the most beauti-
ful land is available at higher price
points.
Elbert County, just east of Doug-
las County and south of Arapahoe
County, has become an affordable
choice for many new homebuyers. A
concern here is the cost of utilities,
which are higher.
Existing industrial, commercial and
retail sites.
Developers and home-
builders have begun exploring and
researching existing industrial, com-
mercial, retail, institutional and even
government sites. These sites are
usually near major transportation
corridors and have excellent utilities
and infrastructure already in place.
With land prices at a premium in
some of the outlying areas, these
sites are and will become more
appealing to developers, builders,
real estate brokers and their home-
buyers.
Cities, counties, metropolitan districts
and homeowners’ associations.
Home
sites are occasionally overlooked
in existing communities. Take the
time to contact the city and county
officials in the planning department
and recorder offices, and metro-
politan district and homeowners’
associations to determine available
home sites.
There are thousands of home
sites on the market with many
more coming soon. Take the time
to explore the existing land listings
and the shared tips and you will
become an asset to your develop-
ers, builders, real estate brokers and
homebuyers.
s
S. Robert August
President and
founder, North
Star Synergies Inc.,
Centennial
The Keep, nestled in a plateau in Sedalia, is a 64 multi-acreage home site residential
community developed by Koelbel & Co.
