Any new modern home communities coming? (Spring, Avery: custom home, neighborhood, buyers)

[tarjan]

Anyone know of any new modern home communities or houses coming to austin? I looked at SOL, which is nice but the location is not good. Agave was a bit worse, though the views were nice.

I'm not interested in traditional styles, I find the layouts annoying and the builders invariably try to cheap out on everything unless you REALLY get on them or pay big dollars to change things. I love the big open spaces modern construction provides, while still keeping the house (in total) small and efficient.

[austin-steve]

Not sure exactly what your asking. You want a community in which the architecture, aesthetics and floor plans will make you feel a certain way?

The communities you mentioned do not build to a higher standard of quality than the average production builder.

Steve

[Komeht]

No. You really have to do a custom or semi-custom build to get what you are seeking. Agave was just awful in execution if interesting in concept. But I suspect it was a financial failure, though haven't seen any news on it.

[10scoachrick]

Without getting into too much philosophical detail, I think the question posed is interesting. When we were looking 5 years ago, SOL, Agave and Mueller were 'thought provoking' concepts that we took a quick look at. We didn't need easy access to downtown and actually needed to go 'north' much more often; so, here we are at Avery Ranch. We're in a well-built Drees home that is perhaps a bit more energy efficient than other homes of similar size and design.

BUT...I am not aware of any new ultra-energy efficient designs or projects in the past few years. Of course, we're not looking intently, since we are settled in where we are.

BUT.2...We might be interested in downsizing in a few years and something like the Cottages at Northwoods/Avery might be interesting. It may be a case of 'We'll build something small with right angles and call it energy efficient' OR it might actually be an additional step in the direction of efficiency. AND...it's in the 'burbs! We'll see how this all pans out...
Grand Haven Homes

Quaint and connected, The Cottages at Northwoods offers stylish one- and two-story detached homes in its own private, gated enclave of meandering streets and majestic Oaks. Ranging from approximately 1,300 to over 1,760 square feet, including two to three bedrooms with attached, direct-access garages, The Cottages make a welcoming first impression with a mix of Craftsman, Bungalow, Hill Country and Prairie architectural styles.
Homes « Northwoods at Avery Ranch Northwoods at Avery Ranch

It's too bad, I suppose, that the niche market of super-energy-efficient design and build qualities hasn't been better served. "If you build it, they will come" still seems to apply to standard, conventional construction...perhaps more so since '08. Play it safe, I reckon.

I still think Pearson Place, Highland Horizon, Cold Springs and many other developments 'up here' could have gone after a customer who desires highly energy-efficient design and construction...even way out here. Being within walking distance of the Lakeline Station might give Northwoods a leg up on bringing such building practices into the mainstream...Stay tuned.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

...
I still think Pearson Place, Highland Horizon, Cold Springs and many other developments 'up here' could have gone after a customer who desires highly energy-efficient design and construction...even way out here. Being within walking distance of the Lakeline Station might give Northwoods a leg up on bringing such building practices into the mainstream...Stay tuned.

Production builders are in fact building more energy efficient homes by default. A standard DR Horton built today will do WAY better on bills than the same size/shape home built 10 years ago.

But if you talk to builders about which upgrades and features are desired by the typical buyer, energy efficient extras don't sell well. This is because many have a "payback" period more years down the road than the buyer may even own the home. And these things have no real resale value because buyers don't make decisions based on those sort of things. So, from purely a dollars and sense standpoint, it's a poor investment to spend a lot on "green" stuff for the typical buyer building a new production home, unless they know for sure they will remain at least 5+ years. The exception would be if it makes them feel good, and they don't mind paying more for that feeling. Like driving a Prius.

Steve

[centralaustinite]

There are individual modern-style homes being built in the central city (Travis Heights, Bouldin, Zilker, as well as here and there in Hyde Park, Brentwood, etc) prices generally start at about $500K (there is one under construction in the block behind me at that price if it is in your range) up to a million plus.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

There are individual modern-style homes being built in the central city (Travis Heights, Bouldin, Zilker, as well as here and there in Hyde Park, Brentwood, etc) prices generally start at about $500K (there is one under construction in the block behind me at that price if it is in your range) up to a million plus.

Correct...there have been some one-off custom and semi-custom modern builds in Mueller 5 star green austin energy/ LEED certified as well..but those also ran in the 400K plus range.

[centralaustinite]

There are also many semi-custom homes in the central city with a tradition or craftsman exterior but with open, modern floor plans inside. Most are also green built. This also applies to Mueller. And the prices do start at $400K or so.

I would think (but don't know) that there are production builders who do roughly the same thing -- just because the exterior has a traditional form and roof line, that doesn't mean that the interior is not open and flowing -- and the price range will be lower.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

...
I would think (but don't know) that there are production builders who do roughly the same thing -- just because the exterior has a traditional form and roof line, that doesn't mean that the interior is not open and flowing -- and the price range will be lower.

An example of this is Vintage Place in Circle C. Those craftsman-style homes, about a decade old +/- were built with hardi siding and designed to look like "Hyde Park" house. The interiors are modern, open, spacious, not really different than other production homes in Circle C. But the market yawned, and those homes sell slower and for less than the other parts of Circle C..

For 2012, The average sold home in the "Vintage" section was a 3153 sqft for $356K, or about $112 per sqft.

For 2012, in regular suburban looking Circle C, the average sold home was a 2942 sqft for $358K, or $124 sqft. $12 per sqft higher the the "vintage" homes.

If the faux craftsman look were a hit, subsequent sections in CC would have followed, and we'd see more. Many buyers actually don't like the faux craftsman look in a suburban setting. I've shown homes there and had buyers say "I don't know. I like that look if we were more central, but it just doesn't look right out here".

It works ok in Mueller I guess, because it's the adopted uniform look of the neighborhood, and it's considered more "urban" (even though it's really not.

The market, and its buyers, have final say on all of this.

Steve

[centralaustinite]

What does a "regular suburban looking Circle C" home look like?

Red brick, two story entry, garage up front facing the street? What are those floor plans like? Are they open or closed into individual rooms?

I've only ever been to Circle C once or twice, did look briefly at Vintage Place 10+ years ago, decided to go for a similar look in the central city. Curious as to what "regular, suburban-looking" means.