80228 Solterra homes (Lakewood, Golden, Lyons: sales, 2013, movers)

[lifeisfree00]

Hello,

Question for the locals about Solterra community in Lakewood:

New homes are being built there by 3 different builders while there are homes from years back as well. It appears they are having some hard time selling. I like several homes there and it is close to my new work but wanted to ask the locals if you know any negatives or hidden issues. Greatly appreciate your honest sharing.

[Robert5]

The 2008 parade of homes was centered in that hood. The display homes were very nice, but very over priced for the market at that time. Newconstruction pretty much stopped till 2013 due to lack of demand. I have not heard anything bad about the subdivision, it just comes down to are you willing to pay that big of a premium for new. The biggest problem with the area is that it is a significant commute to most anything in the metro area.

[mic111]

This is an excellent question for the search function.
Solterra - worth the hype?

[BarryK123]

Expansive soil

[DavidBilly]

Thunder alley
Bandimere is across the valley, Red Rocks is over the hog back, 470 is w/in view and hearing. So if you don't like the urban sounds of traffic, dragsters, motorcycles, rock and roll its a great place.
Also there are no mature trees in the area.
Its convenient to the mountains but far from almost everything else.
I love the homes there and would buy in a minute. Cardel has a new floor plan which is weird the Ferrero.

[alliern]

The higher property taxes for Solterra residents should be mentioned too.

There's another new home community named, Lyons Ridge, in Morrison in the hogback near C-470/Hwy 285. They are selling very fast because you're pretty sheltered from highway noise and you also don't have the noise from the speedway.

Just a consideration.

[step33]

I've lived near Solterra since 2009, and I don't recall there ever being a slow down in construction, especially relative to the economy - they've never stopped building, and now they are building as fast as they can. Not sure why the OP believes they are having a hard time selling. I know several people that are both moving in and moving out. The ones moving out are pretty much "cashing out" as they've picked up quite a bit of equity. I've seen a couple homes sit on the market - but those were grossly overpriced (even for Solterra - which I think is pretty pricey as is).

When things were "slow", they were still moving dirt every day with 10-20 earth movers doing work on the soils, and getting ready for more construction so the developers are not underfunded, nor doing things on the cheap from what I can see. There are about three/four different areas. Up top by the clubhouse is the Parade of Homes section. Multi-million dollar homes in a gated community that is a block long. The rest of Solterra is NOT gated and house prices vary as do lot sizes. There are also areas that are "patio homes."

The area south of Iliff was the second phase built, and now that it is almost full, they've moved west toward C470.

If you are interested, I'd suggest you go and look around and see if it suits your needs. There are homes I wouldn't want under almost any circumstances, and others that I'd love to have. Again, I have many, many friends there and my kids go to school with many of those kids. And I haven't sensed much negative from the people that actually live there.

Here are my positives and negatives.

On the plus side the houses are all new. None are 10 years old and most are closer to 5 on the outside. The new styles going in west of the clubhouse are very attractive.

They have a nice clubhouse with an infinity pool - this is also a negative for those with young kids. Solterra was envisioned as a place for empty nesters or older children. So, there is no baby pool and the pool the have gets crowded on the weekends. It's not the quiet lazy place some may be looking for.

For many, it has a nice "community" feel. Neighbors seem to get along (at least those that I know) and do things together.

My negatives start with the small yards. Not all houses have this, but many do. And it's not necessarily a negative as big yards require more water and more maintenance. BUT, lots of small yards together, and no real fences or many trees makes you feel VERY close to your neighbors. THAT concern varies according to where you are though. South of Iliff, and west of Indiana - some of those houses are even more packed in. Though there is a section of larger homes down by Yale.

Again, they didn't plan well for the number of kids in the neighborhood, so there is only one little park. But, it's not far to Coyote Gulch (depending on where you are in the community), and that's pretty good sized, and you'll often find people down there.

As for Bandimere - it's not really an issue for MOST people unless you want "no" noise. It is a drag strip, so the cars run in short bursts. And the really, really, loud fuel cars don't run that often (only a few times per year). The mile high nationals would be the loudest weekend of the year - and it's certainly not enough to drive many people indoors. But, be aware that the drag strip is there and it's not moving - so don't move in and then complain about it.

C470 - depending on where you are in the community, this may be more of an issue than the drag strip since it's fairly constant.

Red Rocks - I've never heard anyone mention this as a complaint as it is rare you can hear the music and very rare you can hear it to a degree you can tell who is playing. Only with the right atmospheric conditions is that possible, and it's never been an "issue" to anyone I know who lives in Solterra. Really, its never come up.

Value?? This is the real question everyone should ask, is it worth it for YOU? It wasn't for me, but it is for a LOT of people. Personal choice. I tend to agree that for the money, I'd probably go over the hogback along Belleview. But, a new home on the west side, close to the highways, and not far from grocery stores or school - it ticks a lot of boxes. Even getting downtown doesn't take very long to me, as except for rush hour, it's always less than 30minutes. I consider that reasonable - others may not. I'll take the trade off in having a shorter ride up to the mountains on the weekend.

Another thing to consider is that there are plans for commercial property between C470 and Solterra and there is also a clay mine - that rarely operates but it is there, and a couple houses look right at it - not sure I would have picked those lots myself.

[eatsDEN]

Originally Posted by mic111

This is an excellent question for the search function.
Solterra - worth the hype?

Originally Posted by BarryK123

Expansive soil

Originally Posted by alliern

The higher property taxes for Solterra residents should be mentioned too.

There's another new home community named, Lyons Ridge, in Morrison in the hogback near C-470/Hwy 285. They are selling very fast because you're pretty sheltered from highway noise and you also don't have the noise from the speedway.

Just a consideration.

People are buying in the area -- but be aware of what you are getting into and read everything recommended.... is my personal take on things in that development.

My wife and I had bought a Cardel Homes lot and new construction home --

the purchase deal fell through due to the builder not wanting to abide by their sales contract that stipulated that the builder would cover all required design considerations put forth by their structural engineers, CTL Thompson...

CTL Thmpson's full subdivision soils report included language requiring a structural flooring system, if a basement was to be finished as living space. However, Cardel Homes wanted my wife an I to purchase the structural flooring system as an option, if we wanted it included in the build out. This is despite their sales contract detailing their responsibility to include any structural design requirements mandated by their professional engineers in the soils reports...

I kept mentioning the engineering report requirements, and was repeatedly given the brush off by the sales staff... The sales staff didn't read the soil's reports -- the engineers told them what the requirements were, was the line from them when I asked...

When I asked to review the report with CTL Thompson's engineers, or to get a letter from the engineers supporting Cardel Homes' interpretation of the reports I was refused. The Builder knew what was required - is what I was told. I was also refused a reading of the building requirements with Cardel Homes' legal staff.

no one there at Cardel Homes Solterra could decipher the report - at least until I pushed a bit harder for an understanding of the report as I had read and understood it -- and refused to sign off on the foundation design criteria...

When I started mentioning a desire to speak to their legal team to get to a resolution on the foundation design criteria (slab on grade vs. the CTL Thompson mandated structural foundation - given our finishing choices for the basement level of the home); I was granted a meeting with Pat Hamm, VP of Operations, who told me in no uncertain terms that they (Cardel Homes Solterra) were not going to be building for my wife and I -- due to our insistance that they follow their contract and engineering reports...

Cardel Homes Solterra ended up refunding ALL of the down payment we had given to them to initially secure the lot and home building contract; as they were the party that decided to breach the home construction/lot purchase contract; rather than stand by the terms of their sales contract and engineering requirements...

My understanding at the time was that 75% of the homes had been completed with finished basements; and none of the homes had the flooring systems required by the engineers' reports....

They kept mentioning the 20 or 30 year structural warranty they included in the purchase -- but, in talking to several different structural engineering firms and attorneys - the feelign was that the problems likely would not surface until after their warranty was expired, and the problems - if any arised - would have been mine to bear ultimately...


in the end, make sure you read and understand all of the paperwork.... is my advice


good luck!

[Gorges]

We went on one of those dinosaur fossil tours yesterday out of Morrison/Golden and at one of the stops, the geology grad student leading the tour pointed to Solterra and said it wouldn't be there in 5 years due to the soil. He then went on to give a history of the soil issues in the area Tongue-in-cheek, I'm sure, but it made me think of this thread.

[lifeisfree00]

Originally Posted by Gorges

We went on one of those dinosaur fossil tours yesterday out of Morrison/Golden and at one of the stops, the geology grad student leading the tour pointed to Solterra and said it wouldn't be there in 5 years due to the soil. He then went on to give a history of the soil issues in the area Tongue-in-cheek, I'm sure, but it made me think of this thread.

That's interesting to know. I would greatly appreciate if you could share more information about this.