Pulte Meets Early Interest List Demand to Move into Cadence as Soon as Possible, as Harvard Investments Prepares for October 2018 Grand Opening

PHOENIX, Arizona – Cadence at Gateway – just off SR 24 at Ellsworth and Ray Roads in Mesa – is beginning pre-sales. Harvard Investments, developers of Cadence is proud to announce Pulte Homes will begin preselling in the Valley’s premier master planned community on June 9. This is the first builder to begin preselling at Cadence, with several of the community’s other four homebuilders expected to follow shortly in response to growing demand for a home at Cadence. Harvard Investments, developer of Cadence at Gateway and an Arizona-based real estate investment and development company, is finishing up the amenities in preparation for its planned October 2018 grand opening.

“We’ve had tremendous interest in Cadence. Realtors® and potential buyers recognize this is unlike anything else in the market, and are blown away that residents will have access to all the private amenities, fitness center, pools, and parks for an HOA of around $125 per month.” said Craig Krumwiede, president of Harvard Investments. “With all of the interest in Cadence, Pulte is moving forward quickly with preselling which will allow people to begin enjoying life at Cadence as soon as possible. That’s one of the reasons we built The Square to be open and ready on Day One.”

Pulte Homes will presell three unique neighborhoods, the Estate, Cactus and Cyprus series, which feature one- and two-story homes, and range from 1,800 to 3,700 square feet. Fifteen floor plans are offered for a total of 193 Pulte homes. Pulte homes at Cadence start at $268,990.

Pulte’s offerings at Cadence include:

• Cypress Series: Starting at $268,990 with 3-5 bedrooms, 2.5- 3.5 bathrooms, and a 2-car garage
• Cactus Series: starting at $269,990 with 2-7 bedrooms, 2- 5 bathrooms and a 2-3 car garage
• Estate Series: Starting at 329,990 with 3-7 bedrooms, 2-6.5 bathrooms and a 2-3 car garage

Each Pulte neighborhood is within 300 feet of a park, trail or the highly anticipated community center called The Square. Similar to a private club, The Square gives residents access to private resort style swimming pools, tennis and bocce ball courts, fitness center, dog park, meeting space, the residents’ Stir Café and more, for an estimated $125 monthly HOA fee.

“Cadence is the right location at the right time; with convenient freeway access and over a dozen top-ranked schools close by. We want Cadence available to families eager to make a move now to this part of the Valley,” said Scott Wright, Division President for Pulte Arizona. “We’ve worked hard to learn what people are looking for. We ask, and then more importantly, listen to the actual homebuyer. This is our Life Tested® process and it is unique in the industry because we seek feedback from owners about how they live and what they want most in their next home. At Cadence, this meant three thoughtful neighborhoods, each incorporating stylish and functional spaces for a house that feels like home.”

With more than 65 years of homebuilding experience, Pulte  consistently wins customer service awards for the best homes in the industry. Entry-level, move-up and luxury homebuyers will find quality homes of lasting value for their families in these three distinct Pulte neighborhoods in the Mesa Master-planned community, Cadence.

Contact Pulte for more information on their models at https://www.pulte.com/homes/arizona/phoenix/mesa/cadence-cypress-series-210108

The Arizona Daily Star is reporting, two proposed housing developments in Marana got unanimous green lights for zoning changes from the city’s planning commission last week, the first of several steps before building can begin.

Plans for the Camino de Oeste and Twin Peaks Oasis projects include 144 lots and 74 lots respectively, for a total of up to 218 new single-family homes.

The Camino de Oeste development would be on a 72-acre lot north of Cortaro Farms Road and between North Camino de Oeste and North Hartman Lane, and Twin Peaks would be on a roughly 37-acre lot east of Twin Peaks Road and north of West Oasis Road.

The commission’s recommendations still need to be approved by the Marana Town Council.

The 72-acre property’s current zoning sets the minimum lot size at 25 acres, and the commission signed off on changing it to a more dense residential zone that sets a minimum lot size of 6,000 square feet. The Marana General Plan designates the area as low-density residential, which allows for a maximum of two homes per acre.

Sam Mills of Pulte Homes, the project’s home builder, said he hopes to be able to start building by next April.

Meanwhile, home density at the 37-acre site would be similar, but the proposal required a zoning change and modification of the general plan. Linda Morales,of the Planning Center who put together the Twin Peaks plan, said construction could be up to two years out.

All homes in the Camino de Oeste development will be one-story, according to the conditions of the zoning change. Two-story homes are allowed in the Twin Peaks project, but the commission recommended the number be capped.

Neighbors of both projects attended the meeting to lodge their complaints, which centered on view-obstruction, increased traffic and threats to property values.

Steven Vasquez, a Marana planner, said interest in new subdivisions around Marana has been picking up recently. That’s because many subdivisions that were approved in the lead up to the Great Recession whose lots remained empty for years after the crash have been slowly filled in, requiring developers to start new subdivisions from scratch.

To see full story click here.

By: Aaron Mendenhall and Dan Feig, Chapman Lindsey Commercial Real Estate Services

New home sales are up in 2016. Per SAHBA, monthly net sales from their 12 member builders so far in 2016 has each been higher than any month in 2015 with the exception of January’s 173 net sales which was only one sale less than March 2015 and 10 less than April. The 620 single family permits pulled in Q1 2016 was the 2nd highest in a quarter for the past three years. Q2 of 2015 was higher, but only by 2 permits. 2016 is off to a good start here in Tucson. Much of the success is due to a few strong communities, including DR Horton’s Saguaro Bloom, Pulte’s Sierra Morado and the newly opened Center Pointe Vistoso by Maracay. Each of these properties has introduced new lots this past year either as a new community or as a continuation of an existing community.

As has been mentioned in prior articles, existing and available finished lot inventory is extremely limited in Tucson and what remains has challenges relating to location, lot size or price. Builders have been forced to seek out platted or raw land properties to fill their pipelines, which they try to keep full up to at least two years out. When finished lots were more plentiful, a builder could identify, negotiate and purchase a property in 3 to 6 months and they could begin building homes immediately. With platted lots it can take 8 to 12 months after the lots are purchased to develop the lots and begin constructing homes. Most builders will not close prior to final plat, so any property that needs to be rezoned and entitled can add an additional 1 to 2 years onto the timetable.

As the market has continued to improve, certain communities have enjoyed stronger than anticipated sales and communities are building out faster than initially projected. While this is great news for builders, it also presents challenges as their pipelines need to be replenished sooner. Builders need to be constantly on the lookout for new opportunities and have the foresight to think longer term and take some risks based on future needs and inventories.

Meritage was the first and most active builder to take on platted lots since the downturn. They recognized the need of future lots and identified the Tangerine Corridor in the Northwest submarket as the place to invest in. In May 2012 Meritage purchased two platted lot communities in the Tangerine Corridor – Sky Ranch and Tangerine Crossing Phase 3. Later that year they closed Saguaro Forest in Dove Mountain with Silverbell Preserve and Rancho de Plata closing in 2013. Meritage skipped 2014 but purchased 3 platted lot properties in 2015 and one so far in 2016 for a total of 9 properties with 695 platted lots. The three platted lot communities purchased in 2012 are now each built out and the two purchased in 2013 are nearly built out with only 5 remaining lots between them. These initial trailblazing purchases have netted Meritage over 250 sales to date. Their early 2015 purchases will be opening in Q2 2016.

DR Horton, Richmond American and Pulte Homes were ranked #1, #2 and #3 respectively one year ago in the number of finished lots owned. In the past 12 months, DR Horton, Richmond American and Pulte Homes are ranked #1, #3 and #2 respectively in the number of homes sold (per SAHBA reports). This correlation extends to the other builders as well. Of the top six builders in lot holdings a year ago, each ranked the same in number of finished lots owned as the number of homes sold within the past 12 months, with the only exception of Pulte being # 2 in sales and #3 in finished lots, while Richmond American was #3 in sales and #2 in finished lots.

As of the end of Q1 2016, lot ownership rankings have experienced slight changes. DR Horton remains at #1 with 389 finished lots. Maracay jumped to #2 with 267 finished lots with the opening of its Center Pointe at Vistoso communities earlier this year. Richmond American fell to #3 with 264 finished lots and Meritage jumped up one to #4 with 239 lots. Pulte fell to #5 with 170 finished lots and Mattamy Homes entered Tucson opening its Dove Mountain community and is ranked #6 with 124 finished lots. When looking at sales numbers from just 2016, the top three remained the same, but Maracay jumped from #7 to #4, pushing Lennar to #5 in reported net sales.

When comparing current lot inventories to lots currently under construction, the finished lot ownership rankings will change even more by the end of 2016. Meritage will take over the #1 spot with over 650 finished lots as it opens . KB Home could jump to #2 as it completes the four new communities currently under construction. Richmond could fall to #6 and Pulte to #8 in finished lot ownership as each are selling well in their existing communities but only have a small number of lots currently under construction that could finish out this year.

Most builders currently have other properties in escrow that will add additional lots to their pipelines in the future, but it will take time to get them ready to build houses on. Any builder who waits too long to secure new inventory can easily find themselves with a lot shortage in 2017 and 2018 and sales will suffer as a result. If their pipelines become too depleted they may be forced into paying higher prices for the remaining existing traditional inventory or developing new product to fit the non-traditional finished lot inventory.

Future employment opportunities coming to Tucson will impact housing needs. Caterpillar recently selected Tucson for its regional headquarters and will bring 600 high paying jobs to the area over the next five years. The Rosemont Mine project is nearing its final rounds of government permitting, which if approved, could be another major source of employment for the area. The trickle down effect of these and other upcoming employment announcements will create even more demand for housing, which in turn will create additional demand for land and lots by homebuilders. Look for an active land market in upcoming years.

Please contact Chapman Lindsey or Aaron Mendenhall at 520-747-4000 x102 for additional information.

To see the full report click here: Chapman Lindsey Q1 report