I had an opportunity to meet and talk with Lennar Minnesota’s president, Bill Burgess today out at Lennar’s newest neighborhood, The Enclave in Medina, MN. Jeremy Berg, Lennar’s sales agent for the community, was hosting a Realtors Open for fellow agents to be able to come view the new home and neighborhood before it officially opens for the Parade of Homes this Saturday. (BTW, Lennar has already sold three homes in there before the neighborhood was officially opened).
If you haven’t had a chance to get out to see the model at The Enclave, I highly recommend that you do. Lennar seems to have stepped up features, finishing and detailing that will be available for their homes in this neighborhood. Bill and I had a chance to talk about that and how they are really listening to what the customers want and they are responding. Last week I had a chance to take pictures of the ongoing development of Lennar’s The Enclave neighborhood in Medina.
One of the things you’ll notice that is slightly different about The Enclave neighborhood is that there is more attention paid to the front elevation on the homes. While Lennar is the largest U.S. home builder and has massive scale, they have been able to make these homes appear to be a little more custom in the feel you get especially from the front. (Lennar is also by far the largest home builder in Minnesota. Here’s last year’s Top 25 Home Builders in Minnesota list. The new one should be published in the next 3 weeks).
During our conversation we had an opportunity to discuss some of the kinds of products and components Lennar is putting in to these homes. You will notice right as you drive up to the neighborhood that these are not vinyl sided homes. Bill said they have chosen to use LP’s engineered wood for the siding on the homes. From what he said and from what I’ve been able to learn about the product, it looks like it’s an excellent exterior siding which should perform well in Minnesota’s difficult climate. Another thing that you will notice is they have made significant commitments to home automation by their use of Z-Wave technology and Schlage LiNK systems which has just been renamed Nexia Home Solutions. I remember reading some futuristic stories many, many years ago how we would be able to control our homes systems by dialing in from our computers. Well now it can be done from a smart phone!
All builders today are talking green and environmentally friendly design and construction. The trend is clearly in this direction and consumers are demanding it from home builders. (For more on this topic check out Minnesota’s Green Path for home building). The biggest area for being green or environmentally friendly has to do with energy efficiency. All of the homes systems, structure and insulation contribute to the overall energy efficiency of the home. Lennar actually tests each home for its energy efficiency and is given a HERS index. This is just yet another reason why new construction is so appealing to many people today. It’s not just the beautiful finishes, but its the systems that power the home. People feel good about having an energy efficient and environmentally friendly home.
Bill clearly was knowledgable and passionate about the homes and communities they are building in Minnesota. He seemed confident in their product line and believes they are positioned well to meet the needs of many home buying consumers in the Twin Cities. They offer a great value but also with features and finishings that you may not come to expect from a national home builder. He did tell me to be sure to check out their new four home neighborhood on the border of Chanhassen and Victoria where they are bringing back the Lundgren Collection of homes. For those who haven’t been around very long, Lundgren Brothers was a major home builder in the Twin Cities many years ago. They got bought out by U.S. Home which then was purchased by Lennar. Many in the Twin Cities have fond memories of Lundgren and it will be interesting to see how Lennar does when they bring these back. The Lundgren Collection will be their upper bracket custom product. The homes down in Chanhassen and Victoria are just over $1 million.
Bill and Jeremy also shared with me the three new floor plans that they are rolling out in The Enclave. They look like great family friendly plans with lots of thought put in to how people use space in their homes. The floor plans were for large homes – roughly 3100 -3300 finished square feet above grade.
This afternoon was a great opportunity for me to spend some time with a business leader who really is now at the tip of the spear for real estate in Minnesota. Home builders have once again taken their rightful place, finally moving ahead of foreclosures, in leading this market to recovery. As the man in charge of Minnesota’s largest home builder, Bill Burgess has a unique and important perspective on our marketplace.
Which brings me back to how I met Bill in the first place….The Enclave in Medina. It’s in the highly sought after Wayzata School District and it’s back behind historic Uptown Hamel. It may be hard to find, but it’s a nice quiet spot located between Hamel Road and Medina Road on the east side of Hunter. Bill mentioned that they have proposed another development that would tie in to The Enclave and that would be located along Brockton Lane to the east. I have not seen the proposed name of this other development or if it will be a continuation of The Enclave. It appears to be about 100 lots give or take. I believe that is still being worked out with the City of Medina Planning Commission and City Council. This will be on the agenda at this coming Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Spring Meadows has been a smashing success in northwest Plymouth. It is another new neighborhood developed by Dave Gonyea and Jake Walesch from Gonyea Development. (Note: they just announced their newest 128 home neighborhood called Terra Vista – also in the Wayzata School District). The custom home builders include Gonyea Homes, Hanson Builders, LDK Homes, NIH Homes and Homes by Tradition. They are building new homes in Plymouth generally priced between $600,000 – $800,000 (note that does include the lot price). Homes range in size from about 4,000 – 5,000 finished square feet. The lots are a 1/4 to 1/3 acre lots and the lots are priced from about $170,000 – $230,000.
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