Lennar, one of Stapleton’s relatively newer builders, is building their “Generations” collection in the new area called Beeler Park. In this post I’ll explain the benefits of their unique floor plans and give you an update on which plans are available right now in Beeler Park.
Lennar’s “Generations” collection is what they like to call a “home in a home”. It has all the attributes of a normal single family home but it also has an attached private unit that has everything needed for an additional family member to live there, such as a living room, kitchenette, laundry room, bedroom with walk in closet, bathroom and a private entrance!
It seems Lennar’s main target market with this product is families with an aging parent or set of parents who want to stay close but maintain some independence and privacy. As Lennar has built this product around the country they’ve discovered that people have found other great uses for this home in a home including:
- Home office (how nice to be close but have everything you need in your office)
- Nanny or Au Pair living quarters
- Teen hangout
- Special needs child or family member
- Man cave
- Craft room
Lennar will be building 3 floor plans in their Generations collection that they developed specifically for Stapleton and our alley loaded lots. The 3 floor plans each come in one of 3 elevations, Prairie, Shingle or Craftsman. The homes are 3-4 bedrooms and range in size from roughly 2,700 sf to 3,100 sf.
The plans have pretty open concept main levels for the most part, meaning the kitchens are open to living rooms and informal dining rooms in most cases. All of the plans have 3+ beds on the upper level which is appealing for families with young children. Each plan comes with an unfinished basement that has 9 foot ceilings and rough in plumbing but the builder does not offer a finished basement option. Each home has a patio outside but because of the size of the homes, and the standard 3 car garages, there is not much yard to speak of.
Here is a link to all 3 floor plans so you can check them out. (Note their website shows 4 plans right now but they will not be building the Pioneer plan going forward) You can also check out the lot map for Lennar in Beeler Park. Their lots are in blue and highlighted in yellow.
The prices of the homes will be in the low to mid $600k’s. The pricing and design center selection process with Lennar is very different than other builders so it’s worth explaining here so buyers go in with the right expectations.
Lennar includes much more in their standard inclusions than most other builders so there is way less for the buyers to choose from in the upgrade process. This isn’t to say they are better or worse than other builders, it’s just a different, more simplified way of doing things.
For example, all of these homes come with kitchen appliances (including refrigerator), air conditioning, fireplaces, granite in the kitchen and all bathrooms, 20 year prepaid solar lease, and 3 car garages standard. Most if not all of those would be upgrades with other Stapleton builders. Of course you as the buyer are still paying for these via the higher base price.
Once you pick your Lennar home you will make some color selections on items like flooring, countertops, cabinets etc but it’s a much quicker process because there are not a lot of options to choose from compared to a normal design center full of options. So, if a simplified process that is less overwhelming to you is appealing this could be a good fit. But, if that doesn’t describe you and you want more choices Lennar has another option for you. You can choose to do the enhanced options at the design center but that will of course increase the cost of your home.
Here is Lennar’s “Everything’s Included” document if you want to check out the standard inclusions.
If you do have a use for the additional dwelling unit these come with I can see them making a lot of sense. Compare the cost of this home, which provides 2 living solutions for you, to the cost of buying a home and a second home for your additional family member. When you make that comparison I think this option looks pretty appealing, especially given the high prices in the Denver real estate market right now.
Ok so what do you do if you are interested in potentially purchasing one of these Generations homes from Lennar? As of the time I’m writing this post, they have 2 homes available in Beeler Park, the Revelations plan and the Independence plan available for purchase now. These two homes would be complete around July 2017. They anticipate releasing another 7 lots for sale, including all 4 floor plans, in January 2017. Interested buyers should get on their priority list to have the best chance at the home they want.
The Lennar model home is located at 5449 Verbena St Denver, CO 80238. Go by and check it out!
I think this will be a perfect fit for some families and I expect Lennar to continue to do well in the neighborhood. Let me know if I can be of service as a Stapleton based real estate broker.
