What is Thrive Home Builders Building in Stapleton Now?
Thrive Home Builders is a locally owned builder highly focused on energy efficiency & the health of their buyers. They’ve been a long time builder in the Stapleton community & they’re excited to start selling homes in “North End“, Stapleton’s last neighborhood, starting late this summer.
This post will give you an overview of what home series Thrive Home Builders is building right now in Stapleton. For specifics on individual lot releases, etc. be sure to sign up for the Stapleton Scoop or just reach out to us & let us help you find that perfect home!
Thrive’s 5 Home Series in Stapleton:
“Element” Collection:
Element Income Qualified Town Home in Stapleton
The Element row homes are one of Thrive’s newest series and they were created to help solve the shortage of affordable housing in Stapleton. Thrive is building 165 of these affordable row homes on the north side of Stapleton in Conservatory Green, Willow Park East and Wicker Park. These homes are priced in the low $200k’s for 2 & 3 bedroom homes. Keep in mind that these are income -qualified homes, meaning you as the buyer have to make enough to qualify for the mortgage but you can’t make more than the maximum amount they allow in the affordable housing program either. So the price is very attractive but this program won’t work for everyone.
These Element town homes are roughly 1,200 – 1,300 sf with either 2 or 3 bedrooms depending on the plan. They are two story, with an open concept on the main level (living, dining, kitchen) and the bedrooms are upstairs. They all have 2 car garages and exterior walls that are twice the size of many new homes to increase the insulation and energy efficiency. These homes will not have basements.
Here is where you can see the floor plans and check out the exteriors.
“North End Rows” Collection:
Thrive’s North End Row Series
This series is Thrive’s attached, three story market rate row home series. They’ve been building these 3 story modern row homes in Stapleton for quite a while so you’ve likely seen them before. They have 2-3 bedrooms and range in square footage from approximately 1,200 – 1,650 sf. The homes are very vertical, with a 2 car garage & laundry room on the main level, most of your living space in an open concept layout on the second level and then the bedrooms on the 3rd level. There is a balcony off the main level living space and a patio off the lower level which both make them feel larger. This series does not offer basements.
The likely end price range on these is the low $400k’s depending on which plan you go with and the upgrades you select. (Not sure how to calculate the end price on a new build? You can get answers to questions like that on our New Build FAQ page) These homes will be built in North End, the newest Stapleton neighborhood on the North side of I-70. As of the writing of this post they are sold out in this series so there are no links to show you the plans and current pricing. More info to come soon when they release their first lots in this series in North End.
“Solaris III” Collection:
The Solaris III collection is in the closeout phase, with just a few remaining homes in this series before its complete. In this latest evolution of their long running single family detached home Solaris series they have 3 floor plans available; the Platte, the Speer, and the Merrill. Of the 3 plans only the Speer and the Platte remain at this point. The plans range from roughly 1,800 to 2,100 sf, not including the optional finished basements, and all of them are two story plans. Each home has 3 beds on the upper level and a potential 4th bedroom if you finish the basement. Buyers will love the 10 ft ceilings on the main level, the open concept layout of the homes and the energy efficiency. We personally built in this series and love our home.
This series is being built in the Bluff Lake (Aurora) neighborhood of Stapleton. They had 40 lots in the area and as I mentioned just a few remain. (Not familiar with the Bluff Lake (Aurora) area of Stapleton? Here is a post I did on the area)
In this series the base prices start in the $500k range so you’ll likely end up in the upper $500k’s to the very low $600k’s “all in” once you make all your selections.
Check out the Solaris III floor plans here.
“Vita” Collection:
The Vita collection is a single family home series that Thrive has been building in Beeler Park, which is in Stapleton north of I-70 & just to the east of Dick’s Sporting Good Park. This series is very similar to the one we built with Thrive for our personal home and 6 years into it we’re really happy with our choice. As of the time I’m writing this post Thrive has sold nearly all of their available homes in this series in Beeler Park and they’ll be releasing their first lots in North End this summer.
In this series Thrive is offering 5 plans that range in sf from approximately 1,800 – 2,300, not including the optional finished basements. These plans are very similar to the previous Solaris plans if you were familiar with those in other areas of Stapleton. You can see the floor plans here but note that because they only have Plans 1 and 2 available at the moment those are the only plans that show up on their website. The rest of the plans will be back up online soon when they release lots in North End.
The homes are all two story, they feature fairly open floor plans on the main level where the kitchen, informal dining areas and living rooms are all open to each other. All the homes have 10 ft ceilings on the main level, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and large islands. They also feature 2 car garages and optional finished basements. (Side note: contractors are really expensive right now and hard to find, if you’re going to finish the basement soon I’d suggest doing it with the builder to get it done and have it rolled into your financing) Many of those standard features can be found with other builders, but in addition to all that these homes are also “Zero Energy Ready” (see what that means here if you’re not familiar) and they have an active radon mitigation system, advanced air filtration system and even advanced drywall that absorbs and breaks down formaldehyde! In this series they have stepped up the game on air quality just like they did with energy efficiency in the neighborhood. You’re not going to get all these upgrades on other homes in the area so if you have family members that are sensitive to air quality this could be a great option for you.
These homes have base prices in the low to mid $500k’s so depending on the plan and your upgrades you’ll likely end up with an “all in” price in the high $500k’s to upper $600k’s on homes in this series.
Note that the Vita series, as well as all the other series built by Thrive, will be built using a “package” approach at the design center where you make your finish selections (cabinets, counters, tile, carpet, etc). By package approach I mean you will select one of their various packages that they offer at different price points and within that package you will have your choice of selections to choose from. This somewhat limits the selections you can choose from but it also allows the builder to keep the cost down for your selections which helps your money stretch further at the design center. I just want to mention this upfront because it is a bit of a deviation from how most builders do it. In our experience buyers have valued the simplicity of the approach but it’s not for the buyer that wants to choose every single item that goes into the home from a wide variety of choices. (If I just described you and you want customization Parkwood Homes may be your best option. They are Stapleton’s only semi-custom builder. Learn more here.
“ZEN 2.0” Collection:
Zen 2.0 “PWR” floor plan, my favorite!
In this latest evolution of their super energy efficient single family detached home series they offer three plans, the “AMP”, the “EDG” and the “PWR”. There are two significant differences between this series and their Vita collection. First, these homes are “zero energy now” standard, which means they are built so efficiently & they have so much solar that your monthly bills will be all but eliminated! (all that remains is the little energy company fees that can’t be offset by your solar production. Our past clients say it’s around $40/mth) Second, these homes sit on shallow but wide lots and they provide nice rectangular backyards, whereas the Vita collection lots are narrower but deeper. Although the yards still aren’t large (they typically aren’t in Stapleton by design) they are a nice useful shape which allows you to have a back patio with dining area and a small yard for kids and pets.
These three plans range in sf from approximately 2,100 to 2,550 above grade, not including the optional finished basements. So they are larger plans. They also have very nice included standard finishes, like stainless steel KitchenAid appliances as well as all the indoor air quality innovations that I discussed above in the Vita collection section.
This series has worked really well for a lot of our buyers, in particular because you can have 4 bedrooms upstairs on two of their three floor plans. There aren’t a lot of builders that offer 4 beds upstairs (By the way…the other ones in Stapleton that do right now are Infinity, Parkwood and Wonderland in case you were wondering) and there are a lot of families that desire this bedroom layout.
These homes have base prices in the $600k’s range so all in you’ll likely end up in the very high $600k’s to high $700k’s range depending on your location, finishes, basement finish, etc.
The PWR plan is my favorite, if we were to move to a new Thrive home I think this is the plan that makes the most sense for our family of 5. I love the open layout, tall ceilings, the office, the 4 bedrooms up and the way the home has sliding doors on the front and back of the living room area on the main level.
Here is where you can check out all the floor plans.
Like what you’re seeing so far and think you may want to build a home in Stapleton’s “North End”? Here is the cheat sheet that can help you quickly zone in on which builders fit in your price range:
“Panacea” Collection:
Panacea “Retreat” Model Home in Beeler Park.
The Panacea collection is one of Thrive’s latest collections of single family homes in Stapleton and it’s like no other. This series, which is their largest and grandest to date, showcases all that they’ve learned in energy efficiency and home health . The homes are on larger lots that typically face a green space.
In this series there were only 14 lots available in Stapleton’s Beeler Park neighborhood and as of right now there are only a few left. These homes won’t be built in the first part of North End, the next neighborhood, but they are expected to resurface again in the last part of the neighborhood. So as a buyer if you love this series you may want to snag one of the last ones in Beeler Park or you may be waiting a while.
There are 2 floor plans, each with two elevation options. (which just means two different exterior looks) Check out these two floor plans here. Each home has 3- 6 bedrooms and is well over 3,000 sf above grade. You can actually get these homes close to 5,000 finished sf if you choose to finish the basement. So these are larger and wider than the Thrive homes we’re used to in Stapleton.
The plans come with the zero energy package, which means that your energy bills will be almost entirely wiped out by the energy efficiency upgrades of the home coupled with the large solar array on the roof. That’s hundreds of dollars per month you’d save on a home this size!
The homes all have large open great rooms on the main level, tons of natural light through the large windows, gourmet kitchens, 3 car garages, mudrooms and as I mentioned they will all be located on larger, premium lots that face green spaces and parks.
With base prices around $900k you’re likely all in end cost is probably in the $1.0M – $1.2M range, depending on your lot and upgrade selections. How did I get from a base price of $900k to an all in cost of $1.1M or more? The formula is base price + lot premium (which varies by lot) + structural selections (finished basement, etc) + design center selections (cabinets, flooring, etc). We’re happy to help you through the pricing equation for Thrive or any of the other builders if you’re interested.
The “Retreat” Plan
The first floor plan is called the Retreat plan and it has a base price in the very high $800k’s. I’d check out the floor plan here then if you want to see a quick tour of their model home you can check out this quick Facebook Live tour we did. (It was our first ever so don’t judge!)
This plan has 3,206 sf above grade and can be over 4,400 finished sf if you finish the basement. The main level has a very open great room which opens to a large covered patio. Upstairs you’ll find 3 bedrooms and a loft or you can choose an option to have 4 bedrooms upstairs. The master bedroom has a retreat that bumps out off the room, perfect for just relaxing on your own. (every parent’s dream!) If you finish the basement you can have up to 6 bedrooms.
The “Sanctuary” Plan
The second plan is the Sanctuary plan and it’s the larger of the two. It also has a base price in the very high $800k’s and it’s 3,466 sf above grade and nearly 5,000 sf of finished space if you choose to do the optional finished basement. You can check out the floor plan here then watch the virtual tour here.
On the main floor this home has a large L-shaped great room. So the kitchen is open to the dining area and living room which features a fireplace flanked by huge windows. I love this room! You have to check it out on the virtual tour link above. This home has a covered courtyard patio and a separate patio off the back, giving you several great outdoor spaces. The home also features a large parlor room which can have an optional second fireplace. Upstairs the plan has 3-4 bedrooms if you choose to swap the loft out for the 4th bedroom. If you finish the basement you can have up to 6 bedrooms total.
So there you have it, those are all your home buying options with Thrive Home Builders at the current time in Stapleton. This was just an overview, if you saw something you liked and you want more detailed information we’re here to help. My contact info is below & I’m easy to reach. At Focus Real Estate we don’t have any affiliation with any one builder, we help buyers assess all their home buying options in Stapleton, new and resale, so they make the best decision possible for their unique situation. Let us know if we can be of service!
