Production builders commit to the New Urbanism

Working in traditional neighbor-hoods pushes two companies to build with an eye on the whole street and to collaborate more closely with planners and developers. Houses built by David WeekleyHomes and Saussy Burbank in new urbanist projects in Florida and the Carolinas show how production builders can adapt to the demands of new urbanist neighborhood construction. These companies have adjusted to narrow lots, greater density, traditional architectural styles, simpler floor plans, and pattern books, and both builders express a willingness to build more TNDs in the future. “The constraints have made us better builders,” says Jim Burbank, president of Saussy Burbank. Other production builders are active in new urbanist projects, notably Centex Homes in Northwest Landing, American Heritage Homes in Avalon Park, and DiVosta Homes in Abacoa. But Saussy Burbank and David Weekley Homes stand out because they build in several TNDs simultaneously and are poised to make this kind of work a regular part of their practice. Houston-based David Weekley Homes builds around 3,000 homes annually across the southeastern United States. Over the last four years, the company has built close to 500 homes in Celebration (Orlando, Florida), Daniel Island (South Carolina) and the Village of Baxter (North Carolina). Baxter is being developed by two former Disney executives who established a relationship with David Weekley Homes in Celebration. Saussy Burbank is considerably smaller, building 300 homes a year, primarily in and around its home base of Charlotte, North Carolina. Many municipalities in the area are introducing TND-friendly ordinances, increasing the demand for builders willing to stray from the conventional path. The company’s houses are found in the Lake Davidson Park development in Davidson, in the Village of Baxter, and in the infill project Trinity Heights in Durham – all designed according to new urbanist principles. Both builders had prior experience with conventional planned communities, denser neighborhoods, and some degree of development restrictions – but TNDs represented a more difficult adjustment. Floor plans “Celebration had the highest restrictions we have ever encountered,” says builder David Weekley. “The pattern books set limits for the exteriors, but the biggest challenge was designing interiors that fit the way people live today.” The company’s “split formals” floor plans, with a dining room on the left and a living room to the right of the entrance, fit right in with the more symmetrical, classical elevations, says Bob Rohde, vice president of product. But since many buyers prefer master bedrooms on the first floor, vaulted ceilings, and large windows in the back of the house, David Weekley Homes fought for a compromise. The builder would stay within the guidelines in the front of the house, but asked for leniency on the massing at the rear. Roughly half the company’s homes in Baxter and Celebration feature the “master down” floor plans. Saussy Burbank elected to keep its floor plans as simple and utilitarian as possible. Burbank says neotraditional houses leave little room for incorporating what builders like to call “ the excitement,” the vaulted ceilings, the picture windows, etc. Exterior challenges In conventional subdivisions, David Weekley Homes usually builds on a grade-level slab, and most houses have attached, front-loading garages. In Celebration and other TNDs, the company has had to adjust to raising the slab, building front porches, and paying much greater attention to exterior details such as the proportion of columns. The houses in a traditional neighborhood cannot be viewed in isolation, though, they are parts of a streetscape. So David Weekley Homes had to work closely with architects on how one elevation relates to the ones across the street, on how columns should line up from one house to the next. “These are conversations that we usually don’t have,” Rohde says. Burbank says the narrow lots in Baxter and Lake Davidson Park present the greatest challenge. “It’s a lot more trouble. It’s so tight that everything has to be thought out in greater detail. The street looks much better when tight, but it creates concerns about losing space to utility easements and the like.” Having to fit in a rear loading garage eats up much of the rear yard, and that is a negative for many prospective buyers, Burbank says. “I tell them ‘this is the price you pay for making the project look so good.’” Both builders have clad their traditional neighborhood homes exclusively in HardiPlank. David Weekley homes uses vinyl for their conventional, lower price point homes, but for TNDs the richer look of HardiPlank is the best choice, Rohde says. “We are also required to define a color palette for the street, and we can’t do that with vinyl.” The home models that David Weekley Homes developed for Celebration have not been transferred directly to other TNDs. Architectural styles and lot configurations were different, and the high degree of detailing in Celebration pushed prices to a level that many people won’t pay, Weekley says. The builder sells three kinds of homes in Celebration, ranging in price from $180,000 to $420,000. That reflects a cost of between $100 and $150 per square foot. In Baxter, the company builds 1,600 to 2,200 square-foot homes on 50-foot wide lots, and 2,000 to 2,600 square-foot homes on 65-foot wide lots. Prices range from $199,000 to $275,000. Saussy Burbank, too, has refrained from using the exact same models in different projects. Burbank says the company does a lot of product development in order to avoid repetition. “The product that works best in the neotraditional environment has been developed specifically for that project,” he says. In Lake Davidson Park, Saussy Burbank is building 55 units, using four home models that range in size from 1,300 to 3,000 square feet and sell for $120,000 to $300,000. The spread is narrower in Baxter, where the company offers 14 single family designs and two types of townhomes. Here prices range from $177,000 to $280,000 for homes in the 1,800 to 2,500 square-foot range. “That’s what is nice about working in TNDs – it is possible to work in a lot of different price points without hurting the perception of the project,” Burbank says. Collaboration What does transfer from one project to the next is a new way of doing business. Both builders have learned that creating real neighborhoods means working hand in hand with architects, engineers, and land planners – a group of people production builders rarely deal with on conventional projects. Also required is an open mind. “To work in TNDs, builders have to be comfortable with other architects and planners critiquing their work, and they have to have a willingness to listen,” Weekley says. “We typically buy finished lots from developers,” Burbank says, “so we are very exited about being in communities were we are working closely with the developers who really want to do a good job. There is a lot of pride, and even ego, involved.” The future Ultimately, the continued presence of production builders in new urbanist projects will depend more on financial returns than pride, but David Weekley Homes and Saussy Burbank have no serious complaints about selling traditional homes on smaller lots. While Burbank notes that sales were slower than expected initially, he has found that buyers have responded positively once they had a better idea of what the streets could look like. Rohde acknowledges that building in TNDs is more expensive, but sees consumers becoming more sophisticated about the choices available and willing to pay the premium for buying community rather than just a house. Developers in Texas are now approaching David Weekley Homes to draw on their experience in the New Urbanism, and competing builders, who recognize that traditional homes styles will sell, are copying the company’s approach. However, lacking the experience of working closely with architects and planners committed to the TND concept, some builders bring only a superficial understanding of new urbanist communities to the table. In North Carolina, Burbank sees other production builders taking notice of TNDs, but only grudgingly. “They have their product, it’s been successful and customers are happy with it,” he says. “They are not yet embracing this being thrust upon them by the new zoning ordinances.”