Hugh, I'm curious as to who they marketing the houses at Park Place in Malta to? $300,000+, with NO yard. Seems like they are cramming as big a house as possible there. Highpointe has very little yard space also, as compared to the houses in the Forest. Park Place is taking the yard space a step further than HighPointe though. Are there really families out there that would buy a house that size with no place for their kids to play in, or are these houses being built for couples with no kids?

The designs appear to be in the new urbanist fashion, with smaller front yard setbacks and parking/garages in the rear. In this school of thought, lawns are seen as almost unnecessary and even wasteful. I had thought park place was going to have a large common greenspace for people to enjoy, a "collective" lawn, if you will. More of a "city" or "village" type atmosphere than a suburban, lawn/car-centric atmosphere we have grown accustomed to.

quote:

Originally posted by Planner29:
The designs appear to be in the new urbanist fashion, with smaller front yard setbacks and parking/garages in the rear. In this school of thought, lawns are seen as almost unnecessary and even wasteful. I had thought park place was going to have a large common greenspace for people to enjoy, a "collective" lawn, if you will. More of a "city" or "village" type atmosphere than a suburban, lawn/car-centric atmosphere we have grown accustomed to.

Who is the intended buyer? Imagine buying a large expensive house and not having any lawn space for a BBQ with friends, etc...no privacy either. The houses are on top of each other. I guess possibly people from a city who are used to not having a lawn. Seems kinda strange in a suburban community though. Wonder if this will be the next St Ledger Woods...no sales taking place there either.

Why are you people acting so surprised that these homes are on such small lots? You seem to forget that's what this "new" design for Malta is all about. A small city. Cities don't have big lawns. Look at, for example, Saratoga Springs. None of those homes have big lawns. This is what Malta will look like except the homes will be newer. This is how cities are built.

As far as I know there are a number of builders who will be building 100's (Not just Park Place) of new homes in and around Luther Forest. My expectation is they expect a large increase in demand with the tech park arriving. But we are still a few years away, as I see Ellsworth is finally breaking ground as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Hugh Brown:
As far as I know there are a number of builders who will be building 100's (Not just Park Place) of new homes in and around Luther Forest. My expectation is they expect a large increase in demand with the tech park arriving. But we are still a few years away, as I see Ellsworth is finally breaking ground as well.

Hugh,

What do you think of the set up of Park Place. $300,000+ houses with practically no yard. There is a market for these houses?

eventually yes, but it will be a while. Like a few years.