Regent Homes segues over to Burkitt Place
THE TENNESSEAN • April 29, 2009
Although new home construction in some places might be taking a hiatus due to the ailing economy, one local builder is taking on more.
Regent Homes, which has built homes in the mixed use community of Lenox Village, is now building some of the homes at nearby Burkitt Place.
"We've built out all of the lots we have for single-family detached homes in Lenox Village," said Dave McGowan, president of Regent Homes. But Burkitt Place has a similar section that has not been built out.
"We talked to them about going into that community and secured a contract for 24 lots," he said.
The first homes will range from $230,000 to the $280,000s, all with Hardie cement siding and a brick or stone combination.
Half will have fenced-in, alley-loaded garages, and the other half will have street-loaded garages.
McGowan said Regent also plans to introduce a bungalow series priced in the $250,000s designed for empty nesters. These would be one- or one-and-a-half-story with attached or detached garages.
McGowan said the company had found that a lot of empty nesters are looking to live in that area. He expects about 60 percent of Burkitt Place buyers to be empty nesters.
"It's a nice community, and it's a real convenient location," he said.
Young, professional, two-income families are the company's other target. McGowan said a community like this is attractive because it's an easy commute.
"We're really excited about adding them to our group of builders," said Rob Pease, project manager with CPS Land, the project's developer. "We think they're a natural fit for the community."
Pease said builders at Burkitt Place and at CPS's other communities are responding to the shaky economy by trying to appeal to more buyers.
"They have adjusted their offering to meet what seems to be a change in the market and in the economy," he said. For example, many builders are offering same quality of construction but less square footage to attract more buyers.
This change might be a little more pronounced in the high-end market. But, said Pease, "we're seeing it everywhere."
McGowan said he's not worried about the economy affecting Regent's plans at Burkitt Place or elsewhere.
"We found it to be a very steady, stable market," he said of Burkitt Place. "It's a growing, popular area" with positive job growth, he said.
Also, Regent has chosen to build in the Davidson County portion of Burkitt Place rather than the Williamson County portion, thereby avoiding the impact fees builders in Williamson County have to pay.
McGowan said Regent, which has been building in southeast Davidson County for years, tries to go into underserved markets and study their needs.
Many of Regent's buyers are well off and have equity in their homes, but they are looking to downsize, said McGowan. They want something that's low maintenance and allows for easy mobility.
"We know what's important to them and what's not," he said. "It's about identifying what that buyer wants and what price point he wants."
News, interests, info and tips about the Real Estate Market in Middle Tennessee. Our Focus is the Nashville area, both Williamson and Davidson County and the surrounding areas of Franklin, Brentwood, Spring Hill, Thompson's Station, Hendersonville, Leipers Fork, Belle Meade, Nolensville, the Cool Springs area and the Vanderbilt area
May 4, 2009
Plan cuts Cool Springs commutes
THE TENNESSEAN • April 22, 2009
FRANKLIN — While downtown motorists are being rerouted all around town to avoid ongoing construction projects, there's better news for those who frequent Cool Springs.
A new traffic signal timing program has reduced drive times in that area by up to 45 percent, according to city officials.
That's compared to last October, when new timing patterns for 23 Cool Springs traffic signals were first enacted, the result of an $89,150 traffic study that evaluated morning, noon and evening peak periods.
During December, engineers installed new timing patterns for the Christmas season. In February, a second phase of timing patterns were begun to handle average weekday traffic loads.
City officials say the changes have reduced traffic delays as well as vehicle emissions.
Before the study, a motorist attempting to drive the entire 23-intersection study area during a weekday could have faced up to 25.2 minutes in delays. Today, that time has been cut down to 18.5 minutes, according to a report by consultants Kimley-Horn and Associates.
"This study confirms the need to continue this program not only in Cool Springs, but other parts of the city as well," said Kevin Comstock, project manager. "I think the nation as a whole sees this as a positive aspect to traffic, that we can actually reduce delays and fuel consumption with timed traffic signals."
The new report says the city's traffic signals should be retimed every three years.
"The study suggests the city will continue to benefit over the next few years if we continue to research and calibrate our timing based on traffic studies such as this," said Eric Stuckey, city administrator.
The city began its ongoing traffic counts and Congestion Management Program back in 2006.
City officials are also slated to receive $550,000 in federal stimulus money to spend on the city's Intelligent Transportation System traffic project.
The project would add a number of traffic improvements such as greater synchronization, cameras and message boards.
FRANKLIN — While downtown motorists are being rerouted all around town to avoid ongoing construction projects, there's better news for those who frequent Cool Springs.
A new traffic signal timing program has reduced drive times in that area by up to 45 percent, according to city officials.
That's compared to last October, when new timing patterns for 23 Cool Springs traffic signals were first enacted, the result of an $89,150 traffic study that evaluated morning, noon and evening peak periods.
During December, engineers installed new timing patterns for the Christmas season. In February, a second phase of timing patterns were begun to handle average weekday traffic loads.
City officials say the changes have reduced traffic delays as well as vehicle emissions.
Before the study, a motorist attempting to drive the entire 23-intersection study area during a weekday could have faced up to 25.2 minutes in delays. Today, that time has been cut down to 18.5 minutes, according to a report by consultants Kimley-Horn and Associates.
"This study confirms the need to continue this program not only in Cool Springs, but other parts of the city as well," said Kevin Comstock, project manager. "I think the nation as a whole sees this as a positive aspect to traffic, that we can actually reduce delays and fuel consumption with timed traffic signals."
The new report says the city's traffic signals should be retimed every three years.
"The study suggests the city will continue to benefit over the next few years if we continue to research and calibrate our timing based on traffic studies such as this," said Eric Stuckey, city administrator.
The city began its ongoing traffic counts and Congestion Management Program back in 2006.
City officials are also slated to receive $550,000 in federal stimulus money to spend on the city's Intelligent Transportation System traffic project.
The project would add a number of traffic improvements such as greater synchronization, cameras and message boards.
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