National builders have grown larger in recent years through a host of mergers and acquisitions. But local and smaller regional builders want to expand, too. At a time when access to capital has increased, here are a few ways they're fueling that growth.
Across the country, builders, developers, and their marketing professionals are fine-tuning the events that surround the opening of condominiums, age-restricted communities, and single-family neighborhoods.
Joe Pusateri has found a passion for improving lives in Louisville—and abroad.
The Hearthstone Builder Awards pay tribute to builders like Webb and Pusateri, who improve their communities through their dedication to charitable work.
WHEN A RETIRED COUPLE approached Connecticut architect Tony Terry about designing a house for them in the Gothic-Revival style, they found a very willing—and hardworking—partner. That's because it's unusual for an architect to be able to sink his teeth into a 19th-century style that's so rarely done these days and that's so rich with signature touches.
IT'S NOT UNUSUAL FOR BUILDERS TO PUT UP HOUSES THAT carry out a theme, but it can be a tricky design challenge. Get all the details just right, and you've got a winner. Miss the mark, and you could end up with an exaggerated design that looks out of place in its surroundings.
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Participation in the NHQ certification programs is designed to foster consistency and quality in building practices.
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- The NAHB and Freddie Mac sponsor a daylong symposium on workforce housing.
- The NAHB extolls a new federal regulation to urge that the habitat of threatened and endangered species be preserved.
- The NAHB's Remodeling Marketing Index (RMI) posts a strong third quarter in 2004, thanks to low interest rates and solid consumer confidence.
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The rise of open-plan kitchens and lofts is one possible explanation for the faucet's ascension in the product ranks.
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Builders are still expressing optimism about their industry.
The obstacle to more people moving into hip, modernistic homes isn't a matter of not enough demand. It's a matter of cost.
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A bad first month on the job can undermine employee longevity.
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HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL HAS begun building the first of roughly 30,000 transitional houses in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand for victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami.
THE HOUSING INDUSTRY LOST a longtime and beloved leader last month when Richard Brown, founder and CEO of Libertyville, Ill.–based Cambridge Homes passed away.
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Strapped for cash as the war in Iraq continues to eat away at military budgets, the U.S. Navy has just transferred maintenance duties for 4,000 of its northwest housing units to Dallas-based American Eagle Communities.
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The U.S. Census Bureau says that the average household size slipped to 2.57 people in 2003 from 3.14 in 1970. According to “America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2003,” one-third of households have only two members. Experts attribute the drop in household size to changes in divorce and mortality rates, the aging population, a decline in fertility, and delayed marriage plans.
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IF YOU WALK THROUGH MOST NEW SUBDIVISIONS today, you'll see house after house clad in typical colors such as sand, almond, and white—perfectly fine, perfectly boring. Home buyers who want to shake things up can now turn to Pittsburgh-based Alcoa Home Exteriors, which has introduced a new color program and a new Web-based design center that is sure to satisfy even the most eccentric taste.
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AN EFFORT 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING HAS RESULTED in a redesign of the way the federal government classifies metropolitan areas. In light of population shifts, metro areas will no longer be compared using such terms as consolidated metropolitan statistical areas (CSMAs), primary metropolitan statistical areas (PSMAs), and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). In their place, the federal Office of Management and Budget has defined 361 metropolitan statistical areas and 573 micropolitan statistical areas that can be grouped into 123 combined statistical areas.
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When the Archdiocese of Boston announced plans to close 60 of its churches in Eastern Massachusetts last May (see “From Altar to Alcove,” September 2004), parishioners cried and wrote letters of protest, but ultimately, most of them have been left to find new houses of worship.
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The Jacksonville, Fla., division of Mercedes Homes recently donated 2,300 new books to a local drive to collect and distribute one million books to area children. The literacy campaign, which is spearheaded by Mayor John Peyton, targets young children, especially those from low-income families, to promote a love of books and to help them start kindergarten ready to learn to read.
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THE COUNTY COUNCIL IN HARFORD COUNTY, Md., voted to stop approving plans for seniors housing for 90 days last December to study if home builders are constructing seniors housing to bypass a law that limits residential growth in overcrowded school districts.
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IF YOU'RE ONE OF THE THOUSANDS of builders who uses paper-faced greenboard as a tiling substrate in showers and tub surrounds, things are about to change.
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Got a NIMBY problem? For help, check out NIMBYism: Navigating the Politics of Local Opposition, a new book by Michael C. Thomsett. It's available for $24.95 at www.centerlinemedia.com.
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The Texas Residential Construction Commission has proposed the state's first official standards and warranties for new-home construction. Divided into three sections, the standards cover components that are subject to minimum workmanship and materials warranties of one, two, and 10 years. Previously, Texas builders worked under a system of implied warranties; the state lacked an agency to field complaints and enforce regulations
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Neumann Homes, a top-five builder in Chicago, solidified its standing in the Midwest with the January acquisition of Troy, Mich.–based Tadian Homes. In 2004, Tadian closed more than 500 units and booked about $150 million in revenue. With the purchase, Neumann expects to close more than 2,400 units in 2005. Dennis Bailey, longtime president of Tadian, will remain with the company, running what will be known as Neumann's Michigan division. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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The business community won a round last December when the Bush administration restored a Clinton-era policy known as “no surprises.” Under the rule, federal agencies can assure home builders as well as timber and mining companies that once a Habitat Conservation Plan is approved, the government cannot impose additional conservation measures, except in limited circumstances that the parties could predict when the plan was originally agreed upon. The home builders see the move as essential to balancing environmental protection with the need for affordable housing, while environmentalists say “no surprises” will put endangered species at greater risk.
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Over the next 20 years, at least one-quarter of all American households is likely to seek housing near transit, according to the Federal Transit Administration. Cities such as Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Ore., and San Francisco will offer the biggest increases in housing demand near mass transit stops. The National Association of Realtors predicts this will be the biggest shift in housing since Americans flocked to the suburbs after World War II.
Affordable housing ranks highly among the concerns of households nationwide.