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A PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMER WALKS INTO A NEW-HOME SALES center. A sales consultant is sitting at a desk, talking on the phone. He looks up from his call, covers the mouthpiece, and says, “Brochures are on the counter, and the models are to the left. If you have any questions, just let me know.”
Special Focus: Interior Architechture.
BEST POWDER ROOM—REMODELED HOME
BEST MASTER BATH IN A CUSTOM HOME
BEST KITCHEN IN A SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED CUSTOM HOME—3,000 TO 5,000 SQUARE FEET
BEST KITCHEN IN A SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED REMODELED HOME—LESS THAN 3,000 SQUARE FEET
BEST KITCHEN IN A SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED REMODELED HOME—3,000 TO 5,000 SQUARE FEET
BEST KITCHEN IN A SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED CUSTOM HOME—OVER 5,000 SQUARE FEET
BEST KITCHEN IN A SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED REMODELED HOME—LESS THAN 3,000 SQUARE FEET; SPECIAL FOCUS—CUSTOM DETAILS
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Make no mistake about it. if the winners of this year's Watermark Awards are any indication, the official rules that once governed the “wet areas” of the house are no longer. We're talking wood floors in a master bath (gasp!). Traditional kitchen cabinetry schemes deconstructed and rearranged to...
The BUILDER 100 companies weren't the only builders growing quickly during 2005. The average Next 100 company closed 495 homes during the year, up from 469 in 2004, and grossed $192 million, $42 million more than its 2004 take. Next 100 builders are well seasoned, too, averaging 23 years in...
A quick looks at the 2006 Builder 100.
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Without a doubt, 2005 was the year to be a condo developer. Just look at the Novare Group's year-end performance. The Atlanta-based condo developer set a company record with 1,486 starts, breaking ground on four significant properties. “In 2005, we were in ramp-up mode, working on a lot more...
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“You hate to win that way,” says one HUD-code producer, summarizing the sentiments of many manufacturers who saw a bounce in HUD-code unit orders in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The FEMA orders for temporary housing totaled approximately 20,000, boosting manufacturers' numbers for 2005 to...
When it closed 250 homes two years ago, Altmann-Ott Homes ranked as Reno, Nev.'s fifth-largest builder. But this western market of 200,000 people, which issues around 5,000 permits per year, has since become a magnet attracting national builders, several of which “are finding ways to get 500 homes...
During his 20 years with Jim Walter Homes, Lane Caves has observed the builder's ups and downs, including a leveraged buyout, a bankruptcy reorganization, and several acquisitions. Jim Walter Homes' calling card has been on-your-lot construction, although recently it has diversified into land...
Alan Goldsticker likens his Indianapolis division to a “good, solid growth fund.” Old reliable, he calls it.
In the late 1980s, Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Co. was delivering 5,000 homes per year. But over the next several years, the Federal Way, Wash.–based company would undergo a downsizing transformation that, in retrospect, put it in a better position to expand today.
When Barry McCarron started with Hovnanian in 1984, the company was using a mere eight floor plans in New Jersey to build townhomes and two- to three-story condominiums.
Jeff Mezger built his first house when he was about 12 years old. He got the wood and steel from his dad, a Chicago-area builder.
For Pulte, the 1990s were characterized by the company's feverish expansion of its geographical footprint. In that decade, Pulte's market total went from about 15 to 40. COO Steven Petruska's career path reflects that expansion.
With home building operations in 77 markets across 26 states—which generated 51,383 new homes last year—D.R. Horton can get a good read on the health of the housing market. “There are pockets of weakness. For certain, 2006 will be a more challenging year for the industry and for D.R. Horton,” says...
It seems safe to say that an increase is no longer in doubt. When that story was written, the BUILDER 100's market share stood at 24 percent. Today it's 36.57 percent, with the top 10 builders capturing nearly 21 percent on their own. Some prognosticators think that the largest 10 will soon account...
Over the years, more than a thousand home and apartment building companies have ranked among the top 100 builders in our annual list. But just 11 have made the cut every year: Centex Corp., Hovnanian Enterprises, Jim Walter Homes, KB Home, Lennar Corp., M.D.C. Holdings, NVR, Pulte Homes, The Ryland...
AFTER LONG MONTHS OF PLANNING, THE FIRST-ever Habitat for Humanity Home Builders Blitz is nearly ready to begin. One thousand builders are set to participate in the blitz, which will construct more than 500 houses at 158 sites across the country during the week of June 5. While most Habitat houses...
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THE RED-HOT HOUSING MARKET HAS DEFINITELY lost some of its sizzle. That's confirmed by the latest American Institute of Architects (AIA) Home Design Survey billings index, which tracks quarterly business conditions in 600 U.S. residential architecture firms.
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THE CITY OF MIAMI HAS BEEN working with local builders and developers on an innovative land-exchange program aimed at making a dent in the market's affordable-housing shortage, which a new study claims is spreading throughout South Florida.
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MOVE OVER, INFINITY TUBS AND WARMING drawers. Elevators are fast becoming the new status symbol in residential design.
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ONE DRAWBACK OF A TRADITIONAL PLUMBING store or big-box retail outlet is that a buyer cannot actually see how a toilet or a faucet works. Plumbing giant Kohler has changed that: The company has opened its first freestanding store in the Chicago Merchandise Mart's LuxeHome.
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IN AN UNUSUAL MOVE FOR A home builder, the Washington division of Brookfield Homes has told Prince William County, Va., officials that it will finance in excess of $100 million in road and railroad repairs in exchange for project approval of a mixed-use development near the Nissan Pavilion in...
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- Consumer brands company Fortune Brands agrees to acquire building products company SBR
- N.J. Supreme Court hears case to determine whether munciplaties can use eminent domain to aquire and preserve open space.
- CEO of publicly-held William Lyon Homes proposes to take company private through...
MOHAVE COUNTY, ARIZ., IS A CERTIFIABLE desert, but it boasts 158 square miles of water, including Lake Havasu and other parts of the Lake Mead National Recreational Area. That gives many the impression that there's plenty of water to support new development. But they couldn't be more wrong.
ALTHOUGH OCCUPIED FOR MORE THAN 10,000 YEARS BY Native Americans known as the Chumash, Santa Barbara was formally founded in 1782 as the site of a new presidio, one of a chain of forts built to protect Spain's interests along the California coast.
THE MCMANSION IS dead! Long live the Jewel Box! Or so the housing industry tea leaves read to those looking beyond the next gated community. Whether driven by rising construction costs, shrinking lot sizes, increased urban infill, or aging baby boomers demanding high style in smaller footprints...
WHY IT WORKED: Located in the much-coveted West Bloomfield school district, Harbor Village exudes the easy charm of a small town in otherwise bustling Oakland County, Mich. The only TND in Keego Harbor, the community has broad appeal to first-time buyers, empty-nesters, and families.
WHY IT WORKED: Deriving its name from the Spanish word for enchantment, this handsome enclave of 37 semi-custom homes is nestled amid rolling hills on the first and second fairways of a par 70 golf course. With year-round balmy weather and proximity to San Diego's prime beaches, it's the stuff that...
Q: My building department says that parts of my house plans—such as the walls next to the garage-door openings—don't meet wall-bracing rules. How can I address these requirements?
Small builders who typically erect 10 to 12 houses a year, Tumolo Building of Saline, Mich., and Fenton, Mich.–based Majestic Partners are working together on Mystic Ridge with the slightly larger Ann Arbor Builders of Ann Arbor, Mich. To do so, they must drop a formerly competitive stance. By...