Courtesy Drees Homes

Northern Kentucky–based Drees Homes—No. 41 on the 2024 Builder 100—recently announced the company is expanding its build-on-your-lot operations and renaming the program to “Elevate by Drees Homes.” This focused expansion revolves around plans related to the company’s approaching centennial celebration in 2028.

Since its inception, Drees’ build-on-your-lot program has gained popularity across suburbs and redevelopment opportunities alike. It is currently offered in seven out of the 10 metros where Drees is currently active, including Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Nashville, Raleigh, Austin, and Dallas.

To learn more about how the production builder also juggles more custom-like projects, BUILDER spoke with Dan Jones, executive vice president of home building operations at Drees. He details the history of the program, the benefits of this offering, along with its challenges, and more on the company’s plans ahead of its centennial.

Courtesy Drees Homes

What’s the history of Drees’ build-on-your-lot program?

In the early 2000s, we embarked on the build-on-your-lot venture in specific markets, achieving notable success, especially within our Indianapolis and Nashville divisions. We continued leveraging this aspect of our business and subsequently extended the offering to additional metropolitan areas, including Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Raleigh, Austin, and Dallas.

How many build-on-your-lot homes has the company built?

Over the past two decades, Drees Homes has constructed nearly 2,000 homes through its build-on-your-lot program.

Why did the company choose to go this route, in addition to building production homes and communities?

Elevate by Drees Homes allows us to expand our volume while leveraging our existing floor plans and compete more directly with custom home builders, providing consumers with a streamlined selection process and more efficient construction timeline.

Is there a build-on-your-lot division within the company? How did Drees set it up operationally?

Among our 10 metropolitan areas, seven provide build-on-your-lot services. In each division, a dedicated management team, led by a local general manager, oversees both sales and construction.

Courtesy Drees Homes

What are the benefits to offering this option for your buyers?

Leveraging the company’s legendary craftsmanship and 95-plus years of expertise, Drees strives to have homes delivered in less time and at a fraction of the price when compared to the traditional custom home builder. This program offers home buyers a number of advantages, including free site analysis, firm contract pricing, and a one-stop selections process. Additionally, we buy the home site and finance construction, so home buyers don’t need a separate construction loan.

What are the biggest challenges with build on your lot? How has the company overcome them?

In areas with high demand, securing available home sites remains a challenge. With our build-on-your-lot program, we’re able to assist home buyers with redevelopment, helping them build their ideal vision of home while staying in their location of choice despite there being limited opportunities.

We also tackled the issue of inconsistent naming conventions for our build-on-your-lot services throughout the company. The name “Elevate by Drees Homes” (or Drees Custom Homes in Texas) helps unify all divisions with this offering under one brand while also leveraging the existing reputation of the Drees name.

What does the Elevate expansion entail?

This expansion revolves around plans related to our upcoming centennial celebration in 2028 and focuses specifically on growing our build-on-your-lot operations by at least 50% in relevant markets. Through this program, Drees empowers home buyers to move beyond traditional subdivisions, constructing their dream homes on cherished land, within upscale custom communities or in historic neighborhoods.

The build-on-your-lot offering has gained popularity across suburbs and redevelopment opportunities alike. It is currently offered in seven out of the 10 metros where Drees is currently active, including Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Nashville, Raleigh, Austin, and Dallas.

As part of our growth strategy, we intend to create a new corporate director position. This role will be responsible for overseeing and supporting all divisions that provide the build-on-your-lot service.

Anything else to share ahead of Drees’ centennial celebration in 2028?

As we near our centennial, we eagerly anticipate both commemorating our history and embracing our promising future. Over the past few years, we’ve achieved significant milestones, including recognition as one of the Best Managed Companies in the U.S., a program sponsored by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal, certification as a Great Place to Work, and inclusion on Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Construction list. As we approach our 2028 milestone, we’ve established a number of ambitious goals that will propel us to new heights as we kick off our second century in business.