Getting your player ready...
ON THE HOME FRONT By Mark Samuelson
Why has Stapleton ranked as the best-selling community in Colorado, for three years running? Talk to residents in Stapleton about that and they’ll repeatedly come back to the same intangible factor – a feeling of community. “It was that sense of community that pulled us into Stapleton,” says Nick Evans, project manager at Dish Network who with wife Megan bought a new home near Stapleton’s newest recreation center last year, after having rented for a year in Stapleton.
“We’d looked from Lakewood to Littleton,” he recalled of their move to Colorado from the Midwest, to be closer to mountain hiking. “Stapleton had a charm of knowing your neighbors.” The pair seamlessly meshed with the fabric of Stapleton life; and they’ve now put up a popular website that tracks the lineup of community events here (mayoral candidates’ forum last week, huge Earth Day celebration next Saturday at Bluff Lake on Sand Creek Greenway).
“Around 30% of our buyers are coming from older Denver neighborhoods like Park Hill, Mayfair, Montclair and Crestmoor,” said Carol Moerman, sales rep for David Weekley Homes in Stapleton. “They’re living in smaller homes and start to have a family, and need more kitchen space and closet space. Here they get that in a new neighborhood that has the same sense of community they had in the older area they came from.”
To prove the point, Moerman took me up the block and introduced me to Chris and Renee Porter, who had thought about adding onto their older 2-bed, single-bath home in Mayfair, before making the jump to three bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths and double-the-space in Stapleton. That very evening, Renee said, the couple would be babysitting for a couple a few houses up; and then getting the favor returned on their own two kids Friday night, when they had a date night planned.
Meanwhile, with another 83 sales since January (37 during March alone) Stapleton’s builders are readying for multiple openings of new models late this month in the community’s newest neighborhood, Central Park West. “In this kind of market, people sometimes feel they need permission to buy,” says Tasha Jones, with Forest City, Stapleton’s master developer. “If you look at all of the intangibles that add to the value here – the sense of connectedness, the walkability and bike-ability of Town Center and other amenities, it’s really a great time to take advantage of that added value.” To see homes by many builders, take MLK east from Quebec Street north of Town Center, ½-mile to Central Park Blvd and turn north; or check StapletonDenver.com for a list of openings.
If you go…
WHERE: Pre-sales underway now in Stapleton’s newest neighborhood, Central Park West, by eight builders; accessible to 24 parks, 4 rec centers, and dining in Stapleton’s Town Center. Take Martin Luther King east from Quebec, ½-mi. to Central Park Blvd. and turn left (north) to E. 35th
PRICE: From low $100s; single-family homes from low $200s
WHEN: Today and daily, 10 until 6 p.m.
WEB: StapletonDenver.com
