Getting your player ready...
Even if you don’t hit the little white ball, the undulating fairways of Jim Engh-designed Red Hawk Ridge Golf Course in Castle Rock look enticing this spring – their lush hummocks wandering into vales wrapped in Gambel oak. Last year only a limited number of buyers were feeling the confidence in the market to come see homes along those emerald expanses – but that’s changed drastically now – and Red Hawk’s builder Lennar Homes is ramping up to meet that demand.
Just since January, Lennar has sold 19 of its premium series homes at Red Hawk – almost as many as during all of 2011. “This is like the market five years ago,” says Lennar’s Jeff Ellis, who’ll show you three value-packed models; some new sites with choices of golf or mountain views; and the first of a series of luxury homes Lennar is bringing to market to meet that demand. That includes a ‘Pembroke’ plan – five bedrooms, four baths, full-width 3-car garage, on a site so close to Red Hawk’s no. 2 green that Ellis says you could drop trout lure into the hole from your back deck. It’s priced at $466,100 and will be ready for move-in by August. Even during the slower years, these were the fastest selling homes in the premium area around the popular, city-owned course, with its attractive clubhouse poised beneath a butte a few blocks from Lennar’s models, overlooking a large water feature. Ellis and Lennar’s Marc Gonzales note that Castle Rockers, who like to stay inside city limits when they make a move up, are hip to some tax advantages that end up rewarding buyers who stay within Red Hawk’s master plan, as opposed to surrounding new home areas. Meanwhile, Ellis notes, Lennar is now drawing buyers from a much wider pool – many of them coming from areas like Highlands Ranch, who are trading denser surroundings for Castle Rock’s views and open feel, and a commute into the Denver Tech Center that’s much more appealing with improvements on I-25 that weren’t there the last time the market was brisk. Ellis and Gonzales will also show you the premier version of Lennar’s ‘Everything’s Included’ package that comes with all of those homes Lennar is readying – including slab granite; staggered cabinets; hardwood floors in kitchen, nook and entry; and a home automation package that lets you run locks and lights from your iPad. Take I-25 south to Meadows Parkway at the Factory stores, head west 1.7 miles, past Prairie Hawk, to Low Meadow; then left 0.3 mi. to Black Canyon, turn right three blocks to Mashie Circle. If you go… WHERE: Red Hawk Ridge by Lennar, 2-5 bedroom family and ranch plans in golf course community, new golf and walkout sites, Otis Spunkmeyer cookies & refreshments. 2705 Mashie Cir., Castle Rock; take I-25 south to Meadows Pkwy (Factory Stores), west 1.7 miles, past Prairie Hawk, to Low Meadow; left 0.3 mi. to Black Canyon; right 3 blocks to Mashie Cir. PRICE: From the $362,400
