Getting your player ready...
Any preconception you may have of what age-55-plus buyers look like disappears faster than spring snow when you meet those who are buying into the low-maintenance lifestyle of Verona, west of Lucent Parkway on County Line Road in Highlands Ranch. Mike Luby, who with wife Terri have been in their new townhome overlooking McLellan Reservoir about a month now, took his bike out on the Highline Canal last Saturday, rode five miles west to Chatfield Reservoir, then turned north up the Platte River Greenway, all the way into the REI store LoHi. Roundtrip back to Verona, 40 miles.
Even more telling is where the Lubys moved from: Not Highlands Ranch nor Littleton, but Denver’s Washington Park – one of those popular center-city neighborhoods that rarely lose anyone to the suburbs. The 6,500-square-foot home the couple built there in 2008 was looking big now, and Terri Luby, who had always wanted more of a view, did the first cut at looking for alternatives. “She really didn’t find anything that was interesting,” recalls Mike Luby. “This is the only one with the view and the quality.” The scarcity of product designed for buyers who want to lock-n-leave, spend more time traveling, is even clearer than that, says Miles Grant, veteran builder who is managing Verona’s construction. “You figure that nationally, some 10,000 baby-boomers are turning 65 years old every day of the year now,” Grant notes. “Realtors tell me that they can’t find anything like this in the area, active adult or single-level. In some older low-maintenance enclaves, homes don’t even make it onto the MLS before they sell.” That explains why although you can still see lots of options for becoming part of Verona this weekend, you won’t see anything you can move into right away, and just four homes later this year. “That’s okay,” says Mark Lifpitz, who with Sue Camera will show you four Manor ranch-style luxury condo models today, along with a ‘Capello’ ranch townhome. “It gives people the opportunity to purchase now and get situated, downsize and do all the things you need to do.” Meanwhile, older homes in south metro Denver are selling rapidly. A couple that purchased a condo in Verona the day before, Lifpitz adds, had already sold and moved out of their home, settling into apartment life while waiting for their place in Verona to be completed. You’ll see where Verona is getting set to release a new building of those fast-selling Manor condos, from $324,900 (one can deliver this year). But if it’s a super-roomy townhome overlooking the Highline Canal that you’re after, like the Lubys have, you need to get going and see three underway for 2014 delivery, from the last six townhomes that will be built. One of those is a “Capello” ranch plan – from $534,900. Mike Luby notes that one of the things that brought him around to Verona was a willingness to accept changes in the way homes are personalized. In the Lubys’ case, that meant building an extra level onto their unit, eating up some vaulted space over the entertaining level to create an extra guest bedroom for four visiting grandkids, who are arriving from Nebraska for Easter weekend. Lifpitz and Camara will also show tell you about the planned pool center that’s scheduled for construction later this year; and the near ideal access onto the Highline trail. To visit Verona’s models (cookies and coffee today and tomorrow; closed Easter Sunday), take C-470 to Lucent, turn north to County Line Road, and left a half mile.
