Getting your player ready...
With retirement living becoming more and more of a draw in Colorado, older buyers can now pick from numbers of enclaves oriented toward single-level, low-maintenance living accompanied by club-style amenities. But with prices rising rapidly, there’s only one place where you can still buy a new single-family ranch for under $300,000.
That would be at Fairway Villas, Oakwood Homes age-55-plus community beside Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, off E. 56th Avenue a mile east of the DIA freeway. Today, Oakwood Homes releases five new sites at Fairway Villas, ones that carry discounted site premiums – and on some you could take Oakwood’s lowest priced home at $296,300 and build it out with no options, for under $300,000. How long will that opportunity last? “Not long,” says Oakwood’s Trishell MacDonald, who will sign you up for one of those lots today; or show you two homes ready right now. Oakwood has a price increase scheduled for March 1 – but that’s only one of the factors likely to make this a rare opportunity as the market moves deeper into the year. “Fairway Villas’ prices have always been a huge value compared to age-55-plus communities in other parts of the metro area,” MacDonald adds. “Too many good things are arriving at DIA and Peña Boulevard now, and prices are likely to be affected.” Those include Commuter Rail service between LoDo’s Union Station and the airport opening late April; and the new Gaylord Rockies Resort and a sustainable Panasonic work-live hub under development nearby. Residential development in the northeast corridor along the new rail line is proving to be some of the most popular in all of metro Denver. “It’s a great community,” says John Turn, who with wife Mary Ann moved from California and bought a home in Fairway Villas last year. They were part of a crowd of 70 residents who packed Fairway Villas’ clubhouse last week to watch the Super Bowl – one of dozens of events arranged there over the year by a fulltime activities director. She coordinates club activities that range from water sports in indoor-outdoor pools, to hiking, to cooking, to knock-around golf. You can tour Oakwood’s unique ranch designs – all with an upstairs ‘Smart Space’ included that provides additional room for an office or hobby area; or for a third guest suite in more elaborate build-outs. A newly introduced ‘Gleneagle’ ranch has a base price in the $320s, delivering over 2,000 square feet of finished space. You can see that, plus the clubhouse, and how close this is to Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, where residents get reduced green fees and advance tee times on the championship course, and play a par-3 course for free. MacDonald can also show you a couple of homes that could deliver very soon – each with a 3-car garage, priced at $349,900 and $356,900, respectively. All are real single-family ranches, not duplexes or townhomes. To visit, take Peña (DIA freeway) north to E. 56th, then east 1.2 miles to Dunkirk and right to 54th Place. WHERE: Fairway Villas at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club by Oakwood, age-55-plus enclave, 5 lots to be released today with minimal lot premium; tour 3 show homes; clubhouse with bar, workout area & pool; two homes ready for move-in. 19394 E. 54th Pl., Denver; take Peña Blvd (DIA Fwy) north to E. 56th, east 1.2 mi. (past Tower) to Dunkirk, right to E. 54th; or from Green Valley Ranch Blvd, take Himalaya north