Construction is booming in Edgemont Highlands, northeast of Durango, where custom and speculative houses are going up.
In The Timbers at Edgemont Highlands, near the northeast corner of the subdivision, many people bought lots last year and construction is bustling, said Tiare Flora, who is developing The Timbers near Florida Road with her husband, Eric.
Out of 50 lots in The Timbers, only seven were for sale before the couple put 15 lots new lots on the market this week, she said. The lots will start at $145,000.
Since the number of houses on the market is low, potential home buyers aren’t finding what they want, which makes the land appealing, Flora said.
Lynn Beck and Marty Grabijas decided to build in the Edgemont Highlands because it was close to town and it doesn’t have much traffic, Beck said.
Grabijas designed the 1,650-square-foot-house himself with economy in mind, using the same principals he applied when designing outdoor equipment, such as backpacks.
“For me, it’s been kind of a creative outlet,” he said.
Builders are working on some speculative houses around the neighborhood, but several have been sold before they were finished, Tiare Flora said.
From January of 2015 through Tuesday, 76 homes have sold in Edgemont Highlands, said real estate agent Rick Lorenz, putting it among the subdivisions with the most property sold since 2015.
During the same time frame, 42 sold at Edgemont Ranch, 87 sold at Three Springs and 137 in Forest Lakes, near Bayfield.
The oldest subdivision, Forest Lakes, is the largest, and it has the lowest median price at $260,500, Lorenz said. It is also the farthest from Durango.
Edgemont Highlands has the highest median price at $510,000.
Part of Edgemont Highlands’ appeal is the access to open space and the Florida River. Every home has access to 10 miles of private walking and hiking trails, and residents can walk down and fly fish in the river, said Jaime Marquez, a developer and real estate agent.
“Edgemont is a really well done master-plan community,” Marquez said.
Marquez and her husband, Luis Marquez, are building Canyon Pines, nine high-end houses, and the Elements at Edgemont Highlands, a townhouse project entering its second phase.
The two sold 13 of the 14 townhouses in the Elements over three years, and they are starting work on the infrastructure for the 17 townhouses in phase two.
Construction on the town houses in phase two will start in 2018, Jamie Marquez said.
Most of the other homes in Edgemont Highlands were more than 2,000 square feet, so the two aimed to fill a niche with smaller, high-quality units, she said.
Canyon Pines is a block north of the lodge at Edgemont Highlands and it is named for the nearby canyon. Five of the houses are planned to sit on the canyon’s edge.
The first two homes in Canyon Pines are finished, and the couple expects to continue to build two a year.
The houses will be priced between $680,000 and $790,000.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
