DENVER — There’s at least one booming industry in Colorado right now, desperately looking for workers:  the construction industry.  After a decade of doldrums, Colorado construction is hot again. 

Between February 2011 and February 2012, the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield area added 6,300 construction jobs, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.  That’s more than anywhere else in the United States. 

Right now, about 137,000 Coloradans are working in construction.  Times are good.

“The first quarter of 2012, we will equal the construction volume and revenue that we had in all of 2011,” said David Sinkey, managing director for Boulder Creek Builders.  His company is hard at work developing the Steel Ranch neighborhood in Louisville.  But there’s a problem.  He can’t find enough construction workers.

“We’re very concerned about the labor force.  We’ve already reached a point in our construction that there’s a limitation on the number of framers and trades-people that are available,” he said.

The problem?  When the economy tanked, and building in Colorado all but stopped a few years ago, lots of construction workers moved away, or got out of the business entirely, because times got so tough.

“Extremely tough,” said Robert Lazarony, a construction workers who was out of work for six and a half months, after the construction company where he’d worked for more than a decade folded during the downturn.

“You’re not always sure what the outcome is going to be,” he said.

But now, he’s back to work, overseeing the building of Steel Ranch homes, and he’s desperate to hire good construction workers.  It’s tough to do, because they’re being snatched up by other builders. 

His advice?  If you’re looking to reinvent yourself… a job in the construction industry might be the way to go.  There are plenty of openings.  Just make sure you have a passion for building.  And make sure you learn how to do it right, before you apply.

“Let them get trained somewhere else and then send them my way,” he joked.

To learn more about jobs in construction jobs, click here:http://www.constructionjobs.com/index_eng.cfm

To learn more about the 6300 construction jobs in the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield area, click here: http://www.agc.org/cs/news_media/press_room/press_release?pressrelease.id=1063

Article courtesy of Fox 31 News

Discard old-hat approaches to home and community design. Aging baby boomers are more active, independent, and youthful than the preceding Eisenhower generation.

Whether you call them aging baby boomers, empty nesters, or active adults, 50+ home buyers are a powerful market segment that many builders would love to tap — although getting them to buy is more difficult nowadays. The economy is largely to blame; according to a study of the 55+ market by the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the National Association of Home Builders, the housing downturn and the recession of 2008-09 made buyers more practical, with increased importance on financial rather than aesthetic reasons for choosing a new home.  Read More…

Steel Ranch receives national housing award
50+ Housing Council recognizes the builder for floor plans, renderings and design

Louisville’s Steel Ranch development received the Silver Achievement Award for “Best Detached Home On the Boards” from the National Association of Homebuilders earlier this month.

The NAHB 50+ Housing Council awarded Boulder Creek Builders, in conjunction with KGA Studio Architects and Osmosis Architects, with Steel Ranch’s award during the 2012 NAHB’s International Builders’ Show Feb. 8-11 at the Orlando Convention Center, in Orlando, Fla., according to a Boulder Creek press release.

Read more…

 STEEL RANCH IN LOUISVILLE WINS PRESTIGIOUS 50+ HOUSING AWARD FROM NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOMEBUILDERS

 50+ Housing Council Awards local Builder and Architect with “Best Detached Home On the Boards”

 (Louisville, CO)—Boulder Creek Builders www.livebouldercreek.com   in conjunction with KGA Studio Architects http://kgarch.com and Osmosis Architects http://www.osmosisarchitecture.com are proud to announce that Steel Ranch www.livesteelranch.com, in Louisville, has won the prestigious Silver Achievement Award for “Best Detached Home On the Boards,” by the 50+ Housing Council during the 2012 NAHB’s International Builders’ Show. The winners of the 2012 Best of 50+ Housing Awards are recognized for building stellar communities during incredibly challenging economic times. The homes at Steel Ranch fit this criteria—offering right-sized, single family patio homes, with main floor living and generating incredible interest and demand from buyers across the front range.

“This award celebrates the best homes in the country for people over 50 and we are proud that Boulder Creek at Steel Ranch is being recognized nationally for its strong innovation in the category,” said David Sinkey, Principal of Boulder Creek Builders. “Boulder Creek worked closely with the community to identify their wants and needs in their next home and to provide living and style choices in response to this input. Our unparalleled success indicates that we’ve pinpointed the right combination of home style and exceptional location.”

The 50+ Housing Awards enable builders, developers, and other industry professionals to gain recognition as the “best of the best” in the 50+ housing industry. Boulder Creek at Steel Ranch won the Silver Achievement Award for “Best Detached Home on the Boards,” which considers the individual floor plans, renderings, and design of the community when selecting the winners. KGA Architects designed three of the five floorplans for the community and Osmosis Architecture designed the other two.

Steel Ranch will be the last large scale residential development in town. Boulder Creek Boulders will be building 68 patio homes in the community, which are in short supply in the area. The lack of patio home inventory available has resulted in numerous sales, significant interest and the need to release lots far more quickly than originally expected. .

About Boulder Creek Builders

Boulder Creek Builders www.livebouldercreek.com is an award winning, Louisville-based homebuilder that creates innovative communities across the Front Range of Colorado – communities that embrace green building practices, energy efficiency and a true sense of place. Boulder Creek’s mission is to build homes that are more than just bricks and mortar, homes actually modeled around how people aspire to live, thus appealing to the active lifestyle. Each of Boulder Creek’s communities varies in size, price and concept, but has one common thread: they embrace quality craftsmanship and green building techniques and provide an unmatched low-maintenance lifestyle.

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Thanks are due to RE/MAX of Boulder for taking time out of a busy day to check out the latest at Boulder Creek’s communities.

Congratulations to our iPad winner, Bill Allen.

Courtesy of Mark Samuelson, The Denver Post

Two years ago, builder David Sinkey of Boulder Creek Builders was on the phone to the big Denver developers, trying to convince them to work some of his low-maintenance patio ranch designs into their large master-plans. Now a half dozen of those developers are talking with him, wanting to rub some of the same magic into their own communities that just since November has attracted 18 sales in the $400s and $500s.

You can see those sharp, traditionally styled patio models (from the low $4s) today at Steel Ranch in Louisville (they were packed with visitors when I toured Wednesday). And you can tour some Boulder Creek townhomes near the Longmont Diagonal Highway that offer the same low maintenance and high energy efficiency, at half the price.

Kingsbridge Townhomes, off Airport Road in Longmont, is a little hard to find and gets a fraction of the traffic that Steel Ranch does – but has such a high conversion rate that Boulder Creek has already gone through well over half of the 109 townhome sites it took over there from a California builder in 2010.

“We don’t restrict any of our communities to 55-and-older,” said Sinkey — one of four principals in a company that dates from one his father launched in Boulder in 1976. We left headquarters in Louisville’s scenic downtown, surrounded by shops and dining that helped earn Louisville the number-1 national ranking in Money Magazine’s annual ‘Best Places to Live’…and headed for Steel Ranch, a mile north.

Nevertheless, Boulder Creek’s buyers seem to ‘self-restrict’ into that older, downsizing demographic. Along with a few single females, empty-nest buyers dominate sales at Steel Ranch (and are catching the attention of those large developers, anxious to tap into that market).

Those downsizers are also a factor at Longmont’s Kingsbridge (it has four 2-story townhome plans, including one that could go main-floor master)…however, buyers there also find three schools within walking distance including Longmont’s Silver Creek High, rated 9-for-10 stars at GreatSchools.net. The schools and the prices (from the very low $200s for 2- and 3-bedrooms that are nine miles from Boulder, four miles from IBM) also lure single moms and dads, and another demographic you don’t hear much about: ‘never-nesters’ – ones who have rented for years and years, and now have plenty of cash to make a purchase.

What Boulder Creek DOESN’T see at Kingsbridge are first-time buyers; and that, says Sinkey, doesn’t make any sense. After all, these large plans have attached 2-car garages, roomy storage spaces, extra-outdoor private storage for bikes; and optimal energy features (blown-Fiberglas insulation that earn HERS scores under 60, so low they were featured by Channel 9 News). The smallest, a 2-bedroom ‘Florence,’ delivers 1,490 square feet for $205,000 – with a bright-and-light interior that comes standard with wood kitchen floors, nicer birch cabinets in a choice of colors, and ceramic tile bath surrounds.

They also show something all Boulder Creek’s buyers, young and old, agree on: Despite the low-maintenance, they want manageable HOA fees. “Our people say, ‘Give us walking-biking trails; but not a pool, that means higher dues,’” Sinkey added. Boulder Creek keeps track of its buyers’ preferences through a ‘Founders Group’ that reviews new models. When the group was asked what they’d be willing to pay for the new Steel Ranch patio plans, their estimates were so high, Sinkey says, that company planners knew they had a winner on their hands.

You can see Steel Ranch off 95th Street in Louisville; from the Turnpike take Northwest Parkway north, jogging onto 96th, and continue north 5 miles, just past Baseline. Kingsbridge in Longmont is off Airport Road between Diagonal and Nelson Road; from Boulder take the Diagonal north 6 miles to Airport, then left a mile to Venice Lane.

If you go…

WHERE: Kingsbridge Townhomes in west Longmont by Boulder Creek Builders, low-maintenance 2-&-3 bedroom townhomes near trails, 4 miles to IBM. 1656 Venice Lane, Longmont; take I-25 north to Exit 240, Colo. 119; west 7.6 mi., continue west on Nelson Rd. 1.9 mi to Airport Rd.; left 1 mi. to Venice Lane.  Or from Boulder’s Foothills Pkwy take Diagonal north 6.6 mi. to Airport Rd, left 1 mi. to Venice

PRICE: From $205s; Steel Ranch from the low $400s

WHEN: Today & Saturday 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.; Sunday 11-5

PHONE: 303-772-3063 Steel Ranch, 303-745-1091 WEB: LiveBoulderCreek.com

Patio Homes Draw Buyers to Steel Ranch in Louisville

By Judy Finman for At Home
Article courtesy of Boulder Daily Camera – At Home

Nancy Patch was doing what she loves – riding her bicycle in Louisville – when she discovered the single-family patio homes designed and built by Boulder Creek Builders at the new Steel Ranch community. “I had no intention of moving at that time. I was planning to wait until my youngest son graduates from high school, and then right-size,” she says. “But I was so impressed with their floor plans – as an interior designer I am very familiar with floor plans.”

An advocate of the “not-so-big-house” philosophy, she related to the builder’s use of “well thought-out spaces that are functional – the opposite of McMansions. I liked that it was aesthetically pleasing, with taller ceilings and how the spaces worked together.”

Before committing to a move, Patch had to sell the Louisville house she was living in. She staged it and worked with a Realtor® to price it right. “I had a contract in less than two weeks. The success of my being able to move on this house at Steel Ranch was my Realtor pricing my home right. [You have to be] realistic and willing to stage your home, and put a little money into fixing it up.”

Patch loves the Louisville area. “It’s so well located to get on the highway to Denver, to the airport, to Boulder. I’m a biker, and there’s great riding here.

“The people at Boulder Creek Builders have been so great. You feel you really matter to them, that they genuinely care about getting you a home that works for you. As a buyer, you get a lot of flexibility in choosing your finishes.”

She chose the Harmony floor plan for her home. “I love it because the common areas – the kitchen and living room – look out on to the park. It’s a good value, especially because of its phenomenal location.” 

Low-maintenance lifestyle 

Another reason Patch was motivated to buy a patio home at Steel Ranch was that the house requires so little maintenance. “I can do something with my Saturdays other than take care of the yard,” she says. Sales Manager Bill Besher agrees. “Our homes allow people to live the Colorado lifestyle that everyone wants – with lock-and-leave convenience, and a low-maintenance lifestyle with no more  weekends mowing the lawn or shoveling snow. All our homes at Steel Ranch are single-family patio homes – everything people need day to day is on one floor, with a finished lower level for company or entertainment.

There’s a shortage of these lifestyle homes in Louisville. “We will have only 68 patio homes at Steel Ranch, and, without doing any marketing, we have hundreds of people with very strong interest. We have written several pre-sales contracts for people who asked early about Steel Ranch, some a year ago.”

The patio homes are priced in the high $300,000s to low $400,000s. 

Functionality plus style 

Boulder Creek Builders has pulled out all the stops at Steel Ranch. Big-ticket items that would ordinarily be considered upgrades are included, like air conditioning, tankless water heater, maple kitchen cabinets, and granite slab or Caesarstone® kitchen countertops.

Six floor plans are offered, with a choice among four architectural designs and nine color schemes. This makes each home unique and promises a visually diverse streetscape. All the homes are built to be highly efficient, based on Energy Star and green building technologies.

With third-party Energy Star inspections, 2 x 6 exterior wall construction, R-23- wall and R-49 ceiling insulation with advanced insulation techniques, lower-energy-usage furnace, tankless water heater, low-E Argon-gas-filled windows, 50-year roof shingles and more, these homes are built for energy efficiency, durability and comfort. 

Steel Ranch is located on the west side of Highway 42 at Paschal Drive in Louisville. Stop by Boulder Creek on November 5th to tour the brand-new model home. For more information call the sales office at 303.745.1091 or visit AtHome.LiveBoulderCreek.com. 

You’re Invited!  Boulder Creek Life and Home invites the public to its Grand Opening and Open House at Steel Ranch in Louisville on Saturday, November 5. Tour the neighborhood and new model home. Boulder Creek will make a contribution to the Louisville Senior Foundation for every person who attends.

We love to point out the benefits of Boulder County life…and great jobs is one of the best reasons to make our beautiful county home.  The Boulder Daily Camera just published an article on the area’s 50 top businesses, which include IBM, Ball Corp., Level 3, Oracle, and other nationally-recognized businesses in tech, pharma, and so much more.  It’s a great reminder of the prosperity and prospects of a community that’s not just another pretty face along the foothills. 

New to Boulder County?  Ready to own instead of renting?  Boulder Creek has many great options, from breezy townhomes in Longmont to ranch-style patio homes in award-winning Louisville and so much more.  Click here to learn more about our Boulder County offerings and the benefits of Boulder Creek’s green, right-sized homes. 

It’s close to all the Rocky Mountains have to offer, and boasts an unparalleled food scene, recreation opportunities galore, and plenty of high-tech job opportunities.  But it’s not the town you’re thinking of….it’s Louisville, Boulder’s neighbor and one of Colorado’s up-and-coming gems!

This recent article in Sunset points out what we already knew by heart…after all, there’s a reason we recently moved our home office to historic downtown Louisville!  Check out reasons why Louisville could be worthy of a day trip…or a permanent relocation in this recent article.

Considering a move to Louisville?  Our patio home community at Steel Ranch is garnering headlines and plenty of buzz.  Click here to learn more.