Sun City developer Del Webb Corp. is giving customers of its 5,600-acre retirement community in Georgetown what it found they wanted: more affordable homes.
With the introduction of its new Monogram series, Del Webb hopes to satisfy customers’ demand while increasing its sales.
Prices in the new series range from $110,000 for a 1,304-square-foot house to $182,000 for the 2,239-square-foot model. Since November, Del Webb has received orders for about 25 of the houses. Some are under construction, with the first buyers expected to move in by March.
Sales at Sun City Texas spiked in the first year after its 1995 opening, but leveled off during the last four years to an average of 411 houses a year, said spokeswoman Lisa Fisher.
“Obviously, Sun City Texas has not performed up to their expectations,” said Joe Gomes, an analyst with C.L. King and Associates in Albany, N.Y. “Now they’re moving in a positive direction.”
The average price of units in the development now is $220,000, with some starting at more than $300,000. The top models can cost $700,000 or more with upgrades.
But in focus groups in Austin, Dallas and Houston, current and prospective buyers ages 55 and older told the Phoenix-based builder that they wanted more simple, less costly homes, in part to accommodate simpler lifestyles. The market for the new houses includes people who want to downsize from a larger house or who want an affordable second home.
Del Webb offered houses around $110,000 when it first opened in Georgetown. But as construction costs rose, so did house prices. When the issue of more affordable houses was raised anew in focus groups last year, Del Webb decided to aim for that market.
The company worked with contractors to determine the most cost-effective way to build the new houses while preserving quality and style, Fisher said.
Previously, the lowest-priced houses at Sun City Texas were in the Classics series, with houses starting at $128,500 for 1,132 square feet and increasing to $151,500 for 1,625 square feet.
“We’ve got homes with all the fancy bells and whistles, but now we also have a value product,” said Laurie Tarver, Sun City Texas’ vice president of sales and marketing. Savings came through simplifying the roof lines and concrete slabs, placing plumbing runs back-to-back in the house and centrally locating the heating and cooling systems to reduce duct work.
Some features that are standard on other models, such as front porches and gutters, are extras on the new ones.
“There are little things you don’t have to pay for if you don’t want to,” said Carolyn Fultz, who is buying one of the new houses.
Del Webb has built 2,109 houses since opening its Georgetown community in June 1995. Nationwide, the company’s target market is the 76 million Baby Boomers, 3 million of whom turn 55 this year.
In Illinois, Del Webb is building Sun City Huntley where the Monogram series is not offered, says sales manager Dan Goodman.
“Each community has its own series and we don’t have that one,” said Goodman.
The Illinois development’s newest series is Traditions, five single-family floor plans with basements, the first for the builder at Huntley. Introduced in late November, the Traditions floor plans range from 1,280 to 1,900 square feet and prices begin in the low $180,000s. The builder continues to sell 23 other single-family plans beginning with a 1,100-square-foot residence with a base price in the low $170,000s.
Del Webb, which had more than $2 billion in revenues in fiscal 2000, is among the top 10 single-family-home builders nationwide.
Other Del Webb retirement developments are in Phoenix; Tucson, Ariz.; Las Vegas; Hilton Head, S.C.; and Ocala, Fla.
