Full Circle with The Christi Reece Group

Fresh Foundations on the Full Circle Podcast with The Christi Reece Group

• Christi Reece • Season 6 • Episode 7

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Grand Valley: State of the Market - New Construction Style - Introducing Fresh Foundations - A brand new segment of the podcast you already love. Fresh Foundations is the podcast where we dig into what's actually happening in new construction real estate right here on the Western Slope of Colorado.

Build and Development Coordinator Kerry Seriani sits down with Jen Taylor and Christi Reece of The Christi Reece Group to talk what developments have been released in 2026, what's selling, what's coming — and then we're going to give you a taste of where this podcast is headed and tease our next guest. By the end of this episode, you're going to know exactly where the new construction action is and why you should be paying attention.

The Christi Reece Group provides ReFreshing Real Estate services in Grand Junction, Fruita, Palisade and surrounding areas of Mesa County. Contact us at info@christireece.com, 970-589-7700, or visit us at our offices at 1601 Riverfront Dr, Suite 103 in Grand Junction, CO.

Christi

The Full Circle Podcast. Compelling interviews and incredible tales from Colorado's Western Slope, from the mountains to the desert. Christy Reese and her team hear from the movers, shakers, and characters of the Grand Valley and surrounding mountain towns that make the Western Slope the place we all love. You'll learn, you'll laugh, you'll love with the Full Circle.

SPEAKER_02

Hello and welcome to the very first episode of Fresh Foundations on the Full Circle Podcast here at the Christie Reese Group. I'm Carrie, your host and local build and development coordinator here at the Christy Reese Group. And I'm sitting here with two very powerful and trusted women in the community. I have longtime realtor, broker owner of the Christie Reese Group and developer herself, Miss Christy Reese, as well as the very vibrant and fun longtime realtor and developer, Miss Jen Taylor. Thanks, Carrie. Girls, thank you for joining me on my very first podcast. How excited are we? Yes. We're finally getting a platform for us that's just based on new development and new construction.

SPEAKER_01

So excited. So exciting, yeah. We've been talking about this for a long time, huh? Yeah, we're doing it.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. Yep. So no better way than to just jump right in. Um, so let's give them a little bit of an idea of what we're gonna be speaking about today. So we're gonna give you a little bit of a year in review on 2026, go through some of the subdivisions that were released this past year, as well as some that you may not know about yet that are coming up, um, as well as what's actually selling here in the valley and um you know keeping buyers interested in those new construction homes. Um yeah, so this is a taste of where the podcast is gonna go. And um at the end, we're gonna tease our next guest. I'm super excited for this individual.

SPEAKER_01

Ooh, I don't know either.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, I know. Okay, keeping secrets. Okay, before we dive into Fresh Foundations, let's uh take a moment so less listeners know what Fresh Foundations is, a little more, a little more detail. So, Christy, it was your idea really and your vision to start a division in your company that just focuses on new construction development. So, why don't you walk us through that a little bit?

Christi

Well, we represent a number of builders and developers here at the Christy Reese group, and um I specifically was um listing a lot of new construction homes, and I found it to be super challenging to keep all of the um data organized, and when somebody, whether it be an agent or a consumer, would call in and say, What have you got available? You know, like having that information at the ready, especially if I was out, you know, working with other clients. So we created a position uh which we so luckily filled with Carrie Seriani that will be that uh touch person that's in the office all the time and kind of has the information for each one of our new construction projects and development projects that agents and consumers and our even our own agents can contact and say what's the latest because things change quickly and it's hard to keep websites and information uh sources updated with all the latest information. Do prices change, what's gone under contract, what new floor plans are available, are there any changes to finishes? Um uh so all that stuff. So just super happy to have you here at the Christy Reese Group helping all of the agents on the team who are working with either builders or developers or both.

SPEAKER_02

Well, exactly. Uh the building industry it's its own beast, right? Um developments are and so as I was getting in to um the planning site, uh calling builders and developers, um one thing kept popping up for me. So I'm thinking, you know, along the lines of a buyer, what does the buyer really want to know? You know, things like that. And what I'm finding is I can grab some information here, some here, some here. So first and foremost, we got to get a database going, right? So that was my main objective was start on a database. We're gonna build out the database of the ongoing developments here in the valley. We're gonna know those phases, we're gonna know those price points, we're gonna know maybe builder incentives, floor plans, the type of homes, anything that's gonna pertain to that subdivision that the buyer really needs to know to make the best educated decision for their biggest investment, right?

Christi

And then something who I didn't really mention that we charged you with in this position was knowing what's going on in the valley as far as developments and bringing the information to our team so that uh we are informed and able to help buyers with other projects. So it's been a great learning experience for all of us.

SPEAKER_01

It's been incredible as an agent, it's been incredible to have a weekly update from you and a resource to be able to reach out to at any given time. You've obviously been an aggregator of all this information, but you're also you're on the leading edge of discuss, you know, talking with builders and developers, and and uh so often by the time uh a development or an opportunity hits the MLS, that's the lat those are the last people to know. Exactly. Right? And we want to be on the forefront, and so you're that conduit for us as agents that you know directly is a pipeline to our buyers.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, you know, and just being able to house all this information, you you could have a buyer at a certain price point that may love a certain development and they think it's out of their price range, right? But maybe this builder is giving some sort of incentives or something like that that actually gets them in there. So um really just having all that information at our fingertips has been huge. Um, but as well as how do we deliver this information, right? So here we are. Here we are fresh foundations podcasts so that we can deliver this information to the community, to buyers, to builders, to developers. Um and it's just housing, just build and developments, you know? Like we said, it's its own beast. So we gotta focus on that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I think I'm gonna insert one more thing too, and I think it goes to you guys are quite the powerhouse of a team in that Christy and um in your way of being um a disruptive leader and and always looking for innovation in within the industry of real estate, but certainly in Mace County and you know, in the Tom Ferry network, et cetera. But then um creating this position, and Kara, you've created three different positions within the Christy Reese group over time with Christy. So you guys together, when you stop back, sit back and think about it, you know, from a business development standpoint, that's you you're um you're just constantly breaking new ground.

SPEAKER_02

Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01

You both are.

SPEAKER_02

So moral story, she gives me a lot of opportunity, and I really appreciate it. And some latitude. It's like to be able to go into something that interests you, right? And um, but then to take her ideas as my idea and my ideas and run with them, right? In in our own ways, and we adjust things as we go and stuff. So it's been really fun. Yeah, and we're going on it. Um, but uh, so let's give people a taste of um what's coming on the podcast in the future. So um we'll be sitting down with builders, um, community developers, industry specific contractors, uh, really the individuals that are shaping um the landscape here in the Grand Valley. So we want to know the ins and out, you know, from start to finish of developing, maybe financing a new build. What does that look like? Um to one of my personal favorites, I'm I'm gonna throw this an episode in there, um, you're really design trends. You know, what are you gonna see in these new construction homes coming out?

Christi

So that'll be just talking about that. People always love that. Yeah. But you know, I think that um there are consumers that are interested and know how to navigate the city and county systems and see what's coming and kind of keep their finger on the pulse. But you know, what we're excited about is we're now an information center for people to call in, whether you're a client of ours or not, or you're a builder or developer that's working with us or not. Um, and just call Carrie and talk to her about what information you need or what information you want to provide that she can disseminate to our team and the other and others. Yeah. So it's great.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and it's very much if I don't know about something, I want to know.

Christi

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, so all of it just excitement. So, like she said, call me, I want to know, I'll find out for you. Um, but as well as you already know the drill, hit that subscribe button. Um, this is a new podcast. We're gonna be releasing episodes once a month. Um, again, everything new development related. You're gonna have the first look at new subdivisions that are gonna come out that you know haven't even been released yet and things like that, and really get a guide to where this new construction market is going. So um, all right, let's get into why our our listeners are actually here. Fresh foundations podcast, new construction style. Um, so 2026 year in review. So let's go over some of those fun subdivisions that have been released this year. Uh, first and foremost, um I want to touch on Orchard Highlands. Now, this is a JCI construction development uh listed with Karen Sadler of the Christy Reese Group. And this is a 40-lot subdivision up in Orchard Mesa, right across from uh Chapita golf course. Just stunning view from it. Um and these lots are big enough for some RV parking as well as ADU opportunity, uh, which is huge.

Christi

Or three-car garage, and some lots actually will fit three-car garage and uh RV parking depending on the size of the house. And we've got a lot of floor plans to choose from.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, as well as you can bring um Ed Linhart of JCI construction your building plans if you want, and he can kind of configure, see if they can work on the lot you want, that sort of thing.

Christi

So and so right now taking reservations for those lots?

SPEAKER_02

Yes, we are taking reservations. Um, hope to be breaking ground here soon within the next month or so.

Christi

Um on some of the new construction houses, yeah. The utilities and everything are in. Yes. Streets are paved, so we're we're getting really close.

SPEAKER_01

And what's what's the mix of single family versus aren't aren't there some um duplex opportunities in there as well, or just single family home?

SPEAKER_02

Just single family, it's a craftsman style home. Right. So think your wood beans, your covered back porch is I love me a craftsman style home. So I'm happy.

Christi

Yeah. Um and then price range, are we ready to talk price range on those houses?

SPEAKER_02

Um, so right around from five in between that five and six number is where they're at right now.

Christi

Five to six hundred thousand dollars. Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_02

So um another subdivision that was released this last year right along that same road off a B and a half up in Orchard Mesa by Chapita Golf Course is Chupita Hollows. Now, this is a super fun uh 55 and up community. And uh this is 32 lots. Uh they've broken ground already, and I mean this neighborhood is taking shape pretty quick. Um however, they uh this is done by BOA builders and listed with uh Wendy Getcher of BOA sales group. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um and what I love about this community, you guys, is the community center. So they've really done a good job with this community center. I mean, think dog wash, pickleball, golf simulator, community kitchen, walking trails, just yeah.

Christi

Tip my hat to Charlie and Wendy at BOA Builders and their vision for this project. It's been long needed in this community. We don't have enough 55 and over communities here, and people want them and they want amenities, not just uh a park, you know, they want some things to do, and and we're becoming more of a retirement community all the time. We also have tons of young people, and it's not like we're just you know all retirement, but you know, there's there's a need here, and there definitely is.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, definitely is um also on that note, I want to speak to their website for this community. Um I want to give them a shout out because that website is so all inclusive. Uh, Jen has it pulled up. I've got it pulled up right here. Yeah, so you um, you know, when you're buying a new construction house, sometimes you don't always know what upgrades you can get, what that's gonna make the price of the home, then things like that. They have all of that information right on that site so you can plug in what upgrades you want and it adjusts your per your sales price right there for you.

SPEAKER_01

So they've got all the amenities listed out. They're it's very yeah, an intelligent design. And as I understand, their reservation they started reservations, I think, last year, and they their reservations quickly moved through. I think they're opening price ranges in the 450s and um, you know, a thoughtful footprint and thoughtful design, and and that goes so far in our community anymore, community of buyers for sure. Yeah, I think more and more people with those centralized services and thoughtful amenities. Um, I think Natalie Ames did a great job with Palisade Legends. That was a good test product for our valley. She she was kind of an early adopter of that one. She fought hard for that. Oh man, she worked hard for that. Yeah, it took a long time to get it going. And it's been well received, and so it's exciting to see a little bit more on the you know, on the on the foreground of this now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

That's great. Um okay, so another Orchard Mesa development came out. Um Nighthawk Subdivision. Now, this is uh listed with Teresa Rins of United Country, and um it's done by Palumbo Construction and uh PC Homes. Uh again, an orchard mesa by the school there, by the middle school there, and it's 20 lots and it's priced for attainable housing. Um, so just a fun little community in there. And I think we're gonna start seeing some more from um the team over at Palumbo. You know, they just did Clear Creek Meadows, um, moved over here. They really try to stay in that attainable price range. Um, so I'm excited. Yeah. I'm excited to see where they go.

SPEAKER_01

I love that you're using the term attainable. It's such a it's a key word. Uh, you know, attainable and affordable are two different things. They they can end up in the same um price range realm, but they mean two different things.

SPEAKER_02

That's so funny that you say that. I have in my notes down the road um to ask you both can you please clarify for our listeners the difference between affordable housing and attainable?

SPEAKER_01

Well, affordable housing oftentimes has a subsidization package with it. It's got some municipality support, it's got some effort toward um supporting a median household income. Um attainable is also trying to support that, but it it's just referring it it's it's private sector tr traditionally building out, developing and building, targeting a buyer community that's more attainably priced, but not so much with the back-end subsidization.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Anything do you would add to that? Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you know, I figured we might as well break that down a little bit because I feel there's a little there's a uh general like consensus that um people it's one and the same to the you know and they use the words interchangeably.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02

So um, okay, another one by Belle Rose Builders, um, Cross Orchards Valley. I really like this subdivision, you guys. Uh this is over in fruit northeast Grand Junction. It's listed with Jada McKeever with Berkshire Hatway. And um this development has the land, I mean it was they had to jump through a lot of hoops. They had some family stuff go on, things like that, that kind of prolonged the development. So for them to be out now and have their first listing on MLS and stuff is huge and super exciting. Um, now this is 28 lots, and um, but as well as the lots are a little bit bigger, three-car garages, RV parking, that sort of thing. Um are they selling lots or houses or both? Uh houses. Okay, yeah. So in a yeah, ranch style home. Uh, but the backyards have 25-foot setbacks, so you're not gonna be as crammed, you know, like you see some subdivisions. So okay. Next, uh River Heights Estates up in the Redlands. Just a stunning, stunning piece of property. Um, right above the Colorado River and 360-degree views. These are gonna be more your luxury custom home build lots, uh, two to they're two to three acres in size. Um, and Grand Vista Homes is building these homes. Um, now these are listed with Julie Hicks of EXP Realty as well as uh Michelle Rindstrom of Studs Realty. Um so they're both the listing agents on that. Um great website for that one as well. Yeah, I I these are gonna be some stunning homes. The minimum square footage size, and here's 3,000.

Christi

That'll tell you something right there about the quality of homes they're gonna build.

SPEAKER_02

It's a big house. All right, um, next, Westland Meadows. Now, this is right along 2930 Road off a D and a half. Um, this is a big one. This is 110 single family lots coming out in multiple filings. There's multiple builders, multiple listing agents on this. So they're selling lots. Yes. Um, however, like Ron Abelow with sh sh uh what's his company? Chaparral list. I will yeah, I want to don't want to say that. Um okay. So, anyways, um yeah, he has a spec coming out. Um they're doing lot reservations, things like that. So yeah.

Christi

That's a big subdivision. It's huge. It's gonna fill a lot of need in the southeast area.

SPEAKER_02

So, and on that note, um, as I've been going through the planning site, along that stretch right there, um, kind of in between that 29 and 31 road, there's a lot of things moving through the planning department. Um, so there's two other subdivisions right in that area that are moving through, and I can't wait to, you know, see what kind of happens with those. So stay stay tuned for that. Exciting. Yeah. Um oh I I these are really cool. Okay, the Ocho Nueva Town Homes. Yes. They are just awesome. So these are done by Integrity Homes, and uh they're listed with the West Coast team at River City Real Estate. So do you want to give us a little blurb on those?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, they well, they're located on um uh between 8th and 9th on Colorado. We can only imagine that's why they're termed the Ochonueve townhomes. But um it's been a perfect lot, prime lot for somebody to activate it, so it's exciting to see. Um, there'll be, I believe, a three-story townhome with a detached garage and a studio above that, if I understand correctly. And um, I think they've got uh reservations available. Uh I think the first one, is it October?

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, the f the first two units are the estimated completion is October of this year. There's six units total.

SPEAKER_01

In total, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and um for that, you know, urban lifestyle buyer.

SPEAKER_01

Walkable, bikable, new urbanism lifestyle.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and then you rental income at ADU.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So very rare.

SPEAKER_01

Um and the new tiki bird is gonna be uh active is gonna be live and open here soon. Like you can walk right around the corner.

Christi

Drove by there yesterday, it's looking good. So exciting. Yeah, awesome. Okay, so um and the Moody's bar opening Friday. Tomorrow Friday. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I believe, yeah. Wow, lots of call is.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. So on that note, um Miss Jen, let's dive in a little bit. You are a developer. Um I would love to know a little bit more into your developments. Um you do have a developer you work with separately on La Mesa State South. You have one lot left.

SPEAKER_01

One lot left, yep, of the one-acre lots, correct. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So t tell us a little bit about that that community and how how that all went for you.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's been exciting. You know, the um I don't think of myself as a developer in that way, certainly, but and and I don't think the the owner, the seller of that property, the developer of that property would think of himself that way either. But but really um from a hearts heart forward um approach, he wanted to build the the prettiest neighborhood out there. That was simply his objective. Um he he looked at selling the whole 20 acres, 19.18 acres, and ultimately didn't trust uh the opportunities that were presented and decided to work with Mark Austin at Austin Silver Group and go ahead and do it himself. He'd never done a development before, and it has really turned out to be um quite pleasing, quite satisfying for him. I don't think I don't know that he would do it again necessarily. It's not a new hobby for him, but he just has had a really delightful time um communicating with the different buyers and working through the architectural control guidelines and um you know providing feedback, etc. So it really is the most lovely neighborhood out there. It's on the corner of 17 and L Road. It's in Mesa County, but it's just north of Fruta, north just north of the town of Fruta. And um there are eight one-acre lots, so very uh again a boutique neighborhood, um, and there's one um one eight-acre lot then. And that it's a it's a unique scenario in that it comes with 26 shares of class A irrigation water. Uh he he has a lot of irrigation water, and so that he's um yeah, passing that through with the land. So it's very cool. It's very unique. Yeah, it's it's truly beautiful out there. Yeah, and there's one of the lots left, and then the one acre, or sorry, the one eight-acre lot is also available still.

SPEAKER_02

So um now you have some knowledge into Crawford Row townhomes, correct? They recently released another filing, gonna be coming out with some more townhomes. These are gonna be listed with Merit Wyatt at Bray Real Estate, right?

SPEAKER_01

Correct. Yep, yep. I think there will be 11 townhomes. BOA builders is uh behind those. They're working through some, I think some of the final pricing right now with BOA. I just talked to uh the developer this morning, and that's exciting. That that had a pause for a little bit, and I think the community has been waiting and watching for what else is gonna happen around those initial 13 townhomes. I think it was 13 in the first uh first filing. So and then that will start to fill in toward the riverfront as well. And that you know, it almost becomes an infill story in and of itself at Dios. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Now, do you want to give us any rundown on Dos Rios?

SPEAKER_01

Sure, yeah. That you know, the the big picture there from a mixed-use perspective is as people you folks who may or may not have lived in the Grand Valley and may or may not know this, but that was the site of 8,500 junk cars back up until about the late 80s when um the Department of Energy, the City of Grand Junction, um, the Riverfront Coalition that had had been established uh by that point worked to Uh the originally the Department of Energy was going to remove the cars, clean them from mill tailings. It was a mill tailings um activated site, and and they were going to clean the vehicles and put them back as the story goes. Because they had, you know, it what for whatever code, law, rules there are. And the city of Grand Junction worked vehemently to have them removed and stay removed. And so that then, there were have been several iterations of the ideas and master plan visions for that ground in the decades to follow. I worked with the city on a mixed-use master plan. We eventually uh coined it with a neighborhood effort and charrette process with the town of or with the uh neighborhood of Riverside and some other community leaders and uh came up with Dios. It is the original confluence of the Colorado and the Gunnison. That the sediment changed and now the confluence is higher. It's up by the railroad tracks. But the original confluence is right there where Dos Rios uh comes together. That's you know, of course, the dual language school and um Riverside neighborhood and and the properties uh from there. So the the big vision is that there will be um ultimately 400 residential units between apartments, townhomes, and condos. We see obviously the townhomes going. Um there are 200 apartments that are slated and underway right now. I don't know if they're in the pre-app phase yet, but I believe maybe that's happening. I think they're talking with some different builders at the moment. Um the apartments will be located down to the southeast of the bike park, so closer to the overpass. Um if you look down, you'll see the the uh the Blackwater Pond, and then it right there will be the apartments. And then uh they're working on a hospitality um uh venture with Marriott. Uh that's in the pre-app phase right now that will be kind of in uh central to the land, and then of course the confluence center uh has created the nonprofit, environmental nonprofit vibe down there, and just what a great building. Really exciting and creating space for other nonprofits as well to be able to access and utilize. The Starbucks has blown away expectations, they're incredibly busy. And then you've got the in total at Dos Rios, it's an over 60-acre master plan, and 18 acres of that is uh green space working with the city of Grand Junction. They have done their part to activate the green space, and um, and now it's really up to the you know the private developers. Um Mae Regler is the developer for the majority of the land. Um I have 4.2 acres there and and I'm working on my development as well. Uh 23 years later. It's like a SpongeBob episode. 23 years later.

Christi

Anyway, we need a little can we put a sponge blob graphic in there, please? The dumpster fire graphic with Jen's voice over.

SPEAKER_02

No, I mean how um inspirational stick with it for that long.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it won't let me go. That's uh yeah, I'm not leaving this earth until that's executed. But uh but yeah, it will be a whole new pulse point. Uh you know, that as I've envisioned it and as it's coming to fruition, that the dos rios and activating the riverfront, particularly that stretch, is it's soulful, it's deep, and I I won't get too far. I'm a really real bore at parties because I start talking about floodplain and all that. But um but if you look at that stretch of river, it's where the Ute Trail originally traversed, and then the Spanish trail followed the Ute Trail, and all that connects to the Santa Fe Trail. And I mean, that corridor where the riverfront trail now flows through, we redrew that to follow that line. And I and you know who how many people that are it gives me chills, how many people that are just on the recreation corridor realizing that they're actually on a bigger part of history and and where people were crossing the river? It's the oldest house of Grand Junction was located there, the old Williams blacksmith house. So the old caravans and the uh the wagons would cross the river upstream and then come straight there to have their horses, ferry, or you know, the wagons wheels fixed from crossing the river and coming through Canna Creek. And uh anyway, it's just it's fascinating. Of course, Riverside. It's my um uh I have a bleeding heart for Riverside and and uh it's the oldest community in Grand Junction and five generations steep of Latino and Italian families, and it's uh it's really culturally incredibly rich. Incredibly rich. 183 or 185 homes in Riverside, and yeah, it's you know, and it's been in the floodplain for all this time, and it's uh so now it's it's elevated and and created a story around the the you know the history and the purpose of Riverside. Yeah, the people who live there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, history's gonna keep on keeping on throughout the development. Yeah, that's great. Well, so with that being said, let's dig into absorption rates a little bit. So um I think you know, that's temperature check of the market. So I think it's super important that we give our listeners a little bit of a breakdown on um, you know, how quickly lots versus specs are selling and kind of what the market's looking like with that one.

Christi

I'll just be to the overall residential market and then Jen can talk about new construction in particular. But um earlier this week in our meeting, we were looking at, I believe, 805 uh active residential listings, which is pretty high for us. Um houses have been selling at the rate of 170 per month here, so that is getting close to a five-month supply of homes on the market. Um, you know, that that number or that pace can change at any time. Uh if interest rates drop, if uh the war gets tied up and and gas prices get back to normal, and there's a lot of factors that can just boost uh buyers' confidence in going forward with purchases, especially. Um, people always need to buy and sell no matter what's going on in the world and our market. But um we do have a little bit of extra inventory right now. I wouldn't say it's a buyer's market yet. Typically, a buyer's market is five to six months of inventory, and we're just shy of that. And I think sellers in a lot of cases, especially for a home that is in a prime location and prime condition and priced well, uh, sellers still have a lot of um power. Uh but there's more competition, and so pricing is super important right now.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, these are pre-COVID numbers now that we're back to. Yep.

Christi

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And and there was still a shortfall of inventory at that time, but but now we're um we're more robust than ever. Yeah. Yeah. Um in the if I if I look at so to Christy's point of um absorption for all properties available on the market being closer to five, it was 4.8, something like that. 4.7, I believe. 4.7, yeah. So when you look at um inventory that's newer construction, um, just based just looking at 2025 forward, so new construction built in 25 and 26, um, that absorption rate's closer to uh 3.6 months. So it's a little bit so those new the new product is selling maybe a little bit faster and and there's less of it available and or it's being it's not being built as quickly as the market demand is there, depending how you look at it. So um yeah, and the the absorption rate itself, so that's that's the rate of inventory uh available. The absorption rate itself, on as a rule of thumb, if it's if you've got a 20% or higher absorption rate, that's typically mark um uh implying a seller's market. 15% or lower is typically implying a buyer's market, and we're at about 28%, again, specifically referring to just new construction built since 2025. Um all in all, since 25, 460 homes have uh either been um are either active, are pending, or sold. Um and and I can break down the price ranges, I can break down where those are, all that, but uh keep feeding me questions.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, no, so it's it's interesting um how you said the new home it's on a little bit less, right? But I'm starting to see more builders give out incentives and things like that. So what is your comment to that?

SPEAKER_01

Well, they carry costs. When you're building a new home, they usually, if they're building a spec home, they're usually putting it on the market prior to completion or prior to CO. Maybe they're putting on the market at the time of permit because then they've got the floor plans, everything's locked in, they're they're on go. But they've got, you know, they're they're financing that. So they're there's a cost of carrying that home until it gets sold. So um they want they need to be able to move on to the next project, whether it's a another house or another 10 houses.

Christi

And most builders are building more than one house at a time. I know at JCI, usually we have three to four going, depending on um you know, contracts. We've got one or two specs, and then if we have buyers that come in and put a contract on one, they they get those started right away. So they can have as many as five, six, seven houses going at once. And so it's important to sell the ones that are not under contract. Yeah. However, I will say, you know, sometimes we get buyers that come in and make low offers on new construction, and that usually doesn't fly. Uh, new construction prices are set according to not only the market, but um, you know, the cost of the land and the lot and the development and the construction and builders generally not giving big discounts. They will offer incentives and maybe some seller concessions, some buy down, things like that. But I would say for those buyers out there thinking that, oh, uh I'm gonna go in and and offer 20 grand less on new construction, yeah, it doesn't fly. It doesn't work.

SPEAKER_01

Uh-uh uh-uh. No, it's true. And that can, to your point earlier, that can flip on a dime based on external market conditions and and pressure.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, well, I want to highlight some of the um subdivisions here in the valley that are giving some incentives. I think that's really important. So um Barrack Estates, JCI construction, this is out in Clifton, uh 5,000 builder incentive, 5,000 lender incentive using Spencer Marshall, Pierre MI, and a $1,500 list agent credit. Uh this these are listed with Karen Sadler of the Christy Reese Group. And I think it's really important to note that these homes are in the mid-threes. Yes. Brand new construction homes in the mid-threes, still with these sort of incentives. This is not gonna be coming anymore at these prices.

Christi

No, in fact, JCI said it's just getting harder and harder to build in this price range, which is unfortunate because we do have a lot of people that want to buy in this price range. But um, the other thing to know about these houses, they're completely finished. They come with uh refrigerator, uh, not a washer and dryer. You've got to bring your own washer and dryer, but refrigerator, fence, landscaped, all done, move in ready, brand new construction, no worrying about how old is the water heater and the roof and all of that. Yeah, brand new. And you get a one-year builder home warranty on top of that.

SPEAKER_02

So well, and five-year structure struct structure warranty with JCI construction. So that's there you go. Yeah. Uh Cross Orchards Valley, the um one over in the northeast that I spoke with about uh being done by Bell Rose builders, Jada McKeever of Berkshire's listing this. Um now they're doing $10,000 off to the first three buyers, as well as uh back fencing is included on all of them and front and side landscaping.

Christi

Wow. That's nice. Great.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah. Save a lot of money there. Uh the peaks at Redlands Mesa by North Peak construction, listed with Karen Sadler of the Christy Reese Group, $5,000 builder incentive and a $5,000 lender incentive on that one as well. Spencer Marsh, PRMI.

Christi

Those are great townhomes right up on the golf course up in the Redlands Mesa.

SPEAKER_02

Enjoy a drink on the rooftop. Beautiful.

Christi

So fantastic, really nice construction, beautiful finishes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Uh the Redlands 360 project, Easter Hill, uh getsman custom homes. He has four lots left. Okay. So, I mean, this community has just really taken shape. Um and he's doing a lender incentive as well as a $2,000 builder contribution on these. So, oh man, I can't wait to keep watching Redlands 360 develop. You know, they're now taking reservations for filing for. Uh as well as Phil Getzman with Getsman Homes. You know, he's out of out of Colorado Springs. And um But he does have a home here.

Christi

Like he's really bought into this community.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, he loves it as I was about to say, he loves it over here. He um, you know, started with this Easter Hill and he's now has some lots in Soaring Eagle over in Redlands. Uh yeah, he's just it's been amazing to speak with him and really see how much he's enjoyed really finding his footing here. That's that's cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and Canyon Rim 360 as well. I think they've got do they have two lots over there? Maybe more, maybe five originally. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I don't know off the top of my head. Um yeah, so and now do you know off top of your head how many filings are in that project? Canyon Rim 360? Redlins 360.

Christi

Redlin, oh gosh, how many filings in total? I don't think they even know yet. It's kind of as you go along, they might split some into two or something, but you know, probably 20.

SPEAKER_01

I would say so. I think you know, there it's a 25-year master plan, so it'll be built out over several years. They've got, of course, the multifamily there off of um 23 Road, and then they'll be doing the roundabout there, and then they're doing the the mixed-use um multifamily commercial on the corner of the Redlands Parkway and South Camp. So that'll be great. Kind of if, you know, caddy cornered from the corner of Broadway and Monument, that's you know, akin to what they're envisioning with a neighborhood coffee shop, neighborhood bike shop, um, neighborhood eatery, and uh and then multifamily around there. So yeah, fill in in the Redlands.

SPEAKER_02

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

It's really exciting.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So with all that being said, is there a certain type of like floor plan or square footage range, maybe location or product type of a new construction home that's like consistently outperforming the others?

SPEAKER_01

Uh that's a good question. I think we're starting to see, you know, you've you've got the multi, the multi-level, but you've got a lot of people who still want that are starting because that you know, the the um uh silver tsunami wave, the the the term that's coined for that. So you've got individuals in that range that are more active than ever and want to keep stairs and stay active, but you've also got people that are looking for that uh just a ranch level floor plan. But I think there's a there's definitely a desire and now an expectation of thoughtful architecture, thoughtful appearance, thoughtful design for an efficient price point. And I think that there's um there's more out-of-town builders coming in. Lenar Holmes is now in Grand Junction, and they're a highly productive, highly efficient builder. Um, and then you know, working with the developers, they're keeping their pulse on on what the market is is requiring in our little micro community here. So um I think that you know, convertible living is a big part of Grand Junction story, and I think that's what people are looking for also having access to the indoor-outdoor.

Christi

Yeah. And what we're seeing um, you know, we we keep track of showings uh MLS wide and within our company, and um, what's the average showing on price ranges and what's the most active price ranges? And I would say that um four to five hundred is really active right now. If there was more inventory in the three to four, it would be right up there. Um five to six is next, and six to seven trails off a little bit. And I think um in the new construction sector, that four to five, five to six is kind of the sweet spot. Uh again, it's just getting harder to build under 400 for a brand new construction home, even if you keep it small. Um, we're gonna keep trying, but I think um when you get up in the sixes, there are builders that are building six, and we even have you know, spec homes going with uh porter homes in the two million dollar range. But I think the sweet spot is you know four to six hundred.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and uh 15 to 1800, 16 to 1800 square feet seems like a little bit of a hotspot for for square footage as well. Um garage space, gear space, that's always really important. You know, more and more, more and more uh adventure vans and adventure vehicles in the valley, and being able to park it either in the garage or on the side of the house is becoming more important too from an HOA perspective. But um and to your point, Christy, that um the bread and butter, like when you look at the of the new construction since 2025, um the of the units that have sold, median is 468. You you nailed it right there of the units sold. Of the units that are active, the median is 550. So add 100,000 and those are the ones that are active, and so they're starting to maybe build up just a little bit. Obviously, we know that we went through another round of um of code uh assimilation too.

Christi

So the cost of construction went up by I I've heard $30,000 just straight out of the gate. Yep. But with new codes, adds money every time they change it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, so let's dive in to what's coming up. Now, maybe give out some information that no one knows yet. Um we're gonna learn. Yeah, alrighty. Um, so I want to highlight this um new community coming out in Fruda. We're seeing a lot go on in Fruda right now. What we're about to see come out is uh a fun project um called White Cap Subdivision. This is right along 18 and K Road. This is gonna be 67 single family homes being released in a few different filings. Now they are going to be between 1300 and 2100 square foot, two to three, two and three bedrooms uh that lock and leave lifestyle with higher end finishes on these. Um so one thing that they are doing in this community that I love and I that we're starting to see more of is they're doing a community center. There you go. Yep, doing a community center in there, gonna have a pool, walking trails.

Christi

You know, I was just talking to the gals from the Grand Junction Parks and Rec, and we were talking about how important it is to be social, especially as you get older. But it's good for everybody's mental health, right? To have a social network. And so having a community center right there in your subdivision is such a great thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You know, and as a mom of little ones, there's something safe feeling about that, you know. As you're growing up with toddlers, or I'm not growing up, but as I'm raising my toddlers and things like that, um, the world sometimes feels a little more scary in some ways. And you know, your little community center with your neighborhood, it's just say it's a safe feeling to me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I like that. It's like um pocket living of old. You know, in the older pre-World War II, there were, you know, the homes were oriented front facing, um, garages weren't very popular, so you knew when people were home, so their cars in the parking, you know, in the driveway. But the front stoop was where the conversation happened. And so that that pocket, you know, the streets were skinnier, so if the kids bounced a ball in the street, the cars going slower, more slowly. And and that is we're returning to that, whether we're conscious of it or not, but we're returning to that intimacy of the micro, the micro community and our neighbors. And um, I think there are a couple builders here in town that I think have done a great job getting ahead of that. And and you know, like uh we were talking about earlier with um Chapito Hollow, Chapito Hollows being a 55 plus, it's like, well, you know, I you don't you don't want to just have to be fifty. I think I forgot that I was actually over 55 and I would qualify for that. But um, but you know, it's nice to know that with White Cap and with um Dane Griff Dane and Kelly Griffin that they're that they're putting this together that's not age exclusive. It's pretty exciting. Yeah, yeah, I think that is a trend. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and so the salt flats are coming out. Um a huge, huge project uh with the grant from the city to get this done. Uh this is a 21-acre neighborhood uh designed to meet community housing needs. So this is gonna be a mix of um attainable and affordable housing, yeah, as well as um modular homes. There's gonna be some stick-built homes. It's it's a huge mix, but the uh the big idea of it is to help the community housing needs. So um, Jen, you know some on this, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I've got it pulled up as well. Um, and kudos to the city of Grand Junction and the developers. I think um uh rural homes is the partner in this.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, they're um breaking ground this summer, um, and we'll have two phases over the next two years.

SPEAKER_01

Juniper Grove, I believe, is um whether that's phase one or phase one and two, um, it'll be 48 deed restricted homes um for sale. I think there's a lottery that will come up here soon. Um, and there are there's an interest form online, uh, Juniper Grove Homes.com. That's um that's all part of this. It's it's coming up soon. It's very exciting.

Christi

I know. Yeah, and that that that field has been just open and underutilized for so long. It's gonna be really nice to see something going on there.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, okay.

Christi

And the business loop.

SPEAKER_01

Didn't Simmons own that?

Christi

The instruments did they was it private public that's they bought the whole thing and then they are building their new facility there on the south part and then um sold the rest of the city for housing.

SPEAKER_01

There you go. So private public kind of nonprofit working together to to better our community and our landscape. I just that's beautiful. And if you look at the website, you know, it's really there's some it's contemporary kind of um shed roof style and and you know very attractive, simple and attractive and and kind of fetching. It's exciting.

SPEAKER_02

Um North area has another one coming out, uh Hosanna subdivision. This is gonna be essentially an extension of Appleglen West. This is being done by real turn developer Derek Irik with Bray Real Estate. This is 24 lots, uh 22 single family lots, and two four-unit lots. So um he's working on pricing now. However, um I'm excited, you know, that's behind that holy family. Is that what it is? Yeah, so um I can't wait to watch that develop, but I wanted to finish with that one.

Christi

No, not Holy Family, Appleton. Appleton elementary Appleton.

SPEAKER_02

I wanted to um kind of wrap up on that part of it with that subdivision for the sheer fact of it's gonna lead us into our next guest. Um, so our next guest has another development coming out that he's going to announce on our podcast. And so we do not know about it yet. However, um, I'm excited for this guest because he's very young and ambitious, and he's had his hands in many different developments. So we're gonna have realtor and developer Derek Irik with us. Fantastic. So even, you know, I I'm gonna be asking them questions. How did you even start at that young age and give it to us straight, you know? Like even if you're just someone fresh out of school or something, have kind of thought about this, tune in. Um let's let's pick his mind apart. Let's see, let's see.

Christi

Like a bigger pockets podcast right here at CRG with our local developers. That's right.

SPEAKER_01

That's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, no, what I love is there's so much that builders are offering now, right? Like there's just such a wide variety of things. Um so to be able to really, you know, present that to the community and really show what everything is being offered here, I think is just I think I think we're gonna do great.

SPEAKER_01

This is super relevant. And um I I would encourage that uh, you know, what I find with with buyers who are like, well, maybe we're we're looking for this or maybe we'll just build. And and there's um and explaining the difference between a spec and a custom home and how those appear and you know how you get to those, um, but then also how you finance those, the difference between financing a spec and a custom home, and that comes with um just to to briefly mention, a spec home usually ends up on the MLS and it's financed um you know as a primary mortgage. It's a it's uh usually you go to a traditional lender and and um you can, depending on the phase that you get involved with the builder, um, you're able to potentially make some um inline corrections or inline um uh changes that become uh a custom, you you pay for that portion up front, etc. And depending on the builder. Um but it's a traditional mortgage process. And with a custom home, oftentimes you're either finding the the land or the builder is finding the land, and then you're going with your this is what we're looking for, and you start you know doing the charette with your own design. And that's a different financing process with a different type of lender. So that's uh it's a it's a fundamental thing that not a lot of people know about, and it it's um it's kind of nuts and bolts.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and stay tuned, we're gonna dive in with a lender on more on that, get you guys some more information on how that really works, uh, because like she said, it's two different things in a way, and um, to see what's really gonna work for you, you know.

Christi

Yeah. I want to address something that some maybe some of our listeners or or watchers are um thinking about, and that is lots of people don't want our community to grow, you know, and they think development is bad. And I I want to say that a growth is inevitable. Um, lots of people want to live here, and so we are excited because a healthy community needs a variety of homes to offer for people that want to move up, move down, they want to downsize, they want a bigger house, people are having children, people have uh divorce, you know, uh people need to move, and people want to live here uh in our community, and I am we are excited to welcome them. And I don't think Grand Junction's too big, it's changing, but um it it chain that change is inevitable, and so we're excited to highlight some of the people that are doing really good work in this community to bring different kinds of housing to the people that want to live here.

SPEAKER_01

Well put, yeah, very well put. Yeah, thoughtful growth and growth with intention, and we've got great leadership in place. And I think Meg Bennett is doing a great job as our city manager and trying to open up some of the restrictions that we started to get into. You know, we're kind of the a big city process, and he's starting to break it back down and to simplify it over time. And it's I think great things are happening here. And it's you know, the the front range is paying attention, the Intermountain West is paying attention, Grand Junction, the the world is paying attention. We've hit major headlines, yeah, more and more, the Grand Valley as a whole. And uh, you know, it's um the that growth is gonna happen, it's inevitable. So let's uh let's get in front of it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, girls. Yeah, that's gonna conclude our first episode. Really? Carrie, I want to stay here. Let's keep talking. Okay. No, thank you so much, you guys. Well done. You the two are just fantastic, and to have your energy on this first one has been great for me. Well, thanks for getting it all rolling and just so happy to have you in this position, Carrie. Yeah, thank you. I'm happy I'm happy to be back home, Christy. All right, you guys. Um, so I'm Carrie.