In a year when buyers worry about their budget, the “AEROTROPOLIS” AROUND GREEN VALLEY RANCH offers down-to-earth prices
By Mark Samuelson
WHEN GREEN VALLEY RANCH first opened its Perry Dye golf course, the area was little more than a bedroom community wrapped by prairie on the way to Denver International Airport.
Now, its surroundings are the epicenter of an “aerotropolis” spanning six cities, one that’s become a phenomenon for its attractions.
Some passengers leaving the nation’s third-busiest airport head downtown or to the mountains, but others live right here in new master-planned neighborhoods. Those serve the expansion of commercial and light industrial development around DIA—some of it relocating from older areas of Denver.
Other visitors will never leave Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center—a prototype attraction near DIA’s entryway that re-creates Colorado’s outdoor ambiance, matched to water parks, sports, bike paths and dining options—from an upscale steakhouse to an English pub to mountain taverns.
“Gaylord is a nice amenity,” says Jeff Willis, one of many builders with homes you can tour within ten minutes of the golf club. “Green Valley Ranch lacked a lot of that twenty years ago, but now that corridor is a great residential area.”
In a year when prices and interest rates can be deal-breakers, Aerotropolis is also a place to find some of Denver’s best prices and financing at better rates.
BERKELEY HOMES AT PAINTED PRAIRIE
Willis’ Berkeley Homes is one of nine builders at Painted Prairie—with models a 15-minute walk from Gaylord, closer still to 22-acre High Prairie Park and a planned town center that will include more dining options. Painted Prairie has already earned Community of the Year awards not just from Denver’s home builders but also from the National Association of Home Builders and the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.
Residence 4 plan with 2,462 finished square feet in a 4-bedroom-3-1/2 bath configuration. It’s priced from $592,900.
It comes with a 2-bay garage that can optionally be expanded to a 3-bay garage. Adaptations take it to seven bedrooms, and there’s an option for throwing open the family room to connect with a finished outdoor living space with a gas fireplace.
“We put particular emphasis on outdoor spaces,” Willis says. “The Colorado lifestyle is all about having a usable outdoors.” He adds that coming this summer, Berkeley can deliver a home at almost two points below market rates.
Prices: From $479,900. Directions: From DIA Freeway/Peña Blvd., take E. 56th Ave. east 3 miles to Picadilly Rd., left E. 61st Dr., then left to Lisbon St.
BRIDGEWATER HOMES AT AURORA HIGHLANDS
Ten minutes east of the fairways, Bridgewater Homes is among ten builders you can visit in 4,000-acre Aurora Highlands—designed in eight villages scattered among 13 planned parks, with a P–8 school already open.
Bridgewater’s Mike Shaefer says Aurora Highlands’ prominence along the E-470 Beltway brings surprising numbers of buyers. “We get more traffic than I’ve seen for a long time,” he adds. A “beach club” with pools now under construction, and a lower tax rate than Shaefer’s seen in communities in other areas of town are drawing visitors and buyers, he says.
Among 17 home plans by the Loveland-based builder are 10 ranches. “We’re really a semicustom builder,” Shaefer says. “If somebody wants something done differently, there is little we will not do.”
The variety includes its Remington “multigen” plan—5,100 feet finished plus a 3-car garage with carriage bay. The base price is $859,990, and some buyers opt for more versatile homes that can reach $1 million, featuring options like a 5-car garage.
Prices: From the $630s. Directions: Take E-470 north from I-70 1 mile to Aurora Highlands Pkwy, turn right at Main St.
OAKWOODLIFE AT THE RESERVE IN GREEN VALLEY RANCH
Oakwood Homes is the master developer of Green Valley Ranch, where some neighborhoods are designed for age-55-plus buyers who want the fairways as a retirement address. Now, Oakwood has pushed east across Picadilly Road into the city of Aurora, where all elements of an age-55-plus lifestyle are on view at The Reserve at Green Valley Ranch.
You’ll see The Farmhouse, a club with a lifestyle director, pools, a golf simulator and a pretty park with a pond. “The emphasis is on active,” says Oakwood’s Kevin Sorensen, who can show you newly opened collections of low-maintenance ranches at prices well below 55-plus communities in other parts of town.
Among the new plans is the 2-bedroom Voyager, which features 1,623 square feet of finished space and a flex space that can be optioned into a third bedroom. The interior is light and bright, with oversized windows, 9-foot ceilings, granite or quartz countertops, and a primary suite with a large walk-in closet, double vanities and a spa shower.
Prices: From the $480s. Directions: Take DIA Freeway/Peña Boulevard to Green Valley Ranch Blvd, head east 3 miles, past Picadilly Rd.
