Show homes going up at Parc Forêt

Sales of new luxury-style homes are picking up at Parc Forêt at Montrêux, a highly sought-after community halfway between Reno and Lake Tahoe.

Reno-based Ladera Development Group has five homes under construction at the community within a community and just broke ground on ten more lots. About 20 of the homes in the 97-lot master planned community already are occupied.

The majority of buyers are Californians, said James Pickett, Ladera’s managing principal partner of the Alpine-style development — which translates to Forest Park — at the latest and final enclave in the pristine, tree-lined, gated Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf community.

“There’s no end in sight of the equity-rich” Golden State residents pulling up stakes and moving to northern Nevada, he added. High taxes, over-regulation and congestion are prompting many to make the move, some with children, but most are empty nesters.

“They are a vibrant lot, young at heart,” said Pickett of the nesters, who hike, bike, swim, go to yoga class when they aren’t attending to business and investments. He said some of the future owners reserve lots two years out before breaking ground “so they can get their ducks in a row,” referring to home sales in Cali.

Locals are also in the mix, such as “young bachelor doctors” with the bucks to swing the home purchase, said Pickett, who lives in the community with his wife and kids, along with another family member. His brother has also settled in Parc Forêt. “He took one of the plans and put it on steroids, he said of his brother’s 7,800-square-foot show home.

By Montrêux standards, the semi-custom homes are on the higher end (but still affordable) side of the luxury market. Some of the new buyers are downsizing from larger and more expensive homes at Montrêux, a 750-acre community.

Each of the homes toured recently feature top tier entertainment rooms that open up to balconies and patios, as well as high-end details such as tall ceilings, large windows, upgraded kitchens and appliances and finished spaces above garages for the nanny or housekeeper. Speaking of garages, one featured car-wash style drains to wick away standing water.

“At a million-dollar purchase price, they aren’t flying off the shelf,” said Pickett, who cut his teeth in the Phoenix market before heading north.

The smallest of the semi-custom homes is in the 2,600-square-foot range, but most buyers are looking for abodes comprising 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. Fifty percent are cash sales.

The main competition is up at the Lake, said Pickett. “But a million dollars (there) will get you a condo that’s over 50 years old,” he said.

“We’ll see pretty good absorption of 10-15 homes a year,” said Pickett of the build out, which is helmed by Homecrafters Reno, a noteworthy builder of luxury, custom and semi-custom homes.

He said the company’s designated residential real estate partner — Dickson — has a database of the names of 7,000 folks who might fit the profile of future buyers.

New homes create construction jobs in the region. Pickett said on any given day about 50 subcontractors are working away, putting money into local pockets. “These homes individually are big projects in and of themselves.”