Friday, August 10, 2007
Canfield branches into maintenance-free housing market
Business First of Louisville
by Sarah Jeffords

Developer Steve Canfield is trying his hand at low-maintenance and maintenance-free residential communities with his two newest projects on Spring Farm Drive in Prospect.

The communities, Spring Farm Glen and Spring Farm Pointe, and a third Canfield development, Spring Farm Place, all are located within a quarter-mile of each other, near where Wolf Pen Branch Road passes under the Gene Snyder Freeway.

Like many of Canfield's upscale projects in eastern Jefferson County, Spring Farm Glen and Spring Farm Pointe will consist of detached, single-family homes that will be custom built. The difference is that buyers will pay a monthly maintenance fee to cover the landscaping and, in some cases, the upkeep of the homes.

The amount of that fee has not been determined, Canfield said.

Buyers want maintenance-free lifestyle

The maintenance-free lifestyle is gaining in popularity, especially as baby boomers begin to downsize.

The model traditionally is found among patio-home and condominium developments. But developers of single-family homes have begun to adopt the concept.

Canfield's first foray in that direction is Spring Farm Glen, a community that provides high-end architectural design with 3,500-square-foot to 4,000-square-foot homes on about one-third of an acre -- and no yard work.

The result is Spring Farm Glen, a 16-lot development that will offer homes ranging in price from $750,000 to more than $1 million.

Site work for the project is under way and will cost about $2 million. Home construction is slated to start within the next 60 to 90 days.

Canfield said he already has sold four lots to individuals who will work with one of three designated home builders: Penny Love, Ron Wolford and John Waller. Canfield expects to sell a few more lots to individuals, and the builders will purchase the remaining lots.

Pointe offers condo-like maintenance, too

In contrast to Spring Farm Glen, the houses in Spring Farm Pointe are in the 2,200-square-foot to 3,000-square-foot range and will be on about one-fourth of an acre.

But the 31 houses will come with a complete maintenance package that covers both the landscaping and upkeep to the home's exterior, including roof repairs.

The more comprehensive maintenance package is essential in this price point -- $379,000 to $500,000 -- because these homes compete directly with traditional patio-home communities that offer such an amenity, Canfield said.

Site work for that project will cost about $5 million and is scheduled to start in about 45 days. Home construction will begin early next year.

The time is right

Also in the works is a maintenance-free section of Beech Spring Farm, a Canfield development that hosted Homearama in 2006 and 2007. Work on that section is slated to begin in the next 90 to 120 days.

And there could be more such projects going forward, he said.

Canfield said 60 percent of the market consists of people age 55 or older, so there is a demand for low- or no-maintenance housing options.

"I have looked at this for the last three or four years," Canfield said, "And I think it's time."