Building Industry Friends, Real Estate, Work and Agency News

Roxburgh selected for Master Plan in Bakersfield

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January 24, 2014

We are excited to share that Roxburgh has been selected to market a new master plan in Bakersfield by the highly respected developer and homebuilder, Woodbridge Pacific Group (WPG).

The first mixed-use village will consist of some 800 homes designed for move-up, and luxury segments along with two age-restricted neighborhoods, a gated upscale apartment neighborhood and an assisted living/memory care facility.  A specialty shopping center is planned within walking distance of the new community.

Bakersfield…

The Bakersfield submarket is not new for us, as Roxburgh served as agency of record for Castle & Cooke’s Villages of Stockdale a few years back.

That said, the area’s economy and employment base has grown substantially. Today it is the fifth fastest growing (by percentage) economy in the country and leading indicators point to a strong and sustained real estate market.

Timing

Consumer research and design/planning meetings area underway.  Using the Roxburgh F.A.C.E. process, the community brand strategy is nearly complete.

WPG expects to tap local homebuilders for most of the new neighborhoods with formal discussions beginning later this year. The master planned village is expected to debut in late 2015.

 

Developing a great new place? Connect with us at at hello@roxburgh.com or (714) 556-4365.  The Roxburgh Agency is located in Costa Mesa, California – but we work on places in many locations.

Branding, Building Industry Friends, Marketing Strategy

4 Steps to Launching a Brand (New Place)

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November 1, 2013

Today brands communicate and interact like never before.  The voice, style and character of a strong brand are rooted in what is real and true. This is key to being authentically relevant and interesting to target customers.

At Roxburgh, we’ve successfully positioned hundreds of new home neighborhoods, master plan communities, building industry- related companies and more over the years.  What we’ve discovered is that there are four critical steps in launching a brand.

We call our process F.A.C.E., and it is designed for Places. That said, this marketing approach applies to any product.

Step 1: Find Out the Facts

Start by understanding the research and the land plan. Then – take a close personal look at what the property (or product) is, its context and its competition. The entire creative team being involved in the analysis leads to a variety of perspectives based on what is real.

(TIP: We’ve found that an intense and fast immersion process leads to the most creative solutions.)

In Step 1, we build the beginning of project Buyer Profiles, Vocabulary and USPs (unique selling propositions). Your goals may vary, but make sure you have concrete goals a for this Step.

Rick Fletcher MBK quote

Step 2: Assemble the Team in a Shared Vision

The objective of this Step is

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Building Industry Friends, Marketing Strategy, Real Estate

Campers In Line For Brightwater Release

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February 28, 2013

With 2012 and January 2013 real estate data coming in, we have been cautiously optimistic about what has been going on in the Southern California market. Foreclosures are down, prices are going up and inventory is low. This trifecta in our post Great Recession world should create demand, however even we weren’t prepared for what has been happening at Woodbridge Pacific Group’s Brightwater Huntington Beach this week.

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Building Industry Friends, Real Estate

AIA Home Design Trends Survey

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June 27, 2012

The American Institute of Architects recently came out with the results from its first quarter Home Design Trends Survey. Most notably, residential architects are indicating an improvement in overall business conditions and are seeing some stability developing in new construction. A bellwether for the homebuilding industry, business conditions at residential architecture firms improving is naturally encouraging news.

When it comes to design, in-home accessibility is the emerging trend; features like wider hallways, fewer steps and stairs, ramps and on-grade entrances intended to make entering/exiting and moving through the home easier are increasing in popularity. Flexible floorplans are also on the rise in addition to a growing preference for open space layouts over enclosed rooms. AIA findings are not surprising, given our aging Boomer population and a shift toward multigenerational housing.

Some builders are already addressing these trends. Shea SPACES and the Lennar NextGen home immediately come to mind as attempts to meet the needs of American households as their makeups shift and change.movie Green Room

Survey results also indicate an increased interest in outdoor living spaces. Maybe living in Southern California makes us take this for granted, but really, when have they ever been unpopular? Covered outdoor spaces and outdoor rooms are on the rise, and we see these design features as less of a trend and more of a key floorplan element in new home communities throughout Southern California.

Lets all hope for increased billings and some project backlog at residential architecture firms. Fingers crossed. To access the complete survey results, http://www.aia.org/practicing/AIAB095115.

Building Industry Friends, Work and Agency News

Home Buyer Tax Credit Could Be Extended/Increased

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June 22, 2009

The new home buyer tax credit was so successful that lawmakers and businesses are trying to get it extended past its fall deadline.  The same lobbyists are also trying to get it raised from $8,000 to $15,000.  According the the National Association of Realtors, first-time homebuyers make up 40% of home purchases.  There are several proposals out to Congress, including:

•A Senate bill to expand the tax credit to $15,000 for any home buyer regardless of income was introduced this month by Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga. It is co-sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn.

•A House bill to keep the $8,000 credit in place until June 2010 and expand it to all home buyers was introduced last month by Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Texas. It also would provide a $3,000 credit to homeowners who refinance.

•Another bill in the House, introduced by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, would extend the credit to all home buyers through 2010.

Though The White House would not comment, you can read more about the bills at: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-06-22-homebuyer-credit-may-be-extended_N.htm

Building Industry Friends, Work and Agency News

Skinny Houses – MET HOME Magazine; Dec 2008

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February 5, 2009

In a great article from the December 2008 issue of MET HOME magazine, Karrie Jacobs discusses her trip to Portland, Oregon and her discovery of the city-approved radical experiment in urban planning, called “Skinny Houses”. Here are a few highlights from the article:

Portland has provided permits to housing developers for plans that will improve the quality of single-family homes that are built on narrow lots, i.e. Skinny Houses.  These skinny homes are usually 15-ft across and three stories instead of two, but pack approximately 1,100 sq. ft. of living space into the allotted space.

In 2004,  architect Bryan Higgins, one of the first to build a skinny home, submitted his idea/design in the city’s Living Smart: Big Ideas for Small Lots competition. His design was one of two that was chosen by the city to be built.  In 2006, the city gave him the plan, permit and reduced his permit fees. His home, along with the other winner’s property emerged as a new Portland architectural symbol.  Since 2006, ten of these official skinny houses have been completed, with the aid of the city providing free plans and no red tape for anyone who wanted to build one.

Karrie Jacobs found that this Living Smart program was one of the boldest attempts by an American city to foster the building of smaller, better house.

For more information on Skinny Houses and for an article like this one, go to: http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2004/08/23/focus3.html