Ever since ‘new urbanism’ arrived in the 1990s, Denver builders have tried creating new-urban communities–places where most daily needs are walkable. Many of those projects somehow never generate the actual cafes and grocery shopping that buyers want to have close at hand…but today you can tour one that’s everything advertised: shops, coffee, fitness, a pub or two, groceries, all within 2 blocks.

Distinctive Properties’ Cate Dobson shows off a lavishly furnished two-bedroom-plus-study plan at Luce, re-priced for a reopening behind Lowry Town Center.

Luce…pronounced ‘loo-chay’…is right behind Lowry Town Center, so close that you can actually walk into Albertson’s flagship store within three minutes of leaving your door. This is a project that was set to open a year ago but that’s been totally re-priced now, with some homes 25% lower than they were then. more »

By Mark Samuelson

Builder John Keith has a rare commodity: a series of family-sized luxury homes in Stapleton that, despite the economy, is selling pretty fast. Fast enough, that Keith is taking his award winning Architect Collection plans——each with 2.5 kW of solar on the roof——to a small number of sites where he can offer them in Lowry.

Solar builder John Keith at Lowry’s Wings Over The Rockies Museum.

During 2008, a year that was slim pickings for most builders, Keith’s Harvard Communities sold 25 homes in Stapleton. That was before President Obama came to Denver to sign the Stimulus Bill, giving an introduction during his speech to Boulder-based Namaste Solar, Harvard’s solar contractor. “For the rest of the week,” Keith said, “Namaste was one of the most Googled words on the planet.” more »

WHERE: Grand opening, Arbors at Lowry by Harvard Communities, ranch-style patio home, solar system free with purchase thru July. From Quebec St. south of First, take Lowry Blvd. east 1 mi. past ball fields and ice rink, to traffic circle, south on Yosemite.

PRICE: From high $400s
WHEN: 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.
PHONE: 303-366-2555 WEB: www.arborslowry.com

Builder John Keith was first to bring patio homes to Lowry…first to bring solar homes to Stapleton…and now he’s all by himself once again with a new ranch-style, low-maintenance patio design, and you can see it at a Lowry grand opening.


Project Manager Mario Mendoza and Sales Rep Judi Phillips inspect Harvard Communities’ new ranch patio model at Lowry, for today’s opening.

Harvard Communities’ Arbors at Lowry ranks as the only new patio homes being built in the city of Denver today…a design difficult for builders to do, at a time when, despite the slower market, more and more buyers in places like Hilltop and Crestmoor are looking for them.

Keith knows how well patio homes work at Lowry. He created four Harvard enclaves of patio plans in Lowry’s earlier areas and quickly sold out. Harvard’s trendy energy efficiency, meanwhile, grabbed the attention of the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden——and they’re spotlighting Harvard and some large-scale energy companies in a permanent exhibit for the Colorado Convention Center.
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