Homebuilder Taylor Morrison Has a 'Product for Everyone'

By Nicole Zaro Stahl, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

With five new communities in progress from Dublin to San Jose, Taylor Morrison is intently focused on the vigorous Bay Area housing market.

The Scottsdale, Arizona-based homebuilder, known for its quality craftsmanship and high value-to-price ratio, has come up with a winning formula that captures the tastes of first-time, move-up, and empty-nest buyers alike.

"We are building single-family detached and attached homes and condos throughout the Bay Area, and we believe we have a product for everyone," comments Veronica Roberson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Roberson is part of the growing staff in the company's administrative office at 4309 Hacienda Drive. A design center is located at 4473 Willow Road.

Definitely in "growth mode," Taylor Morrison is looking at land purchases from the peninsula down to Morgan Hill and Scotts Valley, Roberson notes. The market is vibrant, confirming news reports that housing has bottomed out and is back on its way up. "We have been selling up a storm since October of last year, and so far 2012 has been phenomenal."

The builder's closest project is La Solara, a gated cluster of 112 single-family homes that are part of a larger community called Sorrento East at Dublin Ranch. Three models, from 2,300 square feet to 3,000 plus square feet, are open for viewing; prices start in the $600,000s. The exteriors of the two- and three- story houses range in design style from rustic Italian to more modern. The master-planned community offers amenities such as a pool, parks, and a bocce court. The first residents moved in at the end of August.

The four other communities currently underway are Cherry Blossom and Modern Ice Townhomes in San Jose, Thirty-Seven Degrees North in Sunnyvale, and The Grove at Cannery Park, at the historic water tower in Hayward. The builder is also quite active in and around Sacramento, managed by an office in Folsom.

When it comes to interior finishes, Roberson says that buyers still lean toward hardwood floors and granite kitchen counters, but newer solid surfaces, like tiled floors and quartz countertops, are gaining in appeal.

The cool factor shows up in the "interactive home" now being rolled out in Thirty-Seven Degrees North in Sunnyvale. Lighting, security, room temperature, music -almost all building functions can be controlled through a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. "If you're not sure you locked the front door, you can check from your iPhone and lock up remotely," says Roberson, pointing out that in contrast to the older "smart home" capabilities, operated from a stationary control center, the interactive home system can be activated from anywhere in the world.

Taylor Morrison's Bay Area projects are among the company's 130-plus communities currently under construction in North America - in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, and Texas, in the U.S.; and in Toronto and Ottawa, Canada, under the Monarch name.

For more information, visit www.taylormorrison.com.

Photo: The Crown at Cannery Park in Hayward. (Photo courtesy of Taylor Morrison.)

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