| FEBRUARY
14, 2007
FOREST GROVE--Sales
have begun on Renaissance Homes’ $132 million,
294-home Pacific Crossing here on Goff Road just off
Highway 8, this community’s largest residential
development in at least 20 years, according to the city
planning department.
With few signs and no fanfare, company
officials said they’d taken 15 reservations prior
to opening sales on the 50-lot first phase and were
optimistic that several factors would help Pacific Crossing
sales get off to a fast start.
“This is a wonderful location in an idyllic small
college community. We’re able to be very aggressive
with our pricing and this will be a chance for people
to get the upscale finishes standard in a Renaissance
home at least $100,000 less than in our other communities,”
said Randy Sebastian, Renaissance president.
The firm purchased the 64.72 acre property
a few blocks west of downtown and the Pacific University
campus in 2002 before the hot real estate market created
another major jump in land prices, he explained. “We’re
passing this along to our buyers here,” Sebastian
said.
Homes at Pacific Crossing, which is
Renaissance’ largest metropolitan area neighborhood
to date, will range from 1,786 square feet with two
bedrooms and two baths to 4,331 square feet with four
bedrooms and 3.5 baths. Opening base prices will range
from $369,900 to $543,900. There will be a mix of two
and three car garages and one model will have an optional
five-car tandem garage.
Relatively large lots ranging from
5,000 to 8,000 square feet have allowed Renaissance
to offer an unusually wide range of housing, including
single floor, master bedroom on main floor and daylight
basement models.
“There’s a lot of interest
in single floor and daylight basement homes. The larger
lots here allow us to include three single level homes
of 1,786 square feet, 1,811 square feet and 2,124 square
feet, including two relatively new plans. Since the
topography is gently rolling, we also have great views
of the nearby coast mountains and there are three daylight
basement plans available,” said Lee Wells, Pacific
Crossing community manager.
A 2,994-square foot master bedroom
on the main floor model home will be one of two completed
in February. The first residents are expected to move
in by early summer.
Besides the wide range of housing styles,
Pacific Crossing will have a park with swimming pool,
2,000-square-foot clubhouse, sport court, kids playground,
walking paths and open spaces.
“We’re able to offer the
amenities of a master planned community here because
we were able to acquire land that was large enough.
It’s going to be an interesting community with
meandering streets, not a typical square-lot subdivision,”
Wells said.
Wells said he expects the Forest Grove community to
be a good draw for prospective buyers.
“This is a university town with
the sophistication that implies. At the same time, there’s
a smaller community atmosphere here and we’re
close to the coast, wine country and the high tech job
base in Washington County,” he said.
All homes will be built to Renaissance’
“Living Green” standards, a group of environmentally
sound building techniques which save money on energy
and exceed the Earth Advantage program, on which it
is based.
Living Green requires use of kiln dried
lumber and special paints which eliminate the usual
“off gassing” from those products as well
as air filtration. Systems also have been developed
to seal duct work and circulate fresh air throughout
the home every 90 minutes when people are home.
The firm’s crews actually have
moisture testing equipment to make sure lumber meets
the required dryness specifications.
“Keeping paint and other vapors out of the air
may not sound like much to many people, but anyone suffering
from allergies or asthma will immediately recognize
the benefit from this part of the program,” said
Wells.
Living green also calls for use of
such composite materials as fiber cement siding, “engineered”
wood and composition roofing to reduce demand on Northwest
forests. Renaissance’ Pacific Crossing homes go
farther than traditional “green” building
programs with an exterior package called Rain Screen.
Developed in Vancouver BC, Rain Screen
is an exterior wall system that furs out the siding
by a half inch to allow a channel of air circulation
between the siding and the house wrap. This circulates
air throughout the exterior of the house so it can “breathe”
better. Any moisture which invades the space also runs
through rather than seeping behind house wrap or plywood
and causing dry rot and mold.
Additional information on Pacific Crossing
is available from Wells at 971-563-6358 and Brett Grantham,
503-969-8556 or on the web at www.renaissance_homes.com.
Renaissance Homes is one of Oregon’s
largest residential builders and the first major builder
committed to 100 percent green building. Besides Forest
Grove, the firm has neighborhoods underway in Sherwood,
West Linn, Happy Valley, Wilsonville, Beaverton, Vancouver,
Camas, southwest Portland, on the Oregon Golf Association
golf course at Tukwila and in Bend.
Renaissance Homes
16771 Boones Ferry Road
Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035
Voice: 503-636-5600
Fax: 503-635-8400
Emergency Service: 503-496-0711 or 866-567-6225
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