Chatham County, NC Blogs

Next Tuesday, November 25th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will recognize the Vanguard Homes’ “Sensibly Green” Concept Home in Briar Chapel as the first home in the country to be WaterSense™ labeled. The press conference will be held at 1:30pm in the Concept Home with a reception to immediately follow.

The Parks at Meadowview
in Pittsboro, NC
$500,000 to $1,000,000
Enjoy as many parks as you would find in an entire town, all within your private neighborhood! Take the family to Swing Garden Park, and watch the children delight in the many playgrounds. Venture to Holiday Park for seasonal displays and activities or to Meadowview Park, complete with [...]

Today is the day! Briar Chapel is celebrating its Grand Opening today from 11am-3pm, and you’re invited.

In addition to the many activities that have been planned, TORC will be on hand to conduct guided tours of the new walking/biking trails. Cycling Spoken Here will also be on hand for support, and will even have some demo bikes that you can take out for a spin. Hope to see you there!

I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the grand opening of Briar Chapel this Saturday, Sept 27th, from 11am-3pm. We’ve waited a long time for this event, so you know that Newland Communities is going to make it extra special. You don’t want to miss it!

In addition to taking a tour of the beautiful model homes, there will be plenty of wonderful activities for the whole family. For directions, click here. Once you get there, please register at the information center and let them know that Peter Winkler sent you.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Briar Chapel’s clubhouse, the Briar Club, has been completed. Take a virtual tour of this LEED-Certified facility, which includes a number of gathering rooms, a state-of-the-art fitness facility, classrooms, and more.

Vanguard Homes announced today that it is currently building a “state-of-the-art” concept home in Briar Chapel, which will “…bridge the gap between ENERGY STAR and extreme green technologies.”

According to the press release, the concept home will feature a number of sustainable features, including Water Sense™-qualified dual flush toilets and low-flow faucets, a whole house water filtration system, solar hot water heater, computer-monitored irrigation system, cisterns, an ENERGY STAR Advanced Lighting Package, solar tubes, LEED-certified ceramic tile, and more.

If you haven’t checked out Briar Chapel in awhile, I encourage you to do so. The development is buzzing with activity, as the four builders prepare for the upcoming grand opening. Already, two homes have been completed (the first residents have already moved into one!), and another 15 are under construction. This is in addition to the 8 model homes that are in the finishing stages. Yes, you read that correctly… 25 homes in a few short months.

To help you keep track of the progress, I will periodically update the report you see to the right of this page. When you’re ready to see the progress for yourself, give me a call to setup a tour. Otherwise, if you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by the information center and say hello to the great folks from Newland Communities for me!

If you’re interested in learning more about Woods Charter, check out the school’s website, my earlier posts, or the recent article by Chatham Journal.

I bet you think you know what a good neighbor is… I thought I did, too, when I lived in Northern Virginia - 12 miles from Washington, DC…in the same neighborhood, on the exact same street I grew up on.

Briar Chapel’s clubhouse, the Briar Club, was recently completed and looks incredible. This LEED-Certified facility includes a number of gathering rooms (many with beautiful stone fireplaces), a state-of-the-art fitness facility, catering kitchen, classrooms, and offices for HOA staff. All of the artwork, furniture and decor was chosen with one thing in mind, nature. Outside, they’re still working on the two pools, a diving well, water slide, splash pad, cabanas, barbecue areas, a children’s playground, and picnic glade. I hope you enjoy the slideshow I’ve put together.

Only 6 days remain until builders start writing contracts for Briar Chapel on Saturday, May 31st!

If you haven’t already met with me and reserved your favorite lot, now is the time to do so. Give me a call today at 919-360-1285 to schedule an appointment.

Would you like to have the opportunity to select the home of your choice in Briar Chapel before the public grand opening? If the answer is “yes,” please let me know and I will get you an invitation to attend a private, LIMITED RELEASE PREVIEW EVENT that’s being held on May 31st.

In order to prepare for this special event, we need to get together to pick a floor plan and location that’s right for you. Once we’ve done that, we’ll start the pre-qualification process with an approved homebuilder and get a priority number, which will allow us to choose an appointment time for the preview event.

Time is running out, so let’s get started right away. Please call me at 919-360-1285 to get the process started.

If you are interested in Briar Chapel, now is the time to build! Prices are only going to go up, and the best lots won’t last long.

I would love to show you all of the great floor plans available to choose from, and introduce you to all that Briar Chapel has to offer. Give me a call today at 919-360-1285 so we can prepare for the upcoming pre-sales event in less than two weeks. Priority numbers are being given out, so time is of the essence.

• developers have preserved more than 50% (900 acres), including steep slopes, stream beds, significant tree stands, and several historic structures found on-site
• it is the first (and largest) community in the Triangle to require homebuilders to comply with the rigorous new home construction requirements and third-party testing of the N.C. Green Building Initiative, creating high performance, healthier homes with measurable cost savings for residents and contributing to an improved quality of life
• contrary to earlier rumors, Briar Chapel will NOT include a golf course
• 30 percent of the homes face south to increase efficiencies and solar capabilities
• the clubhouse will be LEED-certified
• the developers convinced Thompson Contracting, who is handling site development, to use biodiesel in some of its earth-moving equipment
• 64 units will be made available for affordable housing
• Newland Communities has already donated over $1 million to our local Habitat for Humanity
• all stone used in Briar Chapel is native to the site, including its beautiful masonry walls, roadbeds and trails (but excluding the gravel in the parking lot at the Info Center)
• meandering, bifurcated roadways were designed to maximize the tree canopy for the native birds
• 24 miles of trails connect the entire community
• a $10 million sewage treatment plan was constructed allowing for spray irrigation and the use of reclaimed gray-water irrigation for all open space
• the developers have created and funded a foundation that will support local artists and various green initiatives (more on this later)

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Although no housing development is perfect, I hope you’ll agree that Newland Communities is striving to be responsible and make a positive difference in the world by creating enduring, healthier communities.

Newland Communities has announced that they have selected four area builders to comprise the builder team for Briar Chapel, who will all be required to build sustainable, environmentally responsible homes. The builder team consists of Chatham Builder Guild, LLC; M/I Homes, Inc.; McNeill Burbank; and Vanguard Homes.

I have already met with some of these builders, and am prepared to assist you in choosing one that will best meet your needs. Please contact me today to get started.

About Chatham Builder Guild
The Chatham Builder Guild, LLC, is a select group of custom builders serving the Chapel Hill, Durham and Chatham County area. Based in Chatham County, N.C., this group of award-winning builders was created to provide truly custom construction, innovative design and personalized service which individually-owned and operated firms can offer. Guild associates are long-standing members of the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties, are consistent Parade of Home winners, and are active participants in the Green Building Council.

About M/I Homes
M/I Homes, Inc. was founded in 1976 and is one of the nation’s leading builders of single family homes. M/I Homes has established an exemplary reputation based on a strong commitment to superior customer service, innovative design, quality construction and premium locations. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, M/I Homes serves a broad segment of the housing market including first-time, move-up, luxury and empty nester buyers.

About McNeill Burbank
McNeill Burbank, an affiliated company of Saussy Burbank, has been crafting new homes in the Raleigh, N.C. area since 1992. McNeill Burbank has built more than 700 new homes and won numerous awards for quality and style. The unique designs borrow architecturally from the past while blending a contemporary, timeless look that’s rare today. McNeill Burbank prides themselves on the new communities they have chosen to build in, in just the right locations. Saussy Burbank is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based homebuilder, nationally recognized for building homes with distinctive architectural details and innovative floor plans.

About Vanguard Homes
Vanguard Homes was established in 2006 as the outgrowth of a successful North Carolina-based homebuilding company in operation since 1980. With unwavering determination, Vanguard remains committed to being an area leader in homebuilding quality, service, and innovation validated by measurable differences in community development, product design, and home efficiency.

Newland Communities hosted a pre-event opening reception for the Third Annual Green Home Tour, which occurred this past weekend.

Michelle Moore, the senior vice president of the U.S. Green Building Council, was the guest speaker and discussed Newland’s partnership as a founding sponsor of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Home Guide.

To learn more about this historic event, please refer to the press release.