Pulte Homes will delay opening of green development

Consumers will have to wait a little longer than expected to buy into a major green-housing project.

Pulte Homes has pushed back the opening of its Reverence community in Summerlin from July 2008 to sometime in 2009.

Company officials wouldn’t elaborate on the reasons behind the deferred opening beyond pointing to general delays in the land-development schedule. Standard land preparations for construction include installing such items as water pipelines and streets and obtaining land-use and building permits.

The 300-acre Reverence would be the first large-scale, single-family home neighborhood in Las Vegas to use eco-friendly construction and landscaping techniques throughout both common areas and houses.

Ken Perlman, vice president of Sullivan Group Real Estate Advisors, said Reverence’s delay isn’t necessarily a sign of broader problems in the local real estate market.

“You really can’t read into this any more than what it is, which is a delay in the project,” Perlman said. “Projects get delayed. It happens. The land-development process is a long and complicated one.”

Besides, Perlman said, a development-related halt in activity at Reverence could benefit the project in the long run. Given the sluggish housing sector — sales of new homes fell 43.7 percent in September when compared with the same month a year ago, according to research firm SalesTraq — opening later than planned could buffet the neighborhood from further fallout in a down market.

Steve Bottfeld, an analyst with home-building consultant Marketing Solutions, said Reverence’s postponement likely resulted from a combination of factors.

Builders do indeed run into unexpected hiccups when they’re prepping land for construction, Bottfeld said. But in a soft market, there’s less of an incentive to push harder on forcing a master plan through the development process.

“Instead of trying to jump-start a project in this kind of economic period, it makes excellent sense to work through (development) schedule issues as the market begins to sort itself out,” Bottfeld said.

He also noted that Pulte hasn’t delayed or stopped activity on other new-home communities planned in Las Vegas, so Reverence’s lagging development is likely an individual circumstance.

Reverence will be Michigan-based Pulte’s first entirely green community.

Pulte plans to design Reverence according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s criteria as a water-smart community, with drought-tolerant landscaping and water-sipping plumbing fixtures. Common-area sprinklers will feature a weather-sensitive programming system that will shut off watering when it’s unnecessary — on rainy days, for example.

Pulte will also design the community’s 13,500-square-foot recreation center based on standards set through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

Company officials didn’t return a phone call seeking additional comment on the community’s green elements, but Don Boettcher, area vice president of land for Pulte, told the Review-Journal in June that Reverence would go beyond the builder’s Environments for Living program, which includes insulation inspections and air-leak tests. Pulte also plans to use recycled materials in Reverence’s home construction, Boettcher said.

Pulte is looking to apply those same building methods to a second local community. A Pulte spokeswoman didn’t want to discuss the project in detail because it’s still in the certification process, but the community will be in northwest Las Vegas.

A Marketing Solutions survey of local new-home buyers from April to July found that 89 percent of consumers wanted energy efficiency in the home, and 90 percent of buyers believed that paying more up front for an energy-efficient home could yield utility-bill savings that would make up for the higher sale price.

Las Vegas already has the deepest penetration by far of new homes belonging to the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program, which promotes environmentally friendly materials and appliances. About 65 percent of new homes in Las Vegas are in the program.

“The American consumer has now indicated not just a willingness, but a desire, for green,” Bottfeld said. “Give Pulte a pat on the back, because not only is this the right thing to do, it’s also great marketing.”

Steve Rypka, a cofounder of the Nevada chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, said Pulte’s addition of a new green community is a wise one. Eco-sensitive construction will only become more popular in coming years, he said, because it boosts the bottom line for both consumers and builders.

“Green building is the only type of building that really makes sense,” said Rypka, who also owns Henderson consulting firm GreenDream Enterprises. “It’s a new paradigm that’s changing the construction industry. Several years ago, it wasn’t a ripple in the pond. Now, it’s a tidal wave that’s transforming the business.”

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-4512.