Editor’s Note: February 2021

Dear readers in print and online, 

Welcome to the February issue of Builder and Developer. We hope you and your team are settled into the new year and are making strides to the goals you’ve set for yourselves. 

With IBSx coming up, we’ve pulled together some of the panelists and speakers at the prestigious event to cover topics of design trends, Generation Z, building for rent, and more. Speakers include Brad Hunter, Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki, Mary Dewalt, Daniel Gehman and Peter Dennehy.

One main topic we cover in this issue is masterplanned communities. Twice a year, the good folks over at RCLCO put out a list of the country’s top-selling masterplanned communities based on the number of homes sold, along with an analysis of the results.

In another testament to a strong housing market that’s been a bright spot in the economy amid the pandemic, masterplanned communities on the list saw about a 20% increase in sales in comparison to the 2019 list. 

“If interest rates remain low, and the increasing availability of COVID-19 vaccines can limit the need for future lockdowns and longer term reduce the need for social distancing, the outlook for MPCs remains excellent,” RCLCO’s Gregg Logan and Karl Pischke wrote.

We’ve also featured three masterplanned communities in this issue — two of which are present on the annual list, including Inspirada in Henderson, Nev., which came in at No. 27, and Easton Park in Texas, which was not far behind at No. 30.

Additionally, this month’s interview comes from National Kitchen and Bath Association CEO Bill Darcy, where he gives us a preview of what to expect at this year’s Kitchen and Bath Industry Show.

“It’s a historical event — IBS and KBIS — we invested a lot in bringing the key components of the event you would have attended in person,” Darcy said. “We’re hopeful that we can exceed expectations to what they can see and what they can learn and it’ll be exciting to welcome them back live in 2022.”

With the end of the pandemic seemingly becoming closer, it’s important for our industry to continue to lead our economy toward a recovery. As housing sales continue to surge, building industry professionals can continue to feel confident that the momentum will sustain into 2021 and beyond.

As always, if you’ve got any news or projects you’d like the team here to know about, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at brian@builder.media.

Cheers,

Brian Alvarado

Editor