As Google readies its Boulder expansion, KB Home at Somerset in Longmont waits with new homes at way below Boulder prices
In Boulder, Google is nearing completion on the first phase of its 330,000-square-foot expansion campus at 30th and Pearl, and 20 rush-hour minutes to the north, real estate agents are showing potential Google clients how much further a dollar goes on some new, large floor plans by KB Home in Longmont, compared to what they see in Boulder.
“Longmont is up-andcoming,” says Coldwell Banker agent Ryan Harper, who’s been showing Google staffers KB Home’s models at Somerset Meadows, off Airport Road north of the Diagonal, and has already picked out a KB Home there for his own family of four.
Harper says that he and other agents were watching KB Home’s arrival here early on as average single-family prices in the city of Boulder climbed beyond the million-dollar mark. KB Home has two collections with a total of 17 plans at Somerset Meadows, including eight ranches, at prices from the low $500s.
Harper says he and his family, currently living in Erie, are anticipating their move, liking the looks of nearby schools, the close proximity to the new Village at the Peaks mall with its Whole Foods and outdoor dining district, and the City of Longmont’s Nextlight fiber optics service, anticipated to be one of the nation’s fastest.
KB Home is also seeing buyers here from nearby neighborhoods in Longmont, where buyers have waited for the chance to move up or to downsize into something new and single-level. “These are new, open floor plans that will live larger than your older home, even if it’s the same size,” says Randy Carpenter, division president for KB Home Colorado.
Right on cue, I met a buyer just like that — from a mile east of Somerset Meadows, showing her parents visiting from Florida a ranch model similar to one KB Home has underway for her family nearby. “We’re not fixeruppers,” she said, noting that getting newer features is a primary motivation for this move, edged along by the fast-rising value of their older home, allowing them to reach for a nicer plan than they’d imagined.
With demand from multiple quarters as Google’s arrival gains momentum, Somerset Meadows by KB Home is an opportunity that requires planning — touring the models and picking a home site from a selection that includes several with views of Long’s Peak and the Continental Divide west of Boulder. If you need to move soon, you’ll find two homes from KB Home’s Reserve Collection that can have you moved in by the holidays — both family-sized two-stories, including a four-bedroom, three-bath design with 2,396 square feet of finished space, plus basement and two-car garage. It has a kitchen island, farmhouse-style cabinets, upgraded countertops, stainlesssteel appliances and a walk-in pantry; it is priced at $572,000.
You’ll hear about well-rated
St. Vrain Schools, including nearby Blue Mountain Elementary. To reach Somerset Meadows from central Longmont, take Hover Street south past the new Whole Foods to Clover Basin Drive, then head west a mile to Renaissance Drive; turn south a mile and continue to Pike Road.
Or from Boulder, take the Diagonal/hwy 119 northeast nine miles to Airport Road, head north on Airport a mile to Glenneyre Drive, and turn west.
– Mark Samuelson writes on real estate and business; you can email him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com. See all of Samuelson’s columns online at Denverpost.com/realestate