8z broker: Westminster has it all

Since 1998, Rey Armendariz has sold homes throughout the Denver metropolitan area – from Castle Rock to Erie and everything in between.

“But I haven’t found a community quite like the Bradburn Village and the Weatherstone area,” said Armendariz, a broker owner with 8z Real Estate.

The Bradburn/Weatherstone area, near West 120th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard in Westminster, is the subject of this months’s Insider’s Guide to a neighborhood, a look at a neighborhood through the eyes of an 8z broker.

Something for everyone

“There is such a broad-range of housing types, styles and price ranges in the area,” Armendariz said. “The areas are walking distance to Sprouts Farmers Market, 24 Hour Fitness, Chipotle, Starbucks, banks, shopping and more. Other good amenities like Home Depot, King Soopers, Petco and Walmart are across 120 th Avenue.”

“The Community College designated open space and Westfield Village soccer and baseball park, within the area, are a great touch, and breaks up other adjacent sub divisions. You see a lot of people running, walking their dogs, biking and enjoying the outdoors. The (nearby) mountains offer great hiking trails, major sporting events and more. The public schools, Cotton Creek Elementary, Westlake Middle and Legacy High are good. And the Academy Charter School, Front Range Community College and College Hill Library are walking distance or a short bike ride away.”

And that’s not all.

“You have two major shopping areas, the Orchards and Flatiron Malls, five to 10 minutes away. We’re loaded with amenities and the walking score is great! The whole Westminster and Broomfield community is perfectly positioned to benefit from the economy recovery. The Interlocken Business Park (off the Boulder Turnpike) and many other business centers including downtown Denver, Boulder and the northern areas, are all within 30 minutes of Bradburn and Weatherstone area. We have great business accessibility. Long term, a diverse set of jobs will continue to grow, and businesses will have convenient recruiting accessibility to a large pool of students from the University of Colorado and Colorado State University.”

In addition, the Bradburn area, as well as the City of Westminster and nearby cities, will benefit from the redevelopment of Westminster Mall, he said.

The City of Westminster has bought the mall and plans a high-density, mixed-use development on the 105-acre site.

“Personally, I am very excited about it and I think it’s great for the community,” he said. “Certainly, it is going to have a positive impact on the area.”

Calls area home

Armendariz, who joined 8z Real Estate over two years ago, has lived in Westminster for nine years and owns a home in Weatherstone.

He started his real estate career with REMAX in 1998. Although he has sold houses all over the Denver metropolitan area and has specialized and loves many older Denver neighborhoods, he believes the Bradburn/Weatherstone area is the best of both worlds.

“It’s just provides great balance, especially if you’re raising kids like myself. I have a 13-year-old daughter and it’s a great area for her. Plus, it’s an easy commute to Boulder, Denver, DIA and everything in between… it just can’t be beat.”

At 8z, he increasingly is focusing on Westminster, Broomfield and Arvada areas, but because of his broad client base and market experience, he still enjoys working with clients throughout the Denver metro area. Currently he’s been spending time in Denver, Greenwood Village, Englewood and Parker.

“I have some great past and current clients and it’s fun and rewarding helping sellers and buyers properly prepare for the market and execute a plan; looking at houses, negotiating deals, guiding clients through a transactions, successfully overcoming obstacles and closing the deal,” he said. “I joined 8z because of the whole team concept. You aren’t working independently like most traditional real estate systems. The technology and the team is the best, and we’re a progressive real estate company sincerely trying to fix real estate with great service, market knowledge, great training, a team approach and technology.

At 8z, he said, “the push is to be more area-specific i.e. hyper-local,” which provides him with an opportunity to work the Bradburn area where he lives and knows like the back of his hand.

Denver-based Continuum Partners opened Bradburn as a 125-acre “New Urbanism” community a decade ago. The community includes a private pool and a village. Available housing includes single family houses, townhomes, live/work lofts, rental apartments. There also is retail and restaurants, including a Main Street in its Village Core.

“There are still some infill lots available in Bradburn but are selling fast,”  Armendariz said. When completed, Bradburn will have 865 homes. Architectural styles include classics such as Craftsman, Denver Prairie and Farmhouse. Yet, unlike the original version of these homes in neighborhoods that are 100 or more years old, homes in Bradburn have modern floor plans and are energy-efficient.

Continuum, best known, perhaps for developing Belmar in Lakewood and a number of downtown Denver projects, was a green developer before it was trendy.

Sustainability and green-building is a philosophy shared by homebuilders in Bradburn, such as New Town Builders.

“I think that has been one of the draws of Bradburn,” said Armendariz. “A number of the homes have solar panels and other energy saving features. I think people who don’t even think of themselves as being particularly “green” like the

idea of saving money on their utility bills.”

In Weatherstone, he said patio homes start around $200,000s and bigger single family homes rise to about $450,000.

In Bradburn, townhomes are priced from about $170,000, and bigger single family homes rise to about $900,000

“There’s a broad-range of prices. I would say the ‘sweet spot’ for a single-family home in Weatherstone is about $350,000, while it is closer to $450,000 in Bradburn.”

His research on sales activity during the past 12 months found:

• Bradburn – 642 homes sold at an average price of $477,000. The lowest sales price was $340,000 and the highest was $675,000.
• Weatherstone - 335 homes sold at an average price of $285,000. the lowest sales price was $175,000 and the highest $390,000. As with Bradburn, the community includes a private pool. It is adjacent to the Westfield Village Park, which includes baseball and soccer fields.
•   Green Acres -  198 homes sold at an average price of $278,000. The low sales price was $224,000 and the highest was $340,000. It was first developed in the 90s and includes only single-family homes. It also is adjacent to Westfield Village Park.
• College Hills/Stratford Lakes - 554 homes sold, at an average price of $238,000. The lowest sales price was $162,000 and the highest was $318,000. It was first developed in the 1980s.

With everything going for it, from its green-built homes to its central location and its many amenities, houses in the Bradburn/Weatherstone area held their own during the recent housing recession, Armendariz said.

Shortage of homes; sellers needed

Like the rest of the market, the Bradburn/Weatherstone area is suffering from an acute lack of inventory, he said.

“According to Metrolist, our primary multiple listing service (MLS) for the area, greater Denver metro area March inventory is down 40 percent and solds/sales are up almost 10 percent from a year ago. The market is clearly trending up, and it’s just not under the $250,000 price range; I recently had a showing cancelled at the last minute because the seller had two offers, within 48 hours of her house being on the market at $825,000 in Denver, and the seller didn’t want to show it anymore….it’s everywhere. A well presented and priced house in this market will fly off the shelves and get absorbed. Our biggest market challenge is a lack of good inventory.”

It’s also a fantastic time to be selling a home, he said.

“If you have been holding off selling your home because the recent turbulent real estate market, now is a great time to reconsider.”

Insider’s Guide, a look at a neighborhood through the eyes of an 8z Real Estate broker,  is a regular feature of InsideRealEstate. 8z is a sponsor of InsideRealEstateNews.

To learn more and contact Rey Armendariz, please visit this link. 

For more on the Bradburn area, please visit this link.

 

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