Crews will begin work this month on Trailstone, the final major development in the Candelas Master Plan. The 196-acre development spearheaded by Arizona-based Taylor Morrison will feature 675 homes and a trail network that connects to the city’s.
The project is expected to be ready for occupancy by late 2023 or early 2024, according to the City of Arvada’s Director of Growth and Economic Development Ryan Stachelski.
Stachelski said that although further development will continue in west Arvada, Trailstone will be the last piece of the Candelas subdivision.
“In the Candelas neighborhood, this is the last large-scale housing development, but there are other large pieces of land up there that will have housing that aren’t considered Candelas,” Stachelski said.
Matt Rankin, Taylor Morrison’s Denver division Vice President of Operations, said that the developer was drawn to the plot of land because of Taylor Morrison’s previous work in the Arvada area and because of the natural amenities of the site.
“We’ve had other projects in Arvada, we’ve always appreciated Arvada as far as it having a rich history as a city, and certainly love Olde Town Arvada and the arts district, so when the last big piece of Candelas came up was really something we jumped at and are really excited about,” Rankin said.
It being the last big piece in Candelas, we’re really excited about keeping with the natural topography of the site, and a lot of open space, for residents to enjoy the open space, as well as we’re building a lot of trails in the community that will interact with the Arvada trail system,” Rankin continued.
Trailstone will feature a variety of home builds to appeal to buyers at different stages of life, according to Rankin. These will include townhomes, detached villas and single-family homes.
Development will take place in two phases; phase one will begin this month and is expected to deliver 410 lots, while the second phase will follow with an additional 265 lots and is expected to close in 2023.
“I think there’s such a shortage of housing in the Denver Metro Area and there’s such a need at every stage of our homebuyer’s life, in order to have different products available, we figure we can hopefully serve the most number of buyers and the most number of people and get the most residents into the Arvada area,” Rankin said.
Amenities in the development will include 5 acres of parks, a trail system and an amenity center that Rankin said would likely include a pool.
When asked about environmental concerns raised by groups including the Rocky Flats Downwinders pertaining to Candelas’ proximity to the former nuclear plant, Rankin said that Taylor Morrison had done their due diligence on the plot of land and hadn’t found anything of concern.
“We do environmental studies, both from a `How are the soil and the water in that area?’ as well as understanding what the impact of our community will have on the community as well as the infrastructure. I certainly understand the concern of a lot of residents, but in our preliminary due diligence before we acquired the site, we didn’t see anything that was of any big concern,” Rankin said.
Stachelski said that he sees more commercial development as the next step in Candelas’ evolution.
“Houses started to come out of the ground in late 2011, early 2012. It’s remarkable how quickly we’ve seen growth. What people consistently ask for is more commercial. Those are driven by rooftops; rooftops come before retail,” Stachelski said.
What this’ll do is make the area more marketable for future commercial opportunities to support new residents,” Stachelski continued.
Sales for Trailstone will commence in 2023.