- Developers are building planned communities focused on the outdoors as wealthy buyers flee major cities.
- Nature is now considered a luxury amenity — along with solar panels, archery, and hiking paths.
- Benloch Ranch, a new "sustainable community" in Utah, has homes starting at $1.4 million.
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Real estate developers are building luxury 'naturehoods' and 'agrihoods' with multi-million dollar homes focused on sustainability — check one out
Aug 11, 2022, 12:48 PM ET
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Realtor.com ranked Salt Lake City this May as the #1 housing market positioned for growth in 2022, followed by Boise City, Idaho and Spokane, Washington.
Source: Realtor.com
Real estate developers are capitalizing on wealthy homebuyers flocking to mountainous regions like these for a taste of the great outdoors.
The exodus from major US cities that jumpstarted during the pandemic has led nature-loving homebuyers to pay extra for environmentally-focused living spaces, as the Wall Street Journal reported in June.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Some of these new developments have gone as far to advertise themselves as "naturehoods" and "agrihoods," per the report.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Benloch Ranch, a new "sustainable community" being built in Utah 25 minutes from the Deer Valley Ski Resort and one hour from Salt Lake City, is a prime example.
The 2,550-acre community, which describes itself as Utah's "newest adventure living destination," has pre-sold 154 lots — generating over $300 million in revenue.
Benloch Ranch's popularity is thanks to one of the hottest amenities in luxury real estate right now: "fresh air," Jamie Mackay, the community's lead developer, told Insider.
But beyond fresh air, Benloch Ranch's amenity list far surpasses your typical fitness center and pool.
On-site, there will be community gardens, a skeet shooting range and archery, a skating pond, "glamping" facilities, yurt camping, 20 miles of trails, and horseback riding.
The master planned community offers ten different models of homes. The largest option, the "Icon" is a 4-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom with a base price of $2.8 million.
Take a look inside the "Icon" model, starting here in the living room.
The homes allow buyers to "simultaneously delight in modern comforts and gaze upon the vistas of the American frontier," the Benloch Ranch website says.
Those who could afford to flee heavily populated areas during the pandemic realized "that they're asleep at the wheel out in the city" and ended up preferring the mountain town lifestyle, Mackay told Insider.
He said Benloch Ranch's buyers are split equally between younger families and retired couples, and noted that there are more primary home buyers than those purchasing second homes.
The "Helix" model, priced slightly over $2 million, is a four-bedroom, four-bathroom with 3454 square feet of space.
The community's architecture and interior design embodies a "mountain modern lifestyle," a press release for Benloch Ranch says.
Every home is required to have solar panels, according to Mackay.
Benloch ranch's other sustainability initiatives include seeding native plant species and reducing stormwater runoff and conserving water used throughout the community.
Mackay told Insider he strategically planned the location of each building so they wouldn't obscure each other's views.
Source: Realtor