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What makes 'Spirit' different?

by Derrick Williams
Dakota County Tribune

Lakeville’s Spirit of Brandtjen Farm is defying trends and still growing in a troubled economy and real estate market. - Photo by Derrick Williams

The Spirit of Brandtjen Farm is different.

It has been since the development was conceptualized by Tradition Companies and approved by the Lakeville City Council in the midst of the housing boom in 2005.

Even for a time when things were good, the large master development was different in its ambition.

Slated to cover more than 540 acres of land, Spirit is to become 2,108 units with varying residential styles, from executive estates to townhomes, as well as commercial spaces, miles of trails, and acres of parks and open space.

Now, with leaner times and real estate in the tank, Spirit is different because it’s still growing.

City officials credit Tradition Development with foresight for keeping the development relevant. People at Tradition point to Spirit as the reason for its modest success in a time of widespread failure.

The only development site in Lakeville to offer any new single family construction in 2009, Spirit, in the last six months, added another 16 new plats to its inventory for new home buyers, and, since February, has sold five single-family homes.

Lakeville’s Spirit of Brandtjen Farm, a 540 acre master development located in the northeast side of the city, is still growing despite the sagging economy. - Photo by Derrick Williams

“People in these fragile times are wondering, ‘Where is it a safe place to make an investment?’ ” said Jacob Fick, Spirit of Brandtjen Farm project manager for Tradition Development. “And when you drive into Spirit, it has that ‘wow’ factor. The homes are unique, the grass is green, the lawns and boulevards are manicured – we try to go above and beyond, and you can see that. People see that and know it’s a safe place to make that investment.”

And while that may get people into the sales room, it’s not the whole story.

Spirit, located in the northeast corner of Lakeville near Pilot Knob Road and 170th Street, has been an exception to the recent rule that real estate development is dead, said Daryl Morey, Lakeville’s planning director.

Last year, Morey said the city processed just two residential final plats that consisted of a mere 16 lots. Both, he said, were in Spirit.

Morey said the reason Spirit has maintained modest success while others are failing to get any traction is because of the ways Tradition Development built Spirit’s PUD.

“They have design flexibilities that give them the ability to make land-use adjustments based on the market,” Morey said. “They’ve indicated that what they’re seeing is customer interest in smaller lots, and their PUD offers them the flexibility to offer that.”

So instead of building $800,000 homes, Tradition is building more $350,000 homes, according to Lynne Jensen-Nelson, vice president of sales and marketing for Tradition Companies.

Morey said Tradition Development deserves some credit in looking at the long term picture when the PUD for Spirit was approved in 2005.

“They knew it would take 10, 15, maybe 20 years to build out,” Morey said. “They realized they needed market flexibility. Sales may not be going as briskly as projected, but they’re still going, and that’s important.”

The seven lots approved by the Lakeville City Council on April 5 as part of the development’s fifth addition give Spirit 19 total new lots since September, when another 12 lots were approved by the council.

Fick said there are currently dozens of lots available – townhouse and executive lots and everything in between.

For Lakeville, Spirit’s continued growth has been a shining light in an otherwise dark time.

Development in the city has been on a sharp decline since 2004 – the height of the city’s burgeoning growth.

That year, the city issued building permits for more than 930 housing units, according to David Olson, the city’s economic and development director.

But last year just 174 new residential building permits were requested, almost none of which were for single-family homes.

“We are cautiously optimistic things are turning the corner,” City Administrator Steve Mielke said.

This year, with seven new single-family lots approved for Spirit and with another group of lots coming soon from D.R. Horton’s Fieldstone Creek development, Olson said, Lakeville will soon be up to 42 single-family lots for the year.

“We had about 16 at this point last year,” Olson said. “We’re seeing signs of life.”

Fick said he still sees hesitation in the market, but at the same time, he’s having conversations with people about Spirit he wasn’t having just a year ago.

“We have a lot of market interest from national builders to local ones – even commercial,” Fick said. “People are talking – the wheels are starting to spin.”

Despite signs of life, Fick said Tradition is intentionally keeping its expansion of Spirit slow.

“Back in 2005, basic development strategy was different than it is today,” he said. “Then, other developers would build 100 lots, and now they’re saddled with some of them. Now, developers are going in much smaller phases, including us.”

That isn’t to say Spirit has  a glut of homes available.

Jensen-Nelson said the homes in Spirit are custom-built.

Fick said another aspect that’s different for Spirit is Tradition Companies itself.

Tradition is a multi-faceted company with a lot of diversity, Fick said. The company is the developer, realtor, mortgage arm and does other aspects of the development.

“It has allowed us to ride the waves – not get too high or low,” Fick said.

For more information about Spirit of Brandtjen Farm, visit www.homesofspirit.com.

Derrick Williams is at
derrick.williams@ecm-inc.com.