Huntsville/Madison Development News (Tuscaloosa, Auburn: swimming, down payment, real estate)

[AU HSV]

New Engineering building for UAH, approved back in April. Conceptual view of Engineering Building Expansion (Phase 1) and the renovated, existing building (Phase 2) from John Wright Drive. Renderings are conceptual and subject to change



https://hsvchamber.org/first-phase-o...tual-approval/

[AU HSV]

Change in homebuilder for Hays Farm

https://www.al.com/news/2022/08/hays...s-unbuilt.html

Goodall Homes, announced in November 2020 as the exclusive single-family home builder at Hays Farm, has pulled out of the project having built fewer than 25% of the homes they were contracted to build. Hays Farm developers hired Goodall to build 440 homes.

Goodall, based in Nashville, is a Clayton Properties Group builder and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

“They have told us that they’re going to shut down their Huntsville operation,”Jeff Enfinger said. “And they won’t have Goodall Homes here anymore.”
The lots where homes have not yet been built will be sold to another builder and Enfinger said there has already been a lot of interest from other companies eager to step in.

“As far as what’s ultimately going to happen, in some ways, it doesn’t matter,” Enfinger said. “We will develop 440 lots and we will sell them to somebody and we’re going to build houses, and that’s going to take four or five years like it was always going to take four or five years.
“We’ve already had five or six calls (from home builders) unsolicited saying and we want lots.”
Enfinger said it will probably be about a month before a new builder is selected.

[InlandWave]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Change in homebuilder for Hays Farm

https://www.al.com/news/2022/08/hays...s-unbuilt.html

Goodall Homes, announced in November 2020 as the exclusive single-family home builder at Hays Farm, has pulled out of the project having built fewer than 25% of the homes they were contracted to build. Hays Farm developers hired Goodall to build 440 homes.

Goodall, based in Nashville, is a Clayton Properties Group builder and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

“They have told us that they’re going to shut down their Huntsville operation,”Jeff Enfinger said. “And they won’t have Goodall Homes here anymore.”
The lots where homes have not yet been built will be sold to another builder and Enfinger said there has already been a lot of interest from other companies eager to step in.

“As far as what’s ultimately going to happen, in some ways, it doesn’t matter,” Enfinger said. “We will develop 440 lots and we will sell them to somebody and we’re going to build houses, and that’s going to take four or five years like it was always going to take four or five years.
“We’ve already had five or six calls (from home builders) unsolicited saying and we want lots.”
Enfinger said it will probably be about a month before a new builder is selected.

Hmm, curious as to why they would bail out of Huntsville? Wouldn’t Huntsville be their closest high performing market since they are based out of Nashville?

[Big Grumpy]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Change in homebuilder for Hays Farm

https://www.al.com/news/2022/08/hays...s-unbuilt.html

Goodall Homes, announced in November 2020 as the exclusive single-family home builder at Hays Farm, has pulled out of the project having built fewer than 25% of the homes they were contracted to build. Hays Farm developers hired Goodall to build 440 homes.

Goodall, based in Nashville, is a Clayton Properties Group builder and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

“They have told us that they’re going to shut down their Huntsville operation,”Jeff Enfinger said. “And they won’t have Goodall Homes here anymore.”
The lots where homes have not yet been built will be sold to another builder and Enfinger said there has already been a lot of interest from other companies eager to step in.

“As far as what’s ultimately going to happen, in some ways, it doesn’t matter,” Enfinger said. “We will develop 440 lots and we will sell them to somebody and we’re going to build houses, and that’s going to take four or five years like it was always going to take four or five years.
“We’ve already had five or six calls (from home builders) unsolicited saying and we want lots.”
Enfinger said it will probably be about a month before a new builder is selected.

Seems like a pretty stunning turn of events given that Goodall was going to construct 400+ homes and only completed 90. My thought when they were announced as the builder is that it was a mistake for that particular development because their homes are not very aesthetically pleasing. Drive by the development some time and you will quickly develop an appreciation for that statement. Goodall also seemed to do a poor job of spacing out similar home plans/styles within the development. In several cases, the same home was built on adjacent lots or right across the street from each other. Whoever steps in to finish the development will have a hard time meshing with the existing Goodall homes. It will likely be very clear which homes Goodall built.

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by InlandWave

Hmm, curious as to why they would bail out of Huntsville? Wouldn’t Huntsville be their closest high performing market since they are based out of Nashville?

From the article, maybe a focus change within the company?
Goodall Homes did not respond to a request for comment. But the company sent an email to customers in Huntsville last week explaining that it was leaving the Rocket City due to a company reorganization but would complete all homes that had been started.

[BEL2HSV]

Originally Posted by InlandWave

Hmm, curious as to why they would bail out of Huntsville? Wouldn’t Huntsville be their closest high performing market since they are based out of Nashville?

Out of town builders have long struggled in the Huntsville market. I'm not exactly sure why, but over the years we have seen several enter then leave. My assumption has always been out of town builders struggle hiring subcontractors here because they subs have bene tied to the local builders for so long. I have nothing to back this up though. DR Horton has stuck around, but they are massive.

Being owned by a VC also redirects priorities. Its not always about if you are making money, it is if the use of cash is making the most profit possible. They might not being making the margins here they make in bigger markets.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by BEL2HSV

Out of town builders have long struggled in the Huntsville market. I'm not exactly sure why, but over the years we have seen several enter then leave. My assumption has always been out of town builders struggle hiring subcontractors here because they subs have bene tied to the local builders for so long. I have nothing to back this up though. DR Horton has stuck around, but they are massive.

Being owned by a VC also redirects priorities. Its not always about if you are making money, it is if the use of cash is making the most profit possible. They might not being making the margins here they make in bigger markets.

There are out of town builders in the Village of Providence, Town Madison and the Village of Oakland Springs who have been building homes in those communities for several years. If they weren't successful at it, they wouldn't continue to buy lots and build spec homes without a specific buyer.

I'm thinking of Regent Homes (from Nashville), The Builders Group (from Tuscaloosa) and Stone Martin Builders (from Auburn). Now, a very high-end builder, Ford Classic Homes from Franklin, TN) is building in both Providence and Oakland Springs. Ford Classic Homes typically builds homes which sell for over $1 million, but their homes in the Huntsville area will be at lower price point. However, that is a big boost of confidence that such a high-end builder would commit to this market.

On the Village of Providence Facebook page, they have a post on June 1st with a link to lot map showing new lots available and which builder owns each lot - You can see that the overwhelming majority of the lots are owned by out-of-town builders.

It seems the issues of Goodall Homes were more specific to their business and not reflective of the overall Huntsville market.

[Chris_NorthHSV]

According to their website Goodall has homes in New Market, Athens, Madison, Owens Cross Roads, and Hays Farm.


Are they pulling out of the whole area or just Hays Farm?

Maybe the buyer interest wasn't what they expected in that area?

I'm looking at the development at Hays Farm and wondering why all of the businesses are not moving in like other developments in the area, especially with Publix now open. Maybe it's not as hot of a market as other areas. Will it just be a matter of time, or is it just that the western areas are more attractive to people right now?





Off topic: Hwy 31 in Athens seems to be the next hot spot for development going west. There's already more than a few home builders on that Highway from Huntsville-Brownsferry Road north into Athens.

[AU HSV]

The first restaurant at south Huntsville’s sprawling Hays Farm development is set to open.

Amerigo will open its doors to customers Aug. 29 at its location at 9020 Memorial Parkway SW next to Staples.
The 215-seat restaurant will also include a bar, outdoor patio area and private dining room for up to 60 guests.

https://amerigo.net/


https://www.al.com/news/2022/08/firs...velopment.html

[chadinhsv]

Originally Posted by Chris_NorthHSV

According to their website Goodall has homes in New Market, Athens, Madison, Owens Cross Roads, and Hays Farm.


Are they pulling out of the whole area or just Hays Farm?

Maybe the buyer interest wasn't what they expected in that area?

I'm looking at the development at Hays Farm and wondering why all of the businesses are not moving in like other developments in the area, especially with Publix now open. Maybe it's not as hot of a market as other areas. Will it just be a matter of time, or is it just that the western areas are more attractive to people right now?

.

From what I can gather they are pulling out of Huntsville all together. Which is shocking as they just bought Legacy homes about a year ago for a substantial amount of money and now they don't think that is a good business idea? Something is going on besides internal reorganization in my opinion.

I actually own a Goodall Home and our neighborhood is all Goodall and for the most part we are pleased with the homes and the looks of the neighborhood. In saying that, I drive by the Hays Development where they were building homes and those homes just look weird to me with no clear plan. They look like they don't belong.

As far as you wondering why businesses are not moving into the new Hays development. I'm not sure what you're looking at but almost all of the shops are leased and have their signs on top of the storefronts.