New houses start below Pierce County’s median price at this Eastside Tacoma development
A significant housing development about a decade in the making in Eastside Tacoma is coming to life.
This week, developer LGI Homes, based in The Woodlands, Texas, announced the opening of Heritage Gardens, which is between East 52nd and East 54th streets and along East L Street, not far from Swan Creek Park.
The development’s main address listed on LGI Home’s website is 5313 E. L St. and covers more than half the land spanning two city blocks, according to Pierce County parcel maps and plans submitted to the City of Tacoma.
The new neighborhood includes a mix of single-family homes and townhome units across 92 lots with prices starting “in the low $420s,” according to a May 1 LGI Homes news release.
In March, Pierce County’s median closed sale price for existing single-family homes was $550,000.
The builder, LGI Homes, was founded in 2003 and became a publicly traded company 10 years later. It is involved in the construction and sale of homes across 36 markets in 21 states. In its first-quarter earnings report of April 30, the company projected between 7,000 and 8,000 home closings nationally this year, with approximately 150 “active selling communities” by the end of the year.
It noted that average sales price per home closed in the most recent quarter was between $350,000 and $360,000.
LGI’s other neighborhood developments in Pierce County include Whitmore in the Spanaway area and Falcon Ridge in Edgewood under its Terrata Homes brand.
“We have a large amount of floor plans for our customers to choose from,” Armando Gonzales, LGI’s vice President of Sales for Southwest Washington and Oregon, said in the release.
Home buyers will have seven different floor plans to choose from, according to the release. They include three townhome options and four single-family plans, ranging in size from 1,190 square feet to 1,810 square feet.
Each floor plan is designed as two stories with three to five bedrooms and two to three full baths.
The homes come with Whirlpool-brand kitchen appliances, granite countertops, recessed LED lighting, wood cabinetry with crown molding detail, a WiFi-enabled garage door opener and more, according to the release.
The homes “include everything a customer would need to start enjoying their home the day they move in,” Gonzales said in the release. “This includes a washer and dryer ... along with upgraded in-home air filtration, HVAC systems, different exterior options and landscaping to ensure our homeowners have the most energy efficient and eco-friendly products to compliment the Built Green vision.”
The development announcement also said the new community would include “a neighborhood park featuring a children’s playground, covered picnic areas, open green space, a community garden and walking trails.”
Project history and permits
The project dates back to the previous decade under a different development LLC and a smaller proposal.
In response to questions from The News Tribune, Maria Lee, media representative for the city, offered more details on how the project evolved.
“There was an original plat application in 2014, but that subdivision was never completed,” she said via email.
In 2015, then-hearing examiner Phyllis Macleod recommended City Council approval of an initial development request filed for the project. That request called for vacating a portion of East L Street between East 52nd Street and East 54th Street to be incorporated into the preliminary development plat.
Council approved the plan in August 2015.
At that time, Heritage Gardens was described as a 38-lot residential subdivision adjacent to East L Street.
A few years later, a land-use application was submitted to subdivide and rezone four parcels of land into 94 individual lots for the construction of single-family dwellings. The project included three tracts for private streets, four recreation and utility tracts, one open space tract and one tract for shared access.
The application included one vacant parcel and four, single-family homes on the other parcels involved.
“A new owner came forward in 2018 with a different proposal that required a subdivision and a rezone to a Planned Residential Development (PRD),” Lee told The News Tribune. The rezone “allowed the higher number of dwelling units and the mix of housing types in exchange for incorporating sustainability features into the project such as the ‘Built Green’ construction.”
Built Green is certification ”required for a density allowance,” Lee explained.
According to the program, it provides home buyers with rating systems, “which quantify environmentally friendly building practices for remodeling and new home construction, communities and multifamily development units.”
“This is the first Built Green ‘Community’ in Tacoma, but not the first Built Green homes,” she added.
Demolition permits for existing residential structures at the site were filed in the summer 2021.
A performance bond of more than $5.8 million for LGI Homes to cover site work/infrastructure improvements went into effect March 16, 2022.
The first of the site’s residential building permits was issued earlier this year. Lee noted that “32 homes have been permitted and are in the process of being constructed. At least 14 homes have been constructed and have received final sign-off from the city.”
The latest new-housing news for the Tacoma area follows an announcement earlier in the week of new million-dollar homes coming to the Graham area.
