Schulz Ranch off and running in Carson City

The long-planned Schulz Ranch residential development in south Carson City is now building out.

Lennar Corp. sold the first eight houses in what is planned to become a 324-home development off Topsy Lane, according to Dustin Barker, Reno division president at the Miami, Fla., based home builder.

About 30 houses are currently under construction and will become available starting this month and into next year, and the company plans to keep building up to about 200 homes that make up the first two communities there.

The company sponsored a float in the recent Nevada Day parade and held a ribbon cutting the next day to unveil Sierra Crossing and Eagle Station, its first two phases.

“About 100 people came to the ribbon cutting, took tours of the houses. There’s a lot of curiosity about the new homes,” said Barker, who said the houses are some of the first new construction to come on the market in Carson City in years.

Each community has three floor plans, all single story.

Sierra Crossing features models ranging in size from 1,744 to 2,006 square feet and in price starting from $289,950 to $299,950 while Eagle Station houses range from 2,200 to 2,547 square feet with pricing starting at $316,950 to $344,950.

The latter are branded Next Gem homes featuring separate suites that include a bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchenette, commonly called mother-in-law quarters.

“We got a lot of positive reaction to the NextGen home,” said Barker. “You usually see that in older homes, not newer homes.”

Each community will comprise about 100 houses.

The style and features of the final inventory of remaining homes will be determined in the next year or two, said Barker.

Lennar has spent the last year making major infrastructure improvements to the site, he said, including to water and sewer utilities and to about a mile of Topsy Lane which connects the development to Highway 395.

Another 100-120 houses are planned nearby, on the site of what was once the Champion Motor Speedway, by another developer, Ryder Homes.

Schulz Ranch was initially approved for development in 2005, but hit the skids when the recession hit and housing demand disappeared.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors approved extensions to deadlines for final maps, which allowed the property to sit idle while the developer waited out the economic downturn.

By July, there were at least five building permits on the property and by the beginning of October 17 permits had been pulled.

Schulz Ranch is part of a resurgence in new residential construction in Carson City that nearly bottomed out in 2009 for a few years.

Last year less than 50 building permits were issued for all residential, including single-family detached and attached, manufactured home, duplex and multifamily.

So far this year, more than 150 permits have been issued, the most since 2006.

Other projects under construction include 39 apartments on Jeanell Drive and 64 additional apartments at the Bella Lago complex on Airport Road as well as single family homes in the Silver Oak development.