An Un-Retirement Resort In Highlands Ranch

Big, Moderate-Priced Ranch Condos With A Golf View

An un-retirement resort in Highlands Ranch offers ranch living, free lunch

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When Scott and Barbara Monroe moved up from a Phoenix golf neighborhood to be closer to their Colorado grandkids, they chose a floor plan with a main-floor master suite, but DIDN’T pick a retirement community where everybody was born before 1953.

Today you can tour what they DID pick...a luxury patio home enclave in Highlands Ranch called Gold Peak in the Palomino Park resort community beside The Links Golf Course.

The couple also got a security gate, a view of the course, the private park, and the big pool and clubhouse, including new Parkside Café Grille open for breakfast, lunch dinner and drinks, (They’ll serve you a complimentary lunch today, just for touring Gold Peak) and a full-scale fitness center.

Pamela Annibel (left) and Selena Holdridge of Gold Peak at Palomino Park show off the view across The Links Golf Course in Highlands Ranch that some remaining homes have.

“It’s better than one of the franchise fitness clubs,” says Jim Lettis, director of sales at Crescent Partners, agents for Gold Peak. He and contract manager Selena Holdridge took me through a few of the homes available (of 250 launched last year, there are less than 50 left), including the very last ranches, and two homes still available overlooking the golf course priced from $237,900.

You can tour a model of a Red Cloud ranch today – 2,241 square feet with a huge master that has separate sitting area with fireplace and private French door to the patio, plus nice guest bedroom/ bath, a bonus craft room off a courtyard terrace for hobbies or office, and an oversized 2-car attached garage with plenty of room for storage.

If You Go... WHERE:Patio townhome plans at Gold Peak, Palomino Park resort community on The Links Golf Course in Highlands Ranch. From C-470 exit Quebec Street and turn south a half mile (past the shopping center) to Palomino Parkway, then right (west) to the security gate. PRICE RANGE:From $228,400, remaining ranches from $378,000 WHEN:Today, 11-5, complimentary café lunch noon-to-3 p.m PHONE: 303-470-6499.

You’ll also tour a “Tabeguache,” also over 2,000 feet, that has a huge main floor master and a very appealing dining room that opens to a private courtyard. You have to climb some stairs to get to the guest beds – but they’re big and have a huge loft attached.

Those plans are priced from only $269,990...including one of the course at $351,900. What you won’t find is too much more time to check out the Palomino Park lifestyle: Five homes at Gold Peak contracted last month, and another four this month. Visit at www.goldpeakatpalominoparkresort.com.

Mark Samuelson is president of Samuelson & Associates, a homebuilding/real estate communications firm, on the web at MarkSamuelson.com. You can email him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com.

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It's A Boomer-Styled Opening in Highlands Ranch

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The older that baby boomers grow, the more they'll like the looks of what they see at Gold Peak – wide-open townhomes in the Palomino Park resort-style community in Highlands Ranch. Gold Peak's 259 projected homes... the final ones to be offered in Palomino Park's master plan... are already half-gone at grand opening, because their boomer-oriented ranch-style layouts, big master suites, huge closets and other features are proving so alluring to the demographic.

Sales Manager Phil Byrne and leasing consultant Dea Friesen of Palomino Park show off a BMW Z4 that will be given away on a 2-year lease to one visitor during grand opening beginning today.

Some visitor during the month-long grand opening starting today will be awarded a 2-year lease on that car. And anybody who buys into the lifestyle at Gold Peak (prices start at $224,900) will find other lifestyle attractions, including Palomino Park’s world-class pool and athletic club a short walk away, and The Links Golf Course (the last homes facing the fairways, including one ranch, will be released today on a bid system).

But those accoutrements, says Byrne, aren’t near so important as the completed models offering a first peek today, such as "Crestolita," the largest of three ranches – 2,250 square feet of finished space plus options for "flex space" that can add a couple-hundred more as a studio, or office, or retreat off the guest bed.

If You Go... Grand opening for four decorated models, with Caribbean appetizers and giveaway for 2-year lease on a 2007 BMW Z4 convertible, for new townhomes at Gold Peak in Palomino Park. WHERE: Highlands Ranch, Quebec Street exit south from C-470, a half mile to Palomino Parkway and turn right (west) to security gate. Turn right on Palomino Parkway, proceed 3 blocks to the Gold Peak entry monument, then right. PRICE RANGE: From $224,900 to just under $400,000 WHEN: August 20, 2006 Noon until 5:00 p.m.

"For this age group people love this," Byrne’s said showing me through the closet. "Builders for some reason aren’t building big enough closets."

The model also shows hardwood floors throughout, granite tops, a second fireplace in the master suite (it's standard) and other lush finishes, some of which are options. But even maxing out the home with every space and finish, Byrne adds, buyers can't put more than an extra $50,000 into any plan.

Crestolita and one other main-floor master suite model are fully decked; two more are vignetted with furnishings; and two more can be viewed as spec plans with basic finishes. You’ll see some site attractions, too: buffers between buildings 100-feet wide, and a halfmile trail loop.

Grand opening begins at noon. Take Quebec south from the C-470 freeway a half mile, past the shopping center, to Palomino Parkway and turn right into the security gate. At Palomino Parkway turn right and proceed around 3 blocks to the Gold Peak entry monument, then right. Or call Gold Peak at 303-470-6499.

Mark Samuelson is president of Samuelson & Associates, a homebuilding/real estate communications firm, on the web at MarkSamuelson.com. You can email him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com.

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Big, Moderate-Priced Ranch Condos With A Golf View

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What keeps buyers in their fifties and sixties from moving out of the singlefamily home, where they have to water the shrubs and climb the stairs up to bed every night? Phil Byrne thinks he knows: They don’t want to live in a retirement area, where everybody around the pool and on the golf course is exactly the same age.

Byrne is sales manager for Gold Peak, final phase of luxury condos being introduced at Palomino Park, the Highlands Ranch resort community beside The Links Golf Course. Today between 11 and 6 he’ll try out his theory...putting some big, ranch-style condos on the market including some that look out over fairways and peaks...and you can be the test subject, with a Caribbeanstyle barbecue lunch included.

Sales Manager Phil Byrne of Crescent Partners and Developer David Strong of Wellsford Real Property take in a view that some ranch condos will have from Palomino Park in Highlands Ranch.

The setting will be beside Palomino Park’s huge pool and athletic club on a 20-acre park, where you’ll see a residential profile that matches no specific demographic...some older, but plenty of younger, too. Right there in the clubhouse you can view wide-screen, virtual tours of the floor plans that are so realistic you’ll have a hard time imagining that the actual models haven’t been built and exist only in cyberspace.

Last year developer Wellsford Real Property finished up its previous phase at Silver Mesa, south of the site opening today. Those sold very well...but Byrne and other sales specialists saw a strong trend toward to the two plans that had main-floor master suites. “We learned a lesson” says Byrne.

If You Go... Pre-sale opening with Caribbean barbecue lunch, for golf course sites at Gold Peak, a new phase of the Palomino Park resort community on The Links Golf Course in Highlands Ranch, accepting $500 time-stamped deposits. WHERE: Highlands Ranch, Quebec Street exit south from C-470, a half mile (past the shopping center) to Palomino Parkway and turn right (west) to the security gate. PRICE RANGE: From $209,900 to the $400s WHEN: Today, 11:00 to 6:00 p.m.

So today, the virtual plans you’ll see are all main-floor master...seven per building, including two supersized ranch models on the ends that have flex-space areas for finish as libraries or just as storage; two main-floor master townhomes of around 2,000 square feet; a ranch in the middle that will look out on the 7th Fairway from some sites; and two “Carriage Home” plans that are really loft-style, walk-up ranches.

Those latter are priced from $211,900 – meaning that younger buyers will be taking advantage, too, according to developer David Strong of Wellsford. Just like the others, they’ll have attached 2-car garages.

If you like the sound of these, today’s pre-sale works like this: $500, refundable, gets you a timestamped reservation for the plan of your choice, with some priority on picking seven golf-front sites and another 35 that will face the park. Byrne adds that plenty of sites have attractions beyond the few on the course...some buffers between buildings are 100 feet wide, and a half mile trail loop runs through this new phase, linking to its own Jacuzzi club and to the broader Palomino trails and amenities.

Pre-sales (and time-stamping) begin at 11 a.m.; barbecue follows. Take Quebec south from the C-470 freeway a half mile, past the shopping center, to Palomino Parkway and turn right (west) into the security gate. Or call Gold Peak at 303-470-6499, on the web at www. goldpeakatpalominoparkresort. com.

Mark Samuelson is president of Samuelson & Associates, a homebuilding/real estate communications firm, on the web at MarkSamuelson.com. You can email him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com.

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