Daybreak Village 3: North Shore

The Daybreak community is about to grow yet again. North Shore is the newest edition to the Daybreak master plan making three villages total. With two new builders, Ivory Homes and Garbett Homes, a large push is being made to finish the 22 homes that will serve as models for the "grand opening" slated for June 28th. I usually do not need to drive on the South Jordan Parkway so when I did take that route a few weeks ago I was surprised with the sheer amount of building going on. Buildings seemed to have popped out of nowhere in only a couple of weeks. Of course, with the slowdown in the housing market I'm sure that contractors were not hard to find.

The new homes of North Shore seem to be an eclectic mix of traditional and urban contemporary designs. I was fairly shocked when I saw pictures of the new row homes that Garbett Homes intends to build. These modern boxy buildings seem to belong more in the marmalade district of Salt Lake City than in Daybreak. While I respect the modern style, I do not have a strong taste for it to say the least. However, these town homes will be integrated into the denser sections of North Shore. It seems Kennecott Land has decided that as density increases traditional style will decrease. I do see some advantages in the cost of building such homes. Perhaps this advantage is the reason why some homes will be offered at a price that will be difficult for other communities to match. Many of these condos or town homes will be offered from the "low 100s" to "mid 100s."

With these prices the old adage of "you get what you pay for" keeps ringing in my mind. This ringing stops abruptly however when I see the actual square footage of these units. With sizes ranging from 650 square feet to 1180 square feet I think Kennecott Land has decided to make housing more affordable by making it smaller. This is the right way to go in my opinion. Skimp on the space, but do not skimp on the quality. The prices in North Shore are fairly reasonable compared to Eastlake and even Founders Village. The effects of this new village are many and will need to be discussed in a later post.

In the grand scheme that is Daybreak, North Shore will bring a large amount of units at a density that has not yet been seen in this new urbanist community. In fact, Kennecott recently changed their projections for the total number of homes to be located within Daybreak. The number initially started at 13,600. This number has since increased to 20,000, almost a 50 percent increase. The recent planning maps for Daybreak show an increase in density in those properties East of Oquirrh Lake. Why did this change come about? I can only speculate, but I will be researching this issue in the future. One thing is for certain, North Shore has signaled a change in direction for future development at Daybreak.