Infill Community in Orinda Provides Rare New Home Opportunity, Homebuilder Says

Company News Release

Orinda, CA – September 12 2012 – Pulte Homes has purchased an infill site in the City or Orinda, providing a rare opportunity to build 73 new homes in the highly sought-after market.

Recent new home development in the City of Orinda has been rare, aside from some multi-million custom homes in some neighborhoods, said Steve Kalmbach, president of PulteGroup’s Northern California Division.

“There are very few opportunities to build new communities in Orinda, especially in a location that is adjacent to BART and downtown,” Kalmbach said.  “We see this new community as a great opportunity for families seeking a new home in a tremendous location at a good value.”  

Since Pulte started featuring the new Orinda Grove community on its website in August as “coming soon,” the interest from prospective homebuyers has been tremendous, said Patricia Morgan, division vice president of sales.

“There is a very limited supply of new homes at affordable prices in this area. The resale homes available often need a lot of updating, which can be costly and time consuming,” Morgan said, adding that the community is attractive to families as well as empty nesters in Orinda Hills who want to be closer to retail and services. “It’s no surprise that we are getting a lot of interest from families and empty nesters who see Orinda Grove as a great place to live.”

Pulte Homes purchased the 10+ acre site from the Orinda Union School District, which had used the land for a temporary district office.   As part of the purchase, the homebuilder will build two new 3.1 acre ball fields for the City and build a new 7,500-square-foot school district office adjacent to the site.

The new Orinda Grove neighborhood is planned to include 73 detached homes and duplexes: 65 one, two and three-story single family detached homes and eight duplex units, as required by the City.  The homes will range in size from 1,533 to 2,672 square feet and feature three and four bedrooms.  Demolition of the temporary school district office is underway, and Pulte plans to open model homes in Spring 2013.

“Orinda Grove is ideally situated in one of the state’s best school districts, close to retail and in a great location proximate to many of the major job centers in the Bay Area,” Kalmbach said.  “This is a beautiful established area with a small town feel that has easy access to everything.”

The community is close to Highway 24, with convenient access to the major job and economic centers of San Francisco (15 miles), Oakland (10 miles) and Walnut Creek (10 miles).  In addition to being proximate to major job centers in the Bay Area, Orinda Grove is centrally located within the City of Orinda.  Both downtown Orinda and BART are walkable from the site, and the community is central to the Orinda Community Center and local retail shopping, restaurants and entertainment.

Kalmbach said Pulte Homes expects young families to be especially interested in the community, which will feature homes with modern designs that require less maintenance than many of the resale homes on the market. 

“For young families, here is the ability to buy a home in one of the best school districts in California in a community that’s close to everything,” Kalmbach said.