By Dan Murphy
Work has begun on the remaining new homes in Crocker Village, west of Crocker Drive. Five model homes for the tract are the most advanced in construction. Two are near the northwest corner of Crocker Drive and Fifth Avenue and three near the southwest corner.
Mike Paris, president of BlackPine Communities (the Crocker Village home builder), recently discussed the project’s status.
When the design process began, Paris sought out information about these vintage homes, including the original magazine that featured many of the Dean & Dean designs for South Curtis Oaks. The 96 Crocker Village homes built so far include period design elements from this research.
Paris said the next 213 homes will be comparable to – or better than – those already built in design and quality. The concept for the development is “surban,” an industry term for “urban energy and walkability with the space and affordability of a suburban neighborhood,” according to the Washington Post. The new phase will allow more economic diversity among potential buyers, with a wider range of size, density and price.
Detailed designs will be available soon. Model homes should open by April.
Twenty-eight homes have building permits and are on the construction schedule. South of Ray Eames Park will be 83 smaller “paseo” units – homes centered on a common area with garage access from a rear alley. These will be comparable to BlackPine’s Molly’s Walk development in Roseville.
Most of the vintage homes in Curtis Park do not have attached garages accessed from the street.
Instead, garages are mainly detached structures, usually accessed from rear alleys in Bungalow tracts and via driveways at the side of the home for the post World War I tracts.
Fifty-three of the 213 homes in the next phase will use street access to the garage. In most cases, these homes do not have a rear alley. This is because they abut the rail yard wall or an existing alley in a vintage subdivision where use of the alley was contested.
Paris noted the street access garage in the model home under construction neither protrudes nor dominates the street frontage. Moreover, no objection was raised in the design review planning process for the homes concerning access to such a garage from the street.
Paris said the new units will have one or more new homeowner associations separate from the existing Crocker Village association. If all goes as planned, all the new homes will be completed over the next three years.