FRISCO, Texas — Editor's note: The video above is from a different story.
It’s a slow-go for home sales in a unique community of $1-million-plus houses with grass rooftops under construction in Frisco, but the project is proceeding as planned, its developers say.
So far, two homes have been sold and four more are in the design and pricing phases with contracts pending in Tapestry, a 56-acre residential community in Frisco. The model home, which India-based developer Total Environment Homes refers to as an “experience home,” was completed in December and a home sales campaign launched with the opening of the experience home.
The project is planned for 121 homes at full buildout, with 62 of those in the section now under construction.
New homes overall are selling at a record-setting pace, volume, and for record prices across North Texas.
The unusual nature of the Tapestry project means it moves at a slower sales, design and construction pace than more conventional developments, said Greg Barns, CEO of Total Environment USA.
“Our methodology is not conventional in terms of capital utilization, etc., and trying to turn the deal as quickly as possible,” Barns said in an interview with the Dallas Business Journal. “There's a focus on doing what we do and doing it well and doing it right the first time. So with that, we have the ability to be patient, to ensure that the integrity, the philosophy, the ethos of Total Environment is executed the way that we want it to be executed.”
Total Environment has characterized Tapestry as a more ecologically friendly approach to homebuilding on the Texas prairie.
Probably the most distinctive aspect of the homes is that they have Texas native grasses and other vegetation growing on the roof. They are seeded with a blackland prairie mix that has 60 species of plants and grasses native to the Frisco area, according to Total Environment.
With large windows that start at the floor level, the homes are designed to embrace nature, blurring the boundaries between the indoors and outdoors. Gardens are integrated into the design with French doors opening to courtyards. The homes come furnished as part of the holistic approach.
Total Environment is handling the development of the overall community and the custom design and construction of all homes in Tapestry instead of selling off lots to other homebuilders, so that process takes longer, said Barns, who has held the CEO position for about six weeks. The design team in India is “intimately involved” in the process, he said.
“Because what we are doing is so unique and so different, it’s not going to be at the pace visually of what people are used to seeing,” he said. “It's not a churn-and-burn deal, and it's also not conventional homebuilding.”
Total Environment knew going into the project that the sales cycle at Tapestry would be longer than a traditional community’s, but demand is there for the product, said Kandice Jinright, director of Sales and Marketing at Total Environment USA.
“I think the demand is in Frisco in general,” Jinright said. "And then, we are seeing demand (at Tapestry), yes, but it's a lot for a consumer to process. They want to really do their homework (on the environmental and other unconventional aspects of the homes). The deeper they dive, the more passionate they get, which is why we go through this design process with them.”
Tapestry’s homes are more sustainable, with features such as solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling, hot water recirculation lines and energy efficient glass in addition to the native grass rooftops, Jinright said.
The design process typically takes 45-60 days, which is longer than usual because there are more decisions for buyers to make along the way, she said.
The homes are priced at $1.1 million to $1.8 million and range in size from 3,300 to 5,400 square feet for a base house, but that can be expanded, she said. The homes average about $330 per square foot, she said.
“Our niche is the happy medium between production (built homes) and pure custom to find that price point between the what you're seeing now almost $200 a square foot (for production homes) and a pure custom at $400,” Jinright said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed buyer habits in ways that might benefit the Tapestry development, Jinright said.
“It has made them aware of outdoor spaces and concerned with how they use them,” she said. “There is low density in the community as well. We took a lot of care that we average overall two houses per acre versus the typical builder of four houses per acre in our area."
Total Environment has existed for more than 25 years and is one of the largest developers in India, Barns said.
“They do really awesome, cool, out-of-the-box stuff there,” he said.
Total Environment Homes, which was founded by architects Kamal Sagar and his wife, Shibanee Sagar, has more than two decades of experience building curated homes with green roofs and attached gardens in India before bringing its vision to the U.S.
Tapestry is the first residential community in the U.S. for Total Environment Homes.
“It's not a race for us," Barns said. "We're not selling lots to builders. We're the developer and the builder. It's our product at the end of the day, so we're going to do it right, we're going to do it well and we're going to ensure that while doing that, we're also delivering excellent service to our buyers."
To see photos of the houses and the development, click here.