June 2015
| Business World
167
have to go further out to find more lots, and
that’s a different market. So we stick with
what we know, what we’re familiar with, and
that’s urban Austin.”
“Our size keeps us nimble, allowing us to
take opportunities when we find them.
Sometimes, that’s a smaller project, such as
the tiny homes we just finished in East Aus-
tin.” A cluster of new homes that averaged
less than 1250 sf, they were snapped up in
Austin’s hot real estate market.
The market for a similar product in a differ-
ent neighbourhood, however, can vary dra-
matically. “We’re building similar size homes
elsewhere, but the price point is $200,000
higher, just based on where they areit is,” he
continued. “The land really drives the value
in urban environments.”
“We’re more of a design-build firm in prac-
tice,” he continued. “Because there are so
many limits on what we can build and how
it’s configured, we often design and build
homes ourselves before putting them on the
market,” Turner said. “With our custom cli-
ents, we’re very involved in the design pro-
cess. This is out of experience and intent.
Thoughtful design is our trademark, so we
put function first when thinking about the
floor plans, and we know more about the
building codes than most architects. We’ve
found that a collaborative effort between the
client, the architect and the builder yields
the best results.”
HGTV SMART HOME 2015
Blending green design with style and func-
tion, Riverside Homes’ commitment to envi-
ronmentally friendly living comes standard.
Their participation in the Austin Energy
Green Building Program means that every
home includes a variety of features and sys-
tems designed to work together to create a
more energy efficient, healthy and environ-
mentally friendly place to live. “The average
