By Kate Snyder
More of the Puget Sound region’s vacant land has been snapped up with a recent sales transaction involving multiple parcels in Bonney Lake. At least 37 parcels of vacant land, many of which are under an acre each, were purchased for $10 million by Richmond American Homes, a homebuilder based in Colorado with a regional office in Kent, according to Pierce County public records. The seller was an entity affiliated with Newland Communities, one of the developers of Tehaleh by Newland, a new housing development near Bonney Lake.
The parcels are located along 205th Ave E on the south end of the city. The land is near Ski Park Lake and Foothills Trail. The area sits in proximity to Prairie Ridge and Orting.
In the 1970s, Richmond American Homes’ parent company, M.D.C. Holdings, Inc., formed Richmond Homes Limited to pursue building single-family homes, according to the firm’s website. Currently, the companies now operating under the Richmond American name have communities under construction in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington. M.D.C. was founded in 1972, and since 1977, the firm’s subsidiary has built more than 230,000 homes throughout the country.
Richmond American Homes has been active for years in the Puget Sound region. In one recent deal earlier this year, the firm purchased at least 20 acres in Marysville for $16.8 million, according to The Registry’s previous reporting. The seller was Everett-based Sage Homes Northwest. That land had an unknown address but is located on the east end of Marysville, off of Washington State Route 9 and across the street from both Lake Cassidy and Lake Martha as well as the lakes’ wetlands park.
However, Richmond American Homes is not the only firm interested in vacant land purchases in the Puget Sound region.
Also earlier this year, two organizations that have been part of the construction of Bonney Lake’s residential Tehaleh development were involved in a sale for multiple parcels of land in the city. In that deal, more than 150 parcels of land in Bonney Lake traded hands for $28.2 million. The buyer was an entity affiliated with Shea Homes Washington, Inc., which has long been one of the builders for the Tehaleh community. The seller was an entity affiliated with Newland Communities.
