Sometimes it takes a new perspective to see the potential in a land development project.

Combining a new perspective with an “out-of-the-box” thinking approach has paid off big dividends for The Teicher Organization of East Brunswick (NJ). Its Meadow Winds housing development across the border in Orange County (NY) has propelled the development company into much more.

The company took over a project started by another developer in the 1990s, after it ran into problems with cost overruns and capital issues. It was originally planned as a large, 550-unit, multi-use project spanning 142 acres. The old concept was a phased development, beginning with townhomes, followed by condos, and then single-family homes.

Enter The Teicher Organization in August 2000.
The company began with market research, hiring a consultant. They coupled this information with their own due diligence while talking with regional business people like realtors and elected officials. Their eye focused on the larger regional area, trying to see where buyers could come from.

“We found out that people who live in the outer boroughs in New York City, mainly the Bronx and Queens, were trying to get out of those urban areas and get into the suburbs to live the quote, “American Dream,” said Ryan Teicher, vice president of the family-owned and operated residential/commercial development company. “There were a lot of people working in New York City that didn’t want to live in a row house or an apartment. They wanted a four-bedroom house.”

The Meadow Winds development is located in the city of Newburgh along the Hudson River, near the Catskill Mountains, a 75-minute drive northwest of New York City. The development has turned into a bastion for Big Apple borough-dwellers hoping for a shot at the American dream of owning a home.

“The original type of unit that the first developer presented wasn’t really an attraction, especially with the price point he was quoting. His costs were a little bit high, so he charged more,” explained Teicher, “and he couldn’t make it work.”

The New Perspective
With high real estate prices in Westchester County, which is nearest to the Bronx, the company saw there was nowhere for these young professional, first-time homebuyers to go. “ The natural progression was to Orange County,” Teicher said.

The company switched out the order of the original development schedule, saving the townhouse phase for last, going to single family homes.

“We were basically giving people the same purchase price, but for a four or five bedroom house rather than a townhouse,” Teicher said.

Then it was a case of offering variety while containing cost and that is where the more than 30-years of experience of the company’s manager and founder, Fred Teicher, came into play. Working with architects to value-engineer the homes, Teicher’s efforts resulted in eleven different model types.

“We came up with floor plans that flowed beautifully that were very usable and also very easy to build. We started off with a square and built our design off of that. They were all pretty unique. You had different choices,” Ryan Teicher said. “I think that was a big factor in the success. Having these different model types really took the production builder mind-set out of it, because people felt they were customizing their homes. We actually had three different model types on the exact same foundation.”

They began with two sections of single-family homes.

“When we sold out first section of 63 units, we opened up a second section of about 180 homes along with a section of 180 condo flat units that consist of 15 buildings and 12 units per building,” he said.

Next up are the townhouses, 28 units in six building which will be started this fall, for a grand total of 451 units.

As with the single-family homes, the townhouses have floor plans that are quite unique, set into a mountainside, with roadway access serving some on the up slope and some on the down slope.

“On the up slope, we have full basement units and on the down slope, we have basements with walkouts. Those basements with walkouts have probably the nicest view of the whole Catskill region. It’s magnificent,” boasts Teicher.

There was also a method to the phasing of construction. By holding off on the townhouses until last, the company could maximize its profits.

“When you have a community that is being developed, the prices escalate as you go along. So a house at the end of the project is typically a little more expensive to build than the same one at the beginning,” he said.

The first single-family homes went for $200,000 and ended at just under $500,000. Condos started at $130,000 and closed at $240,000. The townhomes will start in the low $300,000 range,” Teicher said.

Concerns over the effect of fuel costs on new homeowners who face an hour-and-fifteen-minute commute are somewhat muted.

“I think the pros of having some land and having a nice big house in a safe area are over riding the cons of gasoline prices,” he said. “There’s also mass transit. They just opened up a new bus line and right across the Hudson River there are trains and buses that run into Manhattan.”

“Nobody ever expected Orange County to be a commuter area,” reveals Teicher. “We were the first developer to really have some success out there. Now there are tons of developers buying up property in Orange County.”

The draw was attractive homes that were cost-effectively built yet affordably priced for first-time homebuyers.

Corporate Growth
“This project catapulted us as an organization from being a sort of mom-and-pop shop to one of the larger organization in the region,” said Teicher of their shift from custom-made homes to production building. “We’re closing about 125 units a year now. Before this project, we were closing about 40 a year. It put us on the map.”

Spring boarding off this success, the company is working on a condominium project in Saugerties (NY), in nearby Ulster County. It’s on board with plans in Kingston (NY) to develop the Kingston Uptown Garage into a collection of condominium homes and a new public/private parking facility. It has also been chosen for a major redevelopment along the Delaware River waterfront in the City of Port Jervis (NY) involving 513 residences and the possible development of a 70-room inn and recreational park lands.

Meadow Winds got the company-ball rolling by combining its expertise with an opportunity to get into production building.

“We all really learned a lot about that portion of the business. It also taught the whole region about production building. We worked a lot with the building department and the town officials. There is really a ton of people coming into that town now,” he said.

“We took a big risk on this project,” Teicher said of that initial leap into Meadow Winds. “Sometimes it’s just a feeling you get by going out there.” SLDT