ProBuilder | Build-to-Rent Housing

osmosis
11 minutes ago
2 min read

Row of modern suburban houses with picket fences, benches, and a landscaped path under a clear blue sky.

The August issue of ProBuilder Magazine featured the Cottages at Erie Commons in the House Review roundup, "4 Stellar Single Family Built to Rent Projects." The feature highlights what make successful single family rental neighborhoods.

Behind the project

Row of modern townhouses with porches, picket fence, landscaped yard and bench under a bright blue sky; unit numbers 405 and 407 visible

Cottages at Erie Commons is a neighborhood first and it happens to be built to rent. Single family renters want what apartments can't give them: a front porch, a yard, and neighbors to gather with. That was the starting point for the whole plan.

The site mixed two and three story homes with varied floor plans and distinct elevations so the community would build the kind of character that normally takes years to develop in a traditional neighborhood. A shared courtyard anchors the site, and the homes scale between an apartment and a market rate detached home. Compact, but not small.

Two story plans put living, dining, and kitchen on the main floor with a private garage. Three story plans add a ground floor flex room alongside the garage. Every plan keeps the primary suite, laundry, and secondary bedrooms upstairs, away from the shared spaces below.

With front porches oriented to the shared courtyard, the community feels lived in from the street shared spaces. Fenced in yards give private space just beyond the porch. End units feature wrap around porches to enhance the street facing elevations.

Floor plan of a house with two cars in the garage, open living room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, stairs, and balcony.

At 20 feet wide, 48 feet deep, and 1,519 square feet of total living area, these homes prove you don't need a large footprint to deliver real livability.

There's still a stigma that built to rent housing is a step down from for sale product, poorly designed and poorly built. Projects like this one are part of debunking that. When a rental community has manicured common areas, distinct elevations, and porches people actually use, there's no visible evidence the homes are leased at all. That's a good story to tell reluctant city planners too.

You can read the full Pro Builder feature, including three other standout B2R projects from around the country, here.

Comments