MasterPlan

Pradera

AHV Communities

San Antonio, TX

June 2019

Pradera

Not a cookie cutter neighborhood. These homes have individuality and charm.
Efficient floor plans balance function with design, including simple layouts paired with volume.
Two-car garages and yards set these rental homes apart and make them feel like a for-sale offering.
Amenities typically found in newer luxury apartment communities or large masterplans.

Pradera

While DesignLens is primarily focused on for-sale offerings, this feature is on a single-family detached community that was built for tenants to rent. The shift to featuring a new type of product was spurred by the growing trend of build-for-rent communities. According to research by John Burns Real Estate Consulting, 16.3 million single-family rental homes represent 35% of all rented homes. This feature will highlight a community called Pradera, a co-development between AHV Communities and Bristol Group.

Pradera

Pradera is an evolution of AHV’s prior rental communities, the first being Vickery Grove, which was developed in 2014. AHV Communities is one of the first movers in this space and Pradera reflects AHV’s goal to be the premium developer of communities in a rapidly growing asset class mostly made up of new entrants targeting low cost/low rent new single family homes. Pradera is a gated community of 250 single-family detached homes located in San Antonio, Texas. The homes range from 1,435 to 1,942 square feet on lots averaging 4,000 square feet, which obtains an approximate density of 6 per acre. Pre-leasing for the community began in January 2019. The community is in the early stages of construction, and phases have been released to pre-lease as of the time of publication. As of June 2019, most homes available have been pre-leased with 8 move-ins in May and over 15 this month. Currently, rents range from around $1,775 to $2,385 per month.

Pradera

Not only is the community gated, Pradera has multiple other features typically found in newer luxury apartment communities or larger masterplans. The central amenity center has a lounge, café-style workspace, as well as a fitness center. Outdoor amenities include a BBQ and picnic area, a resort-inspired pool with sun deck, walking trails, pocket parks, and a bocce/game court. Pets are not forgotten either with a dog park and even a pet washing station. The icing on top is that the whole community has a professional, on-site management staff. Residents get detached homes, amenities, and even yards, all with the ease of someone else maintaining it. All of this is included in their monthly rent. Lawn care maintenance is an additional fee on top of rent.

Pradera

Pradera was designed to provide an alternative to traditional rental living with a purposely built, master-planned rental community. According to the builder, renters are drawn to the community for the space the homes offer both inside and out, their privacy (no shared walls or floors), and the maintenance-free lifestyle. The site was originally a large meadow, and this led to its name, which means meadow in Spanish. Some of the branding and landscaping design were inspired by this as well.

Pradera

AHV and Bristol worked with KTGY Architecture + Planning to design the three plans in the community. Plans range from single-story to two-story with 3 to 4 bedrooms and 2 to 2.5 baths. According to our research, 65% of single-family rental homes contain three or more bedrooms compared to just 11% of apartments. All homes within this community have two-car garages. The architecture is inspired by the local area and Texas Hill Country with modern farmhouse influences.

Pradera

The community was designed to appeal to all demographics, including young families, empty nesters, and working professionals. The nicely sized, private backyards are an appealing feature.

Pradera

The tour begins with the Azalea, which is modeled with a Modern Farmhouse elevation. This is the only single-story home offered and is also the smallest.

Pradera

A small porch shades the front door, which adds a pop of color to the primarily neutral elevation.

Pradera

The Azalea is 1,435 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a 2-car garage. The plan is designed efficiently, and its boxy design is more value oriented. Storage is thoughtfully integrated. The plan even has a flex workspace near the front door. Plans in the community range from 26- to 35-feet wide.

Pradera

The front door opens on a foyer with views to the flex workspace, which currently functions as the sales office. The team designed the homes and selected materials to withstand wear and tear and to minimize turnover costs. The designer wood-style flooring that runs throughout the homes is a great example of durability and good aesthetics.

Pradera

The flex space opens a lot of opportunities for the home. It could be used as a formal dining room, since it includes a direct connection to the kitchen, or a formal in-home office.

Pradera

The main living areas are grouped in an open great room that is lined with windows that fill the space with light. Mary DeWalt Design Group was brought in to merchandise the models and amenity center, as well as provide design input on the exterior and interior schemes of the homes and amenity center.

Pradera

The kitchen is simple but thoughtfully laid out. The island provides both prep space and an informal dining opportunity.

Pradera

The great room is large enough, so the dining and seating areas each have plenty of space.

Pradera

The master bedroom is well-sized. While the windows are nice, perhaps high fixed windows would have better served the space, since they would preserve the ability to furnish the space.

Pradera

The master bath is well finished with dual sinks.

Pradera

While the master bath lacks a separate water closet, it makes good use of the square footage with a large shower. Plus, a shower feels less like an apartment than a shower/tub combo. This feels like a step up from apartment living. The high fixed window brings in light while preserving the privacy of the space.

Pradera

The plan includes two secondary bedrooms, one of which is being used as a secondary sales space in the model. The high bedroom counts at Pradera especially appeal to families.

Pradera

The tour concludes with the Bluebonnet plan, which is modeled with a traditional elevation complete with Texas stone accents. This is one of the two-story homes offered in the community and is the most popular plan.

Pradera

The stone seen around the garage continues into the porch area and wraps the wide column. The navy-blue front door brings some color to the otherwise neutral elevation. The colorful front doors seen in the community add charm to the homes and the street scene.

Pradera

The Bluebonnet is 1,555 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a 2-car garage. This two-story home does not include a separate flex space but has volume over the seating area. Unlike typical Texas homes, all the bedrooms are located on the upper floor. The plan is modeled in reverse.

Pradera

The front door opens on a short entry with views to the great room beyond. This view also reveals the two-story volume over part of the great room.

Pradera

The main living areas are grouped in an L-shaped great room with the kitchen at the heart.

Pradera

The volume is emphasized by a mix of windows along one great room wall. These add drama to the space while also bringing in lots of light. Features like this help these homes to not feel like your typical rental and more like a for-sale home.

Pradera

The seating area includes both a window wall and a perfect media wall, which provides the best of both worlds. Spaces in the home are thoughtfully laid out to be very functional.

Pradera

The galley kitchen runs along one wall and is paired with an island, which provides a secondary dining opportunity. The kitchen has quartz countertops, designer-inspired ceramic tile backsplashes, Whirlpool stainless steel appliances, and Kohler fixtures.

Pradera

The dining nook benefits from direct access to the backyard.

Pradera

The staircase is open to the volume. Features like the half wall along the staircase keep the costs down.

Pradera

The upper hallway continues the half wall along the staircase and the volume. The clerestory windows bring light into this area.

Pradera

The home has three bedrooms, all of which are located on the second floor. The master bedroom takes up the back of the house, overlooking the yard, while the secondary bedrooms are at the front of the home. This separation provides greater privacy.

Pradera

The master bath is similar in layout to the previous model, but this one has a separate water closet, which is made possible by the additional square footage.

Pradera

The site plan thoughtfully mixes single- and two-story homes throughout the community.

Pradera

Elevations include a mix of color and materials, which gives the homes individuality, versus a cookie cutter feel that rental communities sometimes have.

Pradera

Pradera is a good representation of the new wave of communities built specifically for renters. They give consumers the opportunity to live in a detached home without the mortgage and sometimes have on-site maintenance.

Pradera

The community also includes one final floor plan, the Cypress, which is the largest offered. This two-story home is 1,942 square feet with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a 2-car garage. The design team thoughtfully created three very different plans for the community, further emphasizing the individuality of the homes.

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Why Buy When You Can Rent These Charming Detached Homes with On-Site Maintenance?

Not a cookie cutter neighborhood. These homes have individuality and charm.
Efficient floor plans balance function with design, including simple layouts paired with volume.
Two-car garages and yards set these rental homes apart and make them feel like a for-sale offering.
Amenities typically found in newer luxury apartment communities or large masterplans