GREELEY - Good news from the housing front has been so scrubbed from public view during the past year that when some surfaces, as it has in the past few weeks, it's worth noting.

Greeley-based J&J Construction/Journey Homes has posted nearly 300 home sales statewide since the beginning of the year, including almost 200 in Larimer and Weld counties and about 90 in the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland alone. The homegrown company has outpaced the big nationals, including DR Horton, Centex, Ryland Group, and KB Homes in both Larimer and Weld counties.

Not that Journey is horn-tooting. In fact, their story came to light in the form of an independent market analysis by the Littleton-based Home Builders Research Colorado.

"What you find is that they've kept their numbers propped up quite well," said Home Builders Research founder David Lafoon. "I imagine most builders are taking some pretty big hits, but Journey is certainly getting their numbers on the board."

The numbers that Lafoon has compiled, based on recorded closings through August, show that in Larimer County Journey has a 12.5 percent share of the new home market. Not that much, you think, until you look at the No. 2 spot on the list. Village Homes, a statewide builder headquartered in Greenwood Village, has 6.8 percent of the Larimer market, just over half the Journey share.

"They're efficient, and they're way in front of the curve," said Matt Haskell, a broker for The Group Inc. Real Estate who is marketing Journey Homes projects in Fort Collins. "People love their warranty, and they do a really good job of maintaining relationships. It doesn't stop when they close the house."

In Weld County, where Journey is locked in a market battle with the biggest national home builders, the builder had logged 111 sales during the first eight months of the year, for an 18.9 percent market share. Far behind were DR Horton (13.8 percent), Ryland Group (6.3 percent), KB Home (6.1 percent) and Centex Homes (4.8 percent).

Journey founder Jeff Demaske, as noted in prior stories in the Business Report, has fine-tuned a recipe for success in a slow market that's pretty simple. In two words, aim low. Journey's Fort Collins and Loveland projects, Maple Hill and Garden Gate, respectively, hit the market in 2007 with homes priced in a range between $190,000 and $240,000, far below the median prices that in recent years have hovered in the high $200s.

"It has been an excellent marketing strategy for us," said David Balliet, Demaske's partner in J&J Construction/Journey Homes. "We're No. 1 in Larimer and Weld counties, and we're No. 2 in El Paso County, the Colorado Springs market, where we've only been active for a few years. It's turned that market around."

Haskell said just two homes remain unsold in the Garden Gate project, and Maple Hill in Fort Collins is headed in the same direction.

"We're still going strong, and it has shown no sign of slowing down," he said. "Even compared to the two years prior, it's about parallel. Real estate is local, local, local - and this is a great local story."

New name for "Pads"

Gino Campana and J.D. Padilla, the forces behind the wildly successful Pads at Harmony project on East Harmony Road, have come to a welcome conclusion: The place needs a new name. It's Villagio, partly in reference to the neighboring Front Range Village retail project. With a new name, new restaurants. Zequilla, a hip new Mexican-theme place, another location for Pulcinella's Pizzeria, and the burger sensation Smashburger have opened, joining The Rustic Oven's southern location. On deck is East Moon Café, set to open next month.



Editor Tom Hacker covers real estate for the Northern Colorado Business Report. He can be reached at 970-221-5400, ext. 223 or at thacker@ncbr.com.