What do millennials want? It's a hot-button question, especially when it comes to real estate. Young professionals who are looking to buy are choosy with their must-haves, and it's been up to architects and developers to try to figure out what's highest on their lists.
Anderson Canyon, LLC may have cracked the code. The small architectural design firm specializes in unique projects throughout Texas and the southern U.S., ranging from high-end residential to multi-family and mixed-use developments, as well as retail, commercial, and professional office-complex projects. The team has been paying close attention to what younger homeowners want, making note of where the trends are headed.
Need a cheat sheet? Here are the five most important takeaways from the firm.
1. Clean and modern
Gone are the days of fussy designs and decorative elements. Today's homeowner is seeking out clean lines with a modern influence, and — perhaps most importantly — minimal architectural embellishments.
2. Community rules
The idea of a community within a community is tops, especially when a development is designed to feel like a haven. Bonus points for being close to a bustling downtown.
3. Options are key
If a community is built properly, then residents won't have to leave when their needs change. Building various types of units within a townhome development not only encourages people with different lifestyles to become neighbors, but it gives owners options to move from one residence to another as they become upwardly mobile.
4. Entertaining al fresco
What's a can't-miss idea? Backyards and entertaining spaces that blend the indoors with the outside. Patios, pools, and roof decks are all high on a millennial's wish list.
5. Greet the outdoors
The idea of community also applies to the great outdoors. Homeowners want spaces to gather outside their homes too, whether that means welcoming green spaces or fire pit lounges. So it's wise to partner with landscape architects for a cohesive vision that satisfies not just the architect's and builder's desires, but those of their young homeowners as well. According to Anderson Canyon's owner and president, Tom O'Leary, "We generally define success as creating spaces that are open and usable, while incorporating as much indoor-outdoor potential as possible."
Linear at Vermont, built by Enterra Homes, is an example of an architectural style built upon clean lines and with a "community within a community."
