Tehaleh planning its next neighborhood, with homes for those 55 and older

Tehaleh, the Bonney Lake-area, master-plan community that’s created more than 3,000 homes so far, is set to add more homes again toward its projected total of 9,700.

An LLC affiliated with home builder Shea Homes Washington purchased more than 150 parcels from an LLC affiliated with Brookfield Properties for $28.2 million on March 9, county records show.

The transaction was first reported by The Registry real estate website.

Brookfield Properties acquired Tehaleh master plan developer Newland Communities in 2021. Shea developed Trilogy at Tehaleh, a 55+ community, and the latest land deal is the launch of their next project over the next 12-18 months.

Scott Jones, Brookfield senior vice president of operations in its Federal Way office, and Marita Benedict, marketing director for the company, recently spoke to The News Tribune about the plans.

Shea’s next development, Verterra, is planned as a “Trilogy Boutique Community” in the new Glacier Pointe neighborhood.

Tehaleh currently has seven builders, and a new builder line-up for its Glacier Pointe neighborhood will be announced this summer.

“This is kind of the first step in a new collection of neighborhoods within Tehaleh,” Jones said. “This piece will be part of an age-qualified neighborhood that will, when it’s completed, have about 484 homes, all for folks 55-plus.”

The prices will range from $499,900 to $787,400 with 1- to 3-bedroom homes available, 1,409 square feet to 2,367 square feet.

Pre-sales are under way and sales will begin this fall, according to Benedict.

Development representatives for now are offering tours of the home sites. “This neighborhood that we are calling Glacier Pointe has some pretty stunning views,” Benedict said. “So home shoppers can take a look at that with the Shea sales representatives, and put something on reserve.“

So far, the pace of Tehaleh sales overall is improving, she noted.

“The builders have reported that traffic has definitely picked up this year versus Q4 of last year,” Benedict said.

“And while traffic is down year over year, quality has gone up is what they’re telling us. So anybody who’s coming out is a serious buyer, and they’ve come to terms with the interest rates and they’re ready to to make a purchase,” she added.

Jones noted that pandemic-era supply chain issues have eased for builders. While shortages can still occur, they are not as dramatic as they were “in the depths of the supply chain issues,” he said.

“I had one builder a couple of years ago say they weren’t going to get any windows for 90 days,” he said. “It’s like, how do you keep building a house if you can’t get windows for three months?”

Now, he said, “it’s like, we ran out of this, and we’re not going to get any more for three weeks. … There are still some hiccups here and there, but those big challenges, I think we’re past that.”

The COVID-19 pandemic also put Tehaleh on the radar as a real estate option for those no longer having to commute to jobs in Seattle or Bellevue and instead work from home.

According to Brookfield Properties 2022 data shared by Benedict, 82 percent of Tehaleh residents responding to the survey said they worked from home to some degree, partially or fully remote.

A promotional video for Verterra notes its proximity to Seattle.

“Having a little bit more space, both inside and outside the home became very important to folks,” Jones said, “and so places like Tehaleh became a destination. We definitely saw that and we’re still seeing it, maybe not quite as robust as we were but it’s still a pretty prominent piece of our buyer group.”