Dedicated to providing its communities with a high-end level of quality and a variety of amenities for active lifestyles, Waterside Communities is meeting the needs of its market in Toledo, Ohio.

Not only does it have 1,200 approved homesites in its backlog, Waterside Communities also expects to double its sales of $18 million by 2007. Based on these numbers, it seems the company is doing well in the Toledo, Ohio, marketplace. Duane Ankney, Waterside's CEO, explains this could be attributed to the fact that it is the only developer/builder of its kind in the area, although it does not take its position for granted.

“In Toledo, we are the only developer that does full and complete lifestyle communities for the 55-or-better market, and we provide this market with the best quality,” he says. “We have the opportunity to address the needs of a very large market in this area and we are excited to build the communities our customers want. For example, our residents like to swim, so our newest community offers an indoor heated pool, allowing residents to swim throughout the year.

“Not only are our communities unique, we are proud to offer extremely great homes,” he continues. “The lifestyle aspect is very important to our residents, but they also desire a quality home to live in. Waterside is happy to provide that. The people who live in our communities have fun; they always have smiles on their faces.”

Recently, Construction Today spoke with Ankney about Waterside's dedication to its marketplace and how its focus on quality lifestyles and homes is driving its growth in the Toledo area.

Construction Today: How did Waterside get its start?
Duane Ankney: The company got started in 1998. Prior to this, I was the president of the largest development company in Toledo, but I left that position to form Waterside. The company was formed specifically to build housing for the active-lifestyle market.

CT: Why was that market important to target?
DA: It was a market that was underserved in Toledo. No one had built a lifestyle community yet and we thought there was a need for it. The two we have that are operational; each have 600 homes. We offer all of the amenities you would find in a typical community in the north, including a clubhouse, a swimming pool, tennis courts, jogging trails, a fitness center, a putting green and boating on our lakes.

The original active lifestyle community was built in 1955 in Phoenix by Del Webb. In 1998, most of the large national builders were focusing on the Sunbelt, but I did a lot of research and found that 85 percent of the adults in the northern sector of the United States that relocate from their original home stay within a 30-mile radius. This was a huge marketplace that no one was going after in Toledo. I spent a lot of time in Phoenix to learn the market.

CT: How does Waterside's construction meet the needs of its market?
DA: When we were forming the company, Scholz Design - a national architectural firm - contacted us about doing the Waterside design. They studied the market aggressively and have designed all of the homes for us.

There are many things we feature that are in response to the needs of our homeowners. Every home has a first-floor master bedroom and all of our 15 models are single story, although two have an upstairs loft space. However, the homes are specifically designed for people who want to enjoy the Waterside legendary lifestyle - our homeowners are active.

The homes have minimal steps and wider doorways, although this is not obvious from their appearance. The homes are not exceptionally large, but they are extremely well appointed. We have 11-foot ceilings in the living rooms and nine-foot ceilings in the rest of the home. We have upgraded countertops, whirlpool tubs and brass or brushed platinum fixtures. Since the beginning, we have been an Energy Star builder. As a result, our homes are exceptionally efficient, which is extremely important to the marketplace.

CT: How do you maintain quality?
DA: Our models are completely engineered ahead of time. We also have a great group of construction people. Both the president of construction and I have a background in high-end housing. We want to provide a high-end level of quality in a smaller home. The marketplace embraced us - they appreciate our quality.

CT: Does the company have any new communities?
DA: Waterside in Monclova was our first community and Waterside Sylvania opened six months ago. Sylvania is similar to our first community, although it is in a different part of town. We took things we learned from our first community and incorporated them into the second. We are in the process of announcing our third community, Waterside Bowling Green, which will open later this year. We also have Waterside Commons, which is a community that is contiguous to Waterside Monclova, but focuses on a different demographic.

CT: What is your vision for the company?
DA: We would like to continue to learn from our growth so that we can do a better job in this marketplace. The active lifestyle market is the largest-growing segment of the population and the largest segment of new construction and we want to respond to our residents' needs. Customer care is essential in an active lifestyle community - we need to learn how we can improve and better respond to our homeowners' needs.