August 27, 2025 • 34 mins
Christi and Karen sit down with Ed Lenhart, President of JCI Construction, to talk about what projects they have underway and their mission to keep costs down so that new homes are more accessible to more people on this month's Full Circle Podcast. If you're looking for new construction, Barrick Estates has options now, and Orchard Highlands is coming in the spring! Give Karen a call at 970-210-7888 to learn about these new developments.
If you prefer to watch your podcasts, head over to our YouTube channel to check out this and all of our episodes.
You can learn more about JCI and their projects at their website!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Christi (00:05):
The Full Circle Podcast.
Compelling interviews andincredible tales from Colorado's
western slope, from themountains to the desert.
Christi Reece and her team hearfrom the movers, shakers, and
characters of the Grand Valleyand surrounding mountain towns
that make the western slope theplace we all love.
You'll learn, you'll laugh,you'll love with The Full
Circle.
Hi everyone, I'm Christi Reeceand we're back here again for
(00:28):
another episode of The FullCircle Podcast.
I'm here with KarenMcLean-Wilson from my team and
we're really happy to have asour guest today one of our
longtime clients and goodfriend, Ed Lenhart from JCI
Construction.
Ed (00:40):
Thank you.
It's nice being here.
Christi (00:42):
We want to talk about all of the things that you have
going on on the production side,but we want to start with a
little history about yourconstruction background, but
let's start even before thatwith how did you get to Grand
Junction?
Because this is not your homewhere you grew up.
Ed (00:59):
Oh, goodness.
No, I was on Cape Cod, and myfolks came out for a vacation.
And it was a recession, and mydad's best friend told him to
come out here and take a look atGrand Junction.
So he came out, and theydecided that he was going to
move him and my mom out, and Iwas in college.
(01:19):
So I helped her move outbecause my dad moved, or came
out before, looking for a placeto stay.
And then I stayed for thesummer and got a couple of jobs,
you know, part-time, cuttingtimber or whatever up in the
hills.
And then I stayed another sixmonths at college, and then I
(01:41):
came out here and transferred toMason State.
Christi (01:44):
It's funny to think about somebody in Cape Cod back
then.
I mean, what year do you thinkthat was?
Ed (01:49):
Oh, I can still remember that far back.
Christi (01:51):
Yeah.
Wow.
Your memory's better than mine.
It
Ed (01:56):
was 77.
But
Christi (01:57):
it's funny to think about somebody in Cape Cod even
noticing Grand Junction backthen.
Ed (02:03):
Well, my dad's friend was a big-time lawyer in Boston, so he
had his finger on a lot ofpulses in the U.S.
Christi (02:12):
And he was looking at the energy sector here?
Ed (02:13):
Yeah, that was what drove my dad here.
Christi (02:18):
What profession was he in?
Ed (02:19):
He was still in construction.
I'm a third-generationconstruction guy.
Christi (02:24):
That's awesome.
So your grandfather, too?
Ed (02:27):
Yes.
Christi (02:29):
That's awesome.
You want to talk a little bitabout how you got started in
construction here?
Karen (02:37):
Yeah, and tell us how you started the name of your
company, too, because that was anew story to me.
Ed (02:41):
I'd been in construction.
I started when I was nine yearsold, doing stuff for my dad,
being a laborer and all that,and then worked my way up
through as a carpenter and trimcarpenter.
And then my wife and I moved toKentucky for a little bit.
(03:02):
We came back and started aconcrete company and a concrete
company we came up with the namejust concrete because that's
all we did was just concrete andthen we got enough money and
started diversifying out anddoing houses and commercial work
(03:25):
and all and we decided thatjust concrete doesn't fit the
description of work anymore sowe went to just companies
Christi (03:36):
and now JCI
Ed (03:37):
Yeah, we've shortened it up to JCI.
Christi (03:41):
And still multi-generational because your
daughter and her husband are inthe business now.
Ed (03:47):
Yeah, I hadn't thought about that, but fourth generation.
Christi (03:51):
Tell us about their roles.
Ed (03:55):
Stephanie is the project manager of the company.
Well, the whole company isfamily run.
My wife, Kathy, she does thebooks, chief financial officer.
And Stephanie is the projectmanager.
And Jonathan is Stephanie'shusband.
(04:15):
And Jonathan's thesuperintendent out in the field.
Christi (04:18):
And it's just really nice to see them working
together, all of you workingtogether.
It really feels great.
Ed (04:26):
Yeah, there's not a lot of friction.
There's a little bit, butcompared to some families and
some businesses, there's nofriction at all.
We work well together.
Karen (04:36):
That's great.
That's wonderful.
So what's your favorite thingyou like to do in the
construction business?
Where's your heart?
I mean, you do a lot ofdifferent stuff.
I've read your resume.
Ed (04:48):
Well, that's not fair because I like to get paid.
So, yeah.
I really enjoyed being all thedifferent aspects as coming up
through the ranks.
I really enjoyed doing thelabor work, this frame
carpentry, trim carpentry, andthen being a superintendent on
(05:11):
the project.
I enjoy my role now.
It's more front end looking forwork and getting development
set up and going throughprocess.
Karen (05:22):
Mm-hmm.
The bigger picture.
Ed (05:23):
Right.
Karen (05:23):
Because I look at you doing the finishing carpentry,
and that's so detailed, and thenyou went into concrete.
It's really different afterdoing something like that.
Ed (05:32):
It was, but it worked out.
Karen (05:38):
Stepping stone.
Ed (05:39):
Right.
Christi (05:40):
Yeah.
So I know that we are, we havebuilt a lot of homes, JCI
construction that we haverepresented and sold, but you
have done a lot of projectsbesides residential too, some
remodeling and commercialconstruction.
Tell us about that a littlebit.
Ed (06:02):
Oh goodness, now I have to put my memory to work.
Yeah, we've done, well, let mesee, going back through the...
Annals of Time.
We did one project.
It was a kitchen remodel andbathroom remodel up at the VA in
Rifle.
And that was really interestingbecause I didn't realize how
(06:26):
intricate and expensive theequipment was until we got into
that project.
You know, something that youthink would cost maybe $100,000
ended up costing $900,000.
Wow.
Christi (06:41):
Wow.
Ed (06:44):
But we've done remodels on stores.
We did the...
in restaurants.
Rib City.
We remodeled the Rib City inFruita and the one in Rifle.
Christi (07:00):
And you built homes, as you said, in Rifle.
And where else besides theGrand Valley?
Ed (07:05):
Well, as JCI, most of it's been in the Grand Valley.
And we've done custom work upon Grand Mesa and up on Glade
Park.
Christi (07:20):
But now your focus is primarily residential.
You Will you still take smalljobs, or will you take a big job
that's commercial, or do youwant to focus only on
residential?
Ed (07:33):
I tell everybody we're omnivorous.
So it doesn't matter.
We've got skill levels.
Jonathan's an engineer.
Stephanie has her degree inproject management.
I've got a master's, but alsothe depth of experience.
So we We can tackle anything.
Christi (07:57):
And
Karen (07:58):
open to anything.
Ed (07:59):
And we're open to anything.
Karen (08:00):
When I first started, you were doing Sagewood.
That was the first one we weredoing together when I joined the
team.
Yeah, yeah.
And now we're doing BarrickEstates, which is just around
the corner from there.
Ed (08:09):
Right.
Christi (08:10):
Yeah.
You want to talk a little bitabout our current inventory with
JCI?
Karen (08:14):
Well, sure.
We have the last two on StephenCreek in the southeast area
under contract, which iswonderful.
And we've got 14 lots out inBarrick Estates four of which
are connected townhomes, right?
So 10 others.
And tell us a little bit aboutthose properties for everybody.
Ed (08:34):
In Barrick Estates?
Karen (08:34):
Yeah.
Ed (08:36):
Barrick Estates, we want to do a small home project,
different than tiny home.
Yeah.
It's a smaller home projectbetween 1,000 and 1,100 square
feet.
And so we can keep the pricedown.
And...
The finishes are still there.
(08:56):
It's still 3-2-2 for the mostpart.
Three bedroom, two bath, twocar garage.
Christi (09:04):
Yeah, those are such cute houses.
And I think it's really nicethat you can still find a three
bedroom in that price range.
And they're all finished, allready to move into.
Appliances, fencing,landscaping, everything.
Karen (09:17):
Right, right.
And there's a nice variety ofhomes out there.
I mean, some of them have RVparking.
We did have the one that hadthe one and a half size garage
but the rest of them are fulltwo cars, and then you've got
your flag lot with a huge amountof parking.
Christi (09:30):
And the last subdivision that we finished,
Tawny, that was a great success.
We sold out of those housespretty quickly.
They were very popular, andwhat a great little
neighborhood.
And we're excited to move on tothe next neighborhood after
Barrick, which is out in OrchardMesa at Orchard Highlands.
That is how many lots, Ed?
Ed (09:51):
That's 40 lots, and they're big lots.
Yeah.
So we can build a three-cargarage house.
We can even do an ADU on theproperty.
Karen (10:04):
That's exciting.
Yeah, we were talking aboutthat earlier.
So there's going to be three orfour-bedroom choices,
good-sized lots.
A couple two-stories might goout there.
We haven't fully decided thatyet, right?
Ed (10:15):
Right.
Karen (10:15):
Right, yeah.
And three-car garage is goingto be huge.
Christi (10:18):
But also room for RV parking on a lot of these large
lots, depending on the floorplan and the garage you choose.
which is huge for people cominghere with RVs because they
really like to have them closeto home.
A lot of people in GrandJunction have them.
So I think
Karen (10:33):
that's going to be a great advantage.
Christi (10:35):
And that won't be required to be in a garage, but
just behind a fence?
Ed (10:40):
Just behind the fence.
Christi (10:41):
It's very exciting.
And we've talked aboutdifferent styles out there, but
it looks like we're going to gocraftsman style.
Is that for sure?
Ed (10:49):
That's our intent.
Christi (10:51):
There's some great designs across the valley that
now that I'm kind of watchingout for craftsmen.
I see it more frequently.
Karen (10:59):
We were looking at a rendering today and it had a
nice porch on it with the woodengables framing it out and over
the top of the door with somebrickwork behind it that they
came up with.
It was really beautiful.
Christi (11:08):
That sounds great.
What is your theory aboutconstruction and what do you
hope to provide to a homeownerwhen you build a house?
Ed (11:21):
There's a lot of things we want to provide.
One is is a feeling of comfortduring the process of
construction, knowing that we'redoing the best job possible.
Second is to know that they'regetting the best deal possible.
And then also knowing thatwe're there even after the
(11:47):
process.
Because I always tell peopleit's a combination of art and
science.
construction is.
And so when you get to a pointwhere the people move in, even
though it should be a science,it's an art, so things do go
wrong sometimes.
(12:07):
You know, usually littlethings.
But knowing that we're there totake care of it.
Christi (12:14):
Well, and houses settle, right?
Ed (12:17):
No.
Christi (12:20):
I mean, they don't fall into the ground, but you know,
they...
I don't know.
A little caulking
Ed (12:26):
separation on the windows.
There's a difference betweensettling and I guess you could
call it settling.
Most people in their mind whenthey think a house settles they
see these houses where there'ssix inches of movement and all
that.
Christi (12:41):
And that's not what I meant.
But
Ed (12:43):
there's a point where every house because of all the
different materials it all hasto come together.
It has to blend.
And so the wood has to get tothe same level line as the
concrete.
And the stresses need to, thewood needs to relax to where
(13:04):
it's going to go for thestresses on the, you know, like
the trusses with the insulationor the roofing or whatever.
So it takes about a year foreverything to settle in.
And you might get a crack ortwo, but with the new
technology, screw designs andall that for drywall, there's
(13:25):
hardly ever any crack
Christi (13:26):
Mm-hmm.
Well, and I know on all thehouses that we've closed on, the
clients have been veryappreciative about the, you
know, the warranty that youprovide and the schedule where
you say, you know, when you needsomething, this first year is
the time when we look atanything that needs to be
repaired or anything and you'rethere, there to take care of
(13:48):
things.
So that's great.
That's important, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
In the new site, subdivisionsin Barrick and in Orchard
Highlands.
Are those subdivisions whereyou can build something custom
or only choose from floor plansthat you've provided?
Ed (14:08):
Well, in Barrick, it's floor plans that we provide.
In Orchard Highlands, it'sgoing to be totally different.
We'll have plans that we canprovide, but we can also do
custom build.
Christi (14:22):
And kind of a modified, you know, start with a...
a plan that you've provided andsay somebody wants an extra
bathroom or you know push outthe square footage so you guys
are really um um agreeable tomaking changes for a buyer so
they get what they want rightright yeah that's
Karen (14:43):
amazing and for an adu possibility what what size are
we looking at for the adu well
Ed (14:49):
i think you can go up to half Half the size?
I'm not exactly sure, but Ibelieve it's half the size of
the existing unit.
Karen (14:58):
I know I've seen that in areas out in Fruita when I
looked before, 50% of theprimary residents.
So I was wondering if it wouldbe the
Ed (15:04):
same out there.
So if it's 1,600, you can do an800-square-foot ADU.
Karen (15:08):
That's going to be an answer for a lot of things for
people.
Christi (15:11):
There's a lot of talk about multi-generational living.
Karen (15:14):
Yeah.
Better option than all being inthe same house sometimes.
Christi (15:20):
A little separation is good.
Unknown (15:22):
Yeah.
Karen (15:23):
even if it's just across the yard.
Christi (15:27):
And I know that in the construction industry all over,
prices have gone up for buildingmaterials, and especially
during the pandemic, supplychains were disrupted and
things, but things have gottenback to normal for the most
part.
What is normal?
I don't know.
Unknown (15:45):
Yeah.
Christi (15:48):
But now we have some other challenges, which is
building code changes.
It seems like they change everyyear.
Is that the truth?
Ed (15:57):
The building department tries not to change too often,
but in the past two or threeyears they've changed a couple
of times.
So, yeah, there's a lot ofchanges that are coming right
around the corner in September.
Christi (16:13):
And how is that going to affect home pricing?
Ed (16:16):
It's going to drive the price up at least another extra
$5,000.
Christi (16:21):
Because of energy code requirements or other things?
Ed (16:27):
Energy code is a big deal.
You know, they're making thehouses now so tight and so
insulated that, well, we have toput ERVs in.
An ERV is a, in simple terms,is a fan.
It gets fresh air from theoutside so it does air changes
(16:50):
in the house.
Because if you don't have thatrunning, then you get the steel
air.
Karen (16:57):
So that's what you're talking about in the second
bathroom that I often see?
Ed (17:01):
No, it wouldn't be in a bathroom.
It's usually in the laundryroom.
Karen (17:05):
Okay.
I was looking at a houseyesterday, and they had one in
the secondary bathroom, and Isaid it has to run all the time.
Ed (17:11):
Yeah, that'd be the RV.
Karen (17:12):
Yeah.
Okay,
Christi (17:14):
that's what I thought.
And that's required for all newconstruction going forward?
Ed (17:18):
Yes.
And then the R factor in thewalls and the U factor in the
windows It's going to requiremost of the construction to be
2x6 rather than 2x4 constructionnow.
Karen (17:34):
Oh.
Some people think that's alwaysso great, but it really does
take up some square footage.
Ed (17:41):
It takes up square footage and drives price.
Christi (17:45):
What are some of the other factors you see driving up
price?
Are there certain materialsthese days that are costing a
lot because of supply chain ortariffs or anything else?
Ed (17:59):
I'm not sure.
We haven't seen anything ontariffs yet.
Maybe a little bit.
Not enough to fill the impact,but every year...
come November, December, we getnotices in our mail from the
insulation company, the roofingcompany, the aggregates company,
the lumber company, abouteverything going up 10 to
(18:23):
sometimes 30%.
Yeah.
Christi (18:25):
It always says, we hate to do this, but...
Right.
And then for you as a builder,when you're looking at just
incremental increases on everysingle part of the house, it
really is hard to build a housein an attainable price range
anymore.
Ed (18:44):
We fight that constantly.
In Barrick and most of oursubdivisions are starter homes
or downsized homes.
And so we fight to keep theprice where it's affordable.
And affordable to a lot ofpeople, we mentioned that, I
(19:06):
can't remember where it was at.
I
Karen (19:08):
think it was in the newspaper article.
Ed (19:09):
It was.
Yeah.
You know, we've got a lot oflashing out at us because we use
the word affordable.
How can $350,000 be affordable?
For a brand new home.
Yeah, everybody else is at$400,000 or above.
Christi (19:27):
What other kind of things do you try to employ to
keep your costs down?
Ed (19:32):
I hate to say it, but one of the things is look at where our
subcontractors are at onpricing.
And If we don't keep a closewatch on that, things move up.
You get a system in place, andit works really well.
(19:54):
And the only thing you can doafter that is just watch
pricing.
Karen (19:59):
Have you had the same subs for a lot of years?
Or is there a big turnover?
Ed (20:04):
We've had the subs...
contingent of subs right nowfor two or three years.
Christi (20:14):
It's probably hard to keep the same ones going all the
time, even if you have like onemain contact.
The people underneath him willtend to turn over, I would
think, fairly frequently.
And didn't, I mean, did theyhave to lay a lot of people off
during, well, let's see, thatwould have been the recession,
really.
I mean, when construction kindof came to a standstill.
(20:35):
And then Has it been difficultto get the laborers needed and
get going again over the last 10years?
Ed (20:45):
Well, I think we've had just the opposite problem.
You know, during COVID and thepandemic, we thought everything
would shut down.
But for us, it was justgangbusters.
And so our problem's been overthe years finding the help that
we need to get the project doneon time.
Christi (21:06):
So you are...
You also develop property.
You're not just a builder.
Ed (21:10):
Correct.
Christi (21:12):
How is that process going in city and county, and do
you think there's someimprovements that could be made
there?
Ed (21:20):
You're going to make me put my foot in it.
Christi (21:23):
Put you on the spot.
I mean, there's alwaysimprovements that could be made,
right?
Ed (21:27):
Yeah, there's a trend in the public sector that they just
want to— have to add somethingevery so often.
And so right now we're dealingwith the TEDS manual and some of
the things that were in theTEDS manual.
Christi (21:45):
Can you tell people what a TEDS manual is?
Ed (21:47):
TEDS manual is the engineering manual for
development, telling us how widethe streets have to be, how
wide the sidewalks have to be,how many parking spaces, etc.
And so, you know, for instance,going from four foot and then
to five foot and now to six footsidewalk And I look at that,
(22:11):
and I look at downtown, and Idrove down Main Street one day
and looked, and the Main Streetdoesn't even have six-foot
sidewalks.
So, but what they don't realizeis every foot of roadway, it
just drives a price.
When this new Ted's Manual gotincorporated into the city, it
(22:35):
was, I think...
$2,000 a foot, which isn't muchif you think, well, it's just a
foot.
It's $2,000, but you've gothundreds or thousands of feet in
a subdivision.
Unknown (22:51):
Mm-hmm.
Christi (22:51):
So I know that they just formed a housing
affordability code task forcethat is going to be challenged
with trying to find ways to makethe process of development and
building more affordable in ourcommunity, which I think is a
(23:11):
great thing.
But it's going to take inputfrom a lot of people like you
because you've been doing thisfor so long.
Ed (23:17):
Yeah, I looked at the list, and you're wrong.
it.
Christi (23:22):
Yes, I am.
I'm excited to be on it.
Ed (23:24):
Congratulations.
Christi (23:24):
Thank you.
Ed (23:26):
Uh, but there's some good names, Kevin Bray, um, Ron
Apollo and, uh, Charlie Gettnerand a few others that have been
through the process and know thepitfalls.
So there'll be, they'll givegood input and hopefully, uh,
people start listening becausewe're getting to a point where
(23:47):
it just doesn't pay to developanymore.
Unknown (23:51):
Yeah.
Christi (23:52):
I think that there's...
For people that aren't in thebusiness, there tends to be a
sense of developers being verywealthy and maybe only concerned
about money.
But the reality is it costs somuch to develop something.
It's not a job that justsomebody off the street can buy
(24:13):
a piece of property and godevelop it.
I mean, it's a very difficultprocess and very costly.
Ed (24:19):
Most of the projects in the city, I would say...
start at three years time toget it through process,
sometimes five.
And not only are you tied upfor the cost of the land, but
just for, I'll give you anexample, Orchard Highlands is
(24:39):
over $300,000 for fees likeengineering and landscape
engineering or architect, allthat.
And then you put that out forfive years so you can't make any
money on it.
Yeah.
And so you're, you know...
You pay a lot, and then youhave to hold a long time.
Christi (25:03):
Have you been in partnerships with a lot of
people over the years?
Or when you got started, wereyou in partnerships in order to
make those projects happen, andthen you were able to do them on
your own?
Ed (25:15):
No.
Christi (25:16):
You always did them on your own?
Ed (25:17):
Yeah.
I started small, a 10-lotproject, a 15-lot project.
This is the first time we'vegot more than one going at a
time.
Karen (25:27):
Back to what you were saying a minute ago, and back to
the quote-unquoteaffordability.
I think a lot of people thatget down that road and get upset
about that kind of stuff, theydon't realize all the
preliminary stuff that has to bedone before you even can move
dirt.
There's just so much to it.
Christi (25:41):
And so much that goes into building a house and making
sure that it's safe and secureand all of those things.
Comfortable.
Yeah.
That's why a lot of marriagesdon't survive
Karen (25:50):
that.
Ed (25:52):
Building a
Karen (25:53):
house?
Yeah.
I was asking, do you have astrong marriage?
Ed (25:57):
I have had a friend that was a plumber, still is, and he and
his wife decided to build ahouse and just tore
Christi (26:07):
them up.
There's a lot of choices to bemade.
I think for someone that hasbuilt a custom house, they can
be very overwhelmed with all thechoices.
So one of the nice things aboutJCI is you guys do a lot of the
choosing ahead of time, but youstill give a buyer a lot of
design choices, a lot of colorchoices, so they can really
(26:28):
customize the house and make ittheir own.
Karen (26:31):
Stephanie's really good at that.
She has a great eye for thecolors that go together.
You think you know and you sitdown and you look at it and she
goes, uh-uh.
And then she brings a couplemore together, lays it out, and
it really jives.
She does a great job at that.
Ed (26:43):
Before Stephanie got on board, I did all the color
choosing.
And I did a good job, butStephanie brings it to a
different level.
Christi (26:51):
She does.
It's her favorite part.
It is hard because I think thefirst one that I did, I walked
into the house afterward and Ilooked around and I said, did I
pick this?
Because it doesn't look verygood.
It was really good on thetable.
Karen (27:06):
Yeah.
What do you think are going tobe some of the biggest
challenges coming up next yearin the field?
Ed (27:14):
It's the same ones we've been facing now, and that's
trying to keep the price down,trying to give the best product
possible, and something thatpeople really feel like it's
theirs and it's everything theywant.
Karen (27:34):
One thing I felt like, you know, I bought one of the
Patterson Pine houses, as youknow, for my mother-in-law.
And I mean, the solidness justof the construction.
I walk through their sill andlook at everything, windowsills
and everything.
And it's just a really solidlybuilt house.
Christi (27:48):
You're always looking for projects too, right?
I mean, I know we have twocoming up and we have to get a
certain way through.
I mean, a 40 lot subdivision ispretty big, so we have to get
through that.
But then you're always on thelookout for the next thing
Ed (28:04):
well like I said it takes three to five years to get a
piece of ground through processthat's through process not even
being built so and that takesanother six months to a year to
get it built so yeah so I'mlooking for land and
opportunities now for the nextTwo projects.
Karen (28:28):
Do you have anything in particular in mind that you've
kind of got a dream that youwant to eventually do when you
think of projects?
Ed (28:35):
Um...
I don't have any specialdreams.
You know, that's one thing thatI've never tried to do is put
my ego into building because itdoesn't work.
I'm always for the people andwhat people want.
But as far as projects, youknow, you always think, wow, if
(28:56):
I could get that next size up,100 lot subdivision, 200 lot
subdivision, then I wouldn'thave to go through process so
Christi (29:06):
much.
Right.
It's not a bad idea.
Think about it that way.
I know we have talked about,you know, when we've got some
land coming up that we candevelop, what would be great to
do?
What can we do that's differentand exciting?
But then it always comes backto what is the market requiring
and requesting?
What do the buyers want in thiskind of market?
(29:27):
And it always comes back toprice.
I mean, we could build bigger,more expensive homes, but we try
really hard to keep itreasonable.
And I'm excited in OrchardHighlands that we have these
bigger lots that will let usbuild a little bit bigger home
than we've been building.
Although those Patterson Pines,Tawny subdivision were so
(29:47):
popular.
They're great sizes, reallygreat houses.
Yeah.
Karen (29:51):
I'm excited too, you know, trying to weave the
craftsman style in there.
Just, you know, we've seen thestucco and then the stucco with
the stone and that little bit ofslate look.
So I'm kind of excited to seesome of the wood gables
accenting like that.
And that's going to be reallycool.
Ed (30:06):
I hope it is.
I
Christi (30:07):
think so.
Karen (30:36):
Post it out there so you can give us a call.
Phone numbers are listed.
We have a lender, preferredlender out there as well.
You can give us a call that wayor you can go to
christyreese.com, our website,and there's a link there as
well.
You can go to JCI's website,but we've got it all linked
together.
And, you know, give us a call.
We'll tell you about theincentives that we have out
there that are sparking a lot ofinterest and there's some great
(30:56):
opportunities for people.
Christi (30:58):
Yeah, we do have some good incentives and we hate to
say specifically what they arebecause they change frequently,
you know, according to themarket and what's going on.
we've put together incentivefrom the builder incentive from
us and incentive from a greatlender in town and so it makes
it really attainable forespecially a homeowner that
doesn't have a lot of cash toput down that's right might
Karen (31:20):
help you with your closing costs rate buy down you
know it's it's people arelooking at it from a lot of
different angles and it opens upa lot of opportunity
Christi (31:28):
I've had quite a few people realtors especially that
you know find out about OrchardHighlands and ask me what are
you going to be building outthere and when Are they going to
be ready?
So what do you say to thosefolks, Ed, and what's our
timeline look like out there?
Ed (31:42):
Well, it's supposed to be paved by the middle of November.
Christi (31:47):
Fantastic.
Ed (31:48):
And then we have to put the dry utilities in, which is the
electric and the cable.
Mm-hmm.
And so then we'll startbuilding probably right around
March.
Karen (32:06):
Oh, I love that.
little sooner than I thought.
Christi (32:07):
They're
Ed (32:08):
going vertical in March.
Christi (32:09):
Okay.
And these will be slabfoundation?
Ed (32:14):
Slab on grade foundations.
Christi (32:16):
And any other features that you want to highlight?
I mean, I think JCIConstruction does such a good
job with the interiors, youknow, the hand-traveled finish,
and we have islands in most ofthe kitchens and pantries, lots
of different floor plans, butanything else you want to
highlight about the interiors?
Ed (32:35):
Well, we really work on getting an open airy concept
feeling and that's been one ofthe highlights over the years
that we've been able to do onwhether it's a larger house or a
smaller house get that openairy bright feeling
Karen (32:51):
yeah gathering area yeah it's very popular with today's
buyers it very much is a lot ofpeople seem to be leaning
towards nothing in the islandjust that open space for hanging
out
Christi (33:03):
put a couple stools there and be able to gather
around that space Right.
While somebody else is doingall the cooking.
Ed, we want to thank you forjoining us today and sharing
your adventure in building inthe Grand Valley.
We appreciate all that you doto bring really beautiful
housing to the public and to thebuyers here in town.
(33:25):
And we're so lucky to have apartnership with you and be able
to represent your homes.
Ed (33:31):
Thank you, Christy.
It's a pleasure being here.
And Karen, thank you
Christi (33:34):
very much.
Thank you.
Karen, any closing that youwant to tell our viewers and
listeners about our upcoming andand current projects.
One more time.
Karen (33:43):
Oh, right now, I just want to encourage everybody to
come out to Barrick Estates.
We've got the model home.
You can come check out at anytime.
And we're in a place right nowwhere one's going to be done at
the end of September.
So things are chosen there asfar as finishes, but everything
else is open for discussion andbe able to make it your own.
And then we've got those greatincentives.
So give us a call, and I canshare all that information.
(34:05):
And we'll be posting a littlesneak preview at some point
coming up here in the next fewmonths.
to what Orchard Highlands isgoing to look like.
So stick around.
That's going to be fun.
Christi (34:16):
Okay.
Thanks, Karen.
Thanks, Ed.
And we're at 970-589-7700 ifyou'd like information on any of
our JCI construction projects.
And we just love to show themto you.
So give us a call.
Thanks, everybody.
We'll see you next time on theFull Circle Podcast.
Bye-bye.
Thanks for listening.
(34:37):
This is Christi Reece signingout from the Full Circle
Podcast.
The Full Circle Podcast.
Compelling interviews andincredible tales from Colorado's
western slope, from themountains to the desert.
Christi Reece and her team hearfrom the movers, shakers, and
characters of the Grand Valleyand surrounding mountain towns
that make the western slope theplace we all love.
You'll learn, you'll laugh,you'll love with The Full
Circle.
Hi everyone, I'm Christi Reeceand we're back here again for
(00:28):
another episode of The FullCircle Podcast.
I'm here with KarenMcLean-Wilson from my team and
we're really happy to have asour guest today one of our
longtime clients and goodfriend, Ed Lenhart from JCI
Construction.
Ed (00:40):
Thank you.
It's nice being here.
Christi (00:42):
We want to talk about all of the things that you have
going on on the production side,but we want to start with a
little history about yourconstruction background, but
let's start even before thatwith how did you get to Grand
Junction?
Because this is not your homewhere you grew up.
Ed (00:59):
Oh, goodness.
No, I was on Cape Cod, and myfolks came out for a vacation.
And it was a recession, and mydad's best friend told him to
come out here and take a look atGrand Junction.
So he came out, and theydecided that he was going to
move him and my mom out, and Iwas in college.
(01:19):
So I helped her move outbecause my dad moved, or came
out before, looking for a placeto stay.
And then I stayed for thesummer and got a couple of jobs,
you know, part-time, cuttingtimber or whatever up in the
hills.
And then I stayed another sixmonths at college, and then I
(01:41):
came out here and transferred toMason State.
Christi (01:44):
It's funny to think about somebody in Cape Cod back
then.
I mean, what year do you thinkthat was?
Ed (01:49):
Oh, I can still remember that far back.
Christi (01:51):
Yeah.
Wow.
Your memory's better than mine.
It
Ed (01:56):
was 77.
But
Christi (01:57):
it's funny to think about somebody in Cape Cod even
noticing Grand Junction backthen.
Ed (02:03):
Well, my dad's friend was a big-time lawyer in Boston, so he
had his finger on a lot ofpulses in the U.S.
Christi (02:12):
And he was looking at the energy sector here?
Ed (02:13):
Yeah, that was what drove my dad here.
Christi (02:18):
What profession was he in?
Ed (02:19):
He was still in construction.
I'm a third-generationconstruction guy.
Christi (02:24):
That's awesome.
So your grandfather, too?
Ed (02:27):
Yes.
Christi (02:29):
That's awesome.
You want to talk a little bitabout how you got started in
construction here?
Karen (02:37):
Yeah, and tell us how you started the name of your
company, too, because that was anew story to me.
Ed (02:41):
I'd been in construction.
I started when I was nine yearsold, doing stuff for my dad,
being a laborer and all that,and then worked my way up
through as a carpenter and trimcarpenter.
And then my wife and I moved toKentucky for a little bit.
(03:02):
We came back and started aconcrete company and a concrete
company we came up with the namejust concrete because that's
all we did was just concrete andthen we got enough money and
started diversifying out anddoing houses and commercial work
(03:25):
and all and we decided thatjust concrete doesn't fit the
description of work anymore sowe went to just companies
Christi (03:36):
and now JCI
Ed (03:37):
Yeah, we've shortened it up to JCI.
Christi (03:41):
And still multi-generational because your
daughter and her husband are inthe business now.
Ed (03:47):
Yeah, I hadn't thought about that, but fourth generation.
Christi (03:51):
Tell us about their roles.
Ed (03:55):
Stephanie is the project manager of the company.
Well, the whole company isfamily run.
My wife, Kathy, she does thebooks, chief financial officer.
And Stephanie is the projectmanager.
And Jonathan is Stephanie'shusband.
(04:15):
And Jonathan's thesuperintendent out in the field.
Christi (04:18):
And it's just really nice to see them working
together, all of you workingtogether.
It really feels great.
Ed (04:26):
Yeah, there's not a lot of friction.
There's a little bit, butcompared to some families and
some businesses, there's nofriction at all.
We work well together.
Karen (04:36):
That's great.
That's wonderful.
So what's your favorite thingyou like to do in the
construction business?
Where's your heart?
I mean, you do a lot ofdifferent stuff.
I've read your resume.
Ed (04:48):
Well, that's not fair because I like to get paid.
So, yeah.
I really enjoyed being all thedifferent aspects as coming up
through the ranks.
I really enjoyed doing thelabor work, this frame
carpentry, trim carpentry, andthen being a superintendent on
(05:11):
the project.
I enjoy my role now.
It's more front end looking forwork and getting development
set up and going throughprocess.
Karen (05:22):
Mm-hmm.
The bigger picture.
Ed (05:23):
Right.
Karen (05:23):
Because I look at you doing the finishing carpentry,
and that's so detailed, and thenyou went into concrete.
It's really different afterdoing something like that.
Ed (05:32):
It was, but it worked out.
Karen (05:38):
Stepping stone.
Ed (05:39):
Right.
Christi (05:40):
Yeah.
So I know that we are, we havebuilt a lot of homes, JCI
construction that we haverepresented and sold, but you
have done a lot of projectsbesides residential too, some
remodeling and commercialconstruction.
Tell us about that a littlebit.
Ed (06:02):
Oh goodness, now I have to put my memory to work.
Yeah, we've done, well, let mesee, going back through the...
Annals of Time.
We did one project.
It was a kitchen remodel andbathroom remodel up at the VA in
Rifle.
And that was really interestingbecause I didn't realize how
(06:26):
intricate and expensive theequipment was until we got into
that project.
You know, something that youthink would cost maybe $100,000
ended up costing $900,000.
Wow.
Christi (06:41):
Wow.
Ed (06:44):
But we've done remodels on stores.
We did the...
in restaurants.
Rib City.
We remodeled the Rib City inFruita and the one in Rifle.
Christi (07:00):
And you built homes, as you said, in Rifle.
And where else besides theGrand Valley?
Ed (07:05):
Well, as JCI, most of it's been in the Grand Valley.
And we've done custom work upon Grand Mesa and up on Glade
Park.
Christi (07:20):
But now your focus is primarily residential.
You Will you still take smalljobs, or will you take a big job
that's commercial, or do youwant to focus only on
residential?
Ed (07:33):
I tell everybody we're omnivorous.
So it doesn't matter.
We've got skill levels.
Jonathan's an engineer.
Stephanie has her degree inproject management.
I've got a master's, but alsothe depth of experience.
So we We can tackle anything.
Christi (07:57):
And
Karen (07:58):
open to anything.
Ed (07:59):
And we're open to anything.
Karen (08:00):
When I first started, you were doing Sagewood.
That was the first one we weredoing together when I joined the
team.
Yeah, yeah.
And now we're doing BarrickEstates, which is just around
the corner from there.
Ed (08:09):
Right.
Christi (08:10):
Yeah.
You want to talk a little bitabout our current inventory with
JCI?
Karen (08:14):
Well, sure.
We have the last two on StephenCreek in the southeast area
under contract, which iswonderful.
And we've got 14 lots out inBarrick Estates four of which
are connected townhomes, right?
So 10 others.
And tell us a little bit aboutthose properties for everybody.
Ed (08:34):
In Barrick Estates?
Karen (08:34):
Yeah.
Ed (08:36):
Barrick Estates, we want to do a small home project,
different than tiny home.
Yeah.
It's a smaller home projectbetween 1,000 and 1,100 square
feet.
And so we can keep the pricedown.
And...
The finishes are still there.
(08:56):
It's still 3-2-2 for the mostpart.
Three bedroom, two bath, twocar garage.
Christi (09:04):
Yeah, those are such cute houses.
And I think it's really nicethat you can still find a three
bedroom in that price range.
And they're all finished, allready to move into.
Appliances, fencing,landscaping, everything.
Karen (09:17):
Right, right.
And there's a nice variety ofhomes out there.
I mean, some of them have RVparking.
We did have the one that hadthe one and a half size garage
but the rest of them are fulltwo cars, and then you've got
your flag lot with a huge amountof parking.
Christi (09:30):
And the last subdivision that we finished,
Tawny, that was a great success.
We sold out of those housespretty quickly.
They were very popular, andwhat a great little
neighborhood.
And we're excited to move on tothe next neighborhood after
Barrick, which is out in OrchardMesa at Orchard Highlands.
That is how many lots, Ed?
Ed (09:51):
That's 40 lots, and they're big lots.
Yeah.
So we can build a three-cargarage house.
We can even do an ADU on theproperty.
Karen (10:04):
That's exciting.
Yeah, we were talking aboutthat earlier.
So there's going to be three orfour-bedroom choices,
good-sized lots.
A couple two-stories might goout there.
We haven't fully decided thatyet, right?
Ed (10:15):
Right.
Karen (10:15):
Right, yeah.
And three-car garage is goingto be huge.
Christi (10:18):
But also room for RV parking on a lot of these large
lots, depending on the floorplan and the garage you choose.
which is huge for people cominghere with RVs because they
really like to have them closeto home.
A lot of people in GrandJunction have them.
So I think
Karen (10:33):
that's going to be a great advantage.
Christi (10:35):
And that won't be required to be in a garage, but
just behind a fence?
Ed (10:40):
Just behind the fence.
Christi (10:41):
It's very exciting.
And we've talked aboutdifferent styles out there, but
it looks like we're going to gocraftsman style.
Is that for sure?
Ed (10:49):
That's our intent.
Christi (10:51):
There's some great designs across the valley that
now that I'm kind of watchingout for craftsmen.
I see it more frequently.
Karen (10:59):
We were looking at a rendering today and it had a
nice porch on it with the woodengables framing it out and over
the top of the door with somebrickwork behind it that they
came up with.
It was really beautiful.
Christi (11:08):
That sounds great.
What is your theory aboutconstruction and what do you
hope to provide to a homeownerwhen you build a house?
Ed (11:21):
There's a lot of things we want to provide.
One is is a feeling of comfortduring the process of
construction, knowing that we'redoing the best job possible.
Second is to know that they'regetting the best deal possible.
And then also knowing thatwe're there even after the
(11:47):
process.
Because I always tell peopleit's a combination of art and
science.
construction is.
And so when you get to a pointwhere the people move in, even
though it should be a science,it's an art, so things do go
wrong sometimes.
(12:07):
You know, usually littlethings.
But knowing that we're there totake care of it.
Christi (12:14):
Well, and houses settle, right?
Ed (12:17):
No.
Christi (12:20):
I mean, they don't fall into the ground, but you know,
they...
I don't know.
A little caulking
Ed (12:26):
separation on the windows.
There's a difference betweensettling and I guess you could
call it settling.
Most people in their mind whenthey think a house settles they
see these houses where there'ssix inches of movement and all
that.
Christi (12:41):
And that's not what I meant.
But
Ed (12:43):
there's a point where every house because of all the
different materials it all hasto come together.
It has to blend.
And so the wood has to get tothe same level line as the
concrete.
And the stresses need to, thewood needs to relax to where
(13:04):
it's going to go for thestresses on the, you know, like
the trusses with the insulationor the roofing or whatever.
So it takes about a year foreverything to settle in.
And you might get a crack ortwo, but with the new
technology, screw designs andall that for drywall, there's
(13:25):
hardly ever any crack
Christi (13:26):
Mm-hmm.
Well, and I know on all thehouses that we've closed on, the
clients have been veryappreciative about the, you
know, the warranty that youprovide and the schedule where
you say, you know, when you needsomething, this first year is
the time when we look atanything that needs to be
repaired or anything and you'rethere, there to take care of
(13:48):
things.
So that's great.
That's important, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
In the new site, subdivisionsin Barrick and in Orchard
Highlands.
Are those subdivisions whereyou can build something custom
or only choose from floor plansthat you've provided?
Ed (14:08):
Well, in Barrick, it's floor plans that we provide.
In Orchard Highlands, it'sgoing to be totally different.
We'll have plans that we canprovide, but we can also do
custom build.
Christi (14:22):
And kind of a modified, you know, start with a...
a plan that you've provided andsay somebody wants an extra
bathroom or you know push outthe square footage so you guys
are really um um agreeable tomaking changes for a buyer so
they get what they want rightright yeah that's
Karen (14:43):
amazing and for an adu possibility what what size are
we looking at for the adu well
Ed (14:49):
i think you can go up to half Half the size?
I'm not exactly sure, but Ibelieve it's half the size of
the existing unit.
Karen (14:58):
I know I've seen that in areas out in Fruita when I
looked before, 50% of theprimary residents.
So I was wondering if it wouldbe the
Ed (15:04):
same out there.
So if it's 1,600, you can do an800-square-foot ADU.
Karen (15:08):
That's going to be an answer for a lot of things for
people.
Christi (15:11):
There's a lot of talk about multi-generational living.
Karen (15:14):
Yeah.
Better option than all being inthe same house sometimes.
Christi (15:20):
A little separation is good.
Unknown (15:22):
Yeah.
Karen (15:23):
even if it's just across the yard.
Christi (15:27):
And I know that in the construction industry all over,
prices have gone up for buildingmaterials, and especially
during the pandemic, supplychains were disrupted and
things, but things have gottenback to normal for the most
part.
What is normal?
I don't know.
Unknown (15:45):
Yeah.
Christi (15:48):
But now we have some other challenges, which is
building code changes.
It seems like they change everyyear.
Is that the truth?
Ed (15:57):
The building department tries not to change too often,
but in the past two or threeyears they've changed a couple
of times.
So, yeah, there's a lot ofchanges that are coming right
around the corner in September.
Christi (16:13):
And how is that going to affect home pricing?
Ed (16:16):
It's going to drive the price up at least another extra
$5,000.
Christi (16:21):
Because of energy code requirements or other things?
Ed (16:27):
Energy code is a big deal.
You know, they're making thehouses now so tight and so
insulated that, well, we have toput ERVs in.
An ERV is a, in simple terms,is a fan.
It gets fresh air from theoutside so it does air changes
(16:50):
in the house.
Because if you don't have thatrunning, then you get the steel
air.
Karen (16:57):
So that's what you're talking about in the second
bathroom that I often see?
Ed (17:01):
No, it wouldn't be in a bathroom.
It's usually in the laundryroom.
Karen (17:05):
Okay.
I was looking at a houseyesterday, and they had one in
the secondary bathroom, and Isaid it has to run all the time.
Ed (17:11):
Yeah, that'd be the RV.
Karen (17:12):
Yeah.
Okay,
Christi (17:14):
that's what I thought.
And that's required for all newconstruction going forward?
Ed (17:18):
Yes.
And then the R factor in thewalls and the U factor in the
windows It's going to requiremost of the construction to be
2x6 rather than 2x4 constructionnow.
Karen (17:34):
Oh.
Some people think that's alwaysso great, but it really does
take up some square footage.
Ed (17:41):
It takes up square footage and drives price.
Christi (17:45):
What are some of the other factors you see driving up
price?
Are there certain materialsthese days that are costing a
lot because of supply chain ortariffs or anything else?
Ed (17:59):
I'm not sure.
We haven't seen anything ontariffs yet.
Maybe a little bit.
Not enough to fill the impact,but every year...
come November, December, we getnotices in our mail from the
insulation company, the roofingcompany, the aggregates company,
the lumber company, abouteverything going up 10 to
(18:23):
sometimes 30%.
Yeah.
Christi (18:25):
It always says, we hate to do this, but...
Right.
And then for you as a builder,when you're looking at just
incremental increases on everysingle part of the house, it
really is hard to build a housein an attainable price range
anymore.
Ed (18:44):
We fight that constantly.
In Barrick and most of oursubdivisions are starter homes
or downsized homes.
And so we fight to keep theprice where it's affordable.
And affordable to a lot ofpeople, we mentioned that, I
(19:06):
can't remember where it was at.
I
Karen (19:08):
think it was in the newspaper article.
Ed (19:09):
It was.
Yeah.
You know, we've got a lot oflashing out at us because we use
the word affordable.
How can $350,000 be affordable?
For a brand new home.
Yeah, everybody else is at$400,000 or above.
Christi (19:27):
What other kind of things do you try to employ to
keep your costs down?
Ed (19:32):
I hate to say it, but one of the things is look at where our
subcontractors are at onpricing.
And If we don't keep a closewatch on that, things move up.
You get a system in place, andit works really well.
(19:54):
And the only thing you can doafter that is just watch
pricing.
Karen (19:59):
Have you had the same subs for a lot of years?
Or is there a big turnover?
Ed (20:04):
We've had the subs...
contingent of subs right nowfor two or three years.
Christi (20:14):
It's probably hard to keep the same ones going all the
time, even if you have like onemain contact.
The people underneath him willtend to turn over, I would
think, fairly frequently.
And didn't, I mean, did theyhave to lay a lot of people off
during, well, let's see, thatwould have been the recession,
really.
I mean, when construction kindof came to a standstill.
(20:35):
And then Has it been difficultto get the laborers needed and
get going again over the last 10years?
Ed (20:45):
Well, I think we've had just the opposite problem.
You know, during COVID and thepandemic, we thought everything
would shut down.
But for us, it was justgangbusters.
And so our problem's been overthe years finding the help that
we need to get the project doneon time.
Christi (21:06):
So you are...
You also develop property.
You're not just a builder.
Ed (21:10):
Correct.
Christi (21:12):
How is that process going in city and county, and do
you think there's someimprovements that could be made
there?
Ed (21:20):
You're going to make me put my foot in it.
Christi (21:23):
Put you on the spot.
I mean, there's alwaysimprovements that could be made,
right?
Ed (21:27):
Yeah, there's a trend in the public sector that they just
want to— have to add somethingevery so often.
And so right now we're dealingwith the TEDS manual and some of
the things that were in theTEDS manual.
Christi (21:45):
Can you tell people what a TEDS manual is?
Ed (21:47):
TEDS manual is the engineering manual for
development, telling us how widethe streets have to be, how
wide the sidewalks have to be,how many parking spaces, etc.
And so, you know, for instance,going from four foot and then
to five foot and now to six footsidewalk And I look at that,
(22:11):
and I look at downtown, and Idrove down Main Street one day
and looked, and the Main Streetdoesn't even have six-foot
sidewalks.
So, but what they don't realizeis every foot of roadway, it
just drives a price.
When this new Ted's Manual gotincorporated into the city, it
(22:35):
was, I think...
$2,000 a foot, which isn't muchif you think, well, it's just a
foot.
It's $2,000, but you've gothundreds or thousands of feet in
a subdivision.
Unknown (22:51):
Mm-hmm.
Christi (22:51):
So I know that they just formed a housing
affordability code task forcethat is going to be challenged
with trying to find ways to makethe process of development and
building more affordable in ourcommunity, which I think is a
(23:11):
great thing.
But it's going to take inputfrom a lot of people like you
because you've been doing thisfor so long.
Ed (23:17):
Yeah, I looked at the list, and you're wrong.
it.
Christi (23:22):
Yes, I am.
I'm excited to be on it.
Ed (23:24):
Congratulations.
Christi (23:24):
Thank you.
Ed (23:26):
Uh, but there's some good names, Kevin Bray, um, Ron
Apollo and, uh, Charlie Gettnerand a few others that have been
through the process and know thepitfalls.
So there'll be, they'll givegood input and hopefully, uh,
people start listening becausewe're getting to a point where
(23:47):
it just doesn't pay to developanymore.
Unknown (23:51):
Yeah.
Christi (23:52):
I think that there's...
For people that aren't in thebusiness, there tends to be a
sense of developers being verywealthy and maybe only concerned
about money.
But the reality is it costs somuch to develop something.
It's not a job that justsomebody off the street can buy
(24:13):
a piece of property and godevelop it.
I mean, it's a very difficultprocess and very costly.
Ed (24:19):
Most of the projects in the city, I would say...
start at three years time toget it through process,
sometimes five.
And not only are you tied upfor the cost of the land, but
just for, I'll give you anexample, Orchard Highlands is
(24:39):
over $300,000 for fees likeengineering and landscape
engineering or architect, allthat.
And then you put that out forfive years so you can't make any
money on it.
Yeah.
And so you're, you know...
You pay a lot, and then youhave to hold a long time.
Christi (25:03):
Have you been in partnerships with a lot of
people over the years?
Or when you got started, wereyou in partnerships in order to
make those projects happen, andthen you were able to do them on
your own?
Ed (25:15):
No.
Christi (25:16):
You always did them on your own?
Ed (25:17):
Yeah.
I started small, a 10-lotproject, a 15-lot project.
This is the first time we'vegot more than one going at a
time.
Karen (25:27):
Back to what you were saying a minute ago, and back to
the quote-unquoteaffordability.
I think a lot of people thatget down that road and get upset
about that kind of stuff, theydon't realize all the
preliminary stuff that has to bedone before you even can move
dirt.
There's just so much to it.
Christi (25:41):
And so much that goes into building a house and making
sure that it's safe and secureand all of those things.
Comfortable.
Yeah.
That's why a lot of marriagesdon't survive
Karen (25:50):
that.
Ed (25:52):
Building a
Karen (25:53):
house?
Yeah.
I was asking, do you have astrong marriage?
Ed (25:57):
I have had a friend that was a plumber, still is, and he and
his wife decided to build ahouse and just tore
Christi (26:07):
them up.
There's a lot of choices to bemade.
I think for someone that hasbuilt a custom house, they can
be very overwhelmed with all thechoices.
So one of the nice things aboutJCI is you guys do a lot of the
choosing ahead of time, but youstill give a buyer a lot of
design choices, a lot of colorchoices, so they can really
(26:28):
customize the house and make ittheir own.
Karen (26:31):
Stephanie's really good at that.
She has a great eye for thecolors that go together.
You think you know and you sitdown and you look at it and she
goes, uh-uh.
And then she brings a couplemore together, lays it out, and
it really jives.
She does a great job at that.
Ed (26:43):
Before Stephanie got on board, I did all the color
choosing.
And I did a good job, butStephanie brings it to a
different level.
Christi (26:51):
She does.
It's her favorite part.
It is hard because I think thefirst one that I did, I walked
into the house afterward and Ilooked around and I said, did I
pick this?
Because it doesn't look verygood.
It was really good on thetable.
Karen (27:06):
Yeah.
What do you think are going tobe some of the biggest
challenges coming up next yearin the field?
Ed (27:14):
It's the same ones we've been facing now, and that's
trying to keep the price down,trying to give the best product
possible, and something thatpeople really feel like it's
theirs and it's everything theywant.
Karen (27:34):
One thing I felt like, you know, I bought one of the
Patterson Pine houses, as youknow, for my mother-in-law.
And I mean, the solidness justof the construction.
I walk through their sill andlook at everything, windowsills
and everything.
And it's just a really solidlybuilt house.
Christi (27:48):
You're always looking for projects too, right?
I mean, I know we have twocoming up and we have to get a
certain way through.
I mean, a 40 lot subdivision ispretty big, so we have to get
through that.
But then you're always on thelookout for the next thing
Ed (28:04):
well like I said it takes three to five years to get a
piece of ground through processthat's through process not even
being built so and that takesanother six months to a year to
get it built so yeah so I'mlooking for land and
opportunities now for the nextTwo projects.
Karen (28:28):
Do you have anything in particular in mind that you've
kind of got a dream that youwant to eventually do when you
think of projects?
Ed (28:35):
Um...
I don't have any specialdreams.
You know, that's one thing thatI've never tried to do is put
my ego into building because itdoesn't work.
I'm always for the people andwhat people want.
But as far as projects, youknow, you always think, wow, if
(28:56):
I could get that next size up,100 lot subdivision, 200 lot
subdivision, then I wouldn'thave to go through process so
Christi (29:06):
much.
Right.
It's not a bad idea.
Think about it that way.
I know we have talked about,you know, when we've got some
land coming up that we candevelop, what would be great to
do?
What can we do that's differentand exciting?
But then it always comes backto what is the market requiring
and requesting?
What do the buyers want in thiskind of market?
(29:27):
And it always comes back toprice.
I mean, we could build bigger,more expensive homes, but we try
really hard to keep itreasonable.
And I'm excited in OrchardHighlands that we have these
bigger lots that will let usbuild a little bit bigger home
than we've been building.
Although those Patterson Pines,Tawny subdivision were so
(29:47):
popular.
They're great sizes, reallygreat houses.
Yeah.
Karen (29:51):
I'm excited too, you know, trying to weave the
craftsman style in there.
Just, you know, we've seen thestucco and then the stucco with
the stone and that little bit ofslate look.
So I'm kind of excited to seesome of the wood gables
accenting like that.
And that's going to be reallycool.
Ed (30:06):
I hope it is.
I
Christi (30:07):
think so.
Karen (30:36):
Post it out there so you can give us a call.
Phone numbers are listed.
We have a lender, preferredlender out there as well.
You can give us a call that wayor you can go to
christyreese.com, our website,and there's a link there as
well.
You can go to JCI's website,but we've got it all linked
together.
And, you know, give us a call.
We'll tell you about theincentives that we have out
there that are sparking a lot ofinterest and there's some great
(30:56):
opportunities for people.
Christi (30:58):
Yeah, we do have some good incentives and we hate to
say specifically what they arebecause they change frequently,
you know, according to themarket and what's going on.
we've put together incentivefrom the builder incentive from
us and incentive from a greatlender in town and so it makes
it really attainable forespecially a homeowner that
doesn't have a lot of cash toput down that's right might
Karen (31:20):
help you with your closing costs rate buy down you
know it's it's people arelooking at it from a lot of
different angles and it opens upa lot of opportunity
Christi (31:28):
I've had quite a few people realtors especially that
you know find out about OrchardHighlands and ask me what are
you going to be building outthere and when Are they going to
be ready?
So what do you say to thosefolks, Ed, and what's our
timeline look like out there?
Ed (31:42):
Well, it's supposed to be paved by the middle of November.
Christi (31:47):
Fantastic.
Ed (31:48):
And then we have to put the dry utilities in, which is the
electric and the cable.
Mm-hmm.
And so then we'll startbuilding probably right around
March.
Karen (32:06):
Oh, I love that.
little sooner than I thought.
Christi (32:07):
They're
Ed (32:08):
going vertical in March.
Christi (32:09):
Okay.
And these will be slabfoundation?
Ed (32:14):
Slab on grade foundations.
Christi (32:16):
And any other features that you want to highlight?
I mean, I think JCIConstruction does such a good
job with the interiors, youknow, the hand-traveled finish,
and we have islands in most ofthe kitchens and pantries, lots
of different floor plans, butanything else you want to
highlight about the interiors?
Ed (32:35):
Well, we really work on getting an open airy concept
feeling and that's been one ofthe highlights over the years
that we've been able to do onwhether it's a larger house or a
smaller house get that openairy bright feeling
Karen (32:51):
yeah gathering area yeah it's very popular with today's
buyers it very much is a lot ofpeople seem to be leaning
towards nothing in the islandjust that open space for hanging
out
Christi (33:03):
put a couple stools there and be able to gather
around that space Right.
While somebody else is doingall the cooking.
Ed, we want to thank you forjoining us today and sharing
your adventure in building inthe Grand Valley.
We appreciate all that you doto bring really beautiful
housing to the public and to thebuyers here in town.
(33:25):
And we're so lucky to have apartnership with you and be able
to represent your homes.
Ed (33:31):
Thank you, Christy.
It's a pleasure being here.
And Karen, thank you
Christi (33:34):
very much.
Thank you.
Karen, any closing that youwant to tell our viewers and
listeners about our upcoming andand current projects.
One more time.
Karen (33:43):
Oh, right now, I just want to encourage everybody to
come out to Barrick Estates.
We've got the model home.
You can come check out at anytime.
And we're in a place right nowwhere one's going to be done at
the end of September.
So things are chosen there asfar as finishes, but everything
else is open for discussion andbe able to make it your own.
And then we've got those greatincentives.
So give us a call, and I canshare all that information.
(34:05):
And we'll be posting a littlesneak preview at some point
coming up here in the next fewmonths.
to what Orchard Highlands isgoing to look like.
So stick around.
That's going to be fun.
Christi (34:16):
Okay.
Thanks, Karen.
Thanks, Ed.
And we're at 970-589-7700 ifyou'd like information on any of
our JCI construction projects.
And we just love to show themto you.
So give us a call.
Thanks, everybody.
We'll see you next time on theFull Circle Podcast.
Bye-bye.
Thanks for listening.
(34:37):
This is Christi Reece signingout from the Full Circle
Podcast.
Popular Podcasts
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com