Palm Harbor proudly showcased a strong commitment to energy efficiency, top-notch construction and innovative design at this year’s International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando. For three days (January 11-14, 2006), the event welcomed over 105,000 builders, developers and other construction industry professionals to the Orange County Convention Center. The International Builders’ Show is the largest annual light construction show in the world, showcasing more than 1.5 million square feet of the latest and most advanced building products and services.
Palm Harbor displayed four homes at the show, including three homes featured in the Professional Builder® Show Village. The Show Village provides an opportunity for visitors to see, interact with and learn about top-of-the-line products installed in real homes. As a major part of this exhibition, Palm Harbor presented its advanced, money-saving building processes to a wide range of construction industry professionals. Reed Business Information and a number of leading high-end material suppliers sponsored the unique display and integrated their best building materials throughout the homes.
Palm Harbor included two ENERGY STAR® and Florida Green Certified homes from the Discovery Custom Homes line in the Show Village: “The Wilmington” and “The Bellaire.”
“The Wilmington” is a charming 1,682-square-foot home featuring a full front porch, three bedrooms, two baths, an island kitchen and many other custom amenities targeting first time homebuyers and empty nesters.
“The Bellaire” is a home particularly well suited for building on narrow lots without sacrificing luxury. This beautiful 3,180-square-foot two-story home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and two half-baths. Luxurious custom appointments fill the home, including an open central kitchen, a lofty 18-foot living room ceiling and an amazing home theater room.
In addition to the two Palm Harbor homes, Nationwide Custom Homes displayed “The Bonita,” a 6,010 square foot home featuring wall-to-wall luxury for the most discriminating homeowner. This five-bedroom, four-bath, two story home combines traditional styling with the latest technological conveniences and the highest level of detailing and custom features. The home’s abundant amenities include a gourmet kitchen, a fireplace outfitted with a waterfall, a home theater room, a nursery wired with video cameras to a master bedroom’s flat-screen television and a Florida room featuring a hot tub for ten next to a wet bar.
Palm Harbor also displayed “The Palencia,” the 2006 NextGen Peace of Mind Home demonstrating the industry’s best products and practices in home automation, green building, energy efficiency and storm resistant construction. The 2,565-square-foot house includes three bedrooms and two baths. It overflows with high-end customization in addition to more than 15 safety technologies approved by the Partnership for Advanced Technology in Housing (PATH). The construction of the home certifies it as IBHS “Fortified for Safer Living,” ENERGY STAR® compliant and as a certified Florida Green Home.
For the first time, this 2006 NextGen demonstration home served as a model for BrownStone Builders, the home’s sponsor. The relocated home is now part of the first Nextgen Certified® planned community near the Tampa area in Florida. BrownStone Builders is developing this 52-space neighborhood exclusively with Palm Harbor’s Discovery Designer homes, complete with the safety and efficiency technologies demonstrated at the show.
Commenting on the show, Mike Wnek, Sr. VP of Sales and Marketing for the Southeast Region, stated,
“The two-story homes at the show helped to elevate our presence in the eyes of the 1,000+ builders passing through. Many are familiar with our single-story offerings, but had not yet been exposed to the complexities of our two-story designs. The 18-foot ceilings in the Bellaire model really raised eyebrows. We also were able to demonstrate construction time and costs by completing a stucco façade on the Palencia model on-site. This provided an opportunity for builders to experience the ease of construction and, more importantly, cost savings.”
According to Mike, response to this year’s event has been tremendous.
“In the six weeks since the show, we’ve signed-up 17 new retailers in the Southeast Region alone. Each retailer has met our new stringent requirements – including writing a $1,000 check and stocking a minimum of three houses. We’re also seeing a huge increase in the number of builders interested in our homes. This year’s NAHB Show was a phenomenal success.”
Steve Reyenga, National VP of Marketing, commented,
“In the few months since the show, we’ve generated more than 50 solid leads in each region east of the Mississippi. The homes at the show really highlighted the advantages of modular construction. We’re starting to see builders coming around to the idea of modular homes as a viable option for their business.”
Mike Draper, Manager, Plant City Building Center, views the show as a catalyst for changing perceptions about the manufactured housing industry.
“We had a huge amount of quality traffic through our Show Village homes. The look, quality and value of Palm Harbor’s homes absolutely stunned all of the builders and developers. More important than the number of leads the show generated is that we’re changing perceptions about manufactured housing. These builders have returned to their work with a new outlook on the manufactured housing industry and how we can help them achieve their goals. That’s huge.”
Congratulations and thanks to everyone at Palm Harbor Plant City and Nationwide whose tremendous efforts contributed to this incredibly successful display of these homes. The combined efforts of those involved with construction, delivery, set up, design, sales and much more are an example of our TEAM principle – Together Everyone Achieves More. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. The outstanding performances at the 2005 and 2006 IBS shows have everyone looking forward to another outstanding show in 2007.
Tags: home show, modular home, manufactured home, IBS, Wilmington, Bellaire, Bonita, Palencia, Energy Star
