Dallas Builders Association Recognizes Residential Developers at 38th Annual McSAM Awards

I have to thank the Dallas Builders Association (DBA) for a very good “last meal” before a business trip to Orlando last week.  With 63 categories, it certainly wasn’t a small, small world that packed the Westin Galleria.  This year’s festivities were kept on track by former Good Morning Texas host Amy Vanderoef who did an enviable job of moving the crowd through its paces.

It was also a different kind of awards from our usual DBA coverage.  The ARC awards in the summer honor single-family homes and renovations.  The McSAM awards are for developers who build communities and their associated services.

Here are a smattering of the winners:

Creative agency Anderson Hanson Blanton took home ten awards for their work designing logos, graphics, brochures, ads, campaigns, and radio campaigns for a variety of developer projects.

Funny story.  As they’re showing the work of all the nominees in the marketing categories, I’m thinking that all the children in pools, parks and soccer fields, I’d never want to live in these communities.  And duh, I’m not their market, so their campaigns worked to keep me away while attracting their target market.  Good marketing is about attracting as much as it is understanding everything isn’t for everyone.

Hillwood Communities took home eleven awards (five in concert with agency Anderson Hanson Blanton) for their Union Park and Harvest developments, including best Master Planned Community over 600 acres for Harvest.

Ashton Woods walked away with ten awards concentrated in their sales professionals and designs for a multitude of price points.

Windsong Ranch developed by Terra Verde Group took home awards for Best Community Entry Feature and Best Computer Generated Sales Tool. But their big win came from being named People’s Choice Community of the Year.

Huffines Communities took home five awards for best marketing, signage and special event or promotion.

Of course a big part of where the rubber hits the road are the model homes.  As such, there were eight categories of winners for interior merchandising depending on the price point of the individual model. Awards ranged from under $325,000 (yes, there are new homes available under $325,000) for Ansley Meadows – Springs Collection (just south of the Allen Outlet Mall) all the way up to the $800,000+ category won by Huntington Homes’ Light Farms Parkview up in Celina and decorated by IBB Design.

Similarly, exterior design and floor plans had their own categories.  Best Architectural Design categories mirrored the interior price points from sub-$325,000 to $800,000+ along with townhouse and patio home categories. This is where I’d normally throw in my favorite floor plan, but the winners have been so successful, the winning designs appear to be sold out!  Good on them.

But I was able to find the plans for The Bluffs at Austin Waters’ Madison II plan that won the Home of the Year award for a production model.  Oddly, Austin Waters isn’t in Austin, but Carrolton where it also took home Community of the Year honors.  It’s a fine ground floor of a four-bedroom, four-full-and-one-half-bathroom home with 5,137 square feet (upstairs are bed and game rooms).

I like the three-car stacked garage.  Teenagers get the back stacked slot so you always know when they’re out and can box them in.  About the only thing I’d change is to dump the media room, move the staircase over and get a bazormous closet for the master or move the utility room to the old staircase and get a four-car garage. Of course I make these suggestions to the award-winning plan because as a single person sitting alone in a media room is just sorta sad.

Stay tuned for August’s ARC awards … idea catnip to all you renovators and single-family home fans.

Remember:  High-rises, HOAs and renovation are my beat. But I also appreciate modern and historical architecture balanced against the YIMBY movement.  If you’re interested in hosting a Candysdirt.com Staff Meeting event, I’m your guy. In 2016, my writing was recognized with Bronze and Silver awards from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.  Have a story to tell or a marriage proposal to make?  Shoot me an email [email protected].