Building Dreams

Ridgeline development provides classic & Affordable design

When Kelly Coleman looked over the 65 acres that once made up the Dyk family ranch in the heart of Billings’ growing West End, she saw something unique. Her company, P3 Coleman, had become known for development that catered to high-end luxury homes.

This time, as she looked at the rough landscape, she saw a mixed-use community that blended single-family, multi-family and commercial development all in one subdivision. She wanted homes with a price tag that could better serve young professionals, downsizing Baby Boomers and everyone in between. The result is the Ridgeline community near the corner of 48th Street West and King Avenue.

"I think about our young people,” Kelly says. “What’s out there and what they can afford in a starter home is non-existent.”

That’s why when Todd Brown of Brown Builders came to her proposing a partnership to help provide houses with more attainable pricing, for the first time in her life, she said yes to having a partner in the development process.

This will be Kelly’s sixth development, but the first more affordable housing development she’s done. She wanted to create a quality home that could appreciate, giving young buyers the equity that they could use to purchase their next home.

“What can I do to be a part of enhancing the city so young people will either come home or stay here and raise their families?” Kelly says.

The development will feature a mix of duplex, tri-plex and four-plex homes with five acres of open parks and neighboring walkways at the center of the community. In time, the commercial space might even play home to a small grocery store. It’s Kelly’s way of building community within community.

“I like the natural green space. I like families to be able to walk or bike. This time, I am going to build a dog park in the corner,” Kelly says. “In our subdivisions, I love hearing when someone asks, ‘Can we hold soccer practice here?’ By all means, please do and do it all the time!”

Todd Eames with Metro Realtors says there has been showing after showing in the development and these homes, for the most part, are still in the construction phase. The showings are frequent, he says, because the development is hitting a sweet spot with price.

“I think it checks boxes for many age groups,” he says. “We are seeing the growth right now and have been over the last 10 years.”

That growth is putting a bit of a squeeze on the number of homes available with a more desirable asking price. In early June, there were 117 active listings in Billings in the $350,000 to $450,000 range. If you consider that 10 to 15 percent of those homes are aging or have flaws that might be hard to finance, Todd says, “Our inventory is really, really low.”

And, if you look at the 59106 zip code where Ridgeline is based, there were 15 active listings in that price range in mid-June, and half of the listings in Ridgeline.

“I have two kids and I had to build my son a house for him to be able to afford it,” says Shane Fuchs of Rimrock Builders. “We’re watching my kids, wondering how they are going to be able to afford a house.”

He’s one of three builders planning homes in the development. He’s close to breaking ground on his share. By the end of construction, he’ll have 24 townhomes offering 1,400 square feet of living with distinct touches.

“We are just trying to produce the quality at this price range that we do in our custom homes,” Shane says. “We have custom-built cabinets going into each home. We only have four different plans, but you can tweak the inside a little bit for personal taste.”

Builder Michael Christensen is planning 20 homes, and the rest will be built by CB Built, owned by Conner and Ashley Bokma.

“We created some unique spaces in our homes,” Conner says. “Typically, in a town home, you don’t have a walk-in pantry. You don’t have a dedicated laundry room. You don’t have a massive master closet like we have and a landing space with an opportunity for a desk or reading nook.”

Stepping into his newly crafted townhome on Talking Tree Drive, you get the feel of modern luxury. From the front door and its wide entry to the unique accents like the metal railings, a beamed fireplace, built in benches, a 4-by-8-foot kitchen island plus a sliding door leading out to the covered patio, “We tried to be very thoughtful of every square inch,” Conner says.

The CB Built townhomes offer three bedrooms and two and a half baths in 2,100 square feet of living space. Although each homeowner shares a common wall with a neighbor, an air gap was built into the plan for noise reduction.

The development is classified as high-density, but step outside and it doesn’t feel cramped, Conner says.

“We do have space between each building, so you don’t feel like you are on top of each other,” Conner says. “It’s very comfortable and feels open.

The design inside was crafted to feel a little more spacious as well.

“The open concept is definitely the goal,” Ashley Bokma says. “And we’ve kept it modern to where it doesn’t feel like a starter home. Even the lighting choices are a little more than builder grade.”

“We are doing different things in each one,” Kelly says. “There’s not a ton of variation but cabinet colors could be different. The tile backsplash could be different. The fireplaces will all be painted a different color.”

Designer Ragan Yetley with Beyond the Box worked with the Bokmas on all their home’s cabinetry. Together they chose a slab door cabinet that was high on impact with its clean lines and low-maintenance finish.

“This cabinet line allows us to help homeowners pick stunning cabinets without blowing the budget,” Ragan says. Over and above the interior design, however, Ragan says it’s clear this project was about more than just building houses.

“The focus is on creating a community,” Ragan says, “one that offers a new standard of living by balancing affordability with luxury and functionality.”

Did You Know?

“The median home price in Billings in May of 2024 was $367,500, which is an all-time high for any month, any year. That’s up $23,000 from April.” ~ Todd Eames, Metro Realtors