Would You Live in a Sustainable Community? Real-Estate Developers Are Betting On It

“It’s ordinary, it’s Norman Rockwell, it’s front porch living, it’s a beautiful walkable neighborhood—and we have clean energy,” said Matt Grocoff, founder of property developer Thrive Collaborative, who oversees the site called Veridian at County Farm. “It’s not some sort of science experiment.”

There are no gas lines around, but the homes are equipped with solar panels, battery storage in the basement, triple pane windows, LED lights, and even geothermal energy—where heat is pulled directly from the ground beneath the buildings. And there’s more: the houses are outfitted with energy-saving appliances, special materials such as locally-harvested wood, and electric-vehicle chargers.

The Veridian at County Farm sustainable community in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the houses are all-electric and nothing relies on fossil fuels. Photo: Thrive Collaborative

 

When Garret and Sarah Patterson first bought what would become their house in Veridian, it was just a pile of dirt, and their friends and family joked that they were moving to a cult. Now, after living in their newly built townhome since February, they are pleased to discover extremely low energy bills—in part because they can sell excess energy the house stores back to their electric company.

“What I’ve noticed the most about living here and using the amenities is how little it impacts your life,” said Garret, who works as a software engineer at an auto company. “These tools that are more sustainable don’t really change our lifestyle at all, but we’re living more sustainably.”

The development has even greater ambitions: Veridian hopes the community can ultimately pool the energy the neighborhood generates to provide clean power for Michigan courtesy of the solar panels and battery storage. The property developer partnered with global battery storage company Sonnen’s U.S. division to provide batteries for the homes.

Three-story town homes at the development start at $950,000, while detached homes are about $1.2 million to $1.5 million. Zillow says the typical home value in Ann Arbor in 2025 is $514,805, up 2.4% over the past year.

The real-estate sector is gearing up for a move toward electric housing. Nearly one quarter of U.S. home builders—surveyed by the National Association of Home Builders and Dodge Construction Network—outfitted their buildings to be all-electric, according to a report from last year. About one fifth of builders designed all of their homes to eventually only use electricity, the report said, and about one third of respondents in Southern states report building all-electric homes

A community in Menifee, Calif., is trialing bidirectional electric vehicle chargers made by WallBox. Photo: Wallbox

There have been many technical advancements to make housing more sustainable. A solar- and battery-powered community in Menifee, Calif., for example, is trialing bidirectional electric vehicle chargers made by technology startup WallBox, which turns EVs into mobile energy storage units.

Businesses are also hunting for more climate-considerate places to host their offices.

A development in the broader Atlanta metro area is in the works to attract companies seeking an environmentally-thoughtful site to break ground, which also has the potential to host town homes. The 2,000 acre site, known as Rowen, so far has $32 million of infrastructure completed, from roads to trails and parks lining the area. The project is managed by a nonprofit, the Rowen Foundation, funded through Gwinnett County.

The community hopes to solve some environmental conundrums also. It’s partnering with nearby universities and aiming to draw companies interested in climate action research.

The site was built on the premise of dealing with environmental concerns first, rather than retrofitting it amid the fallout of extreme weather shifts in the coming decades. The area is tailored to better manage stormwater runoff, for example, through a series of drainage basins and bioretention ponds, specialized to slow and capture rushing water. This is particularly relevant in a region facing hurricane, tornado and flooding risks.

“There aren’t many communities where you have a meteorologist helping you plan it,” said Mason Ailstock, president and CEO of the Rowen Foundation.

The building trend comes as the real estate and insurance industry has been completely upended across the U.S. by the result of increasingly destructive weather such as flooding. Extreme heat also leads to ballooning insurance claims because of electrical outages or wildfires.

That shift has some investors betting on real estate in Midwestern areas such as Michigan—where the Veridian at County Farm neighborhood is based.

Some in the Midwest “see themselves as this kind of climate haven,” said Jay Lipman, co-founder and president of Resilience Investments, a real estate asset manager. “They are just more insulated from extreme weather events,” he said, adding that the Midwest—which is relatively cheap and up-and-coming—is “like investing in Brooklyn in the 90s.”

A garden space at Veridian at County Farm. Photo: Thrive Collaborative

 

The allure of a sustainable home can be a selling point, and some buyers may be willing to pay more up front for the long-term benefits.

Consumer interest in sustainability may be lagging, however. In a National Association of Realtors report this year, 58% of respondents surveyed said less than one fourth of their clients consider climate or environmental risk during purchase decisions. But their clients’ interest in energy efficiency is increasing, the report said.

Design choices for a building can also have a huge impact on its energy use and environmental impact.

Much can be done architecturally to preserve energy, for example insulating roofs with vegetation, said Katrina Kostic Samen at real-estate firm Savills. Materials matter, she said, noting that fake wood floors made of plastic are “much cheaper, but they’re not porous, so they’re not absorbing heat.”

The real-estate sector also must weigh even broader environmental elements. When planning any residential area, it’s important to consider where people live and work, taking into account for example the carbon footprint from commute times if a development is far out, said Olivier Sommerhalder, a principal at architecture firm Gensler who focuses on sustainable building design.

“The whole carbon understanding of a resident in a new community is crucial,” he said, not just the building itself and the materials.

While the focus on the climate bona fides of a home or district may still seem novel, communities such as the sustainable housing project in Ann Arbor want to become a blueprint for others.

Veridian is taking the “build it and they will come” approach, said Grocoff, who leads the development.

Write to Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com