Born to fill a void in Truckee’s (Calif.) affordable housing market, Hopkins Village, earned the award for “Best New Subdivision in the United States” at the 2009 Manufactured Housing Institute’s National Industry Award ceremony during the industry’s National Congress and Expo for Manufactured and Modular Housing at Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas last month.

The subdivision is comprised of two-story, multi-family units that look and feel like town homes that belong in the alpine village located across the California border roughly 30 miles west of Reno.

“This was a unique situation because the product had to fit two criteria that are not usually consistent with one another,” said Leo Poggione, a 1992 graduate of UNLV (Business Administration) and president of Reno-based Craftsman Homes. “They had to be completed within a relatively tight budget, but also be attractive enough so they would not detract from the surrounding area.”

Hopkins Village is located between three world-class golf courses and Northstar, an upscale community that features world-class skiing, a country club, high-end residences and a host of celebrity neighbors.

A greater challenge was the small window of time allowed to complete the project. Because of the unpredictable weather that Truckee is known for, a project of this magnitude - if it were site-built - might take up to 24 months to complete. As modular units that are constructed in closed, controlled environments, shipped and assembled on site, that window was reduced to just 90 days.

“This project presented a lot of challenges that we would not have been able to overcome if we were building these units from scratch,” said Poggione, who also was honored as the 2009 National Retail Person of the Year.

The National Industry Awards are presented annually. Entries submitted for awards were judged by an independent panel of professionals within the planning, community development, Realtor and homebuilding professions.

Craftsman Homes is a 10-year-old Reno company that specializes in the sale of homes from a variety of different manufacturers. To view pictures of these homes you can visit www.forahouse.com or call Craftsman Homes, Inc. at 775-853-3004. For information on the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), go to www.manufacturedhousing.org.