Greenstone Corp., the Liberty Lake real estate developer and home builder, recently received approval from the city of Spokane to re-plat the third phase of its Ponderosa Ridge North Side subdivision.

Greenstone proposed last fall to expand that portion of the development to 86 single-family lots from 56. The re-plat of the addition was approved in mid-April by city of Spokane Hearing Examiner Gregory Smith.

Greenstone Vice President Joe Frank says the developer plans to begin construction there early this summer. Frank adds that there wasn't any major opposition to the project's re-plat.

The Ponderosa Ridge development is located off of West Barnes Road, about three miles northwest of the Indian Trail-Francis Avenue intersection. The third addition to the subdivision will be the last phase of new-home construction there, Frank says. When it's fully developed, the total number of homes will be 250.

Greenstone opted to reconfigure the layout and lot sizes of the development's third phase not only to add more homes to meet market demand for smaller homes, Frank says, but also to meet updated city zoning codes.

"The old lot count, if we platted today, wouldn't be approved because it wouldn't have enough lots per the code, which says four to 10 units per acre," he says.

When the third addition to Ponderosa Ridge was designed to include 56 single-family lots, the average number of homes per acre was below four, he says. The phase's lot-per-acre ratio now is around 4.2, Frank says.

The price of homes in the final phase of construction will range from just under $200,000 to upwards of $350,000 for homes on the western edge of the project near the bluff overlooking Nine Mile Road, Frank says. Homes typically will range in size between 2,500 square feet and 3,500 square feet, he adds.