Copper Basin Construction Inc., a longtime Hayden, Idaho, developer and homebuilder that recently has expanded into the Spokane-area market, says it plans to construct more homes this year than it has in the company's history.

Late last year, Copper Basin began buying lots in Spokane-area residential subdivisions that had been started by other developers, and this year the company has started breathing new life into the developments by offering to build homes in them at price points that are desirable in today's market, says Linda Davis, Copper Basin's director of building relationships. So far, the company is in six subdivisions here.

Already this year, Copper Basin has sold or presold 48 Spokane-area homes, and the company is on pace to build more homes here than it built in its North Idaho developments in all of 2007, before the housing market soured, Davis says.

Copper Basin sells most of its homes before building them, rather than building them speculatively, Davis says.

"We have a very small 'spec' inventory," she says. "We prefer presales; we're flexible with size of lots and options people can request so they can make their homes their own."

Davis says the company always has had a focus on entry-level pricing, which typically is under $200,000 for homes with floor plans ranging in size from 1,100 to 1,600 square feet.

While most buyer interest has been in lower-priced homes over the last two years, Davis say she's seen a recent uptick in sales of homes that are priced higher than $200,000 and have more than 2,000 square feet of floor space.

"We try to keep a mix of homes in each development for a healthy community," she says.

Of Copper Basin's entry into the Spokane area, Davis says, "We were asked to come."

Copper Basin, which is owned by Steve White and George Gervais, collaborated with formerly competing developers, builders, and lenders to help prevent the developments it has taken over from stagnating, she says.

"Instead of thinking of it as competition to the death, it's better to collaborate toward life," Davis says. "We often end up negotiating with banks and take over the development. It keeps the development moving forward, and that's the best thing for a neighborhood."

Copper Basin now controls more than 700 lots here in Parkside at Legacy Ridge, in Liberty Lake; West Terrace and Pillar Rock Estates, both on the West Plains; and Falcon Ridge, Jesse's Bluff, and Prairie Breeze, all on Five Mile Prairie, she says. Spokane-based Washington Trust Bank is Copper Basin's longstanding financing service.

In North Idaho, the company is developing four residential subdivisions in Coeur d'Alene, three in Post Falls, and one in Sandpoint. It also is developing a subdivision in Pullman, Davis says. Altogether, Copper Basin has more than 1,000 prepared lots in its inventory, and it's looking to buy more, she says.

Copper Basin built more than 150 homes in each of the last two years, and expects to sell and build more than 200 homes this year.

Davis says the company is prepared to sustain and increase that level of production for a number of years. She declines to disclose Copper Basin's revenues, but says they've grown annually in each of the four years that she has worked for the company.

Copper Basin was founded in 1994, and its first development was a small affordable-home subdivision in Rathdrum, Davis says. The company built its own headquarters building, at 580 Capstone Court, north of Coeur d'Alene, and moved there in 2004.

"Now we're a regional homebuilder, ever expanding," Davis says.

She attributes the company's growth, even during the national recession, to "conservative fiscal leadership that has been able to adjust to the market."

"We haven't lost an employee, and we've kept subcontractors working without interruption," Davis says.

Copper Basin has 35 core employees. Including subcontractors, the company supports 300 families, she claims.

If Copper Basin reaches its sales goal this year, it could become the top Inland Northwest builder in terms of homes under construction, says Joel White, executive officer of the Spokane Home Builders Association.

"They've exploded into the market, and I think they are going to be here for some time," White says. "They've taken a lot of the available lot inventory, and they're building at a price point that has seen a lot of activity. It's a different price point than has been in some existing neighborhoods."

Davis says she's confident sales will continue to grow even though the $8,000 federal first-time homebuyer credit and the $6,500 move-up homebuyer tax credit both expired April 30.

"We were selling houses to some people who didn't rely on the credit," she says. She adds that the company has made some sales since the credit expired and believes sales will continue.