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Homebuyers have gobbled up a series of upscale energy-efficient town homes being built at Kimball Junction near Park City.

All but two of 23 town houses in Nevis at Newpark, located in Newpark Town Center, had sold as of last week, with most of those deals clinched based on tours of a model home completed in February.

Averaging 1,255 square feet each with a starting price of $431,990, all of the project's two-bedroom, three-story homes won't be finished until September.

Hamlet Homes founder, owner and chairman Michael Brodsky called Nevis at Newpark "an absolute screaming home run."

The town homes boast great views, are located close to Park City and Deer Valley ski resorts, offer appealing modern designs with rooftop terraces and are tucked in a walkable, mixed-use town center with restaurants and shopping nearby. But a key attraction— and what makes the quick sales intriguing— is their long list of energy-conscious features.

The units are built to the ICC 700 National Green Building Standard, akin to a system of certification for eco-friendly residential construction.

Solar panels concealed in the rooftop terrace are capable of generating roughly a quarter of the town homes' energy needs, or about 1.5 kilowatts. Central heating and cooling equipment is high efficiency, water heaters are tankless and all appliances are rated to the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star standard. Exterior walls are thicker than usual and, like the ceilings, heavily insulated.

Brodsky said many of those same features are included in more moderately priced homes his company builds in the Salt Lake Valley and elsewhere. But other green elements— including the solar panels— target a kind of well-heeled buyer more typical of Park City's real estate markets, he said.

"You have to be conscious of energy efficiency in what you build," he said, "but you also have to be conscious of the cost."

These buyers, Brodsky said, will pay a premium for sustainability. Interestingly, most of the project's first 20 buyers had above-average incomes for Summit County, he said.

Marketing for Nevis at Newpark also appeals to "investment-savvy" homebuyers. A 2012 study in California found that, adjusting for factors such as location and other amenities, properties with some version of green certification sold for an average of 9 percent more than other homes.

Tony Semerad