CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Oct. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Briar Chapel, a new home community in Chapel Hill, NC, was recognized with seven wins during the 2013 Parade of Homes. Homes built by Homes By Dickerson, Saussy Burbank, ForeverHome and M/I Homes received Silver and Bronze designations, with Gold Awards going to Drees Homes and Garman Homes, two of Briar Chapel's newest additions.

The following plans received awards, totaling seven wins for the community's eight entries:

• Gold Award Winner, Drees Homes for its Hadley plan
• Gold Award Winner, Garman Homes for its Never Before plan
• Silver Award Winner, Homes By Dickerson for its Castlebrooke plan
• Silver Award Winner, Saussy Burbank for its Yates plan
• Bronze Award Winner, ForeverHome for its Dickinson plan
• Bronze Award Winner, M/I Homes for its Camellia II plan
• Bronze Award Winner, Saussy Burbank for its Teague plan

Drees Homes' winning Hadley plan marks its debut at Briar Chapel and is the first home in its new Clarity Collection. Drees attributes its success at Parade of Homes to its shift from traditional home design, allocating space to more usable areas inside and outside the home. The Clarity Collection features a "Living Triangle" that joins the family room, kitchen and dining area to create living space to the way people live today.

"We're proud of the inventive work we're doing at Briar Chapel and gratified to see our innovative designs recognized by the Parade of Homes," ­­­­said Dave Hausfeld, Division President of Drees Homes. "We congratulate our fellow Briar Chapel winners and look forward to continued success as we expand the Clarity Collection."

Presented by the Home Builder's Association (HBA) of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties, the Parade of Homes is a free, self-guided tour of participating new homes throughout the area. The tour is taking place the weekends of Oct. 4-6, 11-13 and 18-20 with 55 homes participating. Entries are categorized by price and judged on criteria like quality of workmanship, floor plan and curb appeal by teams of builders and new home professionals prior to the first week of the event.

Briar Chapel is owned in a joint venture between NORTH AMERICA SEKISUI HOUSE, LLC (NASH), the U.S. business unit and full subsidiary of SEKISUI HOUSE, LTD., Japan's largest homebuilder and leading diversified developer, and NEWLAND REAL ESTATE GROUP, LLC, whose development business, Newland Communities, is the master developer of the community. It is one of 30 assets the NASH-Newland partnership manages together in 11 states across the U.S.

About Briar Chapel by Newland Communities® Briar Chapel is a new home community in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As the largest green community in the Triangle, Briar Chapel offers a healthier way of life through 900 acres of preserved space, 24 miles of hiking and biking trails, two community gardens, and over 20 parks. Briar Chapel fosters neighbor interactions through its design and amenities, including the LEED Silver certified Briar Club, pools and a waterpark, fitness facilities, outdoor art, and two on-site schools. The Briar Chapel Information Center is located at 16 Windy Knoll Circle, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. Learn more about Briar Chapel by following us on twitter.com/BriarChapel and facebook.com/BriarChapelNC, visiting us at www.briarchapelnc.com, or calling us at 888.249.9429.

About Newland Real Estate Group, LLC Newland is a diversified real estate company leveraging a national platform and over 40 years of experience to perform challenging and diverse development, investment, management, and advisory services across a wide range of real estate. The company's mixed-use development business, Newland Communities, actively owns, operates and develops premier residential master-planned, commercial, retail, and urban mixed-use real estate across the U.S. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Newland and its affiliated companies have completed, or have underway, more than 140 diverse real estate developments, more than 20 million square feet of commercial and retail space, and 175,000 residential units in 14 states. www.newlandcommunities.com

About NORTH AMERICA SEKISUI HOUSE, LLC (NASH) NASH was established in 2010 as the U.S. business operations unit and a full subsidiary of SEKISUI HOUSE, LTD., Japan's largest homebuilder and a leading diversified developer since 1960. SEKISUI HOUSE, LTD. has built more than two million houses to date and expanded its operations to Australia, China, Singapore, and the U.S.  NASH establishes joint ventures to build innovative and sustainability-conscious master planned communities across the U.S. NASH is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.  http://nashcommunities.com/.

SEKISUI HOUSE is headquartered in Osaka, Japan. http://www.sekisuihouse.co.jp/english/index.html. 

Contact: Alden Leonard Public Relations Account Manager | Blue Bug Digital 202.248.5848 | aleonard@bluebugdigital.com

SOURCE Briar Chapel

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