Tri Pointe Homes’ Washington Roots Are 57 Years Deep

The July-August 2026 edition of our sister publication 425 Business is focused on local legacy businesses. It’s putting a spotlight on several in the area; read about last week’s subject, Bellevue College, here.

Tri Pointe Homes in March celebrated its 20,000th home sold in Washington state — a milestone for the company founded in Bellevue 57 years ago as Quadrant Homes. House No. 20,000 was in Tri Pointe’s Alterra community in Newcastle.

Quadrant formed with the merger of six companies in 1969. Weyerhaeuser’s homebuilding subsidiary, Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Co., acquired Quadrant later that year. Quadrant’s early Eastside communities included Tam O’Shanter in Bellevue, Fairwood in Renton, and Twin Lakes in Federal Way, according to a company history.

Quadrant later launched planned communities that include Redmond Ridge, Northwest Landing in DuPont, and Snoqualmie Ridge, where the final subdivision of the 1,300-acre community, the 46-home Timber Trails, was released in April.

Quadrant operated under Weyerhaeuser until 2014, when Tri Pointe acquired its homebuilding subsidiary, Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Co., in a deal that included Quadrant and four other independent builders. Tri Pointe’s office overseeing Washington remains in Bellevue, where 31 of its 57 statewide employees are located.

Its Washington division is headed by Ken Krivanec, who joined Quadrant in 1999, became president in 2010, and added oversight of Tri Pointe’s Utah division in 2023.

Asked the company’s recipe for longevity, Krivanec pointed to Tri Pointe’s culture. (Tri Pointe Homes said in April that it was named to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, a recognition compiled by Great Place to Work and Fortune media, the third time Tri Pointe Homes has made the list.)

“From 57 years ago until today, the buyer really has changed, but our culture hasn’t,” Krivanec said. “We have in the terms that we changed our business model in 2013, but we’ve really focused on the culture and making sure that everybody understands who the customer is, and how we operate as a result of that knowledge.”

Quadrant changed its business model following the Great Recession, which began in December 2007 after losses on subprime mortgages upended the housing sector, according to The Associated Press. The recession officially ended in June 2009, making it the longest and deepest since the Great Depression, AP said.

Before then, Quadrant had long built low-price homes, producing about seven a day under a “more house, less money” model. That number fell to one or two sales in the financial crisis. With lower- and middle-income consumers struggling post-recession, Quadrant shifted from a low-cost provider to a premium differentiator, Krivanec said.

“We really put out there something new, and it’s something that’s rare, that’s not been done in our business, at least on a level like we experienced,” Krivanec said.

In 2008, about 25% of homes were underwater, meaning owners owed more than their homes were worth, so Quadrant would have competed with foreclosures for sales, according to Krivanec.

“We wouldn’t have stayed in business had we stayed in the old business model,” he said.

Quadrant homes’ average sales price was $269,000 in 2010 but rose to $420,000 in 2014, according to a 2015 Wall Street Journal story. While Washington-specific numbers for last year are not available, the average sales price in Tri Pointe’s Western Division — Arizona, California, Nevada, and Washington — was $753,000, according to the company’s 2025 annual report.

Quadrant established a “built your way” business model, including a design studio for buyers to pick features they wanted. The Bellevue studio today offers myriad interior designs by Bobby Berk, known for his stint on the Netflix series “Queer Eye.” Berk’s designs provide a template for Tri Pointe designers to assist buyers’ customizations.

In addition to design expertise, Tri Pointe offers mortgage, title, and other services, including introductory mortgage rates for some buyers; for example, 1.9%, 2.9%, and 3.9% for the first three years.

Tri Pointe communities actively selling are Alterra in Newcastle; Arborstone, Bothell; Glacier Pointe Vista, Bonney Lake; McCormick Trails, Port Orchard; Timber Trails, Snoqualmie; Timberstone, North Bend; and Willows 124, Redmond. Plateau at Liberty Bay in Poulsbo is coming soon and four development openings are anticipated in 2027.

Also new is the parent company for Tri Pointe Homes: Sumitomo Forestry Co. Ltd. of Japan. Sumitomo’s acquisition closed in May and brings greater financial capacity to Tri Pointe, which retains its branding and management.

“They’re an incredible company who is going to allow us to grow independently, continue to innovate, and focus on culture,” Krivanec said, also crediting longtime trade partners like Peltram Plumbing of Auburn and Bob’s Heating & Air Conditioning of Woodinville for their contributions to Tri Pointe’s legacy.