CRESTWOOD Mo. — As of Friday, McBride has sold 49 out of the 81 homes available at the future Crestwood Crossing development, however, prospective buyers have until Saturday night to save $20,000 on a new place.

Dierbergs and McBride Homes were chosen by the city of Crestwood to redevelop the former site of the Crestwood Plaza mall located at Watson and Sappington roads. A groundbreaking ceremony took place in April.

McBride has three residential options for homebuyers to choose from including the estates, the manors and the townhomes.

Homes in the development originally were going to be for sale starting Saturday, but prospective buyers camped out days ahead to ensure their place in line. With the “unprecedented demand,” McBride Homes began writing contracts on Wednesday.

Learning about potential buyers lining up on Monday prompted homebuyer Sarah Montgomery to get to the McBride office early herself to secure a contract for a home in the manors.

Montgomery said she was able to be fourth in line Tuesday morning and her parents held her place until she could meet up with them.

Montgomery had already planned to be there Tuesday evening for a contract review, but when she heard some contract signings were being pushed until the following day, she was not expecting to spend the night in her car.

But, the overall experience was “actually fun,” Montgomery said. “It’s all your future neighbors and I really loved all of the people and it was kind of like this crazy, camping, bonding experience.”

She added that people set up lawn chairs in a circle where they shared details about themselves.

“It’s really fun because I know who is going to be behind me and I know who is going to be on the side of me. So, we already have this little neighborhood community and kind of this comradery even though we don’t live there yet,” Montgomery said.

McBride rented a parking lot down the street from the sale trailers to accommodate the campers, according to Erin Hardebeck, director of marketing for McBride Homes.

“We provided them with breakfast, lunch and dinner. We tried to make them as comfortable as possible while they were on site,” she said.

McBride has sold out of the manors, and 1-2 homesites are left in the estates, with several of the townhomes still available.

“With all things considered, everyone remained extremely happy and excited about everything happening at Crestwood Crossing. With the change of schedule, we couldn’t have asked for a better grand opening and help from the city of Crestwood,” Hardebeck said.

Last year, McBride opened a new community called the Arbors at the Highlands in Manchester where prospective homebuyers camped out 10 days before the start of the sale, according to Hardebeck. In the first weekend, McBride sold 75 percent of the homes.

“It really depends on the location and the price point, but especially over the past couple of years during the huge rise in new construction sales and resale, we’ve seen a lot more people willing to camp for their dream home because of the low inventory out there,” she said.

The first phases of Crestwood Crossing development include a full-service grocery store, restaurant, retail, and 81 single-family style homes, open and public gathering spaces, and a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Gravois Creek to connect to the Grant’s Trail Greenway.

Future phases of the project will include more development to the west of the new Dierbergs shopping center and on several lots to the east facing Watson Road.

For more information about McBride homes at Crestwood Crossing, click here. For more information about the development, click here.