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It started with a few infill projects in Portland’s close-in neighborhoods. Vic Remmers, Everett’s president, was working for Arbor Custom Homes – a company co-created by his father, Wally – when he began to notice a culture change in homebuyer preferences: They desired to live in walkable neighborhoods where grocery stores, restaurants and transit options were close.

“Those are the things we really try to hone in on,” Vic Remmers said. “It seems like that’s what’s really popular … That’s what makes Portland so cool is there are a lot of those neighborhoods available.”

Those first few homes sold quickly, and the father-and-son team hit the gas pedal. Last year, the company built 40 houses – a two-fold increase over 2012 – and this year it’s planning to build 80. Vic Remmers spends about two-thirds of his time driving Portland’s streets searching for opportunities.

Sometimes he finds it in an old, neglected home that he supplants with two new ones. Sometimes it’s preservation along with new construction, as was the case for the company’s Woodstock project.

There the company purchased an entire city block on Southeast 39th Avenue, preserved two century-old homes fronting Southeast Woodstock Boulevard, and split the remainder into five new single-family lots. Three homes have already sold; another is pending for $674,900.

Vic and Wally also are growing their multifamily division, via VWR Development. Last year, that company built a 30-unit apartment at Southeast 16th Avenue and Morrison Street. It’s nearly finished with a 46-unit apartment in the Sellwood neighborhood and a 50-unit one in the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood.

Navigating those waters has been tricky. The Beaumont-Wilshire project, for instance, has drawn significant opposition from neighbors dissatisfied with its size and design, but Vic Remmers said the project has taught him lessons about communication. In the Overlook neighborhood, he completely redesigned a 68-unit apartment development based on community input.

“Overlook is a great example where we went in with one idea and they didn’t care for it much,” he said. “They gave us some ideas, and it turned out a win-win for everybody. That’s kind of my goal for all the projects.”

Vic Remmers said he has several new apartment projects in the works for 2014.