Subdivisions Sprouting Near the Gulf
Some building put on hold as availability outstrips demand
Published By Mobile Press Register
Sunday, January 21, 2007
By KATHY JUMPER
Real Estate Editor
"Isn't it amazing?" Claude J. O'Connor said as he drove along Baldwin County 8 and pointed to the endless row of new subdivision signs.
A former Realtor who served as mayor of Gulf Shores in the 1960s, O'Connor remembers when Gulf-front lots were listed for $5,500, and he still had a tough time finding a buyer. Today, more than 2,340 residential lots are set to be developed on land north of the Dr. W.C. Holmes Bridge and 12 minutes from the beach.
There are more than 21 single-family subdivisions and nine condominium complexes under construction or in the land-clearing stage on Baldwin County 4, 6 and 8 in Gulf Shores, according to city records.
What was once farm land, a golf course or old commercial sites is now bustling with construction of homes and condo units with price tags ranging from the $150,000s to $1 million-plus.
City leaders had anticipated the residential growth north of the Intracoastal Waterway, and have the zoning and utilities in place to serve more rooftops, according to Robert Craft, a Gulf Shores city councilman.
But he didn't think it would happen so fast, he said.
"It's a countywide phenomenon," Craft said, citing new subdivisions going up from Gulf Shores to Spanish Fort.
The additional homes are a welcome sight for the resort market, where employees in the service or tourism sector have struggled in the past to find "affordable" homes, condo units or apartments, according to Craft and Realtors.
Orange Beach has 330 single-family homes planned or in the works as of December, according to city reports. The resort town remains known more for its condo complexes, according to Griffin Powell of the city's planning department.
In 2006, the Foley Planning Commission gave preliminary approval for subdivisions that included 2,227 lots on 723 acres. Many of those lots have not been developed, with city officials saying that developers are waiting for the market to improve.
The glut of condo units for sale at the Gulf has caused some subdivision developers and builders to pull back, slow down or just stop until the inventory is sold, agents said. December saw 2,764 houses and 2,904 condo units on the market, according to the Baldwin County Association of Realtors.
An unused building permit expires after one year in Gulf Shores, according to Steve Foote, city planner for Gulf Shores. "Some developers have asked for an extension, and the City Council has been pretty responsive about granting those," he said.
"As we became over-inventoried on the Gulf, we continued going north to build subdivisions," said Sandy Baas of ERA Class.com in Orange Beach. "Now a lot of people are sitting with lots. We get phone calls daily asking, 'Should we build or sit on it?' What looked like a good investment two years ago may not be today."
Baas had sold almost 25 lots in Crimson Ridge on Baldwin 8 in Gulf Shores to various builders who later backed out, she said. "They want to wait for the market to turn around."
The lots average $92,500.
She's marketing 20 homes in the $155,000 range in the Kendall Brook subdivision on Baldwin County Road 12 in Foley. "The lots get more affordable as you head into Foley," Baas said. "But a lot of people are adamant about wanting to get in the Gulf Shores school district, and County Road 8 is the cut-off."
All 106 new-home lots in the first phase of Craft Farms on Baldwin County 6 were sold within 24 hours in December 2005, according to Kellie Gressett of Prestige Realty. But some of the builders who bought in the second addition have canceled, saying they have such a huge inventory of lots, she said. The lots are priced from $85,000 to $225,000.
"That scenario is happening all over," Gressett said. "Builders haven't used all the inventory up yet, and some are sitting on 10 or 11 lots."
Still, she said sales activity has increased.
"I don't think it will ever be where it was in 2005, but we're getting back to normal," she said.
The homes in Craft Farms' new subdivisions range from patio homes starting at $389,000 to homes priced at more than $1 million.
Construction of the 490-unit Emerald Greens golf community on Baldwin County 6 is "is full speed ahead and is being built no matter what happens with the market," said Chris Harrell of Lindsey Real Estate Co. in Gulf Shores. More than 100 units have sold in the past year at prices from $179,000 to $399,000, he said. The project includes a nine-hole executive golf course.
"The market will come back, it's just a matter of when, and our product will be ready to be moved into when it does," Harrell said.
Emerald Greens buyers include second-home buyers, long-term investors and folks who just love golf, he said. "We don't see the flipper anymore."
The developers of Vintage Oaks, a 246-unit condo complex on the Foley Beach Express south of U.S. 98 in Foley, sold enough units to start construction, but they recently put a hold on building until some of the inventory is absorbed, according to Chuck Norwood of REMAX of Gulf Shores.
"It's all about supply and demand, and you have a lot of supply that you didn't have a year ago," he said. He predicted some of the inventory will be sold or rented when new retail projects nearby are open or completed.
The Wharf and Colonial Pinnacle will need a great number of employees for retail, restaurants and other venues, according to Craft, and "finding a place for those workers to live is crucial." The Wharf is a retail, entertainment, marina and condo complex on the Intracoastal Waterway in Orange Beach, and Colonial Pinnacle Craft Farms on Alabama 59 in Gulf Shores has a movie theater, Target store and more retail planned.
"Our bigger problem is unskilled labor," Craft said. "They can't necessarily afford" a house or condo, even in the affordable range, he said.
"Not everybody can afford to be in a condo or live across the street from the beach," Baas said. "We're building some affordable homes; we've just got to get the people down there."
Longtime Gulf Shores resident O'Connor prefers more development to having to drive to Pensacola or Mobile for medical facilities or retailers.
And he likes the neighbors, he said. "The developments bring different people here with different talents."
Published By Mobile Press Register
Sunday, January 21, 2007
By KATHY JUMPER
Real Estate Editor
"Isn't it amazing?" Claude J. O'Connor said as he drove along Baldwin County 8 and pointed to the endless row of new subdivision signs.
A former Realtor who served as mayor of Gulf Shores in the 1960s, O'Connor remembers when Gulf-front lots were listed for $5,500, and he still had a tough time finding a buyer. Today, more than 2,340 residential lots are set to be developed on land north of the Dr. W.C. Holmes Bridge and 12 minutes from the beach.
There are more than 21 single-family subdivisions and nine condominium complexes under construction or in the land-clearing stage on Baldwin County 4, 6 and 8 in Gulf Shores, according to city records.
What was once farm land, a golf course or old commercial sites is now bustling with construction of homes and condo units with price tags ranging from the $150,000s to $1 million-plus.
City leaders had anticipated the residential growth north of the Intracoastal Waterway, and have the zoning and utilities in place to serve more rooftops, according to Robert Craft, a Gulf Shores city councilman.
But he didn't think it would happen so fast, he said.
"It's a countywide phenomenon," Craft said, citing new subdivisions going up from Gulf Shores to Spanish Fort.
The additional homes are a welcome sight for the resort market, where employees in the service or tourism sector have struggled in the past to find "affordable" homes, condo units or apartments, according to Craft and Realtors.
Orange Beach has 330 single-family homes planned or in the works as of December, according to city reports. The resort town remains known more for its condo complexes, according to Griffin Powell of the city's planning department.
In 2006, the Foley Planning Commission gave preliminary approval for subdivisions that included 2,227 lots on 723 acres. Many of those lots have not been developed, with city officials saying that developers are waiting for the market to improve.
The glut of condo units for sale at the Gulf has caused some subdivision developers and builders to pull back, slow down or just stop until the inventory is sold, agents said. December saw 2,764 houses and 2,904 condo units on the market, according to the Baldwin County Association of Realtors.
An unused building permit expires after one year in Gulf Shores, according to Steve Foote, city planner for Gulf Shores. "Some developers have asked for an extension, and the City Council has been pretty responsive about granting those," he said.
"As we became over-inventoried on the Gulf, we continued going north to build subdivisions," said Sandy Baas of ERA Class.com in Orange Beach. "Now a lot of people are sitting with lots. We get phone calls daily asking, 'Should we build or sit on it?' What looked like a good investment two years ago may not be today."
Baas had sold almost 25 lots in Crimson Ridge on Baldwin 8 in Gulf Shores to various builders who later backed out, she said. "They want to wait for the market to turn around."
The lots average $92,500.
She's marketing 20 homes in the $155,000 range in the Kendall Brook subdivision on Baldwin County Road 12 in Foley. "The lots get more affordable as you head into Foley," Baas said. "But a lot of people are adamant about wanting to get in the Gulf Shores school district, and County Road 8 is the cut-off."
All 106 new-home lots in the first phase of Craft Farms on Baldwin County 6 were sold within 24 hours in December 2005, according to Kellie Gressett of Prestige Realty. But some of the builders who bought in the second addition have canceled, saying they have such a huge inventory of lots, she said. The lots are priced from $85,000 to $225,000.
"That scenario is happening all over," Gressett said. "Builders haven't used all the inventory up yet, and some are sitting on 10 or 11 lots."
Still, she said sales activity has increased.
"I don't think it will ever be where it was in 2005, but we're getting back to normal," she said.
The homes in Craft Farms' new subdivisions range from patio homes starting at $389,000 to homes priced at more than $1 million.
Construction of the 490-unit Emerald Greens golf community on Baldwin County 6 is "is full speed ahead and is being built no matter what happens with the market," said Chris Harrell of Lindsey Real Estate Co. in Gulf Shores. More than 100 units have sold in the past year at prices from $179,000 to $399,000, he said. The project includes a nine-hole executive golf course.
"The market will come back, it's just a matter of when, and our product will be ready to be moved into when it does," Harrell said.
Emerald Greens buyers include second-home buyers, long-term investors and folks who just love golf, he said. "We don't see the flipper anymore."
The developers of Vintage Oaks, a 246-unit condo complex on the Foley Beach Express south of U.S. 98 in Foley, sold enough units to start construction, but they recently put a hold on building until some of the inventory is absorbed, according to Chuck Norwood of REMAX of Gulf Shores.
"It's all about supply and demand, and you have a lot of supply that you didn't have a year ago," he said. He predicted some of the inventory will be sold or rented when new retail projects nearby are open or completed.
The Wharf and Colonial Pinnacle will need a great number of employees for retail, restaurants and other venues, according to Craft, and "finding a place for those workers to live is crucial." The Wharf is a retail, entertainment, marina and condo complex on the Intracoastal Waterway in Orange Beach, and Colonial Pinnacle Craft Farms on Alabama 59 in Gulf Shores has a movie theater, Target store and more retail planned.
"Our bigger problem is unskilled labor," Craft said. "They can't necessarily afford" a house or condo, even in the affordable range, he said.
"Not everybody can afford to be in a condo or live across the street from the beach," Baas said. "We're building some affordable homes; we've just got to get the people down there."
Longtime Gulf Shores resident O'Connor prefers more development to having to drive to Pensacola or Mobile for medical facilities or retailers.
And he likes the neighbors, he said. "The developments bring different people here with different talents."
posted by Gulf Shores & Orange Beach - Bloggin at the Beach at
8:57 AM
(requires you to have a "reader"
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home