Some Alabama Beach Pool Insurance Rates Going Up July 1
May 29, 2009
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Rates for some coastal property owners insured through the residual market insurance organization known as the Alabama Beach Pool are going up July 1.
The overall average hike will be 5.5 percent, according to the Alabama Insurance Underwriting Association, the pool's official name.
According to a letter the insurer sent to agents this week, rates are going up in Mobile, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan.
Renewal rate increases will be capped at 15 percent on an individual policy basis.
At the same time, rates will go down in south Mobile County, the Eastern Shore, and areas of south Baldwin County including Magnolia Springs, Perdido Beach, Josephine, Elberta and Lillian.
Rates will remain unchanged elsewhere in Mobile and Baldwin.
The pool provides a fire and extended coverage policy and a wind and hail only policy (written with a package policy issued by an insurance company that underwrites other coverages).
Only condominiums, homes, mobile homes and commercial businesses located in the Gulf Front, Beach and Seacoast territories of Baldwin and Mobile Counties are eligible for coverage in the Beach Pool.
Link: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2009/05/29/100948.htm
Monday, June 1, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Govenor Riley signs bill for beach hotel at Gulf State Park
Originally Published by the Mobile Press Register
Link: http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1242206106133410.xml&coll=3
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
By GEORGE R. ALTMAN Capital Bureau
Gov. Bob Riley on Tuesday approved a compromise bill to bring a new, beachfront hotel and convention center to Gulf State Park, after years of court battles over the project.
But legal problems for the planned hotel may not be over.
Senate Bill 254 requires that room rates at the hotel, planned for public land, be reasonable in comparison with similar hotels.
"Because a four-star hotel's rates would not be reasonable to the public, if Governor Riley violates this section of SB 254, I will carry him back to court so fast it will make his head swim," former Conservation Commissioner Charley Grimsley said in an e-mail.
Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Tourism Department, said the hotel's rates will only need to be comparable to the nearby Perdido Beach Resort, which has rates that meet luxury standards set by a national hotel statistics organization. Sentell said it costs more to build a hotel on the beach, so the rates must be higher.
"You cannot put millions of dollars in the ground and then expect to build a Motel 6 on top of the sand," he said.
The planned hotel has been a subject of controversy for years.
After 2004's Hurricane Ivan destroyed the state's previous hotel in the park, the Gulf State Park Lodge, Riley backed a plan to replace it by subleasing land to the Atlanta-based West Paces Hotel Group.
Grimsley and other opponents sued, four years of litigation followed and the state's highest court ruled against Riley in late March.
Soon after that ruling, both sides worked out a compromise in the Legislature, through a bill sponsored by Sen. Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery.
The bill required legislative approval for the long-term lease or sale of other state beaches but allowed a lease for the former site of Gulf State Park Lodge. The bill also mandated that the lease be between 30 and 70 years, construction be competitively bid, state employees run the convention center, local governments enter into negotiations for paying maintenance costs, and the hotel's rates be reasonable.
Riley signed the bill into law Tuesday in Gulf Shores, but disagreements persist.
A clause in the bill refers to a state law, which mandates that contracts "shall provide for the reasonableness of the concessionaire's rates and charges to the public, and such rates shall be judged primarily by comparison with those rates or charges for facilities and services of comparable character."
Dixon and Sentell pointed to the nearby Perdido Beach Resort as a comparable facility.
For a single guest staying one night, the lowest available rate at Perdido is $191.86, as a seven-day average. Booking information from the hotel's Web site shows that the lowest available nightly rate this week ranges from $269, for a Friday check-in, to $159, for Sunday and Monday check-ins.
The average cost for Perdido is almost 2.5 times the average daily rate for the region and falls within the "luxury" price classification, according to information from Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee-based group that compiles statistics on hotels nationwide.
"Governor Riley wanted a four-star luxury hotel whose rates would be unreasonable to the public. SB 254 stops that by requiring reasonable rates," Grimsley's e-mail said.
Riley's office did not return messages seeking comment. Sentell said room rates would have to be low enough to draw visitors but high enough to pay for construction costs.
Dixon said he believes Grimsley will lose if he takes the matter to court again. He added that the most important part of his bill is that it protects more than 4 miles of beaches beyond the old Gulf State Park Lodge site.
"Basically, nobody has to worry about some developer getting hold of that beachfront from now on," Dixon said.
Link: http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1242206106133410.xml&coll=3
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
By GEORGE R. ALTMAN Capital Bureau
Gov. Bob Riley on Tuesday approved a compromise bill to bring a new, beachfront hotel and convention center to Gulf State Park, after years of court battles over the project.
But legal problems for the planned hotel may not be over.
Senate Bill 254 requires that room rates at the hotel, planned for public land, be reasonable in comparison with similar hotels.
"Because a four-star hotel's rates would not be reasonable to the public, if Governor Riley violates this section of SB 254, I will carry him back to court so fast it will make his head swim," former Conservation Commissioner Charley Grimsley said in an e-mail.
Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Tourism Department, said the hotel's rates will only need to be comparable to the nearby Perdido Beach Resort, which has rates that meet luxury standards set by a national hotel statistics organization. Sentell said it costs more to build a hotel on the beach, so the rates must be higher.
"You cannot put millions of dollars in the ground and then expect to build a Motel 6 on top of the sand," he said.
The planned hotel has been a subject of controversy for years.
After 2004's Hurricane Ivan destroyed the state's previous hotel in the park, the Gulf State Park Lodge, Riley backed a plan to replace it by subleasing land to the Atlanta-based West Paces Hotel Group.
Grimsley and other opponents sued, four years of litigation followed and the state's highest court ruled against Riley in late March.
Soon after that ruling, both sides worked out a compromise in the Legislature, through a bill sponsored by Sen. Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery.
The bill required legislative approval for the long-term lease or sale of other state beaches but allowed a lease for the former site of Gulf State Park Lodge. The bill also mandated that the lease be between 30 and 70 years, construction be competitively bid, state employees run the convention center, local governments enter into negotiations for paying maintenance costs, and the hotel's rates be reasonable.
Riley signed the bill into law Tuesday in Gulf Shores, but disagreements persist.
A clause in the bill refers to a state law, which mandates that contracts "shall provide for the reasonableness of the concessionaire's rates and charges to the public, and such rates shall be judged primarily by comparison with those rates or charges for facilities and services of comparable character."
Dixon and Sentell pointed to the nearby Perdido Beach Resort as a comparable facility.
For a single guest staying one night, the lowest available rate at Perdido is $191.86, as a seven-day average. Booking information from the hotel's Web site shows that the lowest available nightly rate this week ranges from $269, for a Friday check-in, to $159, for Sunday and Monday check-ins.
The average cost for Perdido is almost 2.5 times the average daily rate for the region and falls within the "luxury" price classification, according to information from Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee-based group that compiles statistics on hotels nationwide.
"Governor Riley wanted a four-star luxury hotel whose rates would be unreasonable to the public. SB 254 stops that by requiring reasonable rates," Grimsley's e-mail said.
Riley's office did not return messages seeking comment. Sentell said room rates would have to be low enough to draw visitors but high enough to pay for construction costs.
Dixon said he believes Grimsley will lose if he takes the matter to court again. He added that the most important part of his bill is that it protects more than 4 miles of beaches beyond the old Gulf State Park Lodge site.
"Basically, nobody has to worry about some developer getting hold of that beachfront from now on," Dixon said.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Orange Beach Sewer plant land swap still not final
Originally Published by the Mobile Press Register
Link: http://www.al.com/news/press-register/baldwin.ssf?/base/news/1242292584318040.xml&coll=3
Thursday, May 14, 2009
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH — Though the city's new $24 million wastewater treatment plant is about half complete, municipal officials have learned recently that problems remain with the land swap that provided the property upon which the facility is being built.
Ironing out details of the swap with the state delayed construction by nearly 18 months. And while the latest snag won't stall the already-started project, it will require the city to deed about 20 wooded acres worth $198,100 to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to satisfy federal regulators.
Elected officials, who were briefed on the matter during a City Council work session Tuesday, expressed no hesitation about giving the state the land, a slender piece southwest of City Hall. The council is scheduled to consider deeding the property to the state at its Tuesday meeting.
Mayor Tony Kennon said that with the original land swap, "the state essentially came to our res cue." The new plant will double the city's treatment capacity when it opens, most likely in spring.
To build the new plant, the city needed about 40 acres and wanted it south of Canal Road, where the odor from the existing facility had long greeted motorists upon their arrival to the city.
The only suitable land, city officials determined, was state-owned property south of the present facility. At the time, Orange Beach officials offered to trade land the city owned south of City Hall for
40 acres at the northern edge of Gulf State Park.
Greg Lein, assistant director of the Conservation Department's State Lands division, said the state agreed because "the city was under what was described as a public health crisis" in terms of the development pressure being put on its sewage treatment plant.
In March 2006, the state agreed to trade the 40 acres west of the city's Sportsplex for 48 acres of maritime forest along the city's Backcountry Trail.
That deal sent both tracts back to their previous owners.
Five years earlier the city traded 588 acres, including the sewer plant's 40, to the state in exchange for 204 acres south of City Hall.
It also piqued federal regulators, who noticed that in the 2001 swap, the state neglected to replace in a grant program some 240 acres of the land it was giving up.
The grant, dating back to the 1970s, was intended to finance state acquisition of land that would be set aside for public recreation and wildlife habitat.
State officials believed they had a solution, proposing to place deed restrictions on land they recently bought along the Perdido River to satisfy federal regulators. But the Perdido River property was appraised for only $2.2 million and the 240 acres were valued at $2,398,100, Lein wrote in a memo to city officials.
"It's not an acre-for-acre situation; it's a dollar-for-dollar situation," Lein said Tuesday.
As such, the state has asked Orange Beach for $198,100 worth of conserved property to insert into the equation, said Phillip West, Orange Beach's coastal resources director. The simplest solution, West said, is for the city to give the state 19.81 additional acres south of City Hall. That land has already been appraised at $10,000 an acre, Lein said.
"From a practical standpoint we're not giving up much," West said. The property is already traversed by three sections of the city's Backcountry Trail and the change in ownership wouldn't affect the popular nature path.
Link: http://www.al.com/news/press-register/baldwin.ssf?/base/news/1242292584318040.xml&coll=3
Thursday, May 14, 2009
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH — Though the city's new $24 million wastewater treatment plant is about half complete, municipal officials have learned recently that problems remain with the land swap that provided the property upon which the facility is being built.
Ironing out details of the swap with the state delayed construction by nearly 18 months. And while the latest snag won't stall the already-started project, it will require the city to deed about 20 wooded acres worth $198,100 to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to satisfy federal regulators.
Elected officials, who were briefed on the matter during a City Council work session Tuesday, expressed no hesitation about giving the state the land, a slender piece southwest of City Hall. The council is scheduled to consider deeding the property to the state at its Tuesday meeting.
Mayor Tony Kennon said that with the original land swap, "the state essentially came to our res cue." The new plant will double the city's treatment capacity when it opens, most likely in spring.
To build the new plant, the city needed about 40 acres and wanted it south of Canal Road, where the odor from the existing facility had long greeted motorists upon their arrival to the city.
The only suitable land, city officials determined, was state-owned property south of the present facility. At the time, Orange Beach officials offered to trade land the city owned south of City Hall for
40 acres at the northern edge of Gulf State Park.
Greg Lein, assistant director of the Conservation Department's State Lands division, said the state agreed because "the city was under what was described as a public health crisis" in terms of the development pressure being put on its sewage treatment plant.
In March 2006, the state agreed to trade the 40 acres west of the city's Sportsplex for 48 acres of maritime forest along the city's Backcountry Trail.
That deal sent both tracts back to their previous owners.
Five years earlier the city traded 588 acres, including the sewer plant's 40, to the state in exchange for 204 acres south of City Hall.
It also piqued federal regulators, who noticed that in the 2001 swap, the state neglected to replace in a grant program some 240 acres of the land it was giving up.
The grant, dating back to the 1970s, was intended to finance state acquisition of land that would be set aside for public recreation and wildlife habitat.
State officials believed they had a solution, proposing to place deed restrictions on land they recently bought along the Perdido River to satisfy federal regulators. But the Perdido River property was appraised for only $2.2 million and the 240 acres were valued at $2,398,100, Lein wrote in a memo to city officials.
"It's not an acre-for-acre situation; it's a dollar-for-dollar situation," Lein said Tuesday.
As such, the state has asked Orange Beach for $198,100 worth of conserved property to insert into the equation, said Phillip West, Orange Beach's coastal resources director. The simplest solution, West said, is for the city to give the state 19.81 additional acres south of City Hall. That land has already been appraised at $10,000 an acre, Lein said.
"From a practical standpoint we're not giving up much," West said. The property is already traversed by three sections of the city's Backcountry Trail and the change in ownership wouldn't affect the popular nature path.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
House puts OK on Gulf resort
Originally Published by the Mobile Press Register
Link: http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1241687809174240.xml&coll=3
Bill allows long-term lease of beachfront land where Gulf State Park Lodge once stood
Thursday, May 07, 2009
By GEORGE R. ALTMAN
Capital Bureau
MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House approved a compromise Wednesday to develop a luxury hotel and convention center on state-owned Gulf Shores beaches, after hours of stalling by opponents who argued that the project favored the rich.
The bill would allow a long-term lease of the land where the Gulf State Park Lodge once stood, but it would limit such leases on other beachfront state lands.
"If we can get this state park rebuilt, back down in Gulf Shores, it will be an asset for the state of Alabama. It will bring in needed revenue," said Rep. Harry Shiver, R-Bay Minette.
The bill passed 82-14, but its success was at one point in doubt.
"They're down there killing it right now," Shiver said, as about a dozen lawmakers conducted a filibuster.
Shiver said he thought that the opposition stemmed from lobbying efforts by a hotel looking to avoid competition, the Perdido Beach Resort.
The bill's opponents argued that the creation of a luxury hotel would limit beach access for average folks.
"Should we pass this bill, it will be wide open for the developer... to come in there and do pretty much anything that they please," said Rep. Jack Page, D-Gadsden.
Jim Meadlock, whose company owns Perdido, declined to comment on Wednesday's action.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery, would approve the lease of the old Gulf State Park Lodge property, which was wrecked in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan.
Under the bill, the lease term must run 30 to 70 years, construction must be competitively bid, state employees must run the convention center, and local communities must negotiate about contributing to the maintenance.
Gov. Bob Riley previously urged the creation of a resort on that land through a long-term lease with Auburn University, which would then award a sublease to Atlanta-based West Paces Hotel Group. Opponents sued, and after four years of litigation, the state's highest court ruled against Riley in late March.
Riley's development plan differed from that contained in the compromise bill, but a spokesman for the governor said that he still supports construction of a hotel.
"This bill would fix a lot of those legal questions surrounding the project," said Press Secretary Todd Stacy. "It will be a tremendous boon for the area and for the state."
Before Riley can sign the bill, the Senate, which had already passed it, must approve of changes made by the House.
One of those changes was added Wednesday, mandating that the resort cannot offer gambling.
Link: http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1241687809174240.xml&coll=3
Bill allows long-term lease of beachfront land where Gulf State Park Lodge once stood
Thursday, May 07, 2009
By GEORGE R. ALTMAN
Capital Bureau
MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House approved a compromise Wednesday to develop a luxury hotel and convention center on state-owned Gulf Shores beaches, after hours of stalling by opponents who argued that the project favored the rich.
The bill would allow a long-term lease of the land where the Gulf State Park Lodge once stood, but it would limit such leases on other beachfront state lands.
"If we can get this state park rebuilt, back down in Gulf Shores, it will be an asset for the state of Alabama. It will bring in needed revenue," said Rep. Harry Shiver, R-Bay Minette.
The bill passed 82-14, but its success was at one point in doubt.
"They're down there killing it right now," Shiver said, as about a dozen lawmakers conducted a filibuster.
Shiver said he thought that the opposition stemmed from lobbying efforts by a hotel looking to avoid competition, the Perdido Beach Resort.
The bill's opponents argued that the creation of a luxury hotel would limit beach access for average folks.
"Should we pass this bill, it will be wide open for the developer... to come in there and do pretty much anything that they please," said Rep. Jack Page, D-Gadsden.
Jim Meadlock, whose company owns Perdido, declined to comment on Wednesday's action.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery, would approve the lease of the old Gulf State Park Lodge property, which was wrecked in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan.
Under the bill, the lease term must run 30 to 70 years, construction must be competitively bid, state employees must run the convention center, and local communities must negotiate about contributing to the maintenance.
Gov. Bob Riley previously urged the creation of a resort on that land through a long-term lease with Auburn University, which would then award a sublease to Atlanta-based West Paces Hotel Group. Opponents sued, and after four years of litigation, the state's highest court ruled against Riley in late March.
Riley's development plan differed from that contained in the compromise bill, but a spokesman for the governor said that he still supports construction of a hotel.
"This bill would fix a lot of those legal questions surrounding the project," said Press Secretary Todd Stacy. "It will be a tremendous boon for the area and for the state."
Before Riley can sign the bill, the Senate, which had already passed it, must approve of changes made by the House.
One of those changes was added Wednesday, mandating that the resort cannot offer gambling.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Condo business stable
Originally Published by the Mobile Press Register
Link: http://www.al.com/business/press-register/insider.ssf?/base/business/1241342238169100.xml&coll=3
Even with tighter lending guidelines, buyers are out there looking for deals
Sunday, May 03, 2009 By KATHY JUMPER
Real Estate Editor
Two weeks after broker Tammy Godbold listed 10 condominium units in Crystal Shores West in Gulf Shores, four were under contract, and she also sold two units in the nearby Crystal Tower, off the beach.
"This is a sign that people are ready, willing and able to buy," said Godbold, owner of Waterways Realty in Orange Beach. The two-bedroom, two-bath units in the 170-unit Crystal Tower were listed for $225,000 to $250,000; the three-bedroom, three-bath units in the 108-unit Crystal Shores West on the beach were listed for $382,250.
Buyers are coming back to the resort market, looking for deals, plunking down cash or financing condo purchases, according to Realtors.
"Condos are hot right now when the price is right," said Patrick Daily, owner of REMAX of Orange Beach. "If you find a two-bedroom, two-bath between $250,000 and $325,000 in a good building, it goes under contract immediately. The mortgage rates are awesome if you've got a little cash."
The mortgage lending crisis has lenders tightening guidelines on condo loans, but financing is available for qualified buyers, lenders and agents say.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require that about 51 percent of the condo building be owner-occupied. The theory is that investors would more likely let a unit go into foreclosure than a second-home owner, according to lenders.
Many of the newer condo developments have rent restrictions, such as a 30-day rental minimum, and that helps avoid rental issues when financing a unit, according to Amanda Landry of Amicus Mortgage Group in Gulf Shores.
Buyers often prefer Fannie Mae since the institutional lender typically offers the lowest interest rates, according to Landry, but "you have to do your homework" when applying because lending guidelines are constantly changing, she said.
Interest rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 4.78 percent this past week, according to Freddie Mac. A 15-year fixed loan was 4.48 percent.
Restrictions are a way for lenders to "slow things down and try to recoup" in a tough economy, according to Anthony Kaiser, sales division vice president at Meyer Real Estate in Gulf Shores. One of the toughest things to get around, he said, is the 20 percent down payment that many lenders require.
Meyer's agents have had very few loans turned down, he said. A third of the recent sales have been foreclosure properties, with condos sell ing at an average $300,000.
Joey Parker of HMC, Home Mortgage Co., in Gulf Shores, sends a 25-point questionnaire to condo owners associations to help determine if a borrower is eligible for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac lending.
"We do not have any problems," lending to condo buyers, Parker said. "You can still get very attractive financing terms. All the condos I do are on a 30-year fixed rate, and all have very attractive rates."
His business is up, with most of the activity in condos, Parker said.
"The market is absorbing short sales and foreclosure properties more than it did last year. And a lot of the units that developers kept back are selling."
The Merrill Co. decided to release most of the remaining developer-owned units in Crystal Shores West and Crystal Tower while there are buyers out there, according to Collier Merrill of the Pensacola-based company.
"People ask me if now is the right time to buy," Merrill said. "If you're investing and looking to flip it, I don't know. But if you're looking for something you want to use, now is the perfect time. You've got a lot of choices, you can use it and in 10 years it will be worth more than you paid for it."
Realtors are starting to see signs of the beach market reaching a bottom, according to Bob Shallow, owner of REMAX Paradise in Orange Beach. He said he's seeing second home buyers who can afford to spend $500,000 to $1 million on a unit that they don't have to rent.
Newer condo units are at 40 to 50 percent of the value they were a year or two ago, Shallow said. For example, a unit with a boat slip in Vista Bella on Ole River in Orange Beach is priced at $550,000 compared to the selling price of $1.1 million two years ago.
"People who want to sell and are realistic with the price, they now have an opportunity to sell it," Shallow said. "Two years ago, price didn't do it."
Link: http://www.al.com/business/press-register/insider.ssf?/base/business/1241342238169100.xml&coll=3
Even with tighter lending guidelines, buyers are out there looking for deals
Sunday, May 03, 2009 By KATHY JUMPER
Real Estate Editor
Two weeks after broker Tammy Godbold listed 10 condominium units in Crystal Shores West in Gulf Shores, four were under contract, and she also sold two units in the nearby Crystal Tower, off the beach.
"This is a sign that people are ready, willing and able to buy," said Godbold, owner of Waterways Realty in Orange Beach. The two-bedroom, two-bath units in the 170-unit Crystal Tower were listed for $225,000 to $250,000; the three-bedroom, three-bath units in the 108-unit Crystal Shores West on the beach were listed for $382,250.
Buyers are coming back to the resort market, looking for deals, plunking down cash or financing condo purchases, according to Realtors.
"Condos are hot right now when the price is right," said Patrick Daily, owner of REMAX of Orange Beach. "If you find a two-bedroom, two-bath between $250,000 and $325,000 in a good building, it goes under contract immediately. The mortgage rates are awesome if you've got a little cash."
The mortgage lending crisis has lenders tightening guidelines on condo loans, but financing is available for qualified buyers, lenders and agents say.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require that about 51 percent of the condo building be owner-occupied. The theory is that investors would more likely let a unit go into foreclosure than a second-home owner, according to lenders.
Many of the newer condo developments have rent restrictions, such as a 30-day rental minimum, and that helps avoid rental issues when financing a unit, according to Amanda Landry of Amicus Mortgage Group in Gulf Shores.
Buyers often prefer Fannie Mae since the institutional lender typically offers the lowest interest rates, according to Landry, but "you have to do your homework" when applying because lending guidelines are constantly changing, she said.
Interest rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 4.78 percent this past week, according to Freddie Mac. A 15-year fixed loan was 4.48 percent.
Restrictions are a way for lenders to "slow things down and try to recoup" in a tough economy, according to Anthony Kaiser, sales division vice president at Meyer Real Estate in Gulf Shores. One of the toughest things to get around, he said, is the 20 percent down payment that many lenders require.
Meyer's agents have had very few loans turned down, he said. A third of the recent sales have been foreclosure properties, with condos sell ing at an average $300,000.
Joey Parker of HMC, Home Mortgage Co., in Gulf Shores, sends a 25-point questionnaire to condo owners associations to help determine if a borrower is eligible for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac lending.
"We do not have any problems," lending to condo buyers, Parker said. "You can still get very attractive financing terms. All the condos I do are on a 30-year fixed rate, and all have very attractive rates."
His business is up, with most of the activity in condos, Parker said.
"The market is absorbing short sales and foreclosure properties more than it did last year. And a lot of the units that developers kept back are selling."
The Merrill Co. decided to release most of the remaining developer-owned units in Crystal Shores West and Crystal Tower while there are buyers out there, according to Collier Merrill of the Pensacola-based company.
"People ask me if now is the right time to buy," Merrill said. "If you're investing and looking to flip it, I don't know. But if you're looking for something you want to use, now is the perfect time. You've got a lot of choices, you can use it and in 10 years it will be worth more than you paid for it."
Realtors are starting to see signs of the beach market reaching a bottom, according to Bob Shallow, owner of REMAX Paradise in Orange Beach. He said he's seeing second home buyers who can afford to spend $500,000 to $1 million on a unit that they don't have to rent.
Newer condo units are at 40 to 50 percent of the value they were a year or two ago, Shallow said. For example, a unit with a boat slip in Vista Bella on Ole River in Orange Beach is priced at $550,000 compared to the selling price of $1.1 million two years ago.
"People who want to sell and are realistic with the price, they now have an opportunity to sell it," Shallow said. "Two years ago, price didn't do it."
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Empty Subdivisions a Sign of the Times
Originally published by the Mobile Press Register
Link: http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1241342250169100.xml&coll=3
Sunday, May 03, 2009
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter
GULF SHORES — Marked by a stone sign at its entrance along Baldwin County 6, Andhurst Walk was pitched three years ago as one of the area's finest addresses, with some of the largest lots in town.
Today, the 114-lot subdivision set among thick woods has streetlamps, sidewalks, and cul-de-sacs but boasts only one house: A 3,000-square-foot, brick custom home that Chuck and Sheila Engle built in 2007.
A sign near the subdivision's entrance reads, "Secluded living from the 190s."
"We got in here and started building and expected more houses to come in after us," Engle said. "And then it was three months, four months, six months."
Baldwin County, particularly the southern part, is littered with subdivisions in various stages of completion. Four years ago, a quip circulating among land planner types was that subdivisions had surmounted soybeans, cotton and sod as the top cash crop emerging from the fields.
Now, it's as if drought has struck, the soil mustering little more than utility stubs.
No one's compiled countywide numbers on how many planned homes haven't been built, but development officials in Foley recently produced an accounting of the burst bubble. Between March 1, 2004, and March 31, 2009, 44 subdivisions with a total of 2,416 lots were approved in the city's planning jurisdiction. On 750 of those lots, homes have been constructed or are under way. The remaining 1,666 sit vacant.
Among the partially gestated neighborhoods in Foley's tally is Fulton Place, built on a sloping tract south of Baldwin County 12. Of 107 homes planned there, only seven stand.
Not included in Foley's count is The Villages of Creekstone, a failed project in which 350 lots were platted on 189 acres at Baldwin County 12 and Wolf Bay Drive. There are no homes there, nor any roads. There's just a construction trailer, piles of sewer pipe and 16 dead palm trees on a field cleared of all but a pair of pines.
Unlike condominium towers — the developers of which generally receive no construction loans until they sell a majority of the units — subdivisions can be a more speculative game.
The Georgia-based developers of The Villages of Creekstone filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in April 2007. In filings made in Atlanta's federal court, Riverbrooke Capital Partners LLC. claimed debts of $135.3 million versus $2.8 million in assets. As part of the liquidation that Chapter 7 bankruptcy facilitates, the sewer pipe piled at the Baldwin property is set to be auctioned May 2.
Meanwhile, a local environmental watchdog is trying to figure out whom to call to remedy a runoff problem at the property.
Every time it rains, said Wolf Bay Watershed Watch's Stan Mahoney, the desolate site bleeds sediment into nearby Owens Creek: "It's just an environmental nightmare," he said.
Empty subdivisions can also burden local governments and utility services, which might spend millions of dollars to run new lines to former pastures only to wind up with no one to bill for the investment.
There's also the question of ownership for streets where nobody lives.
New streets usually become public after some period in which city officials assess whether they were built properly. In Gulf Shores, that period is two years, but the city recently added another caveat: A subdivision must be at least half-finished before taxpayers assume responsibility for its roads.
Public Works Director Mark Acreman said that the extra requirement stemmed partly from the fact that cement trucks and other heavy equipment will someday rumble down those streets to finish the neighborhood, crushing curbs and shattering sidewalks.
A Gulf Shores subdivision that didn't build out in two years was once unheard-of. At present, however, the city is pocked with empty lots.
Off Baldwin County 8, Craft Farms North boasts meticulously landscaped roundabouts and tree-lined streets, but only about 20 percent of the 200 homes that were supposed to be built. Across a sod farm from that upscale development is Crimson Ridge, where 25 of the 133 planned homes have been built and streetlights illuminate dozens of lots with thigh-high weeds.
Nearer to the beach, not one of Island Wood's 126 planned homes have been started, and the only thing traversing the sidewalks along its secluded lanes are shoots of centipede grass.
Link: http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1241342250169100.xml&coll=3
Sunday, May 03, 2009
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter
GULF SHORES — Marked by a stone sign at its entrance along Baldwin County 6, Andhurst Walk was pitched three years ago as one of the area's finest addresses, with some of the largest lots in town.
Today, the 114-lot subdivision set among thick woods has streetlamps, sidewalks, and cul-de-sacs but boasts only one house: A 3,000-square-foot, brick custom home that Chuck and Sheila Engle built in 2007.
A sign near the subdivision's entrance reads, "Secluded living from the 190s."
"We got in here and started building and expected more houses to come in after us," Engle said. "And then it was three months, four months, six months."
Baldwin County, particularly the southern part, is littered with subdivisions in various stages of completion. Four years ago, a quip circulating among land planner types was that subdivisions had surmounted soybeans, cotton and sod as the top cash crop emerging from the fields.
Now, it's as if drought has struck, the soil mustering little more than utility stubs.
No one's compiled countywide numbers on how many planned homes haven't been built, but development officials in Foley recently produced an accounting of the burst bubble. Between March 1, 2004, and March 31, 2009, 44 subdivisions with a total of 2,416 lots were approved in the city's planning jurisdiction. On 750 of those lots, homes have been constructed or are under way. The remaining 1,666 sit vacant.
Among the partially gestated neighborhoods in Foley's tally is Fulton Place, built on a sloping tract south of Baldwin County 12. Of 107 homes planned there, only seven stand.
Not included in Foley's count is The Villages of Creekstone, a failed project in which 350 lots were platted on 189 acres at Baldwin County 12 and Wolf Bay Drive. There are no homes there, nor any roads. There's just a construction trailer, piles of sewer pipe and 16 dead palm trees on a field cleared of all but a pair of pines.
Unlike condominium towers — the developers of which generally receive no construction loans until they sell a majority of the units — subdivisions can be a more speculative game.
The Georgia-based developers of The Villages of Creekstone filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in April 2007. In filings made in Atlanta's federal court, Riverbrooke Capital Partners LLC. claimed debts of $135.3 million versus $2.8 million in assets. As part of the liquidation that Chapter 7 bankruptcy facilitates, the sewer pipe piled at the Baldwin property is set to be auctioned May 2.
Meanwhile, a local environmental watchdog is trying to figure out whom to call to remedy a runoff problem at the property.
Every time it rains, said Wolf Bay Watershed Watch's Stan Mahoney, the desolate site bleeds sediment into nearby Owens Creek: "It's just an environmental nightmare," he said.
Empty subdivisions can also burden local governments and utility services, which might spend millions of dollars to run new lines to former pastures only to wind up with no one to bill for the investment.
There's also the question of ownership for streets where nobody lives.
New streets usually become public after some period in which city officials assess whether they were built properly. In Gulf Shores, that period is two years, but the city recently added another caveat: A subdivision must be at least half-finished before taxpayers assume responsibility for its roads.
Public Works Director Mark Acreman said that the extra requirement stemmed partly from the fact that cement trucks and other heavy equipment will someday rumble down those streets to finish the neighborhood, crushing curbs and shattering sidewalks.
A Gulf Shores subdivision that didn't build out in two years was once unheard-of. At present, however, the city is pocked with empty lots.
Off Baldwin County 8, Craft Farms North boasts meticulously landscaped roundabouts and tree-lined streets, but only about 20 percent of the 200 homes that were supposed to be built. Across a sod farm from that upscale development is Crimson Ridge, where 25 of the 133 planned homes have been built and streetlights illuminate dozens of lots with thigh-high weeds.
Nearer to the beach, not one of Island Wood's 126 planned homes have been started, and the only thing traversing the sidewalks along its secluded lanes are shoots of centipede grass.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Bird Watching in Baldwin County
Originally published by the Pensacola News Journal
Islands are for the birds
October is time to see migrating feathered friends
By: BRIAN KELLY • October 17, 2008
Calling all ornithologists! What is an ornithologist you might inquire? You know, birders — those folks who pass the time hunting, viewing and studying multi-hued winged creatures in their natural habitat through the eyes of a pair of hight-priced, German-engineered binoculars. This weekend is all about the birds at Fort Morgan Road and Bon Secour, two major sites along the expansive Alabama Coastal Birding Trail, which is 240 miles of trails. And if the birds' southern migration to warmer climes holds to its traditional schedule, this will be the optimal time to admire these exotic birds of paradise in our area.
There are a couple of official birding events wrapping up this weekend, but you don't have to be part of any registered tour group or official charter bus to enjoy the migration of the birds as they leave our coast for Central and South America for the winter.
"I bird all over the country, depending on migration and habitat," George B. Cohen, who calls Minnesota home, but travels to the Alabama Gulf Coast for the migration autumn migration period she he travels all over the country to watch birds.
"From photography to simply watching these creatures go about their daily life through my binoculars, birding is something I'm passionate about," he said. "I've been coming to this area each early autumn for more than five years, but I've seen some disturbing changes (in bird numbers and migration patterns.) Whether you're an amateur or a novice, birding is a wonderful hobby. You learn so much."
Annual event
Drawing many of the birders to the area this week is the John L. Borom Alabama Coastal BirdFest, which is marking its 5th year. It kicked off Thursday and concludes Sunday. One of the major attractions for the BirdFest attendees is the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail along Fort Morgan Historic Site. The trail is also the site of Fall Bird Banding Session, a critical stopover point for migratory birds.
"Birder's enjoy the Alabama Gulf Coast because some 10 billion birds migrate here before taking flight over the Gulf Coast to Central and Latin America for the winter," says John L. Borom, president of the Alabama Audubon Society. "From the Florida/Alabama Gulf Coast line, this is where the migrating birds nest, here, for the summer."
But all is not well for the migrating birds. Area bird experts point to loss of habitat with human progress, specifically the proliferation of commercial growth for declining numbers among migratory birds. Cohen and other naturalists have seen a decrease in the number of birds migrating to and from this area each year. It's a troubling trend Borom has witnessed firsthand.
"When these birds fly across the Gulf of Mexico to Pensacola or Alabama, they need a maritime forest to feed and create a sustainable habitat," Borom explains. "The building of homes and condominiums destroys and limits habitat for these birds. They become displaced by people, and their critical habitat is in jeopardy."
Nature's tourism impact
Each autumn thousands of birds converge along the Gulf Coast to prepare for the journey across the Gulf of Mexico by feeding in the trees and bushes and even at bird feeders. This annual migration attracts avid bird watchers, both professional and amateur, to the area each year.
Eco-tourism
Birding is considered eco-tourism — a billion dollar industry in the tourism sector throughout the United States. Birding enthusiasts converging on the Florida/Alabama Gulf Coast this month inject important dollars into the economy in an otherwise slow time for tourism.
According to the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau survey in 2002, 8 percent of tourists listed bird watching as their primary activity, and in 2006 that figure jumped to just fewer than 20 percent. Despite hurricanes and commercial swelling, that number continues to rise.
"The bird-watching periods are a catalyst of economic growth, driving in numerous tourists," said Joanne McDonough nature tourism specialist along the Alabama Gulf Coast. "The region brings in somewhere near $100 million dollars per year. The Alabama Coastal Birding Trail Web site has had a hit rate increase of 90 percent since 2002."
Notwithstanding the numbers, the economic impact or event the decline in birds, birders still see our area as a prime bird-watching spot. And this is a weekend to get out to one hot spots at Fort Morgan Historic Site or the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge and watch the birds of paradise before their epic flight south for the winter.
Want to go?
- WHAT: 5th Annual John L. Borom Coastal BirdFest, Fairhope, Ala. Bird & Conservation Expo.
- WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 to 4 p.m.
- WHERE: Faulkner State College campus and Fairhope Public Library.
- DETAILS: For location of each event visit www.alabamacoastalbirdfest.com and click on free events.
Fall Bird Banding
Early Friday, ends at noon, at Fort Morgan Historic Site, Gulf Shores, Ala. visit www.hummingbirdsplus.org or 1-800-745-SAND. No pets allowed.
The Alabama Coastal Birding Trail: Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge
Travel westward from the intersection of Ala. Highway 59 and Ala. Highway180. Pass the Jeff Friend Trail sign on the left (south) and then the refuge office sign, also on the left. Continue on until Pine Beach Trail, then enter parking lot.
Islands are for the birds
October is time to see migrating feathered friends
By: BRIAN KELLY • October 17, 2008
Calling all ornithologists! What is an ornithologist you might inquire? You know, birders — those folks who pass the time hunting, viewing and studying multi-hued winged creatures in their natural habitat through the eyes of a pair of hight-priced, German-engineered binoculars. This weekend is all about the birds at Fort Morgan Road and Bon Secour, two major sites along the expansive Alabama Coastal Birding Trail, which is 240 miles of trails. And if the birds' southern migration to warmer climes holds to its traditional schedule, this will be the optimal time to admire these exotic birds of paradise in our area.
There are a couple of official birding events wrapping up this weekend, but you don't have to be part of any registered tour group or official charter bus to enjoy the migration of the birds as they leave our coast for Central and South America for the winter.
"I bird all over the country, depending on migration and habitat," George B. Cohen, who calls Minnesota home, but travels to the Alabama Gulf Coast for the migration autumn migration period she he travels all over the country to watch birds.
"From photography to simply watching these creatures go about their daily life through my binoculars, birding is something I'm passionate about," he said. "I've been coming to this area each early autumn for more than five years, but I've seen some disturbing changes (in bird numbers and migration patterns.) Whether you're an amateur or a novice, birding is a wonderful hobby. You learn so much."
Annual event
Drawing many of the birders to the area this week is the John L. Borom Alabama Coastal BirdFest, which is marking its 5th year. It kicked off Thursday and concludes Sunday. One of the major attractions for the BirdFest attendees is the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail along Fort Morgan Historic Site. The trail is also the site of Fall Bird Banding Session, a critical stopover point for migratory birds.
"Birder's enjoy the Alabama Gulf Coast because some 10 billion birds migrate here before taking flight over the Gulf Coast to Central and Latin America for the winter," says John L. Borom, president of the Alabama Audubon Society. "From the Florida/Alabama Gulf Coast line, this is where the migrating birds nest, here, for the summer."
But all is not well for the migrating birds. Area bird experts point to loss of habitat with human progress, specifically the proliferation of commercial growth for declining numbers among migratory birds. Cohen and other naturalists have seen a decrease in the number of birds migrating to and from this area each year. It's a troubling trend Borom has witnessed firsthand.
"When these birds fly across the Gulf of Mexico to Pensacola or Alabama, they need a maritime forest to feed and create a sustainable habitat," Borom explains. "The building of homes and condominiums destroys and limits habitat for these birds. They become displaced by people, and their critical habitat is in jeopardy."
Nature's tourism impact
Each autumn thousands of birds converge along the Gulf Coast to prepare for the journey across the Gulf of Mexico by feeding in the trees and bushes and even at bird feeders. This annual migration attracts avid bird watchers, both professional and amateur, to the area each year.
Eco-tourism
Birding is considered eco-tourism — a billion dollar industry in the tourism sector throughout the United States. Birding enthusiasts converging on the Florida/Alabama Gulf Coast this month inject important dollars into the economy in an otherwise slow time for tourism.
According to the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau survey in 2002, 8 percent of tourists listed bird watching as their primary activity, and in 2006 that figure jumped to just fewer than 20 percent. Despite hurricanes and commercial swelling, that number continues to rise.
"The bird-watching periods are a catalyst of economic growth, driving in numerous tourists," said Joanne McDonough nature tourism specialist along the Alabama Gulf Coast. "The region brings in somewhere near $100 million dollars per year. The Alabama Coastal Birding Trail Web site has had a hit rate increase of 90 percent since 2002."
Notwithstanding the numbers, the economic impact or event the decline in birds, birders still see our area as a prime bird-watching spot. And this is a weekend to get out to one hot spots at Fort Morgan Historic Site or the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge and watch the birds of paradise before their epic flight south for the winter.
Want to go?
- WHAT: 5th Annual John L. Borom Coastal BirdFest, Fairhope, Ala. Bird & Conservation Expo.
- WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 to 4 p.m.
- WHERE: Faulkner State College campus and Fairhope Public Library.
- DETAILS: For location of each event visit www.alabamacoastalbirdfest.com and click on free events.
Fall Bird Banding
Early Friday, ends at noon, at Fort Morgan Historic Site, Gulf Shores, Ala. visit www.hummingbirdsplus.org or 1-800-745-SAND. No pets allowed.
The Alabama Coastal Birding Trail: Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge
Travel westward from the intersection of Ala. Highway 59 and Ala. Highway180. Pass the Jeff Friend Trail sign on the left (south) and then the refuge office sign, also on the left. Continue on until Pine Beach Trail, then enter parking lot.
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