CASWELL AT BAYOU ST. JOHN IN ORANGE BEACH

Published by the Mobile Press Register

CASWELL AT BAYOU ST. JOHN IN ORANGE BEACH
Sunday, June 24, 2007
By KATHY JUMPERReal Estate Editor
Million-dollar homes, Southern cooking and mint juleps -- what's not to like?
Three custom-built homes will be paired with local cuisine for an open house in Caswell at Bayou St. John waterfront subdivision off Canal Road in Orange Beach from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
"This is the first time we have shown it to the public because the market has been so flat," said Leonard Kaiser of Kaiser Realty, developer of the property. "We think that the people who know the area will be excited about it."
The homes in the 23-lot, gated community on 8 acres feature old Mobile or Charleston styling with large porches offering views of Perdido Pass and Ono Island.
"Our whole intent was to build something with a different character," Kaiser said. "Everything is built on the ground because it's 20 feet above sea level."
The property has 345 front feet on Bayou St. John.
The homes on tour are priced from $1.34 million to $3.95 million for a 5,000-square-foot, furnished house with an elevator and a guest suite. Each house or lot comes with a boat slip.
The lots were all presold prior to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Kaiser said. There are seven or eight lots for resale, including two waterfront parcels. Lot prices range from $400,000 to $1.2 million.
Two of the homes on the tour were built separately by local builders, Phillip Harris and Ed Harrison. The open house and local cuisine are a way to "stimulate some interest" in the luxury home project, said Roger Kaiser of Kaiser Realty, who has one of the Caswell homes listed for sale. Not many million-dollar homes are selling in today's sluggish resort market, according to Shirlee Poulos of Carney Realty in Gulf Shores.
To spur sales, she recently reduced the prices on a pair of, million-dollar-plus homes in Sunset Bay at Bon Secour, located on Baldwin County 6 on Plash Island in Gulf Shores. She furnished the homes as well, and now has them listed at just under $1 million, she said. Each home comes with a boat slip. "The buyers are out there, but they are being conservative. They have no sense of urgency to buy," Poulos said. She's also marketing the higher-priced properties to people in the Northeast and on the West Coast. "Our prices are unbelievably low in comparison to those areas," she said. Linda Brokaw of ERA Class.com in Foley has single-family homes listed for as much as $999,000, but it's the homes from $150,000 to $200,000 that she's been busy selling. This past week she set up showings for a $399,000 house and another at $548,000. "I'm staying optimistic," she said. "There's a buyer for everything."
The gated Caswell is expected to appeal to the second-home buyer or permanent resident, according to Leonard Kaiser. Homes are restricted to one-year minimum rentals. Kaiser owns the property to the east of Caswell and said he has plans to develop upscale homes there.
The Caswell open house is a joint effort by Kaiser Realty, Hans Van Aller III and Melissa White of Waterfront Realty, Kristy Doggett of Romar Beach Realty and the builders.
The food and beverage will be catered by Cosmo's Restaurant and Bar, Geno's Fresh Catch Grill, Ginny Lane Bar and Grill, Pam Welch of After Ours Bar and Grill.