By Robert N. Eby
Chatham County Line
Reflecting the slowdown in the national economy, development in Chatham County, both residential and commercial, is stuttering. While some projects are still moving ahead, many have slowed down and a few have been abandoned. New residential building permits for Chatham County, including Pittsboro but not Cary, which had been averaging 138 per quarter since the fourth quarter of 2004, dropped sharply in the fourth quarter of 2007, to only 62. This is despite the fact that more than 10,000 home sites have been authorized.
The one exception is in Cary’s part of the county, where the Amberly development is moving ahead briskly. During the last half of 2007, Cary issued 198 permits for homes inside of Chatham County, while Chatham issued only 189 permits.
Residential developers selling only land seem to be doing better than those who are selling both lots and homes. Chapel Ridge’s original 660 lots, priced largely in the $100,000 to $150,000 range, are 98 percent sold, according to Jens Hoeg, Bluegreen Corporation’s vice-president of sales. His efforts are now focused on selling lots in The Estates at Chapel Ridge, which was originally approved as The Woodlands, before being purchased by Bluegreen. According to Hoeg, those 170 lots should be sold within the next 15 months.
Likewise, one of the newer developments, The Hamptons, has sold 11 lots priced in the $220,000 to $300,000 range. Steve Young of Windjam Development reports that six lots have been bought by builders and five by individuals. The first home, priced at $1.25 million, is under construction.
Briar Chapel, which sells lots only to builders, has delayed its opening by about six months, according to Mitch Barron, Newland Communities’ vice-president of operations. Builders are showing caution about buying a large number of lots; Barron is currently signing up the four he wants to have onboard before home building commences.
Other developers/builders – such as R. B. Fitch (Fearrington Village), Randy Voller (Chatham Forest), Holland Gaines (The Legacy), Jason McCoy (Parks at Meadowview, Crescent Communities) and Lynn Thomas, realtor for Orleans Builders (Legend Oaks) – say that sales are suffering because potential buyers cannot sell their current homes. They are waiting for the day those buyers take the rubber bands off of their checkbooks.
The building moratorium in Pittsboro, necessitated by a lack of wastewater-treatment capacity, is keeping many developers idle. There is talk of various combines of developers fronting the cost for new wastewater-treatment facilities, but so far nothing concrete has been submitted to the town. The biggest player, by far, is Preston Development, controlled by Jim Goodnight, owner of SAS. Preston now owns more than 7,200 acres, including the River Oaks project (which was abandoned by Toll Brothers), according to planning director David Monroe. This property, which stretches from the Haw River on the northeast side of Pittsboro around the eastern side of town to the Moncure Road, is about five times the size of Pittsboro at present. Preston has been silent as to its plans for what is, by several fold, the largest development ever assembled in the county.
Pittsboro subdivisions with allocated sewer capacity – Powell Place, Potterstone Village and Chatham Forest – continue to sell to builders but at a reduced pace. Bryson Powell of Powell Place (East West Partners) says that homes selling for $150,000 to $250,000 are moving most rapidly. Powell has also recently signed a contract for construction of a 180-unit apartment complex.
An abandoned project is Belmeade, on the western edge of Pittsboro, which had been projected by Crescent Communities to be a gated community of about 200 homes selling for more than $1.0 million each. Crescent is keeping alive its permit for The Sanctuary on the Haw, next to Bynum, by installing infrastructure at a minimum pace.
There are few signs of life for commercial development along US 15-501 and US Bus. 64. Where out-parcels have been sold, the buyers have not started to build. Existing properties such as Cole Park Plaza, Chatham Crossing and Chatham Downs all have “space available†signs prominently displayed at the roadside. There are no takers as yet for Briar Chapel’s retail/commercial tracts on 15-501; Jesse Fearrington’s Pittsboro Place, opposite Fearrington Village; and Williams Corner, north of Lystra Church Road. American Asset Corporation is seeking approval for a planned retail/commercial development opposite Northwood High School. Every project says it will have a drugstore, a sit-down restaurant, a bank and a gas station/convenience store on its outparcels. That seems like more than available customers can support.
Robert N. Eby is a Chatham resident who closely monitors the development scene and writes about it for Chatham County Line.
This story appears courtesy of Chatham County Line.