
DATE: Saturday, September 13, 1997          TAG: 9709110312

SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY      PAGE: 39   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: ABOUT THE OUTER BANKS 

SOURCE: Chris Kidder 

                                            LENGTH:  115 lines

PINE ISLAND UNSPOILED AND PRICEY

There's no other place on the Outer Banks like the 20-mile stretch from Duck to Corolla. The road here weaves and lurches from dune to dune like a drunken sailor.

The dunes are high. They roll back from the beach like waves of sand breaking on the scrub woods that line the marshy fringes of the Currituck Sound.

In the middle of this fine landscape lies Pine Island, a 385-acre development of upscale vacation homes and the last large oceanfront tract to be developed between Ocean Hill and South Nags Head.

Just a few years ago, it was a landscape left to the birds, a handful of hardy locals and to summer isolationists who packed their off-road vehicles with provisions and headed north into four-wheel drive country.

The land that now comprises Pine Island had been given to the National Audubon Society years ago by Turnpike Properties, the developer of Sanderling.

Some years later, after N.C. 12 opened to the public, the developer says, the Audubon Society asked to trade its oceanfront acreage for more bird-friendly soundside marsh.

The land swap left Turnpike with one hot piece of oceanfront real estate buffered by 5,000 acres of refuge to the south and west. From the road, where dunes are high enough to block any water views, the land - in most spots narrower than a mile from ocean to sound - may seem deceptively unspectacular.

But put a little elevation under your feet and you get panoramic water views sullied by nothing more than other houses.

No Holiday Inns, no golden arches, no water slides or go-cart tracks, no blinking neon or other commercial clutter to compete with pastel sunrises and flaming sunsets here.

The fact that two-thirds of Pine Island's home sites are oceanfront adds to the appeal. Even those homes not on the oceanfront have easy access via community boardwalks. Its 3.5 miles of broad beachfront is de facto private, because there's no parking or access for the general public.

The oceanfront dune line at Pine Island was well established, heavily vegetated and stable long before the community took shape on the drawing boards. Turnpike situated home sites well behind the double-tier frontal dunes, whose average height of 19 feet provides a buffer between houses and stormy seas.

Pine Island has other ground-level attractions. Two swimming pools (one oceanfront), bike paths, outdoor tennis courts and an indoor racquet club provide athletic outlets.

Even so, the sales success at Pine Island caught most real estate watchers by surprise. The property went on the market in late 1992, at the tail end of a real estate recession that left many area developments gasping for dollars. It's been non-stop sales ever since.

Turnpike turned the sales and marketing of the development over to Bob DeGabrielle & Associates. In less than two years, over one-third of the lots were sold and 60 homes built.

Today, less than five years after the first sale, only 11 of Pine Island's 270 lots remain unsold. And 210 homes have been built.

The first offering of lots in 1992 was priced from $100,000 to $350,000. By 1994, the low end had risen to $143,500 while the most expensive lot was priced at $362,000. The developer lists lots currently on the market from $175,000 to $422,000.

Homes at Pine Island have pushed the price envelope from the start. A 5,000-square-foot spec house sold for $750,000 in 1993 at a time when $500,000 was considered the Outer Banks' top end.

Today, a cool $2 million will buy you DeGabrielle's fully furnished, oceanfront ``Ambrosia,'' a six-bedroom, five-bath, 7,200-square-foot nouveau-Grecian home with a private pool, spa and fitness gym.

These expensive homes are not meant to be year-round residences but, rather, weeklong retreats.

The hallmarks of Pine Island, like those of most north beach resort communities, are luxury and location.

Ralph Lauren sheets and hand-painted tile spas aside, vacationers fleeing urban sprawl willingly pay $5,000 a week or more in prime time to sleep under star-filled, quiet skies and play under a summer sun undimmed by smog.

Along with all the creature comforts, they relish the salt breeze, bird songs and breaking waves and the rustle of sea grass.

Not all Pine Island homes rent for such a princely sum. Many of the community's properties are priced more affordably.

Even those at the upper end aren't as expensive as they seem, rental agents point out. If a house rents for $5,000 a week but, with multiple master suites and living spaces, can be shared comfortably by three families, the cost is much less than staying in a hotel with comparable luxuries. ILLUSTRATION: A FEW FACTS

What is it? Pine Island is a 385-acre resort community on the

Currituck Outer Banks developed by Turnpike Properties. It includes

270 single-family home sites, with plans for possible future

development of a 90-room inn and restaurant.

What does it offer? 3.5 miles of oceanfront beach with community

boardwalk access, an indoor racquet club (this is a semi-public

facility which charges user fees), two neighborhood swimming pools,

outdoor tennis courts and bike paths. Food Lion, Ace Hardware and

dozens of other shops, services and restaurants are located five

miles north.

Community specifics: Pine Island properties are served by a

private central sewage and water system. Membership in the