Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 13, 1990 TAG: 9010110012
SECTION: SMITH MOUNTAIN TIMES PAGE: SMT/6 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: Sandra Brown Kelly/staff writer
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Chris Buccola said that on Saturday 820 people - including more than 600 adults - played the miniature golf course that meanders out over the water at Bridgewater Plasa. The golf course is a new attraction at the lake this season.
Buccola, who helps run the boat rental/golf/restaurant/shops complex at Hales Ford Bridge, said tourist business is thriving. "Today all the boats are rented," she said Tuesday.
Wayne Blount, owner of Foxport Marina on the Blackwater, gauges his business by gasoline sales. He figures that the most gas his can pump in a day is 2,500 gallons, and the marina has hit that figure on several occasions.
Blount said one reason his business is up this year over the past is because Pittson coal miners who were on strike last year are back at work. The lake is a popular destination for vacationing miners. Seventy-five percent of Foxport's business is from West Virginia and Southwest Virginia, Blount said.
"When they come down, their pockets are full of money," he said.
Dick Stiff, who runs the Captain's Quarters fishing pier, boat rental and restaurant business at Hales Ford, said lake traffic has been "a little less than anticipated."
"But everybody's complaining from a good standpoint, meaning they're geared to do more business," he said.
Stiff said hot weather has cut into activity at the fishing pier, but at least half of the time Stiff has had all of his rental boats out. It's the nature of a lake resort area that things will be busier when temperatures stay in the 78- to 90-degree range, Stiff said. "If it's too hot, people want to stay in air conditioning."
Stiff attributes a good part of his business to tourism, as opposed to people at the lake looking for real estate. He said he has had customers from Japan, Germany and England this season.
Doug Miles with Royal Rental supports the tourism theory. "It appears that several of the people who have gone to the beaches are coming inland this year."
An average weekly rent for a lake house is $550, Miles said. He said about 98 percent of the places his company manages are rented.
Tourism drives the success of shops and marinas at the lake, but the area's major business is real estate. Until a couple of weeks ago, the real estate business was lagging, said Nancy Pinkard, co-owner of Anchor Inc. Realtor.
"What we had been seeing was a lot of interest in properties in a range of $150,000 to $200,000. Now we're seeing people looking in a range above that. They must have decided the economy wasn't going to be as sluggish after all," Pinkard said.
"March and April weren't all that wonderful, but I feel we will end the year well," she said.
Pinkard said the inventory of properties for sale has swollen in the past 18 months. "A lot is left over from people who knew the market was booming last year and put their house on market for speculation. Those houses are still on market.
"There are so many lots available and the price is so competitive, if you're looking for a lot in the $70,000 price range I could keep you busy for a couple of days," Pinkard said. "And, that's not normal."
Although there is not as much new construction for sale as there was a couple of years ago, there is still plenty, Plenty said. Among her listings is an 8,500-square-foot house listed at $900,000 in the Riverbay subdivision.
Pinkard said prices for town houses are down at the lake, as elsewhere. She said she recently listed two Bernard's Landing condominium resales that are more than $10,000 below their previous asking price.
by CNB