THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 20, 1994 TAG: 9408180414
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRIS KIDDER, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 166 lines
Nothing prepares you for Bay Cliff, a soundside subdivision on the Outer Banks. Less than three miles from the beach, it might as well be 300 miles away - or more.
Bay Cliff is almost tropical. A thick forest of trees and vines blankets roller-coaster hills. Birds twitter and caw through a leafy canopy that rustles softly in the salt breeze. Homes painted in browns and greens blend into the hillsides at the end of steep drives, while along the roadways cascades of summer flowers dazzle the eye. The air is earthy, primeval, laced with the aroma of pine and cedar.
It isn't your typical beach community.
That's exactly why Russ and Jane Lane bought a lot in 1992 and moved to Bay Cliff from New Jersey this past March.
The Lanes hunted for property on the Outer Banks for six years before settling on Bay Cliff.
They wanted to be near the beach, they wanted water access and water views, but they didn't want to be surrounded by sand.
``I don't think I could deal with all that sand all year,'' Russ Lane said.
They chose, instead, to build their retirement home surrounded by trees and hills. They chose green vistas instead of brown to go with their views of the Roanoke Sound.
``It's everything we had hoped for,'' Russ Lane said about their new home. ``We love it.''
To reach Bay Cliff, you turn off Route 158 in Kill Devil Hills and head west on a narrow, twisting two-lane road that skirts the southern end of Kitty Hawk Bay. You across Colington Creek twice to reach Little Colington Island.
You keep winding along the water until you cross the ``cut,'' where Big Colington Island was deliberately separated from its smaller half in the 18th century to provide easy passage from north to south.
Once on Big Colington Island, past the houses of crabbers with their yards piled high with crab pots, past rows of travel trailers camped along the water, past a hodgepodge of homes and small businesses built before zoning and land use planning, you turn south at Williams Drive.
A quarter mile after the turn, Williams Drive stops and Bay Cliff Trail begins. In the middle of the road, a stucco gatehouse - unmanned, for now - is engulfed by greenery and the bright summer colors of giant lilies and impatiens.
The subdivision began in the mid-1980's with a grand scheme of luxury living behind guarded gate and 24-hour security service were part of the plan.
Bay Cliff was platted as a planned unit development giving buyers ownership of only the land on which their houses sat. All other land was owned in common and maintained through the homeowners' association.
The timing for Bay Cliff was bad. The subdivision started sales shortly before the real estate market collapsed. Demand for service-intensive, high-end housing didn't materialize.
Properties without easy ocean access were ignored by investors. Year-round residents, with the local economy sinking fast, couldn't afford the luxury.
By 1992, Bay Cliff's developer had cut a deal with one of their lenders, Cooperative Bank for Savings, that transferred ownership of the development to the bank.
``The bank didn't want to hold real estate,'' Cooperative's vice president Rick Cowan said. When marketing studies showed that selling Bay Cliff as originally planned would take years, the bank decided to eliminate some of the luxury and lower prices.
To speed up sales, the development's unpopular condominium-style land ownership plan had to be changed. Unable to obtain county approval for redrawing and selling larger lots outright, Cooperative Bank, BC Realty and Construction, the development's listing agency, and Kitty Hawk attorney James Alexy devised another plan.
Bay Cliff owners buy their 35 feet by 55 feet building sites and the homeowners' association gives them a deed for the exclusive and perpetual use of several thousand square feet of surrounding land.
The homeowners' association retains title and pays property tax on the surrounding land.
The individual homeowner takes responsibility for maintaining the property while enjoying more privacy.
Homeowners' association dues of $70 a month reflect this unusual arrangement. Dues pay for private roads; landscaping and maintenance for common areas; a 150-foot soundside pier; and a remnant of the original plan for luxury, the Claw Club, a beautiful waterside clubhouse with meeting space, game room kitchen facilities and a large outdoor swimming pool and hot tub.
The revamping of Bay Cliff worked. When the bank took the project over in 1992, 56 of the development's 72 home sites were still unsold and only eight houses had been built.
Today, 23 houses are built; three or four more are under way. All but 18 or 19 of the lots have been sold.
``Everyone in this company is elated,'' Cowan said. When you put the development in perspective with the economy, with the large number of other lots available in Dare County, with its westside location, he said, ``We've done the right things.''
**
Ben Cubler, president of BC Realty and Construction, Kitty Hawk, helped Cooperative restructure Bay Cliff. He maintained an on-site sales office for nearly two years and built 10 of the subdivision's homes.
``We saw it mainly as a year-round community,'' he said, but he never ruled out its viability for vacation rentals or second homes.
This spring, Cubler's company completed a four-bedroom soundfront vacation cottage - Bay Cliff's first and only vacation rental property - for a New York owner.
Though the house was listed too late for inclusion in their rental brochure, Kitty Dunes Realty booked nine weeks at $750 each week.
So much for the common wisdom that vacationers won't rent on Colington. ``We've had an excellent response,'' Kitty Dunes rental manager Barbara Barco said.
Windsurfing renters, especially, like the soundside location and the amenities, she said.
That Bay Cliff's 23 acres of rolling hills and forest should appeal to a variety of people - young families with children, retired couples, second homeowners and vacationers - doesn't surprise Buddy Hodges, president of the Bay Cliff homeowners' association.
Hodges and his wife, Helen, bought their Bay Cliff home in 1992 and moved from Virginia Beach in 1993. ``Have you seen Bay Cliff?'' he asked as though no mere words could do it justice.
``I love the peace and tranquillity, the beautiful sunsets, all the things nature gives you,'' Hodges said. ``We wanted to get out of the hustle and bustle,'' he added. ``This is easy living.'' MEMO: AT A GLANCE
ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Public schools: First Flight Elementary and Middle Schools in Kill
Devil Hills, Manteo High School on Roanoke Island.
Recreation: Community swimming pool and hot tub and soundside pier.
Ocean beach, public tennis courts less than 3 miles away.
Shopping: Convenience store, 1 mile. Food Lion, K-Mart and other
shopping less than 5 miles.
Utilities: Private wastewater treatment system, county water
Assessments: Because current tax appraisals were based on initial
sales at Bay Cliff, the assessments are considerably higher than market
values. Reappraisals will be done in 1995. According to the Dare County
tax office, current assessed values for improved Bay Cliff properties
(lot plus house) range from $94,600 to $703,850. The current tax rate
for Bay Cliff is 55 cents per $100.
FOR SALE
A sampling of current listings:
There is only one house currently for sale in Bay Cliff. Lot prices
include a 35 foot by 55 foot building site with deeded use of
surrounding acreage and water frontages.
205 Shedders Walk, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths on interior lot, $139,900.
128 Sally Crab Court, soundfront lot, $65,900.
124 Sally Crab Court, soundside with potential for water views,
$33,000.
113 Bay Cliff Trail, interior lot, $19,000.
SOLD
A sampling of recent sales:
152 Bay Cliff Trail, 4 bedroom, 3 bath soundfront home, $191,500.
200 Shedders Walk, 3 bedroom, 3 bath home on interior lot, $91,500.
144 Bay Cliff Trail, soundfront lot, $40,500.
148 Bay Cliff Trail, soundfront lot, $64,000. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by Drew C. Wilson
Bay Cliff's 23 acres of rolling hills and forest should appeal to a
variety of people - young families with children, retired couples,
second homeowners and vacationers. ``I love the peace and
tranquillity,'' one homeowner says. ``This is easy living.''
Bay Cliff features a waterside clubhouse; private roads; and a
150-foot soundside pier.
Dues help pay for the Claw Club, a beautiful waterside clubhouse
with meeting space, game room kitchen facilities and a large outdoor
swimming pool and hot tub.
by CNB