THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 27, 1995 TAG: 9505250367
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ABOUT THE OUTER BANKS
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
Currituck County may be destined to attract wealthy Northerners to its shores. More than 100 years ago, an abundance of waterfowl migrating along the Atlantic Flyway was the draw. These Yankee hunters established dozens of gun clubs between 1870 and 1930, buying up vast tracts of the Currituck Banks.
The Currituck Shooting Club, formed in 1857, still exists but its 12 member-families are less interested in hunting these days. Its clubhouse, built in 1879 still stands and, for now at least, remains a private retreat.
But instead of being surrounded by the wild, rough thickets of a barrier island, the Currituck Shooting Club has opted for planned development. Today, Northerners are again choosing Currituck as their recreational destination. Taking aim at golf balls is more appealing, more politically correct, than shooting pintail ducks.
As owners of the only marketable, undeveloped tract on the Currituck Banks large enough for a golf course, club members may have felt they had little choice.
The club joined forces with Kitty Hawk Land Co. to develop 601 of their soundside acres into The Currituck Club, an 18-hole golf course surrounded by 600 homes.
The Currituck Club golf course is under construction and slated for completion next summer. Willard Bryd was originally announced as the course designer but the project ended up in the hands of Rees Jones.
Jones' resume includes the No. 7 course at Pinehurst, N.C., Woodside Plantation at Aiken, S.C., and Greenbrier in Chesapeake.
Residential development at The Currituck Club is proceeding at a slower pace. While more than 300 deposits for homesite reservations have been accepted during the last year, the developer doesn't expect to sell any property until later this summer.
``We have to get water issues settled,'' explains Mike Nolan, director of sales.
Nolan isn't worried about turning reservations into sales. The industry conversion average is about 30 percent, but he expects to double that figure. Interested buyers have laid out up to $4,000 in refundable-at-any-time deposits and less than 4 percent have pulled out so far, Nolan says.
Plans call for 430 single-family homes on lots averaging 18,000 square feet. There will be 70 ``patio homes'' in cluster neighborhoods offering condominium-style ownership and upkeep of surrounding land and approximately 100 multi-family units.
Construction of houses is scheduled to start in the early fall, says Nolan. Although details aren't worked out at this point, the developer expects all buildings at The Currituck Club to meet wind-resistant standards being developed by the town of Southern Shores.
Southern Shores developed ``Project Blue Sky'' as a $2 million, national initiative for improving coastal building. Funding has been provided through federal and state agencies and corporate sponsors. The Currituck Club will be the project's model community.
As part of the golf course development, a clubhouse, tennis courts and a swimming pool will be built - upfront. Membership in the golf club, which will be managed by the Carolina Golf Group (managers of Nags Head Golf Links), is optional. The club's initiation fee is set at $7,500.
Ten acres at the south end of the property have been set aside for commercial development. Negotiations are underway for building an 80-room inn.
Although the developer insists all plans are ``go'' for The Currituck Club, there is one potential stumbling block. A neighboring developer has filed a lawsuit appealing the county's approval of the community plan.
The plan provides only one access road to Highway 12 because most of the highway frontage is controlled by the developer who filed the appeal. Negotiations between Kitty Hawk Land Co. and this developer for other easement rights were unsuccessful. The lawsuit claims that one point of egress is both a traffic and safety hazard.
Nolan says his company is ``very, very optimistic'' that the appeal will be dismissed.
Although no property at The Currituck Club has been sold, prices have already gone up. A year ago, reservations were accepted for a $2,000 deposit; lot prices were projected from $65,000 to $225,000.
Through June 15, a reservation deposit is $4,000, with lot prices running between $70,000 and $300,000. As an added pre-sale bonus, the developer will pay 40 percent of the buyer's golf club initiation fee.
For more information about The Currituck Club, write to Mike Nolan, P.O. Box 229, Kitty Hawk, N.C. 27949, or call 800-465-3972 or 919-261-5261. MEMO: Send comments and questions to Chris Kidder at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head,
N.C. 27959.
ILLUSTRATION: GLUT OF CLUBS
The Kitty Hawk Land Company's Currituck Club is not the only one
on the market. The old Currituck Gunning and Fishing Club at Knotts
Island, N.C., is also for sale.
The buyer gets the 15-room, 7-bedroom lodge built in 1905,
according to listing agents Christina Haag and Carol Webb. Original
fireplaces, a butler's pantry and a five-bay boathouse, along with
5.85 acres divisible into four waterfront lots, are included in the
$375,000 asking price.
For under $2.3 million, you can buy the entire holdings of the
old Currituck club: 1,400 acres of Knotts Island marsh plus 135
acres of soundside land just south of Carova on the Outer Banks.
For more information, contact either agent at Long & Foster's Laskin
Road office in Virginia Beach, 804-428-4600.
by CNB