THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 9, 1995 TAG: 9508090433
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Building more rental properties, particularly apartments, on the mainland is good business for Currituck County, according to a chief economic development promoter.
``We're continually asking for new business, but when we get new business people in here, they have no place to live,'' Bob Henley, the chairman of the county's nine-member economic development board, said Tuesday.
``All the places here in Currituck are rented, and they just stay rented,'' he added. ``We have a lot of young professional people in the county that just can't find a place to rent.''
Henley spoke before the Currituck County Board of Commissioners on Monday evening to support the 44-unit Wild Geese Landing apartment complex proposed for Harbinger.
Laurel Run Management Group in Morehead, Ky., wants to build two- and three-bedroom apartments on 18.4 acres near Griggs Driving Range on U.S. 158.
A marketing study done in May by Woods Research, Inc., of Columbia, S.C., indicated a great need for rental housing in Lower Currituck and northern Dare County.
Some 586 renter households in those two areas would be ``income eligible'' for the apartments, meaning they would earn enough to pay the $415 to $475 monthly rental prices for a unit, according to the study.
The population of the area, known as the Harbinger Trade Area, is expected to jump by 5,056 people between 1994 and 1999, according to the marketing report.
The same area saw its population grow by 12,016 people, or 49 percent, between 1980 and 1990. It has grown another 10 percent in the past four years, the study said.
Rents would average $445 monthly for the brick and vinyl garden-style apartments. Households with annual incomes of between $19,400 and $25,860 would be targeted as potential occupants.
One floor plan includes two-bedroom, 1 1/2 bath units measuring 1,008 square feet. Other apartments would contain an extra bedroom within 1,280 square feet.
Each unit will contain most major appliances, including a dishwasher, and mini-blinds and a walk-in closet, plus a 224-square-foot garage. Other amenities would include use of a clubhouse and ballpark. .
``The proposed rental units should easily be fully absorbed into the market within four months of opening. Once the complex reaches a stabilized occupancy, it should remain 97 to 99 percent occupied,'' the study said.
The entire project is expected to be completed by September 1996.
The development, to be built on land owned by Charles E. Younts Jr., Doris Ann Younts, D. Keith Teague and Penny B. Teague, is being proposed as a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit complex.
The program allows developers to apply for federal tax credits when renting to middle-income tenants, Henley said.
One aspect of the proposed complex that raised some concerns among commissioners was the number of public school students the development would house.
County officials predict that the units, at maximum capacity, would attract 15 new elementary school students, three junior high pupils and nine high school students.
A new high school, twice the size of the current facility, should open at about the same time the apartments would be ready to rent. Other school populations would then shift to provide additional classroom space for junior high and elementary students.
Action on a special-use permit to build Wild Geese Landing could come as soon as Aug. 21. by CNB