Ken Keegan's Blog :: St. James Plantation: December 2011

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Photo from the Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty Christmas Party!

Ken Keegan Real Estate Broker

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Ken Keegan Real Estate Broker

(910) 523-0903 mobile

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Second access sought for St. James at Middleton Boulevard

While Town of St. James officials continue working with neighboring property owners to secure a second access to Middleton Boulevard, that access could also mean development for the Town of Oak Island.

St. James officials hope they will be able to extend St. James Drive about one mile to Middleton Boulevard, near the new Swain's Cut Bridge, providing residents in the southernmost area of town an additional way in and out. To do so, the road would need to extend through property incorporated into the Town of St. James, owned by St. James Plantation LLC, and cross a parcel incorporated into the Town of Oak Island.

That parcel also extends on the other side of Middleton Boulevard, covering much of the southwest quadrant of the Middleton Boulevard-N.C. 211 intersection, and is owned by DWE III LLC and LaDane Enterprises LLC, according to Brunswick County records.

DeCarol Williamson is manager and registered agent of DWE III LLC with the N.C. Secretary of State; LaDane Williamson is listed as the manager, and Paula Buis as the registered agent, of LaDane Enterprises LLC.

St. James town councilors recently said that the Williamson family is seeking permits from the state for access from their property to Middleton Boulevard. Once those permits have been obtained, town councilors will work to secure the easement needed from the Williamsons to cross the property they own on the east side of Middleton Boulevard.

"The access that they are seeking is on the west side of the road, not on the east side," said St. James councilor Bruce Maxwell. "They filed a PUD (planned unit development) to develop that land and they need to have access onto the bridge corridor road in order to make that development work."

Councilors hope to essentially connect St. James Drive to the access the Williamsons are seeking. Maxwell said he could not release maps showing exactly how St. James Drive could be extended until he knew whether the town would be granted an easement to cross the eastern portion of the Williamson land and connect to Middleton Boulevard.

Though it borders the Town of St. James, and the subdivision of St. James Plantation, the property owned by the Williamsons is situated in the Town of Oak Island. Chad Hicks, Oak Island's assistant town manager and town planner, said this week that plans to develop the property were "kind of on hold until the market picks up."

But during discussion about DOT plans to possibly place a square-ramp urban interchange, which is smaller but similar in shape to a cloverleaf, at the intersection of N.C. 211 and Middleton Boulevard, Oak Island town officials referred to both residential and commercial development on the Williamson property. At that time, Oak Island mayor Betty Wallace called the property prime commercial and residential real estate and referred to the property's future tax revenue for the town.

Hicks added, though, that he did not know when development of the property would move forward, and St. James town councilors cautioned that once the Williamsons obtained their permits from the state for access, the town would proceed with negotiations for an easement; if and when that is granted, the town would proceed with pursuing its own permits for the road, which could take up to a year, before beginning construction.

"We've got a long road to go," Maxwell said. "I wish it was something we could get done in a year, year and a half, but there's no way it's going to happen."

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Ken Keegan Real Estate Broker

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

New facilities, fields, trails eyed in $5.2-million Town Creek Park

It’s been “loved to death.” That’s how Jim Pryor explains the wear and tear on Town Creek District Park in the three decades since its development off U.S. 17 at Winnabow, where fanaticism for youth sports and recreation under a tremendous population boom are prompting changes.

“I don’t think all of our renovation plans for parks are going to be as drastic as this one,” Pryor, Brunswick County Parks and Recreation director, said Tuesday.

The previous night, the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners approved unanimously a master plan for redevelopment of the Town Creek District Park. Although the approval didn’t include any spending, the plan calls for nearly $5.2 million in upgrades and altogether new features.

Hosting games for Dixie Youth Baseball and with a steadily used community building, Town Creek’s is the second-most-popular park in the county’s system of 13, according to the county.

After recent public input meetings and a 700-participant survey, planners determined the community most wanted walking trails, a dog park, a modern playground, better ballfields and an expanded community building, the master plan stated.

The planners said also the park, like several others in the county, is not up to date with the Americans With Disabilities Act, primarily because the county developed it before the act’s 1990 creation.

General construction improvements—grading, some demolition, erosion control, cutting the walking trails, new lighting and more—tally $1.2 million in the plan. Improvements marked for the baseball-softball fields come to $1.27 million. Pryor said the plan calls for the relocation of two of the ballfields. Another $1.75 million is requested for soccer field construction, a new “adventure” playground, tennis court renovation, a new basketball court, concessions and restroom facilities and some odds and ends.

“Did you bring a sack of money with you?” county commission chairman Bill Sue quipped Monday night as Pryor and members of the steering committee pitched the improvements.

Brunswick County’s capital improvement plan for next year calls for $1.5 million to implement some of the changes; the rest is up in the air. But the parks and recreation department hopes the master plan will give the county an advantage for funding requests.

“You have to have plans to be able to get grants,” Pryor said. “So we’re going to take the plan and run it through the grant cycle and see if we can get some external funding. And then when we go through the budget year we’ll talk about the capital improvement plan and when we can possibly fit the project in. And that’ll be something that’s up to the commissioners, when we can do it. But having the plan in hand at least allows us to go out and find some grants for different aspects of it all.”

Town Creek District Park topped the Brunswick County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board’s list of parks in need of improvement, and while the list is always subject the change, the latest version considers Waccamaw District Park at Ash and Smithville District Park at Southport next in line.

Original Article

Ken Keegan Real Estate Broker

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Pending Home Sales Jump in October

Pending home sales rose strongly in October and remain above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, surged 10.4 percent to 93.3 in October from 84.5 in September and is 9.2 percent above October 2010 when it stood at 85.5. The data reflects contracts but not closings.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said improved contract activity is a hopeful sign. “Home sales have been plodding along at a sub-par level while interest rates are hovering at record lows and there is a pent-up demand from buyers who normally would have entered the market in recent years. We hope this is indicates more buyers are taking advantage of the excellent affordability conditions,” he said.

“Many consumers are recognizing that home buyers in the past two years have had one of the lowest default rates in history. Moreover, continued inventory declines are another healthy sign for the housing market,” Yun added.

The PHSI in the Northeast surged 17.7 percent to 71.3 in October and is 3.4 percent above October 2010. In the Midwest the index jumped 24.1 percent to 88.7 in October and remains 13.2 percent above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South rose 8.6 percent in October to an index of 99.5 and are 9.7 percent higher than October 2010. In the West the index slipped 0.3 percent to 105.5 in October but is 8.1 percent above a year ago.

“Although contract signings are up, not all contracts lead to closings. Many potential home buyers inadvertently hurt their credit scores and chances of getting a mortgage through easily averted actions, such as cancelling an old credit line while taking on a new one,” Yun said. “Such actions could unwittingly prevent buyers from obtaining a mortgage if their credit score is close the margins of qualifying, or they might get a loan but with less favorable terms.”

NAR encourages consumers to be aware of their credit score and actions which could hurt or enhance it. HouseLogic.com, the association’s consumer website devoted to all aspects of homeownership, offers tips for improving credit scores at http://buyandsell.houselogic.com/articles/7-tips-improving-your-credit/.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Ken Keegan Real Estate Broker

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Whale captured on video outside Masonboro Inlet

Less than two weeks after a great white shark was spotted off Wrightsville Beach, two local fishermen captured a humpback whale on video just outside Masonboro Inlet.

David Plowden shot the video Tuesday while Danny Hieronymus steered Plowden's 30-foot boat, the Topwater.

Hieronymus – who called the encounter his “Sea World adventure” – wasn't sure how big the mammal was, but said it was definitely longer than the boat.

That's typical for an adult humpback whale, which can be between 35 and 52 feet long and weigh up to 40 tons, according to Paul Barrington, director of husbandry and operations at the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

Sightings are somewhat common off the North Carolina coast, said Barrington, who praised the video as “outstanding.”

“Humpbacks are one of the more predominant species of whale found this time of year in our continental shelf waters,” he said. “They are worldwide in distribution and spend most of the winter in the Caribbean, so more than likely, it's in a migration route from the feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine and Iceland, heading down to the Caribbean.”

Whales are easier to spot than some other forms of sea life, as they must broach the surface in order to take in oxygen.

“They're air-breathers,” Barrington said. “They have to come to the surface to breathe.”

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Ken Keegan Real Estate Broker

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