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Tuesday, Apr. 13, 1999

Island townhome sales skyrocket for broker

Guernsey says low-maintenance homes are popular with older buyers, vacationers

By ANDREA JARES
Staff Writer

   Broker Gene Guernsey's favorite word has four letters: S-O-L-D.
   After selling 75 of 86 townhomes on north Padre Island, it's a word he has heard a lot during the past four years.
   Guernsey, broker with ERA Windward Properties and who started The Apartment Store 14 years ago, sold six townhomes on Grass Cay Court before the framing went up recently.
   He said townhomes increase in popularity as the population ages and buyers want a home they don't have to worry about after they lock the door for vacation.
   "As the population is getting older, they want a low-maintenance area," he said.
   Guernsey believes there are three types of homebuyers looking for his waterfront property: the busy business professional, empty-nesters and second-home buyers.
   He said he does not have many people looking to buy the townhomes specifically as an investment, but the property fares well on the resale market. Guernsey said he sold a four-bedroom townhome to a biomedical engineer who turned around and sold the house 12 days later for $10,000 more.
   The homes cost around $112,000 for a 1,555-square-foot townhome on Gun Cay Court or $134,900 for the townhomes at Grass Cay Court that Guernsey just sold.
   Most of the townhomes are variations of a basic floorplan, and are located just off the main canal.
   With townhomes, the buyer owns the land below the unit and the walls. With a condominium, the owner owns the airspace contained within the walls and floor of the property.
   Townhomes are easier to finance. Townhomes can be purchased with less of a down payment and are eligible for VA financing.
   Guernsey said selling these types of houses is like selling a lifestyle.
   "And it's a lifestyle you'll enjoy," he said. "The cost for that lifestyle is $110,000."
   

Homestyle hotel

   The Curbow family, which has been in construction for 40 years, is branching into the hotel business this year. The first of their planned Plantation Suites locations is two miles south of Port Aransas at 1909 State Highway 361.
   Shane and Melissa Curbow, who have homes in San Antonio and Corpus Christi, expect the development to be completed in late June. Melissa Curbow said the 50-suite hotel will have a homey, Victorian feel, with touches such as four-poster beds.
   The furnishings are "something you'd find in a house, not a motel," she said.
   The hotel will also have modern amenities such as Internet hookups in each room and a 150-person-capacity conference center.
   Melissa Curbow said her family saw a need for additional hotel space on the island when they visited the Port Aransas area.
   "We love it down here," she said.
   Plans for additional hotels are in discussion, she said.
   

Softball field half done

   Maltby Builders Inc. is more than half finished with a girls' softball field for the Calallen Independent School District, said Ronny Mull, director of maintenance operations for the district.
   The new softball field, at 4502 Wildcat Drive, will include seating for 300 fans, restrooms, concession stands, press box and concrete dugouts.
   Mull said the new softball field will cut down on the travel time to team practices. Teams now use a field four miles away, he said.
   The softball field is expected to be completed in June and will cost about $350,000.
   Haas-Anderson Construction Inc. did the dirtwork.
   "It will be a class A facility when it is ready to use next year," Mull said.
   Business writer Andrea Jares can be reached at 886-3678 or by e-mail at jaresa@caller.com. On Real Estate is published in the business section every other Tuesday. Items for consideration can be faxed to 886-3732.

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  © 1999 Corpus Christi Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.