Winter 2019 Real Estate Update
Mother Nature showed her resounding approval for Eagle Point’s admission into the snowmaking club by showering us with 318 inches of snow so far this season. We used the guns a few times early in the season and had a really fun “snow” party one night in early January with our families, employees and some mountain locals. The snowmaking installation also allowed us to transform our terrain park into one that people were whispering as borderline “World Class”. I’ll let Eagle Point’s Facebook and Instagram channels tell the story of the season while I give a strategic overview of the resort area to those of you interested in real estate and other resort developments. Here are five big picture themes at the forefront of our upcoming summer building season.
High speed internet has arrived!
In February, the receiver dish arrived and was installed successfully on a new tower by Skyline Lodge. Since then, guests in the Skyline and Canyonside Lodges have enjoyed free high speed internet allowing them to share their awesome experiences at Eagle Point with friends and check in on life back home. We will spend this summer connecting various condos and cabins with the new service. We installed miles of underground fiber optic cable last summer to the entire base village, Fir Haven and the Aspen Crest and Elk Meadows Estates neighborhoods.
Having a high speed connection has changed my lifestyle already within my condo in Fir Haven. During a recent family trip to Eagle Point, my kids were ecstatic to connect and game seamlessly with their friends back in Michigan after long days spent lapping the terrain park. One really cool upshot of having the new high speed connection is I spend more time checking the new high definition live webcam, especially when it is snowing.
The Twin Homes product line
The first Aspen Crest Twin Home is coming along nicely and is on track for completion late spring/early summer. The building fits nicely into the surrounding landscape and has become a prominent landmark in the area. Next time you ride the Lookout Chair, look left across the highway to see the Twin Home standing proudly among the pine and aspen trees. We are taking reservations for the remaining six units near the first Twin home and four other units directly below the lower Skyline lift terminal (and above the existing Fir Haven condos). The starting price for a unit is $500,000 and customization options are available.
I’m really happy with how the design turned out. I imagined these Twin Homes to be “just right” for a family or group spending time in the mountains, and a great investment opportunity as part of the Eagle Point Property Management Services Program. The views from the living room and master bedrooms are among the best in the entire resort area. The two levels allow parents to ponder life over a hot chocolate or a glass of wine in the open living room plan while the kids chill out in the walk-out lower level where they can watch a movie, play video games or relax in the outdoor hot tub. The two-car garage is key to keeping the snow off of your SUV and storing your favorite mountain toy like an ATV, snowmobile or timbersled. Buyers who don’t have the patience or interest to build a custom home will appreciate the Twin Homes as move-in ready, saving the time and effort involved with new construction allowing all-season memories in the Tushar Mountains to be made sooner.
New home building and construction business
If there is one lesson I have learned in my ten years of doing major projects and improvements in the Eagle Point area, it is that you need an experienced team, the right equipment and local knowledge to get the job right. I’m thankful to have some incredibly talented people on my team already including Shawn “Mongo” Darling and Josh Evans, who together led the installation of the snowmaking system last summer and manage snowmaking and grooming during the winter. Together with Mongo and Josh, I’ve started a new construction and excavation company to offer “dirt work” to the ever-expanding list of new owners in the Eagle Point area. Aspen Equity Construction will offer excavation, landscaping, tree-clearing, snow removal, septic installs, basement digs and various other services which require heavy equipment. I am really excited about this opportunity up here as we enter a golden age of new construction in the area.
The other equally important opportunity is homebuilding. I have also started Aspen Equity Builders which will be a licensed builder and sub-contractor. I have hired a team led by Trent Owen, who has lived at Eagle Point for five years, and has an impressive portfolio of projects in the area. I’m really excited to add these new companies to serve area owners with their building and construction projects.
Eagle Point is an eligible Opportunity Zone
The IRS is in the process of finalizing new regulations that provide attractive tax benefits to certain taxpayers in connection with investments made in eligible Opportunity Zones, essentially areas of the country that the government has targeted for new improvements from investors. The details are beyond the scope of this update, but the important point is that the Eagle Point area is an eligible Opportunity Zone according to the IRS. I’m working on several interesting situations now that are positively affected by this pending tax legislation and will benefit not only Eagle Point but the residents of Beaver County as well. If you have large capital gains (recently realized or unrealized) and are interested in real estate opportunities at Eagle Point, please send me an email to learn more.
Condos are in short supply
One last point on existing condo availability: there remains an extreme shortage of available condos. As of today, there are only two listings: a newly renovated 1 bedroom in Wooded Ridge for $100,000, and a fixer upper 3 bedroom in Holly Ridge for $125,000. If you are looking for a condo at Eagle Point, the best strategy is to let me know when you are ready to buy and I will reach out to owners who may be willing to sell within your budget. Most sales are happening privately without any listing.
Best wishes,
Shane
