Here we are heading again to summertime. Our view of the economy? Still struggling to right itself under the burden of Federal debt and regulations.
So, we look at each day as two falls out of three, as the expression goes, to make sales.
Seahorse Beach Club, outside of Houston on the Gulf, remains very sluggish due to pricing and the energy retraction in Houston. I'd like to say we have a roaring success at Seahorse, but that's not true. Sales have been like pulling teeth. We still believe in the project and the homes we have built, but buyers have been few and far between and the overall market slow.
On to Marathon Key and Crystal Cottages: Project financing for the Marriott Residence Inn and fractional cottage construction is almost put to bed. The partners have so much equity in the deal that it's almost harder to get the financing we want versus what we might have to take in another scenario.
What about fractions? There have been few successes in the past year, although the assumptions behind the product remain strong. The good news is that as prices for whole homes continue to raise that makes a fractional interest look all the better.
The Florida Keys remain a hot market, so these Gulf-front cottages should be a winner.
This week, our team descends on the Burnt Mill project in Wells, Maine, to get a firm grasp of the marketing and selling issues. We have retained a first-class loan broker to arrange funds for even the golf course (gulp), a tough finance these days.
Other potential deals continue to swarm around us: Sunset Boulevard in LA, Big Bear Lake in Southern California, Telluride, Colorado, and the like. Will any come to pass? It's a combination of time and energy, and of course money.
Star has redone its website, so take a look: www.starresortgroup.com.
