As the state of Ohio prepares to raise the water level at Buckeye Lake, a new lakeside community is planning its official opening.
Resort-style waterfront village Snug Harbor is now organizing its major launch event. The date for the launch event, which will be held at Snug Harbor’s Villa di Luce, has yet to be determined.
“We are very excited about the launch of Snug Harbor Village,” says Snug Harbor developer Marty Finta.
Priority reservations for home and cottage sites will be accepted at the invitation-only launch event, which is being implemented due to anticipated demand. That means buyers will get a place in line to choose a site, with priority going to those who register earlier.
“This includes location, build time requirement and priority position pricing on select and limited home sites,” Finta says. “Those who hold a priority position reservation will have the opportunity to select and choose their home site prior to their release to the general public.”
Demand for homes on the south side of Buckeye Lake has been tremendous, says Marnita Swickard, a real estate agent who has been selling in Buckeye Lake for over 20 years. But at present, there’s precious little supply – to the point where Swickard and her colleagues are knocking on residents’ doors, asking if they might be interested in selling.
“We have three to one, buyers over sellers,” she says.
The state’s removal of the docks on the west and north sides – and the lack of details on when they might be replaced – has wrought uncertainty in the housing market on those parts of the lake. And on top of that, the south side has almost no lot availability.
Thus, the anticipated demand for Snug Harbor. It will be the source of some of the only available lots on the south side of Buckeye Lake.
State of the Lake
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources remains on pace to raise the water level at Buckeye Lake in June, as has been planned for months.
“I would imagine that, in early June, the final go-ahead (will be given) that the water level can be raised,” says state Sen. Jay Hottinger of Newark, legislative liaison to ODNR on the Buckeye Lake dam project.
The water level has been lowered since last year, when it was deemed necessary to do it as part of the larger plan to replace the lake’s deteriorating dam. Raising it will mark the end of Phase 1 of the dam replacement project.
What level the water will be raised to has not been officially determined, Hottinger says, but indications are it will be 1 foot below summer pool levels. There is no mechanism to raise the water level artificially, so there will be some time between the announcement and the full raising.
“Once that decision is made, we’re really reliant on Mother Nature to, in June or July, give us some healthy showers or thunderstorms,” says Hottinger.
Due to the strain the lowered lake posed on the community, particularly small businesses, every effort was made to get Phase 1 completed quickly, Hottinger says.
“They’ve been working on seven-day, 24-hour shifts, and it’s really been an incredible sight to see how much work has been done,” he says.
Phase 2 of the replacement project begins as soon as Phase 1 ends, and is expected to take a few years to finish, Hottinger says. Meanwhile, the pace of the dam work has proven encouraging to the community – a positive sign, Hottinger says, as there was a good deal of negativity early on in the process.
“A lot of that cynicism and skepticism has been replaced with a good amount of excitement and optimism,” he says.
The state legislature recently appropriated another $65 million for work on the dam, bringing its total appropriations for the project to about $118 million. Hottinger also worked with Ohio House Rep. Bill Hayes of Harrison Township to get $500,000 for an access point to the lake from Perry County, and the village of Millersport has received a grant of about $150,000 for capital improvement projects related to the lake.
Snug Harbor Districts
The first available sections of Snug Harbor will be the Wharf at Snug Harbor and the North Harbor District.
The Wharf District is designed to resemble the picturesque 250-year-old fishing village of Lunenberg, Nova Scotia. Housing options there are vacation cottages and condominiums.
Boathouse Row, Wharf Cottages and a set of boathouses are set for the Wharf District, designed to emulate large industrial warehouses, marinas and shops converted for residential use. All will offer resort-style amenities with quality exterior and interior finishes, as well as private boathouse slips and docks with all exterior maintenance provided by the condominium association.
North Harbor District home options include primary, luxury and larger vacation homes, offering choices for those seeking family retreats or vacation homes as well as smaller houses for a broader market.
“The architectural style will be eclectic, and all of the homes will be on the waterfront with excellent views,” says Pete Coratola, president of Edgewater Construction at Snug Harbor.
The continued progress of the districts and the Snug Harbor development in general will have a bolstering effect on market confidence in Buckeye Lake, says Dr. Ron Garvey, president and CEO of Snug Harbor investor Bridge Street Firehouse Investments.
Garth Bishop is managing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
Snug Harbor Current Offerings
- Home and cottage sites
- The Cottage Series
- Boathouse Row
- Boathouse Cottage condominiums
- Wharf Cottage condominiums
- Yacht Series homes
For more information about Snug Harbor, visit www.snugharborvillage.com.
