Plans are back on track for a long-awaited new village in Buckeye Lake.
Snug Harbor, a resort-style waterfront village, is set to be open for business May 1. That’s when sales commence and when the neighborhood website goes online.
The development is coming at an important time given the central Ohio real estate market, says Michael Mahon, president of HER Realtors.
“Right now, new builds are the one thing we need more than probably anything else,” Mahon says.
Photo by Scott Cunningham
There’s pent-up demand for new builds as the country continues its recovery from the recession, but overall inventory is at historic lows, Mahon says, and builders are having trouble keeping up with demand. Not only do interest rates remain low, he says, but the Columbus area is seeing an influx of new residents as jobs are created.
“What we’re finding is people are looking to take advantage of homeownership, and that demand has led to an economic opportunity,” says Mahon. “As soon as properties are going on the market, they’re immediately going into contract, or we have multiple offers.”
Buckeye Lake is an area ripe for development, says Mahon, whose brokerage is one of only a few with offices on the lake. After difficulties last year due to problems with the dam, the market has improved as news on the dam’s repair has improved.
“We are truly seeing the market values starting to rebound, and people becoming refreshed and renewed as the economy is growing,” he says. “We’re looking at a number of people wanting to take advantage of Buckeye Lake being one of the few places in central Ohio where you can actually purchase waterfront property.”
Initial offerings will be available at significant discounts not seen before at Buckeye Lake, says Snug Harbor developer Marty Finta, characterizing it as a “once in your lifetime opportunity.”
“Our family has significant holdings in Snug Harbor with no debt, and we look forward to working with Bridge Street Firehouse Investments, the mortgage holder of other Snug Harbor land holdings, to bring Snug Harbor to market in spring 2016,” says Finta.
Snug Harbor offers waterfront homes and cottages, as well as sites for both under a buy-now-build-later program, with up to 100 percent financing available on home sites.
Dublin-based Bridge Street Firehouse Investments LLC owns the note and related debt instruments for Snug Harbor, and is offering financing for home sites there. For buyers ages 62 and up, home loans are also available through the federal HECM program.
Photo courtesy of Buckeye Lake
Snug Harbor at a Glance
Design-wise, Snug Harbor draws inspiration from the architecture of popular coastal and waterfront towns from around the world.
Home options include luxury homes, smaller homes, cottages, condominiums and boathouses, all of them on the waterfront with impressive views of the lake.
The village is divided into districts, each with its own distinct character, though it maintains continuity through open space linkages, green belts, signage and landscape furnishings. More are set to follow, but initial districts are:
- The Wharf, designed to resemble 250-year-old Nova Scotia fishing village Lunenberg. It includes the Boathouse Row and Wharf Cottage condominiums, all with private slips and engineered to look like industrial warehouses, marinas and shops converted for residential use.
- North Shore, consisting of family retreat primary and vacation homes.
- Roberts Reserve, a residential community with primary and vacation homes. It’s named for the landowner from whom the land for Snug Harbor was purchased.
“We look forward to Shoreline Development Group developing the Wharf and various other vertical construction projects,” Finta says.
At the nexus of Snug Harbor is the Town Center, a carefully integrated mixed-use community with outdoor plazas, courtyards, vest pocket parks and a village green.
Photo courtesy of Buckeye Lake
Amenities including a resort club with dining areas, an outdoor pool with cabanas, tennis courts, a basketball court, an open-air pavilion and a yoga garden; retail businesses including restaurants, a coffee shop and bakery, and an old-fashioned ice cream parlor and candy shop; and a variety of public spaces further fill out the community.
“With the sales success of Snug Harbor and the completion of the initial fabric of the village, we expect to add more lifestyle amenities to be added each year to ultimately be a working, operating village pursuant to Snug Harbor's master plan,” says Pete Coratola, president of Shoreline Development Group.
Snug Harbor also emphasizes Buckeye Lake’s inherent amenities, including its natural beauty and 35-minute driving distance from downtown Columbus.
Finta’s son, Marty Finta V, is president of the management company and the Snug Harbor Master Association, which will manage the community.
For a century, Buckeye Lake has been among central Ohio's best-kept residential secrets for a select few. Now, it's being reinvented for a new era.
What the HECM?
Home equity conversion mortgage, or HECM, loans are intended for individuals ages 62 and up.
Through the program, buyers can pay about half the price of a home intended to be a primary residence as a down payment and pay cash for the rest. As a result, there is no monthly mortgage payment. Loan balance and accrued interest become due when the buyer is no longer living in the home.
With most loans, the majority of payments go toward interest, but with HECM, interest is added to the mortgage balance instead.
Getting rid of that regular payment is a huge load off the minds of a lot of homeowners, says Mark Yerke of Retirement Funding Solutions. The Polaris-area company is dedicated to educating consumers on mortgage options, particularly HECM loans.
For a secondary home – e.g., a vacation home on Buckeye Lake – HECM can be used to set up a line of credit against the buyer’s primary residence. Again, there’s no monthly repayment requirement for the borrowed amount, and the loan comes due when the buyer is no longer using the subject property as his or her primary residence.
“Let’s say you’ve got a home in Bexley and it’s worth $500,000,” Yerke says. “If you own it free and clear, you could actually pull about $250,000 out as cash … and put that toward the purchase of a home (or home site) out in Snug Harbor.”
Garth Bishop is managing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
