Withers Preserve, a walkable community coming to the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, will be the first in the nation to use General Electric’s new Ecomagination products - a line of appliances that save water and energy.

• Each home will save at least 20 percent on energy costs and on indoor water consumption. A control panel on the wall will let homeowners monitor how much water and energy they’re using.

• The eco-friendly appliances - including dishwashers, refrigerators and washers and dryers - come standard in the houses, and at least half of the indoor and outdoor lights will use lamps that use up to 75 percent less electricity than standard incandescent lighting.

• Solar panels will be an option in the homes, and homeowners can get financial incentives from GE Mortgage for purchasing a green home. The first phase of 60 single-family homes at Withers Preserve are selling for $500,000 to $600,000.

The 900-acre neighborhood of single-family homes, townhomes and condos will be within walking distance of shops and restaurants at The Market Common. Model houses are under construction.

Developer Robert O’Neel will join GE officials and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles on Thursday to announce the deal. The event will broadcast live in Myrtle Beach at the Withers Preserve sales center at 2 p.m.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC

For more information on Withers Preserve – prices, availability, timing – contact Barbara Chartier by phone: 843-902-0204, or email: Barbara.Chartier@century21.com.

Centex Homes Myrtle Beach Division was recently spotlighted in the December 2006 issue of US Airways Magazine. Centex Homes was one of just two homebuilders in the segment, “Home is Where The Beach Is.”

Centex Homes is the largest home builder along the Grand Strand and is the primary developer of Barefoot Resort and Golf. Barefoot Resort, a 2,300-acre master planned community located in the heart of North Myrtle Beach, has been named one of “America’s 100 Best Master-Planned Communities” by Where To Retire magazine.

Barefoot Resort’s Davis Love III golf course is one of 20 new courses added to GOLF Magazine’s 2006-2007 list of the “Top 100 You Can Play” which is published in the September issue of the publication.

Centex Homes is the largest and most respected home builder along the Grand Strand, with 32 neighborhoods from Brunswick County, N.C., to Georgetown County, S.C.

For information on current “Best Buys” at Centex Myrtle Beach, contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204

Developers are breaking ground Friday on what they describe as a healthy living, calming, lavish resort in North Myrtle Beach called North Beach Plantation.

• The “destination” spa at North Beach will have a meditation garden, rooms for Pilates and yoga and world-class decor and services.

Experts say the project will be a new - and needed - tourism and real estate amenity.

• “It may cause people to come here instead of go someplace else,” said Tom Maeser, president of the Fortune Academy of Real Estate. “The challenge is that it must be competitive with other spa resorts. There’s lots of demand for that. It’s very popular especially with baby boomers who are going to the Bahamas and Paradise Island for spa resorts.”

The resort spans 60 acres from U.S. 17 to the ocean - formerly the Barefoot Campground.

• When completed in five years, the resort will hold 800 dwelling units and 70,000 square feet of commercial space.

The economic impact of the resort will be substantial.

• A study by Coastal Carolina University for the city of North Myrtle Beach says North Beach Plantation will bring $1.5 million to the city’s budget annually.

• The project will increase Horry County’s total employment by 1,900 jobs.

• The report estimates North Beach Plantation’s total economic impact will be $1 billion.

Construction has begun on the twin, oceanfront North Beach Towers that will be built in classic Georgian architecture.

• Two arches will connect the 18-story towers - the upper arch on the 13th and 14th floors will have a two-story upscale restaurant and piano bar with views of the ocean and marsh.

• The lower arch on the third floor will have a breakfast and lunch restaurant.

The remaining 53 acres will be mostly single-family with some condominiums for spa guests nestled around the live oak trees.

• The resort will feature an upscale fitness center with a 4½-mile walking path around the resort with exercise stations.

• A village center, called The Exchange, will have boutiques, restaurants, retail and office space with condominium living above… with no vehicular traffic.

• A plantation home will be built at the front of the property with the spa and fitness center as a “grand reception hall” for check-in… all open to the public.

• A chapel to be built on the property will use doors and pews from an 1800’s English chapel.

The towers, retail, spa and fitness center will be completed in two years. The first homes sold - which will be released for sale within six months - will be ready to move in by next year.

• Home buyers will be able to catch a shuttle from their home to the beach and can use all six oceanfront pools in the towers, which will offer private cabanas, and pools for kids or pools for a relaxing afternoon.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC

For more information on North Beach Plantation prices and availablitly, contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204.

The long-awaited Market Common groundbreaking is Thursday for local leaders - and the event has out-of-state investors eyeing land on and around the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base for development.

Market Common, Myrtle Beach’s planned urban village, will bring 181 rental apartments, 1,441 townhomes and condominiums, and 600,000 square feet of high-end retail and restaurant space to the south end.

Developer McCaffery Interests is already moving dirt.

Commercial Realtors who’ve been handling the sale of the base land say the word is out on the prime land around what many say will be the future “downtown” of Myrtle Beach.

Investors are looking at land near the back gate along U.S. 17 Bypass and along U.S. 17 Business for residential and commercial development, said Gary Roberts, vice president of commercial and investment for Coldwell Banker Chicora.

“People are looking with anticipation of 15,000 people living at Withers Preserve and Market Common,” Roberts said.

Roberts has noticed a significant number of calls coming from New Jersey and Detroit, saying a depressed auto industry in Michigan has investors looking out of state.

He said Wall Street investors are also involved in surrounding projects.

“What we need is more local involvement in developing the property, and we still have opportunities,” Roberts said.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle beach, SC

After initially approving the redevelopment of about 3.57 acres of land in the Cherry Grove area, the North Myrtle Beach City Council tabled the proposed “Towers on the Grove” project Monday because one of its parking decks does not meet city code.

Developers have proposed tearing down the Cherry Grove Manor and the Springs Towers on North Ocean Boulevard between 21st and 23rd avenues North to build two oceanfront towers for multi-family resort accommodations, two second-row parking decks with ground-floor commercial space, and one third-row parking deck.

But city planners have realized that the planned parking deck on the third row does not meet the city’s requirement that it be within 300 feet of a principal site. The parking deck needs to be redesigned to meet city code, Planning Director Doug Maddock said.

Developers were surprised about the problem Monday and said they were not sure how they would resolve it. They requested time and direction from the staff and council on what to do.

The council has tabled the ordinance for 90 days at the developer’s request, which means the project will not come back before the council until Jan. 8 for a final vote.

In addition, the council has approved changing a sunset clause in another ordinance that says that, if the project is not approved within six months of passage of the ordinance, the city would be blocked from receiving an oceanfront public beach access park that the developers would give the city. That ordinance was passed in April. The council extended the clause for 90 days.

Source: Janelle Frost, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach

The Riviera will offer 116 large, luxury units on seven and half acres in a residential resort that will not allow rentals of less than one year.

• Located between 77th and 79th avenues North, west of Ocean Boulevard, The Riviera will offer large units (1,800 square feet to 4,962 square feet) designed for luxury, permanent living and priced from $800,000 to $2.5 million.

• The Riviera will offer amenities seen in few previous developments - private cabanas, individually owned garages and private elevators that take owners directly into their units. The rooms have ocean views from the third floor up with a single-family home development between it and the ocean.

• The resort will have formal gardens, singing fountains, two acres of pools, and live oaks will be left throughout the property.

The Riviera is tailored for wealthy baby-boomer buyers looking for a permanent luxury home near the ocean with little upkeep. The project is an example of how new construction on the Grand Strand is moving toward larger, permanent units to balance the glut of rental units on the market.

• Tom Maeser, market analyst and president of the Fortune Academy of Real Estate, said the market is right for an off-ocean permanent homeowner luxury resort.

• “The market has indeed changed. I think their timing is now probably pretty good,” Maeser said.

There has been so much demand for The Riviera that a drawing will be held on Oct. 14 where buyers’ numbers will be pulled from a hopper to pick their unit.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach

For More Information – contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204.

Bay Tree Golf Plantation’s three golf courses will soon become a neighborhood village as Centex Homes released its plans to build 900 homes including a town center, six-acre park and outdoor ampitheater.

The Grand Strand’s largest builder will break ground in January on the development, now called RiverGrand.

The 529-acre property will be redeveloped in the architecture of the College of Charleston and include a retirement center and shopping center, developers said at a press conference annoucing its plans.

Small retail like specialty shops and eateries will line the first floor of the town center at RiverGrand. Condos will line the top floors, with 500 multi-family units surrounding the center and 900 single family homes.

“We are going to build something that is totally new for the Little River area,” said Ken Balogh, Myrtle Beach division president for Centex Homes. “In fact, there is nothing else like it in this part of Horry County.”

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC

For more information on RiverGrand, contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204.

A slower condominium market has oceanfront condo developers offering some big savings - such as covering the cost of owning for two years or cutting payment costs by lowering interest rates.

Buyers at Calypso Keyes in North Myrtle Beach, a new 14-story oceanfront resort, can get their mortgage and homeowners association fees paid for through a two-year “developer leaseback” program.

• Developer Keye Communities will lease the unit from the owner, paying the mortgage and HOA fees for two years and earning any rental income the unit makes - unless that rental income outweighs the payments and then the profit goes to the owner.

• Since the building won’t be built for a year and a half, buyers basically have “no cost on the investment for three and a half years,” said Russ Baltzer, a partner in Keye Communities.

• The leaseback is only offered at a special event on Sept. 30 for 35 units. Developers say they have sold more than half of the 109 units in the building.

The developer of conversion Coral Beach Resort, 1105 S. Ocean Blvd., is offering a “buy-down” with a 4.875 interest rate for a 30-year term with Investor’s Mortgage Company.

• The company will lend up to 90 percent of the purchase price. The interest rate is fixed for the first three years.

Developers at the oceanfront Tides and Driftwood buildings, which is part of the Sea Mist redevelopment in Myrtle Beach, are offering a similar 4.875 percent financing through Investor’s Mortgage on a 30-year term with the first three years interest rate fixed.

• The mortgage company will lend up to 90 percent of the purchase price, which means a 10 percent down payment.

• With the buy down, investors are paying a lower rate than the national average 5.93 percent for a primary residence mortgage, he said.

Bottom line, total out of pocket costs are minimized with a below market interest rate with actual costs predictable for the first three years. This takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the equation that a buyer typically sees with an adjustable rate program.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach

For more information on Oceancront buyer incentives, contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204.

Myrtle Beach’s big builders are offering big incentives to sell their oversupply of homes this summer. Buyers can get 4.25 percent financing, no payments until 2007 or free homeowners association fees for a year.

The deals are aimed at making cautious buyers during this real estate slowdown take the plunge and purchase. The payoff is in lower monthly payments and less upfront cash to get into a new home.

Incentive summary

• Centex Homes
4.25 percent financing on spec homes
$3,000 to $9,000 in HOA fees at several multifamily properties

• Lennar
No payments until 2007 in Brighton Woods
No closing costs

• D.R. Horton
5.875 percent financing with a 30-year fixed rate
Free HOA fees for a year at two multifamily properties

• Portrait Homes
Free HOA fees for a year and up to $2,000 in closing costs

• Ryland Homes
4.99 percent financing, a free bonus room and $15,000 in design options in Creekhaven at Prince Creek

• Independent Builders Development (local builders)
Financing starting at 4.75 percent in Sommerset Cove at The Gates, Tiger Grand, Bucksville Oaks and Southborough

Excess inventories

Some builders are seeing up-ticks in cancellations compared to last year, especially in condos. The single-family market is also taking a hit, but has seen fewer cancellations and has less excess inventory.

Builders are not only competing with each other, but with ballooning inventory. In the second quarter, condo inventory nearly doubled over last year and home inventory jumped 50 percent, according to the Multiple Listing Service for Horry and Georgetown counties.

The flurry of incentives is making it difficult for the Strand’s smaller local builders to compete. To fight back, one group has teamed up to offer a “buy down” - or lower interest rate - like the national builders.

Buyers benefit

Builders can also offer large incentives that homeowners trying to sell their home can’t, said Tom Maeser, president of Fortune Academy of Real Estate.

But such savings - which will be common as the buyers market continues - should be passed on to the consumer, not given to the real estate agent.

“These incentives should be providing discounts to buyers because they are the ones being impacted with the higher interest rates,” he said.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC

For your best buyer incentives: call Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204.

Pre-construction reservations are now being taken for Balmoral, the first neighborhood within Withers Preserve - a single-family-home community. Homes will have three or four bedrooms and ground-floor master bedrooms, exterior porches and double garages.

Withers Preserve is a 560-acre project with 1,950 residential lots on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base.

There are also 70 acres zoned for commercial use, including 450,000 square feet of retail space, 300,000 square feet of office space and three hotels.

For more information, or to make a reservation, contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204.

Source: The Sun News, Myrtle Beach

The all-new Towers on the Grove Resort, located on 500 feet of oceanfront coastline in the Cherry Grove section of North Myrtle Beach, replaces the long-time family favorite Cherry Grove Manor.

Towers on the Grove will blend contemporary glass styling with stunning art deco flourishes in two twin towers, bringing an exciting facelift to this area of the Grand Strand. Deluxe amenities planned for the resort include indoor and outdoor pools, a tropical pool deck, a lazy river, a restaurant, lounge, fitness and media rooms.

Phase One is now pre-selling, offering purchasers an array of 11 different floor plans with exceptional pricing points. Designed in efficiency, one, two or three bedroom configurations, the condos offer either oceanfront or boulevard views. The completely appointed units feature private balconies, full kitchens, high-speed Internet access, and a designer furniture package.

Source: prnews

For more information and reservations, contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204.

Centex Homes Myrtle Beach Division has unveiled five new single-family neighborhoods at Barefoot Resort & Golf - a 2,300-acre master planned community located in the heart of North Myrtle Beach.

• Sweetbriar homes begin in the $200s.

• Parkhill features 3-bedroom patio homes that are available from the $300s

• Brookstone offers 2-and 3-bedroom homes ranging from 1,398 to 1,720 square feet that are available from the $300s.

• Longbridge runs in the $400s and has 3-and 4-bedroom floor plans from 1,839 to 2,715 square feet.

• Oak Pointe includes homes beginning in the $400s with plans ranging from 1,840 to 2,721 square feet.

Source: Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC

For more information contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204.

Centex Homes Myrtle Beach Division is introducing Heritage Preserve, a subdivision off S.C. 90 near the Waccamaw River between Conway and Myrtle Beach.

Heritage offers single-family homes, luxury estate homes and home sites with lake and wooded views.

Amenities will include a club, pool, fitness center and observation area overlooking the neighboring Heritage Land Trust.

Prices range from low $200Ks to high $400Ks.

For more information: contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204.

RWO Acquisitions, a development company based in New York City, received zoning approval from the city of Myrtle Beach to move forward with its development, Withers Preserve at the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base.

The new urbanism community will have 1,950 homes and 70 acres for commercial use.

That includes 450,000 square feet of retail space, 300,000 square feet of office space and three hotels. The community will be an inter-connected series of Lowcountry neighborhoods.

Source: Staff Reports, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC

Withers Preserve: For more information contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204

North Beach Plantation’s new video, using graphic animation, brings this magnificent, oceanfront development to life. Give it a few seconds to load… it’s well worth the wait.

The new video offers a sweeping “helicopter view” of the North Beach twin towers connected by two arches with breathtaking views of the Atlantic. You can even hear the seagulls.

The North Beach Tower’s upper arch at the 14th floor will contain a two-story restaurant/bar over-looking the ocean through a spectacular 2-½ acre Caribbean waterpark featuring an unprecedented array of water amenities including outdoor fountains, swimming pools, spas, lazy river and swim-up pool bar.

Oceanfront condos ~ each with a magnificent view ~ are still available for real estate investment at North Beach Towers.

For more information (availability & prices) contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204.