Sunday, April 12, 2009

Tuscan Ridge auction

Besides numerous auctions and short sales of individual lots bought primarily by out of state flippers, there is now going to be an auction of the balance of at least one of the larger tracts of Tuscan. Apparently Melbourne Properties has defaulted on the loan associated with some large portion of Tuscan Ridge. The Parsons Advocate and Charleston Gazette both have articles on the subject and www.wvlegal.com has the notice. Auction is April 27th 11am and the contact person is ellen Cappellanti, 304-340-1277. Why people bought as many lots as they did at twice their highest conceivable comp values I do not know.

Tuscan will sort itself out, perhaps with fewer lots than originally planned, perhaps not completely within the town limits of Davis, perhaps not completely on Davis water and sewer. But Tuscan will sort out at much lower prices per lot/per acre. It should have happened right up front as part of the marketing decision. Instead, Melbourne subdivided the place into micro lots smaller than my lot in very dense Bethesda, Maryland. Fine, if you've got high land values or an urban format. Greedy if you're in the woods of WV. Greed is apparent in most every step of the Tuscan concept, lot sizes, pricing, marketing and financing offers. They deserve everything they get and hopefully it won't inconvenience the Town of Davis too much.

1 comment:

Pete said...

The auction is a single sale and includes about 480 acres, some developed lots, some platted lots and some undefined land, and a 20acre tract with a $M+ lodge. Phase one owners will get the original amenities and covenanents. Outphases can be defined by the new owner. No matter how you slice it, this is good news for Davis because realism is better than hucksterism.