A 120-acre tract encompassing the headwaters of Flat Run and containing meadows, wetlands and mature hardwood forest has been added to Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

The tract is just north of the CVNWR headquarters and straddles WV32. It appears that the Northlake developers sold it to a conservation entity, which in turn transferred it to the CVNWR. This at least in part seems like more evidence that there are too many lots in Canaan right now.

New family in an old house made new again

Welcome to Nick and Megan Wallace, their two young children, and I think, a labrador retriever. The Wallace's are moving to Davis this weekend from Mt Storm. Nick is an engineer at the power plant and Megan has lived in Davis in earlier years. The Wallace's are evaluating various business ideas for Davis and are excited to be in town. They will be living in the newly renovated Victorian on 4th and Kent. While it is well and good to rent out a property in Davis, it is truly exciting to help bring families to Davis. When we have young children we are interested in the schools, the bus routes, the parks, child care, and other families with children and related community resources. I know, having a 2-year old and a 9-month old! The slow decline of Davis the lumber and mining town over the 1940s-1990s eventually led to fewer young families. The resurgance of Davis as a mountain life style town is inviting families back to Davis, where they find a super-friendly and small community in an aesthetic mountain setting, where plenty of outdoor adventure awaits. More on our new neighbors to come...

Wilderness is advancing on Davis

The Senate took one step closer to passing a bill that would make Dolly Sods North into designated wilderness as part of the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. Also included from the Valley would be the Flat Rock Roarding Plains section south of Dolly Sods.

Here is a map from the WV Wilderness Coalition web site showing the sections to be redesignated as Wilderness: http://www.wvwild.org/WildMonMap.pdf

Here is today's most detailed article I could find on the subject, though more will follow since the vote was only last night. The Campaign for America's Wilderness is one of several organizations allied in the effort to set aside these and other lands across the country. http://www.leaveitwild.org/news/releases/1405

In the Valley there can be found a subset of opions that that I will call unconventional. These are anti-Wilderness views. Close cousins to anti-National Park views. And, yes, there is also a move to consider consolidating public lands in the Valley to create a National Park, though that is years away, if it ever happens. The anti-Wilderness thinking goes something like this: the Federal Government is a bad actor. They encroach on private rights. They say they are here to help and end up restricting our use of the land for fun stuff like ATV's or mountain bikes or horse riding or motocross, or just plain hiking on trails. The anti-wildernss set claims that despite claims that strong protections help the local economy,it actually throttles the local economy by eliminating recreational uses and extractitive uses such as logging and mining.

I'm not sure I agree that the proposed additional Wilderness designations hurt Canaan Valley. I happen to believe that protections are good, so long as we are able to use the land in relatively non-invasive and non-motorized ways. I am an avid mountain biker but I don't want to be allowed to ride just anywhere in our most pristine lands. I want some limited riding in our most pristine lands and I want unlimited riding in more typical lands nearby. The Federal protections discussion is a complex debate and one that has more compromise in its solution than it has winners and losers.

Now let's get down to what's good or bad for Davis and the Valley when it comes to land protections. Long term, it is probably best to add Dolly Sods North as well as Flat Rock Roaring Plains. That said there should be opportunities to traverse them by mountain bike, horseback and skis. To offer a quality lifestyle in the Valley, we do not need recreational networks of mountain bike trails in the pristine heights of Dolly Sods and Flat Rock/Roaring Plains. But we do need that in other nearby, less pristine areas. As an economy, Davis will benefit from these protected designations. With these more subtantial destination parks, the area becomes more nationally recognized as the valuable natural gem that it is. This attracts visitors, but it also attracts home buyers who want to be near pristine and protected lands. If a bigger wilderness grows the Davis economy, how does it do it? Consider the demographic that cares about protected lands and will partially choose to visit or live in the area because of the high Federal protections. These people want a mountain lifestyle for starters. Next, they are choosing a lifestyle location for a business or retirement based partially on the risk that the area's wild areas will be managed well. Being surrounded by thousands of acres owned by Allegheny Power or Pocahantis Land (mining holdings) represents the highest risk to their lifestyle; these guys let nearly anything happen on their land and perpetuate the company town model in Canaan Valley -- I believe these large holdings around Canaan are bad for the economy here because they create a certain lawlessness and inject an uncertainty into the future of the area.

Once lands are protected in a variety of ways depending on the specific lands, we get a portfolio of federal, state and non-profit managed lands that, together, establish the Triple A Rating that says residents can be assured that they are living in an area that won't lose its prized natural assets. People buy homes, retire, open businesses, spend at local businesses and generate an economy. To my mind, the idea that less federal or state protected lands for Canaan equals a stronger economy is misguided. While making designations we do, however, need to be sure we are not choking off forms of recreation and tourism that are appropriate and valuable for the area.

Buying in the Valley - Q&A

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pete,
I have been reading your blog/website for awhile now. Keeping updated on the
progress of the riverwalk and davis. I wanted to ask you about buying real estate in canaan valley.
What is your opinion about real estate in davis/canaan? We are talking to several real estate agents and most of them
say davis/canaan hasn't been affected and what they have listed is the best "deal" in the valley.

We have been looking in canaan more so than davis. The reason being is, that one day we would like to move to davis but want to own a few
rentals properties in the area so that we have some kind of income when we make the move.. We are not sure that
we would be able to find decent paying jobs.

My question to you, i guess is: where would you buy in canaan/davis for around $200K that could be rented to skier and/or use as
vacation rental?

thanks

RESPONSE: when it comes to a $200k home in the Davis/ Canaan area there there are three rental scenarios: 1)short term/vacation; 2) season, 3) long term. For a property at this price point you would get supplemental income only from short term or seasonal rental, if that is ok. Of the 10 or so people I know who own a Canaan house (in the $200-350k area), most or all hate the vaca rental program. The agents take 30%+ and add on all kinds of marked up maintenance expenses caused by renters. They seem to book the properties they feel like booking and my feedback is that they do a poor job of it. You end up with your house run down a bit, alot of annoyance, and not much to show for it.. My sense is that the vaca rental market in the Valley has deteriorated except for a new wave of much higher end properties in prime locations. One other exception seems to be the self-marketers who have web sites and are extremely diligent in self-marketing their homes to repeat users. Unfortunately, there are more casualties on the road to vacation rental success than there are contented owners.

Canaan valley has in fact been affected and will be moreso this year. For example, my friend bought a new home in Tline 4 years ago for $370 and is now going to sell it in the low $300s. Her agent confided that CV is down 20%. Oddly, CV agents don't use the MLS much and don't consistently supply a comprehensive list of comps when you are buying or selling. Traditionally in Canaan, there is a lot of unrealistic overpricing reflected in listings, and there are also many unlisted homes that their owners would sell if they felt the market would absorb them. What you want of course is a seller that is not fishing, and is doing what is necessary to move the house.

Davis has perhaps been affected by a few percentage points, but as you can imagine, a house that would have sold for $85K has not fallen 20% -- perhaps 5 or 10% in Davis but not more, simply because they were already a bargain. Davis has a solid long term rental market with good rent-to-value ratios. A quality $100k house brings about $8,000 net income. As of yet, there really is no short term or seasonal market to speak of in Davis/thomas.

I am not sure if this suits the relocation scenario you contemplate, but consider the concept of two structures or units. A scenario we find very attractive in Davis is the arrangement of a house plus garage apartment, or two houses, a duplex, or a connected pair of structures called a side-by-side. You rent one of them out long term (eg 1 year lease) and either rent the other as vacation or not at all, depending on your schedule. In some cases the renter can be made the caretaker (ie mowing the lawn, watching for problems) for consideration in their rent. This type of scenario can reduce utilities, is easier to keep an eye on, reduces the risk of an isolated but not occupied structure, and includes the option to occupy the entire property in the future. There are full timers looking to rent full time in Canaan as well.

As for what I would do with $200k to buy a rental/vacation/retirement property, the neighborhood is very much a life style decision, but if Canaan or Davis, I would definitely consider a property with two units and rent one out long term.


Pete

PS - if you don't mind I may post this Q&A on the blog without your name...

Homes for the new era

When financing starts to be feasible again and the wounds of the crash are mostly healing, what will people look for in a mountain residence? Well, much of the same things they will seek in an in-town residence: smarter more practical design, lower energy costs, lower maintenance costs, less focus on luxury and more on quality. Energy in-efficient "mcmansion" style houses have high costs of ownership and many will question the value proposition. Large square footage or super-high-ceiling spaces will become more scarce when buyers are not only considering the cost to buy, but the cost to heat and cool as well. Imagine a buyer that insists on knowing the annual kilowatt hour use they should expect!

This article in the Washington Post previews the changes:
Recession Should Change Tastes
By Elizabeth Razzi
Sunday, December 28, 2008; Page F01

What will change specifically for second home buyers in the mountain recreation towns? In touring many western mountain towns over the past few years I've seen many attractive properties that turn a blind eye to the practical matters of snow handling, passive solar opportunity, maintenance cycles required for various materials, and heating costs. These costs -- after all -- were trivial compared to the high values of the homes themselves. Builders were selling to a public that could afford not to consider these costs.

Can we define values in new mountain home construction that transcend the traditional prestige-based notions of good, better and best? In other words, can a design be so fitting for its environment and its owner that it is not judged by level of luxury but by the quality of life it offers? Can we really design structures that have very low ownership costs? If we could, can these designs become a new ideal for ownership rather than a compromise?

Well I'm convinced that one impact the financial implosion will have on the Valley is to make Davis more popular. To the question of 'what do we do now?' the answer may well lie in the details of home design, siting, systems and materials. In addition to the house itself we should look at the cost of maintaining driveway, yard and land. The Total Annual Costs of ownership (not including purchase costs) can include maintenance, gas, electric, water, snow plowing, homeowner's association, cleaning, and lawn care. Who compares total cost of ownership before they buy in Canaan? Sure, they think about it in concept and ask about the HOA fees, but few actually made purchasing decisions with these costs in mind. If homes were to emerge that had radically lower Total Annual Costs, I think they would now find a ready market.

Town or Village living is consistent with the creation of radically lower Total Annual Costs. Because of its compactness and location, Davis offers the best buy in: power, water, sewer, road maintenance, personal auto useage, lawn care. Compare the village life with the artifical "estate home" arrangement of a typical Canaan development -- home after home on it's 2-acre lot with septic or private sewage treatment, a well, a lawn, a big HOA fee. Mountain town life, on the other hand, puts homeowners in a community setting with the ability to walk to grocery, restaurant, or shop -- or to head out on a hike or mountain biking loop without ever starting the car. What's more, many groups or families wish to ride in one car and then do different things on any given day. Having only one vehicle in the driveway is not a problem when so much can be done on foot.

I envision a vibrant town lifestyle at the doorstep of Canaan Valley.

The offset to Annual Costs is to put the property in the vacation rental market. Sharing their home with renters is each owner's decision and can go even further in lowering the bottom-line annual cost. Because mountain homes are often not used full time, it is important for any development to ensure cost-effective and reliable systems for renting the property.

In the conceptual master planning process, we had always thought it important that the Riverwalk structures be cost-effective. What the real estate crash and economic meltdown does is accelerate a shift toward properties designed for energy and cost efficiency, designed to suit a new ethos in mountain home ownership.

What the meltdown will do to the future Riverwalk residence amounts to a big push further in the direction of design and construction for lower total costs of ownership. It is exciting to think that we have the opportunity to define a mountain town lifestyle with Davis Riverwalk, while at the same time offering a solution for the new era in Canaan Valley real estate development.

Blackwater Overlook floorplan - tentative

Designing for our next tenant

I am playing with layouts, materials and systems to finish out the other two suites within the Blackwater Overlook building of Davis Riverwalk. Hypno Coffee is doing well in Suite 1, primarily due to the fact that they are well-conceived and well-run business. Additionally, the attractive and high visibility location has helped them add new customers and keep growing right on through the relocation.

For the remaining space in BW Overlook I'm thinking of one small suite, maybe 325-400sft, and one large space of about 1,100sft. Down the road I think Riverwalk would benefit from having its sales and management office in the smaller space, but we can put a starter business in that space for 2009+.

Financing is a major issue in the market we are living with, and will always be a sanity check on future phases of the project.

"Someone" once said something to the effect of, "what does it matter what the tenant business does as long as they pay rent?" Well, it matters bigtime for Riverwalk because the businesses need to attract residents, weekenders and vacation visitors alike. For example, an appliance repair store may be of interest to residents but is of little interest to weekenders here for some fishing. Conversely, a touristy "made in WV" gift shop may be of interest to a tourist but does not interest the weekender, never mind the local. Granted, each business may lean toward one of these demographic spheres, but I want to make sure Riverwalk has a relevant lineup of tenants so that Davis continues to position as a relevant town to all three groups: residents, second home owner/weekenders, and tourists.

Does the business offer something that will be desirable to the present and future population of Davis and the Valley? Does it attract the people who actually spend money on the goods or services it offers? Does the business take a positive step toward defining what downtown Davis is and will become over the next decade?