Given the project’s history, the fact that both leases and nails are being hammered at Camas’ Two Creeks Townhouse development is quite a remarkable feat, according to local real estate agents.
In March, Columbia Credit Union sold the gated community site to Clark Properties East LLC for $3.4 million. The sale pencils out to about $118,000 per townhome on a project that was selling for seven times that amount.
The 20-acre development, with views of the greens at Camas Meadows Golf Club, became the property of Columbia Credit Union after One Pacific Corp., owned by Rick Bowler and his late wife, Marilee Thompson, lost the property to foreclosure in 2008, at the height of the recession. At the time, more than $21.9 million was owed on the project. Bowler, whose wife died in March, declined to comment on the project, saying only that he and Thomson were disappointed with the way the assets were handled.
The project was originally envisioned as a high-end development, with luxury townhomes selling anywhere from $750,000 to $825,000. But the 122-townhome project, which was planned to include amenities such as a pool, Jacuzzi and tennis courts, skidded to a halt just as the first phase was being sold in 2006. By 2008, Columbia Credit Union took possession of the property, which had 10 finished townhomes, 19 nearly completed homes and four building pads.
Rather than sell the townhomes, Clark Properties East LLC is now offering them for lease. A call to the company was not returned by press time. However, according to a sign near the development, the townhomes are leasing for $1,750 to $2,250 per unit.
Work crews at the development are currently finishing construction, and a planning sign in the construction foreman’s office indicates that October 12, 2011 is the targeted completion date. A crater marks the spot for a swimming pool next to the unfinished clubhouse. But even without the amenities, residents have moved in to completed townhomes, where backyard grills and trash containers mark the flow of everyday life.
Local residential real estate agents said the sale and forward momentum of the stalled project is good news for the area’s real estate market.
“It takes additional units out of the inventory,” said Vicki Glasow, president-elect of the Clark County Association of Realtors.
In a real estate environment where properties can sit on the market for months, local agents said the successful completion of a stalled project like Two Creeks creates high-end rental units and generates income, rather than inventory. In addition, they said one-time homeowners, who took economic hits and lost their homes to foreclosure, need a place that they can rent.
“We’re seeing this all over town,” said Dale Chumbley, a real estate agent with Prudential NW Properties, of the move to lease condo units, rather than sell them.
With many one-time homeowners sitting on the purchasing sidelines while they repair damaged credit, and first-time homebuyers contemplating instead of buying, local real estate agents predict the residential rental market will get stronger. And with the finalizing of projects like Two Creeks, which lingered for nearly five years, agents said we may be witnessing the next real estate wave in an economic recovery.
“It is better to generate some income than to sit vacant,” said Glasow.
