Many believe 2008 and 2009 will be considered two of the most difficult years in recent U.S. economic history. This notion has affected all of us in one way or another.

Fortunately, you – our homeowners, and our team’s passion to keep Seabrook moving forward, have created one of the most resilient second-home/vacation markets in the United States.  Here is a quick recap of how we did in 2009 and why the future looks very bright for our beach town.

Seabrook Sales:

Even with second homes becoming less of a priority nationally, we found that there were still a lot of people dreaming of owning a beach house with record traffic in our sales office.  While the interest remained high, potential buyers were definitely looking for smaller second homes than past years.  Seabrook, however, has always planned on having a large variety of home types and price points. This made it easier for us to create properties that would be attractive even in a challenging economy. The shift in consumer preference led us to create the Beach Camp and now Lily Walk neighborhoods. These new cottages allowed us to offer smaller homes at a price point from $200-$400k – something that was unavailable prior to 2008. Due to their great value, these homes ignited a sales spree that started in August and has yet to let up.  In 2010, we have sold 5 new homes which has already put us a little ahead of our goals for the year. Here is the sales recap of 2009:

Seabrook Vacation Market:

Northwest vacation markets like the San Juan Islands, Lake Chelan, the Oregon Coast, & the Washington Coast were down about 30% overall.  Seabrook, however, was able to totally reverse this number. As people stayed closer to home and traveled less, Seabrook’s vacation market grew +30% with individual occupancy down only 7% overall! Plus, 2010 is already off to a great start!

Swimming Pool:

Unfortunately, our indoor swimming pool is still on hold until further notice.  As much as we want to build the pool, we must also continue to be financially prudent.  Seabrook is currently self-financing all new phases with our own cash.  Scarcity of bank financing has made this the only available option.  Developers who were over extended left banks in a difficult position. Although some projects like Seabrook are performing well, banks are still unable to provide financing. The good news is, we are one of very few developers with extremely low debt and strong cash reserves, leaving us in an even lower leverage position. This has continued to be one of the main reasons homebuyers purchase at Seabrook with confidence.  The pool will be built as soon as financial prudence allows, and we will continue to communicate our progress toward that goal.

We believe 2010 is going to be a great year for Seabrook. Our growing beach town will experience the most visibility to date both locally and nationally, and we are very excited for what the future holds. Game changers like the Coastal Living Magazine Idea House and new business solutions we are integrating for better efficiency will help us maximize the exposure Seabrook will receive in 2010.

Don’t forget to check out the progress of the Coastal Living Ultimate Beach House – it is really coming along nicely.  And, as always, feel free to call or email me with any questions about Seabrook, or anything else that is on your mind.

Cheers,

Casey

A few weeks ago I shared with you the news and details about the 2010 Coastal Living Idea House at Seabrook – the first of several “game changers” that we see driving lots of new visitors, guests, and buyers to Seabrook. The idea house, now exclusively called the Ultimate Beach House, is coming together quite nicely. You can follow the progress in full at the Ultimate Beach House blog which we are updating weekly.

The second game changer to which I would like to introduce you is a new business solution called NAVIS Technologies. The Navis system is a phone system that handles both overflow and after-hours phone calls and inquiries. Its primary objective is to increase our call conversion rate and capture more vacationers. Our staff is receiving extensive training on how to increase closing rates and their performance will be closely monitored by our rental manager. Further, Navis fields both overflow and after-hours calls with live agents equally capable of booking our homes. There will not be a call or inquiry missed thus maximizing our call conversion rate. If you would like to learn more, please take a look at their website at NAVIStechnologies.com.

We are very excited about NAVIS and cannot wait to see the positive impact it has on our vacation rentals program. We’re also working on implementing additional features that we think will improve the Seabrook experience even further. I plan on posting these here on the Homeowners Blog in the near future. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please share them with me here on the blog or feel free to call me or email me.

 

Cheers,

Casey

 

(360) 485-3272
casey@seabrookwa.com

 

We are very pleased to announce that Seabrook, the town you have all helped create, has taken another great leap forward! All the final details and drawings are officially in for Seabrook’s newest neighborhood – Lily Walk!!

Lily Walk is a unique type of neighborhood for Seabrook. Located just east of the South Alder Park, it will consist of 16 homes positioned in a circle-like shape with a grass park in the middle. Many of the homes will enjoy territorial views looking eastward towards a future organic farm. A pedestrian promenade will encircle the neighborhood – a much sought-after feature at our beach town. In addition, just east of South Alder park is the preserve area known as East Alder park which will be outfitted with multiple walking trails.

Six new house plans are being introduced for this part of Seabrook: Bluebell, Primrose, Beach Daisy, Lily, Trillium, & Huckleberry. They all come in different varieties and feature one or two stories with total square footage ranging from 416-1,008 sq.ft. You can see all the details for the houses in the Lily Walk package below.

We are very excited for this new part of Seabrook and there is already a lot of interested generated by the drawings. The clearing has already begun and the project is underway, despite the winter officially settling over the Washington Coast. In the meantime, we have put together a package of all the Lily Walk details for you to look at your own leisure. Here is what all you can find in the PDF binder below:

• Streetscape Rendering
• 19 Home Plan Flyers
• Master Plan Illustrative
• Seabrook Lot Map

The file is pretty big and takes a bit to download, but it is surely worth the wait. To view it, just click on the file below or right-click it and save it on your computer.

 

Lily Walk Binder

 

Some of the home plans are already listed on our website, so you can browse our listings as well to find everything you need about Lily Walk. As always, don’t hesitate to call or email me with any questions about our new neighborhood, or Seabrook in general.

 

Cheers,

Casey

 

Happy New Year everyone!!

I hope you all had a restful holiday season and are geared up for a great year!  As you already know, there is a lot of activity out here on the coast.  Excavators, forklifts, and concrete trucks are dashing around town as we start to build many new homes that were sold in 2009.  The two new phases (Front Street Townhouses and Lily Walk) are progressing very well as we perform our work in-between weather patterns.  We also have several new homeowners who are just moving into their cottages. A big welcome to:

• Ned Anderton & Susan Ingram (Lot 80)
• Erica & Mike Lewis (Lot 84)
• Jason & Marie Dunham (Lot 105)
• Jim Everitt, Mike DeWitt (Lot 113)
• Robert McMahan, Bob Beaumont (Lot 143 & 168)
• Scott & Carolyn Smith (Lot 170)
• Melissa Rourke (Lot 171)
• Alan & Laurajean Welch (Lot 173)
• Anne Simpson (Lot 174)
• Morgan & Bill Miller (Lot 176)

With so much new construction going on, we have hired Terry Howe – a new project manager. Terry has extensive experience in new home construction as well as large commercial projects.  We are very happy to have a project manager with his background as part of our team. Terry took the job because he loves the coast and has been following Seabrook for a while. He can be reached at terry@seabrookwa.com. Jeff Gunderson will still be closely involved with the rest of our construction team.

 

Have a great MLK weekend and hopefully I will see some of you at the beach!

Casey

If you have, now is the time to start taking the next steps. In an effort to meet the growing demand of our owners, guests, and visitors, we are planning our first retail district of shops in the coming year. The retail district will be located just south of the Lil’s Pantry market.

Here is some information you will find useful towards your decision. This year, Seabrook is on pace to rent over 11,000 nights to guests through the cottage rentals business, which equates to about a 50% increase in business over 2008. In addition, we will have a total of 150 owners – a number that will only grow further in the years to come. Seabrook is also becoming a day trip destination for visitors staying in other areas of the coast, or travelers just exploring the Olympic Peninsula. We don’t see this pace slowing down next year, since we will be in the national spot light as we host the Coastal Living “Ultimate Beach House”.

Like other towns Seabrook’s been patterned after, we will be incubating businesses with small retail spaces that can grow over time. This will allow people to start a new business without large capital expenditures as they learn more about their customers’ needs and wants. Nonetheless, anyone starting a new business will need sufficient start-up capital and reserves in order to build a profitable business over time.

Here is how to start the process:

1. If you are interested in learning about how you can be on the ground floor of Seabrook’s first retail district, please fill out this form. This way we can learn more about your plans and ideas.

2. Then, if your business plan fits into our town plans, we can schedule a meeting to discuss your idea in more detail.

3. Deadline for Summer 2010 businesses is February 1, 2010

To all of you savvy entrepreneurs, lock in now on owning a business at Seabrook! Visit our town merchants page for more information, and feel free to contact me at casey@seabrookwa.com with your interests and questions.

Cheers,

Casey

Lily Walk Cottages – We have just broken ground on 19 new cottage lots located just east of Compass Street and South Alder Park. Here is a sneak peak of the lot layout and some of the cottages that will be offered:

Lily Walk Cottages Preview
We will be officially releasing sales information later in the month or early December.

 

Front Street Townhouses – Yes, we are moving our way into our town center with our first 17 townhouses which were purchased by Edge Construction, an outside developer from Seattle. These new urban townhouses will be located just south of Seabrook Avenue behind the Front Street Café. The townhouses are in for final design approval with the Seabrook Architectural Review Committee, ensuring that they will meet our town code and quality standards. We will provide you with more information at the beginning of 2010!

As gusty, coastal winds & heavy winter rains approach, we remind you to please take the necessary steps to “winterize” your Seabrook beach cottage.

 Here are some items to consider:

 Cottage Winterization:

 Exterior:

• Store items that catch wind (wind chimes, flags, flower baskets, birdhouses)
• Store light porch furniture (our winter winds are stronger than you’d think!)
• Stock up on candles, batteries, firewood, & bottled water

Be prepared for electrical outages!

• Clean gutters & drainpipes of obstructions*
• Turn all exterior water faucets to OFF position 

      Interior:

• Set Thermostat at 65° (min.) even when not in use
• Replace heating intake dust filters
• Turn icemaker in freezers to OFF position & dump all ice from bins
• Remove perishable foods from refrigerators & freezers

 Seabrook Cottage Rentals will complete above listed for the homes in the rental program with exception of gutter cleaning*.  If you would like this service performed, please contact the Cottage Rental Office at 360. 276.0265 

Award winning artist and Seabrook owner Arthur Egeli has a special surprise for all of you this weekend! On Saturday, November 14th, Arthur will unveil his latest masterpiece called “Still-Life with Vegetables“ at a Wine & Cheese event hosted by the Lil’s Pantry Market.

The ceremony will begin at 4pm and will also feature additional artwork by the artist. You will not want to miss Arthur’s magnificent display of works at the corner market at Seabrook. Call 360-276-4155 now to RSVP and reserve your place today!

For more info on Arthur and his work, visit his website at www.arthuregeli.com.

 

The Idea House at Seabrook will be exclusively called the 2010 Ultimate Beach House!

Here are the details for the house from Coastal Living Magazine:

Anticipated Exposure for Seabrook

The Coastal Living Ultimate Beach House issue will come out in October of 2010. The magazine will be promoting the “Beach House” throughout 2010 so visitors can make plans in advance of the opening. The article is anticipated to be between 30-40 pages and will not only portray the Idea House, but the community as a whole. The Marketing Representative for Coastal Living has given us inside information that we are on the schedule for a total of 3 different articles. To advertise on 1 page in Coastal Living Magazine would cost upwards of $52,000, so being able to receive 30-40 pages for free is remarkable. This doesn’t include all of the online exposure that will likely spill over to other sites owned by Time Inc. To equate in advertising dollars, this campaign would have a value that could range from $2-4 million dollars depending on the page count and online exposure. PR is considered to have 3-times the value of paid advertising, making this exposure an incredible opportunity for Seabrook. The bottom line is that this house will be the most heavily marketed beach house in America in 2010.

Many of you current owners saw us in Coastal Living Magazine in 2004 in just a two page article. You can only imagine why we are so excited for this kind of exposure. You can check out the 2009 Idea House from the October issue or view it online.

Here is a quick summary of how the whole process will work:

Lot & Architect Selection: Seabrook and Coastal Living Magazine have selected lot 156 of Phase 1A for the home of the 2010 Ultimate Beach House. Lew Oliver has been selected to perform the architectural drawings and has experience with show homes with the Southern Accents Magazine house in Rosemary Beach.

Plans: The plans are now complete, and you can see them in detail by going to the Floor Plans page.

Interior Designer: Lindsay Bierman, Editor of Coastal Living Magazine, handpicked interior designer Tim Clarke of Santa Monica, CA to introduce his take on Pacific NW Coastal Modern. Starting on June 1st, the furnishings will begin to be installed, with completion at the end of the month.

Schedule:

• September 28, 2009 – Ground Breaking
• May 30, 2010 – Completion Date/Staging begins
• Thursday, July 15th – Grand Opening Party Hosted by Coastal Living/Seabrook
• July 15th – House Open to Public for 14 weeks
• October 21st – House is closed to Public

Open House Details: Seabrook will be required to staff the home with a staff manager, who will collect a $10.00 admission fee for touring the home.

We are obviously very excited to have the 2010 Coastal Living Ultimate Beach House at Seabrook and we hope you are too. Let us know of any comments or questions on this whole process!

Over the next month I will be sharing with you several “game changers” for Seabrook.  I call them game changers because each of the events will draw many new visitors, guests, and buyers to Seabrook.  In 2010/2011 we anticipate that Seabrook could have 5 times the exposure of any other previous year.  Many of these game changers have been in the making for several years and the timing couldn’t be better for them to launch all at once.  Each of these events will ensure that our new town continues to move forward and evolve into the town we are all dreaming of.

As you may be aware, Seabrook has been selected for the 2010 Coastal Living Idea House, which will be featured in the magazine issue October of 2010.  We are extremely grateful for this opportunity as it is anticipated to drive thousands of visitors to Seabrook, as well as reach millions of Coastal Living magazine readers.  One of our owners said it best: “it’s like the Olympics for beach houses!”.  Next year, Seabrook will be exposed to millions of new people dreaming of the coast.

Here are some quick stats on Coastal Living Magazine:

• Coastal Living has the most targeted demographic for coastal beach houses
• 3.5 Million monthly readers with an average net worth of $1.5 million
• 4 Million visitors to website per month
• They anticipate more than 15,000 people through the door for the Idea House
• Shelf Life- CL has a long shelf life with readers that tend to hang on to these magazines, so the benefits to Seabrook go way beyond 2010/2011
• Typically they have two idea houses per year. In 2010, we will be the only house

Now that you have a general idea of what Coastal Living Magazine and this Idea House is all about, in my next post I will share with you more details on the house itself…