A new housing development has sprung up where the old Lompoc lumberyard once stood, replacing the rundown facility with freshly landscaped residential yards. The Laurel Crossing development, located at V Street and West Laurel Avenue, is a private, gated residential community that will ultimately contain 75 houses, varying in size from 1,100 to 2,000 square-feet and offering four different floor plans.
The prices of these single-family homes, which are being built in three phases, range from $154,900 to $269,000. Phase one is complete, with homes ready to move in to, while construction of phase two is just getting underway. In addition, 11 of the houses have been designated as “affordable housing,” meaning buyers who qualify as very low-, low-, or moderate-income are eligible for lower pricing through the city of Lompoc’s affordable housing program.
Buyers in today’s housing market are rightly concerned that prices might not have hit bottom yet, so many are watching the market and waiting to see if prices continue to fall. In the case of Laurel Crossing, buyers can be reassured about the homes holding their value.
According to Chris Hawkins, sales manager for Laurel Crossing, “With minimum or 0 percent down financing, with or without a Veterans Administration loan, the total payment for these homes ends up being less than it would cost to rent one. The rental value is actually higher than the purchase value, and that is very rare. Someone can buy the home knowing that they could rent it out for more than their monthly payments.”
His figure includes principal and interest payments, fire and property insurance, property taxes, and monthly homeowners’ association fees. The home that is listed at $154,900, for example, would have a monthly cost of about $1,100.
The layout of the Laurel Crossing community is unique in that every home backs up to one of four community parks, so when you go through your back gate, you’re in the park. The parks will include amenities such as gazebos, playgrounds, pathways, and benches. In addition to the four parks, the development will include landscaping of front and side yards and along roadways. Maintenance of the parks, landscaping, and yards will be handled by the homeowners’ association, guaranteeing that all landscaping—even your neighbors’—will remain irrigated, maintained, and visually pleasing.
The development, originally called CrownRoyal, was started in 2005 by another developer, when the housing market was a much different landscape than it is today; the pre-sale housing prices were $100,000 more than the current prices. West Pointe Homes bought the project out of foreclosure and began the painstaking process of creating an affordable, unique, attractive development with high-quality interior elements that would provide area residents with homeownership opportunities and lasting value for years to come.
The Laurel Crossing sales office is open daily. For more information, or to make an appointment for a tour, call 736-2500.
Highlights
• Dickey’s Barbecue, a nationwide barbecue restaurant chain with more than 200 locations in 36 states, is now open in Santa Maria.
Local franchise owner Christy Bagby will manage the daily operations of the store, which opened on Jan. 31, with her business partner, Jim Bailey, Jr.
The restaurant offers signature meats, home-style sides, and tangy barbecue sauce. The first Dickey’s Barbecue Pit opened in 1941 in Dallas, Texas, and the company began franchising in 1994.
Dickey’s is located at 2212 S. Bradley Road, Suite D-3, in the Wal-Mart shopping center.
For more information, including a full menu, visit dickeys.com.
• The Hitching Post II in Buellton is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special celebration menu of signature dishes until Feb. 12.
For $25, patrons can savor a three-course meal of classic Hitching Post entrees like prime flatiron steak, natural turkey steak, smoked pork chops, or grilled market-fresh fish, served with soup or salad and house-made hot apple sundae.
Also available for $25 is a limited edition pinot noir, “Twenty Fifth,” crafted especially for the anniversary by Grey Hartley and restaurant owner Frank Ostini.
The Hitching Post II is located in Buellton at 406 E. Highway 246.
For more information, call 688-0676 or visit hitchingpost2.com.
Intern Pamella Wood wrote this week’s Spotlight. Highlights is compiled by Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas. Send items for consideration to jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 9-16, 2012.