Myrtle Beach Real Estate - Hard Rock Theme Park attracting buyers.
Local Real Estate Market Updates.
With all the news about the real estate market slowing down, I thought this was a good positive article for the Myrtle Beach real estate market. Myrtle Beach is adding many new shopping destinations and commercial projects to our area that will only drive the need for new residents and employees. This article demonstrates how the need for commercial real estate has exploded around the new Hard Rock theme park. This theme park is expected to bring in 20,000-30,000 people a day in the peak season, making the land around this property a hot commodity.
Theme park attracts buyers
By JENNY BURNS
Real estate hot on the Grand Strand?
That's not a word used to describe Strand real estate much any more, but commercial agents are calling the land around the budding Hard Rock Park just that.
"Hot, hot, hot. We're probably fetching the highest price in town. People that have the foresight to buy [near Hard Rock Park] today are going to love their lives tomorrow," said Alain Wizman, commercial agent with Prime Coast Realty. "I wish I was one of the guys that knew about this two years ago."
Values for land and redevelopment property around the park have been quickly rising, agents say.
Construction on the 140-acre, $400 million park started a little more than a year ago. The theme park is set to open in the spring.
"This is the hottest spot that I know of in Myrtle Beach right now, except for maybe Market Common," said Craig Dierksheide, commercial agent at Coldwell Banker Chicora.
Dierksheide knows of several major land parcels under contract around the park now, but he wouldn't give details. He says there's a limited number of major parcels still available.
Tenants near the park want to renew leases, but property owners are hesitant as they consider possible use changes for their property, said John Draughn, director of commercial sales and management at Coldwell Banker Chicora.
Wizman estimated land used to sell for about $100,000 an acre before the park announcement, but today it's selling for between $700,000 and $800,000 an acre.
Buyers were waiting until they saw construction starting on the property to buy, and they also wanted to be sure that Hard Rock Park planned to upgrade the property in the long term, he said.
Wizman just sold land at Clay Pond Road and George Bishop Parkway that will soon be a new retail center across from the park's entrance. Developers are planning the 34,000 square feet of retail space to include restaurants, a souvenir store, convenience store and time share office. The center isn't yet named.
The center is renting for high retail prices, about $30 a square foot, Wizman said.
Developers are also looking at land for time shares around the park, he said.
'Househunters' in NMB
HGTV's "Househunters" was in town this weekend completing the story of a North Myrtle Beach couple who they've followed through the home buying process.
Steven and Doris McCarthy, both real estate agents, were followed by "Househunters" in March when they were choosing between three homes in the $350,000 to $450,000 price range. They toured two homes in Barefoot Resort and one in Windy Hill, but settled on one in Barefoot after deciding they needed a home with an office and a hobby room.
"The other homes didn't have an office, but we did like the one in Windy Hill close to the beach," Steven McCarthy said.
HGTV finished its taping of the family Sunday and the show will air in the spring or summer, he said.
Myrtle Beach tourism may get a little boost from the show as well, as the producers took shots of the beach and Hard Rock Park.
Check your wind bill
Homeowners using the wind pool for their wind insurance will start seeing increases after the new rates for renewals went into effect Monday.
The average increase will be 35 percent but the actual increase depends on location and the percentage of your deductible. The state insurance department approved the higher rates this summer, lowering the approved rate to 35 percent from the requested 65 percent.
The increase comes after the wind pool, the state's insurer of last resort, was expanded in March and June this year to ease the difficulty in finding property insurance along the coast.
The last time wind pool rates increased was June 1, 2006, for 4.3 percent. Before that, it was an 11 percent increase July 1, 2003.
Those closer to the coast in zone one - from U.S. 17 Bypass to the ocean - will pay more than those in zone two, which is generally from U.S. 17 Bypass to the waterway.
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Date: Wednesday, October, 3rd 2007 @ 05:47:14 PMViews: 617
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