Ocean Home magazine is for people who love the luxury oceanfront lifestyle, from home design and decor to world-class beach resorts, villas, hotels, and destinations.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/12143
INSIDER | BUSINESS Must Sea back on course The Kiawah Island Club. Southern Charm Kiawah Island real estate rebounds after a sluggish 2009. After acquiring the luxurious Kiawah Island, South Carolina resort community in 1988, Kiawah Partners chairman/CEO Buddy Darby has seen his fair share of economic downturns. If first quarter real estate sales are any indication, however, it appears that Darby’s 10,000-acre barrier island has bounced back from perhaps the biggest recession of them all. Indeed, through the end of March, Kiawah Island Real Estate recorded $61.5 million dol- lars in residential sales, a 59 percent increase over the first quarter of 2009. The strong first-quarter earnings were fueled by $39.5 million in vacation home sales in March, which exceeded the total sales volume for the entire first quarter of 2009 and represent- ed the biggest month in properties sold (25) since April 2008. The sales keep piling up as another $37 million in properties were under 20 oceanhomemag.com july + august 2010 contract in April with the average price being $1.5 million for single-family homes, villas, and homesites. Darby, whose Kiawah Partners is the master developer of this exclusive island 21 miles from Charleston, credits a literal thaw in the north for Kiawah’s sales bounce. Other factors include a growing confidence in the equity markets, knowledge that Kiawah is backed by a “healthy developer that’s not over-leveraged,” a resort developer who “doesn’t have any debt on his properties,” and a community association holding $14 million in reserves. “People are starting to buy again. Once the snow thawed in the Northeast, they started coming down and we’ve just had a remarkable March and April,” adds Darby. “Anytime there’s a harsh winter we tend to hear people say, ‘I’m done.’” What’s especially refreshing for Darby is the heightened activity in Kiawah’s upper- end homes above $2.5 million (11 were sold through May compared with 14 in all of 2009). “Who knows where this will all end up at the end of the year, but right now we’re hanging 10,” Darby says. “I suspect that this is going to continue.” —Scott Kauffman face lift After a $30 million renovation, the luxurious, all-inclusive Couples Tower Isle (formerly Couples Ocho Rios) on the north coast of Jamaica welcomes guests with a brand new hip and sleek décor. Combining Miami chic with Caribbean casual, the transformed lobby, spa, and 226 guest rooms—including new ocean view suites— feature crisp lines, modern art, and lots of light and airy space. In a nod to its place in history as a hip hangout for the Hollywood elite in the 1950s, the upbeat piano bar showcases fabulous black-and- white photographs of vacationing stars such as Ava Gardner, Errol Flynn, and Lena Horne. Don’t miss the fresh juices and healthy snacks at the open-air Veggie Bar, just steps from the white sand beach. And the scenic “Tower Isle” from which the adults-only resort takes its name? This island is for au naturel sunbathing only. 800-268-7537, couples. com. —Kara Williams true romance Couples Tower Isle.