The Villas at Coast Cottages

The Hamby Corporation announced ground breaking for a new luxury beachside development on St. Simons Island to be known as The Villas at Coast Cottages. Located just south of the Historic Coast Guard Station and adjacent to the highly successful Coast Cottages subdivision, The Villas will be a gated community offering upscale ocean view townhomes priced at $1.1 million and up.

" A gated neighborhood on the beach is something St. Simons has never had before," said Denval Hamby, President and CEO of The Hamby Corporation. "We are creating an exclusive townhome environment that builds upon our experience at Coast Cottages."

Designed by the architectural firm of Summerour & Associates, the Villas will include a maximum of sixteen residences averaging 3,400 square feet of living space per unit. Jaxon Hice Construction is the general contractor for The Villas and will build the units with 4 bedrooms, 4 - 1/2 baths, two living rooms with fireplaces, garage parking, private elevators, private pools, balconies, and a rooftop deck providing 360 degree views of the Atlantic Ocean and other points on St. Simons Island. Amenities will also include full use of a beachside community pool complex and direct access to St. Simons favorite beach area.

Hamby added, "the zoning allows for up to40 condominiums units, which would probably be a more profitable use of the property. But we feel something less densely developed is better for St. Simons Island and more consistent with our Coast Cottages project next door. With frontage on Georgia's most desirable beach, we want to do something very special."

Hamby is well known for his sensible development practices, having recently donated a 1 - 1/2 acre tract of beachfront property valued at $1.9 million to the newly formed St. Simons Land Trust. The gift property will forever form a buffer of natural vegatation between the Hamby developments and the Historic Coast Guard Station.

Mr. Hamby spent most of his career in large scale commercial development before building a residence on St. Simons Island where he vacationed as a boy. He then developed Coast Cottages, a collection of neo-traditional and neo-classical beach homes that have become some of the premier properties on the Georgia coast.

The Villas at Coast Cottages will be marketing to baby boomers who are reaching their peak earning years. "The post World War II generation has begun driving the coastal real estate market by purchasing second homes," says Patrick Anderson, president of Coast Cottages Properties, Inc. who will market the project. "They seem to have a big appetite for prime coastal property, and we are at the leading edge of a real estate trend expecting to last ten to fifteen more years. The Villas is perfectly positioned for these discriminating buyers." Reservations are being taken now for units that will be completed in spring of 2002.

The land was acquired and assembled over a period of several years from three separate ownership groups. It is one of the last developable tracts of any size along the St. Simons shoreline. Of major benefit to the property is a massive sandbar system that protects and nourishes the adjacent beach area. Considered perhaps the largest shoal system on the eastern seaboard, it joins the beach at mid to low tide forming a contiguous sand system stretching several hundred yards into the Atlantic. Pelicans, gulls and other water fowl flock to the area and mingle with beachcombers strolling out to the edge of the sandbar.

Residents will enter The Villas through a canopy of mature oak, cedar and palm trees via Sea Oats Lane, a private road paved in red brick. It begins 1,000 feet from the dune line at Wood Avenue, meanders gently to the East, and finishes in a cul-de-sac near the Atlantic Ocean. Villas along Sea Oats Lane will be named after flowers and plants indigenous to the area such as Coralberry, Day Lily, and Azalea. The entire development plan blends a genuine respect for the existing environment with a neo-traditional neighborhood concept.

Architect Keith Summerour drew inspiration for The Villas during his visits to Georgia's low country. "We stopped at places like Darien, Savannah and Midway and were drawn to details like porthole interior windows, open stairs with custom balusters, wide plank beadboard, pine flooring and multiple balconies," said Summerour. The Villas will also incorporate old brick columns and garden walls, natural wood shingle and lap siding, metal roofing, and a natural to pastel color palette. "Views were of critical importance in the design," he added. "Stairs and elevators give easy access to open, airy living areas, and each unit will have access to it's own private rooftop deck."

Summerour & Associates, with offices in Atlana and St. Simons Island, has recently been involved with several large scale projects. These include the master planning in multiple phases of Ocean Forest, a Sea Island Company development; an exclusive thirty two home development in Antigua; and two private multi-structure estates in the mountains of North Carolina. Mr. Summerour has been published in Architectural Record, The New York Times, Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles, Southern Living, and other publications.

" These structures will be among the strongest and most beautiful on the coast," says Jaxon Hice, president and CEO of Jaxxon Hice Construction. "Plenty of craftsmanship will go into the custom woodworking, cabinetry, fireplaces, window seats and other traditional accents." Mr. Hice has distinguished himself as one of the nation's top luxury home builders and was so recognized by Professional Builder magazine. He also authored The Builder's Book, an Owners Guide To Custom Home Construction. "Our whole company is proud to be a part of this important project," added Hice.

The first unit will be completed in Spring 2002.