|
White City housing catches on
Four-year-old cousins Dakota Stout, left, and Molly Hildreth play in the street outside Molly's home in Clear Sky Estates in White City. The housing development's success has encouraged its developer to build another one. Second subdivision planned By DANI DODGE WHITE CITY -- Twenty-five-year-old Travis Hildreth had lived in Central Point all his life. He thought he always would. Until this summer, that is. That's when Hildreth and his wife decided to buy their first home. "We looked at a lot of places in Central Point, but didn't find anything we liked for the money we wanted to spend," said Hildreth, a helicopter mechanic. His mother urged him to check out a new White City development called Clear Sky Estates off of Falcon and 25th streets. But he hesitated. He'd grown up scorning the unincorporated area with more than its share of crime, poverty, and mobile homes. He and his buddies used to call the place "Felony Flats." He looked anyway. "I walked into the model and said, `I love it,"' Hildreth said. In August, he moved his wife and 4-year-old daughter into their new home, a 1,200-square-foot beige-and-white abode at the corner of 25th Street and Avenue E in White City. For $105,000 he got a three-bedroom, two-bath house with all the appliances. And automatic sprinklers to water the grass already growing in the front yard. It's even on the edge of a future park. "I like everything about it," Hildreth said. Hildreth isn't alone. Since Clear Sky Estates broke ground in March 1999, 50 of the 56 lots under construction have sold for between $89,000 and $112,500. Such success has spurred developer Dave Freel to propose another new subdivision in White City. Clear Sky's quick sales -- a year and a half faster than bankers anticipated -- impress even real estate agents not associated with the development. "Selling 50 out of 56 homes is a fairly dynamic statement about homes in that price range," said Anton Mohar, an associate broker with Century 21, Crater Realty. "People are willing to forgo area for newer construction that's affordable." County commissioners hail the project as a turning point for the former stepchild of the Rogue Valley. They praised Freel, of Eagle Point, for taking the risk to build the first major home development in White City in 15 years. "There's a whole new perception about living in White City," said Commissioner Sue Kupillas. "There are people discovering there's a great quality of life there." Cathy Conlow of the Jackson County Urban Renewal Agency said the development has added stability to the community. "People who live in White City, like White City," she said. "But when they wanted to move up in the housing market, there was nowhere to go. This gave people a different option." The county actually helped the development become reality by giving the developer $225,000 in urban renewal funds to help build the road. Conlow said the urban renewal agency wanted to stabilize property values and encourage a higher level of development with the project. The lots had been zoned for mobile homes, but the urban renewal funds made it easier for Freel to build regular stick-and-nail homes on real foundations instead. It worked. "The market has been good to us," Freel said. It's been so good in fact, that this week the county approved another $225,000 of urban renewal funds to help Freel build another subdivision in White City. Urban renewal funds come from bonds and are separate from the county's cash-strapped general fund. Urban renewal bonds are repaid through taxes generated by increased property values. About $13 million of urban renewal funds have been spent in White City since the urban renewal district was formed in 1991. The new $225,000 will help pay for a road off Avenue C to connect with Avenue E. Along the road, Freel will build another housing development, called White Mountain Estates. Tom Malot Construction will again act as Freel's homebuilder. Tommy Malot, vice president of Tom Malot Construction, said the homes should be in the same affordable price range, though a new county systems development charge and higher land costs may bump prices slightly. Malot said when he and Freel went into the first development, they were concerned about the risks. But they hoped good affordable homes would help overcome issues with White City's image. Vicki Brown, a 40-year-old antique dealer, is glad the developers and the county took the chance. She and her husband moved from Coos Bay into their $89,000 Clear Sky home in February. "We could have spent more," she said."But why?" Hildreth said buying in White City lets him have a nice home and still enjoy "toys" like a huge four-wheel-drive Ford truck, a boat and trailer. "It's not the house we'll be in forever," he said, predicting he'll eventually sell for a profit. "We want a big house, probably outside the city limits." But for now, its perfect, especially if you ask Hildreth's 4-year-old daughter Molly. "I think its great," she said. |
