Jackson County North Carolina-The Last Frontier

Balancing promotion and preservation
Room tax money could bring big changes to Nantahala
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

The rugged mountain terrain of Macon County’s Nantahala community is the only home Jim and Faye Woods know. The couple are natives of the remote area that borders Swain and Cherokee counties.

Nantahala, however, may be on the verge of being discovered. The isolated outdoor haven is home to a growing number of rental places and whitewater rafting business, and it is popular for fishing and boating.

In recent years the community has become a second-home destination like Highlands and Cashiers in Jackson County.
A recent decision by Macon County officials to give the community money to promote tourism will likely lead to more visitors. Soon all the occupancy tax money — a tax on all overnight hotel, inn and resort stays — generated by the community will be spent promoting Nantahala. That could speed the pace of change in a community that has changed very little over the past few decades.

Some call this area the last frontier because of its landscape. The Nantahala River flows through the community creating great rapids for paddlers to surf and prime fishing holes for fishermen. Nantahala Lake attracts watersport enthusiasts for a weekend of jet skiing or relaxing on a houseboat.

Locals like the Woods say the mountain community is quickly changing.

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For more information regarding Homes for Sale, Real Estate, and Land and Lots for sale in the Western North Carolina Area mailto:info@carolinapg.com or call 828-226-8837

Good News for North Carolina New Home Development

Where are the best places to invest in real estate for 2008? Continued strength and resistance to the national trends seems to be the order of the day. While we have seen some impact to segments of the market here in Raleigh, there are still segments that seem to continue to chug forward. At a recent economic summit here in Raleigh the Chief Economist for the National Home Builders Association had this to say:"Seiders projected that national home sales will hit their nadir in the current quarter, and that housing starts will begin to rise in the third quarter of this year. But, he added, the housing market in North Carolina will continue to outpace the nation's. Housing starts across the country this year should fall about 20 percent, but in North Carolina, the decline should be about half that, Seiders said.North Carolina didn't experience the "runaway housing appreciation" that occurred in markets such as Las Vegas and Florida. So now it's cushioned somewhat from the steep declines in housing prices and housing starts happening elsewhere, Seiders said.Likewise, Custer[CEO of RBC Centura, Raleigh based bank] noted that North Carolina was one of only a handful of states where housing prices appreciated 4 percent or more last year."We're very fortunate to live and be able to do business in North Carolina," he said. Click here to read full story

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Land Conservation News-Cashiers NC

Good deals for public
by Jon Ostendorff, jostendorff@citizen-times.com
published December 9, 2007 12:15 am

The government last week got a good deal on the development rights it bought with the public’s money.

In Buncombe County, the development rights for the farmland will cost an average of $1,877 an acre, well below what the land could fetch if sold. The landowners are giving up $3.7 million in value but will get a tax break.

In Jackson County this past week, Sylva town leaders placed 1,000 acres in the Fisher Creek watershed in a conservation easement. The state bought the land for $3.5 million, or an average of $3,500 an acre. The land, also known as Pinnacle Park, will be open for hiking.

In southern Jackson County, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy announced a deal that will protect 600 acres near Cashiers that would have been a prime spot for an upscale development. The Cedar Creek deal includes creeks and streams that feed Lake Glenville and the Tuckasegee River. It also provides a buffer for the Nantahala National Forest and Panthertown Valley and a neighboring tract of 850 acres already in a conservation easement.

The price tag for the public was even better than the deals in Buncombe County. The government-funded Clean Water Management Trust Fund spent $2.4 million, or an average of $4,000 an acre. The land there appraised for $30,000 an acre. Private donors Fred and Alice Stanback, of Salisbury, gave $500,000 to complete the project.

Asheville businesswoman Laura Webb spent two years brokering the deal with the four branches of her family. They each owned 25 percent of a company that controlled the land. To make the deal work, she had to meet a minimum financial goal of some family members while keeping conservation on the table. In the end, everyone compromised to reach the agreement.

The family still controls 400 acres of the Cedar Creek tract and will sell some of that as part of its internal agreement. Deed restrictions on the land will limit housing density to protect the area. “I want other families to know that your choice is not just to sell,” she said. “There might be some other type of intermediate or compromise or creative solution to get to where you want to be.”


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Martha Stewart enters world of real estate-North Carolina

Martha Stewart enters world of real estate
Domestic diva to help create a neighborhood of 650 new homes
The Associated Press

CARY, N.C. - What could be better than waking up on Martha Stewart sheets in a Martha Stewart bed, drying off after your shower with Martha Stewart towels, gardening with Martha Stewart tools, and ending your day with a Martha Stewart recipe served on Martha Stewart plates at a Martha Stewart table?

Why, doing it all under the tastefully gabled roof of your Martha Stewart home in a complete Martha Stewart subdivision, of course.

Back from a prison stay, the omnipresent domestic diva has extended her brand yet again, partnering with developer KB Home to create a New England-style neighborhood of 650 houses in this affluent Raleigh suburb that seems to be embracing its longtime nickname, “Concentrated Area of Relocated Yankees.”

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