5,000 expected at Marblehead grand opening this weekend
Nov. 6, 2015 Updated 7:58 a.m.
By JEFF COLLINS / STAFF WRITER
San Clemente?s Marblehead Coastal project once was the local embodiment of 2008?s global economic meltdown.
With the housing market imploding, road work on the project stalled. City officials and a neighboring mall developer threatened legal action. Then, after the collapse of financial backer Lehman Brothers, Marblehead filed for bankruptcy and everything ground to a halt.
This weekend, however, the 248-acre project is reborn with a new name ? Sea Summit at Marblehead ? and a dozen new model homes displaying million-dollar floorplans and priceless ocean views.
Phil Bodem, president of Taylor Morrison?s Southern California division, predicted that 5,000 people will turn out for the project?s grand opening for three of the projects four neighborhoods on Saturday and Sunday.
As of Thursday, 15 homes already sold, primarily to buyers from South Orange County, Bodem said. By December, Marblehead?s first residents will move in.
Builder Magazine reported in 2014 that Taylor Morrison likely paid between $210 million to $235 million for the blufftop site, equivalent to $680,000 to $761,000 per lot. Bodem declined to confirm those numbers.
Customers will pay from just under $1 million to around $2.5 million for Taylor Morrison?s luxury houses, plus a premium for view lots. The Spanish-style homes will range from three bedrooms and 2,200 square feet to six bedrooms and 5,500 square feet. All but six will be two-story houses.
Bodem said it likely will take until 2018 to build and sell all 309 homes.
Plans also call for construction to begin by the end of the year on Sea Summit?s community center, the Summit Club. It will include a 6,500-square-foot club house, pool, spa, outdoor kitchen and 1,000-square-foot gym, Bodem said.
Bodem noted that past developers sought to build 2,000 homes on the 248-acre property, with much of that development in the canyons and plateaus now being preserved as open space.
The project includes five parks and four miles of trails along the plateau facing the Pacific Ocean.
?One of the things that?s attracting people to Sea Summit is the open space,? Bodem said.
Pointing to the ocean filling the windows of one model, he added: ?That?s just absolutely spectacular. Every time I come out here, it just blows me away.?
Contact the writer: 714-796-7734 or jcollins@ocregister.com
Nov. 6, 2015 Updated 7:58 a.m.
By JEFF COLLINS / STAFF WRITER
San Clemente?s Marblehead Coastal project once was the local embodiment of 2008?s global economic meltdown.
With the housing market imploding, road work on the project stalled. City officials and a neighboring mall developer threatened legal action. Then, after the collapse of financial backer Lehman Brothers, Marblehead filed for bankruptcy and everything ground to a halt.
This weekend, however, the 248-acre project is reborn with a new name ? Sea Summit at Marblehead ? and a dozen new model homes displaying million-dollar floorplans and priceless ocean views.
Phil Bodem, president of Taylor Morrison?s Southern California division, predicted that 5,000 people will turn out for the project?s grand opening for three of the projects four neighborhoods on Saturday and Sunday.
As of Thursday, 15 homes already sold, primarily to buyers from South Orange County, Bodem said. By December, Marblehead?s first residents will move in.
Builder Magazine reported in 2014 that Taylor Morrison likely paid between $210 million to $235 million for the blufftop site, equivalent to $680,000 to $761,000 per lot. Bodem declined to confirm those numbers.
Customers will pay from just under $1 million to around $2.5 million for Taylor Morrison?s luxury houses, plus a premium for view lots. The Spanish-style homes will range from three bedrooms and 2,200 square feet to six bedrooms and 5,500 square feet. All but six will be two-story houses.
Bodem said it likely will take until 2018 to build and sell all 309 homes.
Plans also call for construction to begin by the end of the year on Sea Summit?s community center, the Summit Club. It will include a 6,500-square-foot club house, pool, spa, outdoor kitchen and 1,000-square-foot gym, Bodem said.
Bodem noted that past developers sought to build 2,000 homes on the 248-acre property, with much of that development in the canyons and plateaus now being preserved as open space.
The project includes five parks and four miles of trails along the plateau facing the Pacific Ocean.
?One of the things that?s attracting people to Sea Summit is the open space,? Bodem said.
Pointing to the ocean filling the windows of one model, he added: ?That?s just absolutely spectacular. Every time I come out here, it just blows me away.?
Contact the writer: 714-796-7734 or jcollins@ocregister.com
