Yesterday, I found out that KB Homes was pulling out of their Martin's Chase community in Loudoun County. Today, a fellow Loudoun County real estate agent, Heather Elias reports on her blog, LoCo Real Estate Musings that Equity Homes and Basheer & Edgemoore are also on the way out the door. - LoudounStatsThere is often trouble when builders start getting out of town, fast. Homeowners can get stuck in half-built developments, which are magnets for vandalism and crime.
At the new community of Seapine Estates, street names like Sea Foam Drive and Shoreline Road are meant to evoke a feeling of coastal tranquility. Instead, the two dozen or so residents of this New Jersey Shore development, near Atlantic City, feel anything but peace. The Pennsylvania builder went bankrupt last summer and halted work, leaving open foundations, unfinished homes and empty streets that have invited outsiders to dump trash, spray graffiti and race cars. - Business WeekHas anyone noticed similar developments elsewhere in the commonwealth?
First, perhaps this means that some of the thousands of new houses put in the pipeline by the previous board won't actually get built. That could mean slower growth in County expenses, which would be a good thing (and, not incidentally, exactly what the new Board was elected to accomplish.) Of course, such a slow-down should be managed carefully to avoid the negative consequences to which it can tend. The Board of Supervisors, however, may have few tools at its disposal with which to manage the abandonment of development projects in this Dillon rule state.
Second, it's nice that corporations get a free pass to change their plans whenever they want. If the going gets tough, bail.
Don't worry about it speculative homebuilders, as ever, responsible leaders will stand up and clean up the mess left behind.
(Crossposted from Leesburg Tomorrow.)