WESTPORT – When the first 24 units of the Westport by the Sea condominiums were built about five years ago, the asking price was $115,000.
Fast forward to 2005, when 60 units sold for an average of $384,000 each, according to George Prigmore, chief executive officer of LANCO, the land development corporation that owns several properties in the Westport area, including Westport by the Sea.
“Most of our clientele are from Seattle, Bellevue and the rest of the King County area,” Prigmore said. “We’ve seen a slight influx of people from California who are starting to hear about us now. Word is out.”
Cheryl Jamieson and her husband, Brian, of Lake Stevens bought a condo in May. Together with their three girls – ages 13, 12 and nearly 9 – they spend every second they can in Westport.
“It’s a ground-floor condo and the door goes out onto the beach for the kids,” Cheryl Jamieson said. “The main thing we like is the local people. We love popping into PJ’s Pies.
“Everyone is inviting and friendly,” she said. “It’s nice and pleasant. We are considering retiring down there.”
It’s definitely worth the three-hour drive, she added.
In all, there are 192 units at the property located at 1600 Ocean Ave. W. near the Westport Lighthouse. Some units were sold before they were finished. Twenty-six units are still available, and more are to be built this spring.
“I love it,” said Jeff Hansen, an Olympia pediatric psychologist who purchased a Westport by the Sea condominium last summer.
“The only hard part is coming back to Olympia to work.”
Most residents use their condos as second homes. About 14 units are occupied full-time, most by semiretired people.
About 61 units are enrolled in a rental program, so the properties can generate money when the owners aren’t there – like a hotel. The owners just let the on-site management company know when they won’t be there, and the company takes care of the rest.
Units rent for $119 to $255 a night during the fall and winter and $139 to $275 in the spring and summer.
Westport by the Sea was the brainchild of condo developers Robert Reintsma of Seattle and Nick Beltrano and Paul Schaefer of Northern California.
LANCO took over Westport by the Sea in December 2003. At that time, there were 48 units, and the project wasn’t gaining momentum, Prigmore said.
LANCO owner and developer Chuck Maples stepped in and honed the marketing approach, jazzed up the units and targeted an audience beyond Grays Harbor. LANCO added a pool, Jacuzzi, clubhouse, gym, lodge and other amenities in July 2004. That’s when sales really started to take off, Prigmore said, adding, “That’s when it really became a true destination resort.”
And even though values have shot up, most of the original buyers are not selling.
“People are holding on to them,” Prigmore said. “I think there are three people in the process of reselling. (Most people) know that if they took their money somewhere else, they’re never going to find another property like this right on the beach.
“There’s not a lot of beachfront land left.”
This spring, LANCO plans to break ground to expand Westport by the Sea. Officials are planning to either build more condos or townhouses on the site, closer to the lighthouse. Plans call for another 72 to 100 units that will cost an average of $400,000 each, Prigmore said.
LANCO officials also hope to build 48 luxury condos at the Westport Marina. The luxury units will go for about $800,000 to $1.3 million each.
Prigmore says he already has 11 prospective buyers. LANCO hopes to secure the permits and start that project in the summer. The plans also call for developing 20,000 square feet of commercial retail space below the condos, overlooking the marina.
The developers hope that once the condos start to fill up, high-end art galleries, coffee shops and other commercial entrepreneurs will take an interest, and once they take an interest, more condo buyers will be interested.
“People, especially in Seattle, think Westport is great,” Prigmore said. “But the goal will be to maintain Westport’s small-town, fishing-area charm.
“To find a nice balance of the past and the future. That’s the key.”
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