'People like this place'
More shopping, dining, residential options on horizon
BY MARY HENKEL JUDSON SOUTH JETTY EDITOR

Golf course link STAFF PHOTO BY MURRAY JUDSON Tresses of a golf cart bridge that will link the first three holes to the last 15 holes of the Newport Dunes Golf Course are raised over State Hwy. 361 on Tuesday morning, May 19. Watching the process are, at left, Sunny Castor, and Jim Urban, right. Castor is a partner in Texas Gulf & Harbor Ltd., the developers of the Newport Beach and Golf residential community. Urban is engineer on the project. The bridge should be complete in mid-July, and the Arnold Palmer signature golf course, which will be open to the public, is expected to open by late summer or early fall. The project is just one of several under construction in Port Aransas.

Port Aransas residents and visitors will have more places to shop, eat and stay when a host of new and ongoing projects are completed starting as early as this summer. By late summer or early fall, golfers may even be able to schedule tee times for the first time in Port Aransas.

 

Shopping centers, restaurants, subdivisions and townhome/condominium developments are going up all over town.

Cotter Avenue is undergoing a major facelift, starting with the corner at Cutoff Road where the old White Marlin shopping center was demolished earlier this year. In its place will be the Ferry Landing shopping center. Realtor Ron Levine of South Padre Island, representing developer ETNG Real Estate of South Padre Island, said the center will include 12,000 square feet of retail space and 2,000 square feet for an attached restaurant.

The final phase of Beachgate nears completion.

While Levine would not reveal what types of vendors would occupy the space that is expected to be ready for occupancy by Dec. 1, he said, "We won't have more than one of any type vendor so they won't be competing with each other."

 

Developers will require a minimum of 1,500 square feet per vendor at $1.25 per square foot, Levine said.

Farther east on Cotter at Oleander Street, The Harbors is taking shape as it readies for an opening between June 15 and July 1.

Annie Gambino, a spokesman for Phyllis Browning Company in San Antonio that is marketing the property, said the project is about 85 percent complete.

Village Walk II on 11th Street will be a mirror image of Village Walk I.

"We're a little behind but not too bad. They're working like ants over there," Gambino said.

 

The 18-unit condominium overlooking the city marina will offer a boat slip with each unit as well as two covered parking spaces. Units will range in size from 1,850 to 2,100 square feet and feature gourmet kitchens.

The property is being developed by Sandbar Ventures, Inc. of San Antonio and Austin.

On Alister Street, the newest addition is the Port Aransas Brewing Co. scheduled to open in June.

It is on the site where Scott's Care Car (formerly Clanton's service station) was located. After a fire destroyed the integrity of the building as remodeling began, the building was razed and a new cinderblock structure has replaced it.

The restaurant will serve pizza, burgers and beer from its own microbrewery as well as Texas-brewed and Mexican beers.

Changes will also be taking place on 10th Street as construction of the 10th Street Cottages gets under way in about 60 days, according to developer Nick Lorette of Port Aransas.

Kody's Restaurant and Bar, a fixture on the beach in the 1970s, will take on a new life on State Hwy. 361 when it opens this summer.

Lorette plans a "pocket community" where Bomarito's Ice House and Trailer Parker once were. The single-family homes reflecting "classic coastal living" will have three and four bedrooms as well as alley access to garages. The homes will sell for between $205,000 and $235,000. Completion is expected by October or November.

 

Over a street, a new look is in store for 11th Street.

Lorette, with Buster Hoffmaster, will be ready to start on the first 15 of 45 units in Village Walk II in mid to late August. Lorette said Phase II will be a "mirror image of Village Walk I," a collection of detached single family condominiums. Construction of infrastructure is under way.

Lorette said the project will have a coastal, bayside feel to the architecture with Hardiplank exterior, composition roofs and concrete and pine floors throughout. They will sell for $280,000 to $400,000. Estimated completion is March, 2009.

Workers frame up The Tower Center on State Hwy. 361. It is a companion shopping center to The Shops at Port Aransas, already open on the east side of the highway.

Lorette is also involved in The Commons, a three-building townhome project on 11th Street. The first building is complete and sold, the second is under construction with two of the four units sold. That building should be completed in August. Construction of the third building will start in July and be finished in October. Price points for this project range from $220,000 to $225,000.

 

Nathan Clark of San Antonio, who just completed Costa del Ray, also on 11th Street, is the developer behind Spencer's Landing subdivision. A subdivision on a new street between Station and 11th streets, it will include 30 single-family homes of coastal architecture with a swimming pool and other common amenities. The two streets, Spencer's Landing and Chloe's Way, are complete. Sales of lots will begin in six weeks. Prices are in the $70,000 range for the lots that average 4,000 square feet. Owners will form a neighborhood association with covenants, according to Lorette, who is involved in the project.

An 18-unit condominium on Cotter Avenue, The Harbors, is scheduled to open between June 15 and July 1.

The Port Aransas skyline will have a new look from the beach when the final phase of Beachgate is completed. The four-story condominium is on a dune where the former home of long-time residents Johnny and Pudge Roberts once stood. Mike Kuhn of San Antonio, who is the developer with his brother, Dan, of Tampa, Fla., said the six two-bedroom units will feature Hardiplank siding, hurricane impact windows and private balconies. The fourth floor unit will be designed so that the two units can be combined into one four-bedroom unit with views of the Gulf and bay. An owner could choose to live in one unit and rent the other, Kuhn said.

 

Kuhn said he expects the project to be open in mid-July. The units will sell for $330,000 to $650,000 for the fourth floor unit.

The Port Aransas Brewing Co. is scheduled to open this summer on Alister Street.

The Island Road, as the city has been asked to dub a portion of State Hwy. 361 from Avenue G to the city limits, also has seen activity and will see more.

 

The developer of The Shops at Port Aransas, John Hooten of San Antonio, is building a second shopping center across the highway and south of the first center. The Tower Center will be anchored by the Port Aransas Design Center, a collection of three businesses. My Coastal Home, Aston Designs, which sells flooring and countertop products, and Kitchens Plus will have connecting interior doorways. The remaining 8,000 square feet will be available for rent, as will a 3,000 square foot restaurant space, according to builder Don Huff. It is phase one of a three-unit complex much like The Shops.

This center will boast a metal roof and Hardipanel siding, and should be completed in September.

Farther south, Kody's Restaurant and Bar is scheduled to welcome its first customers this summer. The building was once a bar and motel on the beach. It was moved off the beach to its present location in about 1980 where it has sat empty since. Remodeling has been going on for months. When it opens, it will serve steaks, seafood, burgers, sandwiches, salads and appetizers in a casual atmosphere.

The Ferry Landing shopping center on Cotter Avenue at Cut-off Road will greet arrivals coming off the ferry.

Still on the Island Road, Pirates Bay Resort, a townhome development, will open an on-site office in about 30 days, according to developer Alex Harris.

 

The first phase will include 33 oneand two-bedroom townhomes ranging from 900 to 1,200 square feet. All will have patios facing a lagoon pool. Prices will start at $179,000. All four pre-sale units have already sold at $149,000, Harris said.

This project also will feature Hardiboard and a composition roof.

Harris, who has been building on North Padre Island for five years, said he expects completion of all 90 units in about two years. Construction on the first units will begin Sept. 15, with the first units to be completed by the end of May 2009.

Tortuga Dunes, a collection of single family villa lots, condominiums and townhomes, is under construction on the southern edge of Mustang Island.

Adjacent to this property will be a Snappy Foods convenience store. The store will include 2,400 square feet for a fast-food chain restaurant and 5,000 square feet of space for the convenience store.

 

Owner Moe Motaghi of Corpus Christi said he is waiting for a building permit to get started. He anticipates starting construction by July 1. Once started, construction will take 90 to 120 days, depending on weather.

Motaghi said he is negotiating with a fast food chain not currently doing business in Port Aransas.

Snappy Foods' claim to fame is a drive-through window.

"You can get anything you want, from candy to cigarettes," Motaghi said.

The building will be a metal structure covered with Hardiboard and stucco.

The store anticipates hiring about 23 employees, and the fast-food restaurant usually hires about 45 people.

"We're excited to be in Port Aransas. It's a growing town," Motaghi said.

One of the most recent projects to announce is The Palmilla at Port Aransas. Adjacent to The Moorings at Island Moorings, the collection of 94 waterfront condominiums is being developed by Koontz McCombs Development. The project will feature private boat slips, a swimming pool and other central amenities, including a fitness center and outdoor kitchen. Access will be controlled, and each unit will include covered parking. Pricing will be in the $400,000 range.

Finally, Tortuga Dunes on State Hwy. 361 at Zahn Road north of Packery Channel, is a development of single-family villa lots, condominiums and townhomes.

Sissy Beasley, director of sales, said the project is moving toward completing underground utilities and streets. That will segue into construction of three $1.4 to $1.8 million speculation homes, two on beachfront lots and one on an interior lot.

Work on the 10 townhomes will be well under way by the end of 2008, and amenities and entryway will be in progress or complete by then, Beasley said.

Closing on lots will begin in the fall.

"We're ahead of schedule. From a sales and marketing standpoint, we've 'reserved out' most of the beachfront lots, and are taking backup reservations on some," Beasley said.

Tortuga Dunes clients are coming from 42 states, she added.

In addition to those mentioned here, several other projects are under construction along State Hwy. 361 and throughout town, not the least of which is the Newport Dunes Golf Course, scheduled to open late this summer or early fall.

This week the first three holes of the course were linked with the final 15 by a golf cart bridge over State Hwy. 361. The bridge has a 147-foot span and a clearance of 21 feet, 9 inches, well above requirements of the Texas Department of Transportation, according to project engineer Jim Urban.

Construction of the bridge is expected to be complete in mid-July.

What does all this construction around town mean?

Mayor Claude Brown says, "It's going to put more of a workload on the city: Building inspections, law enforcement, fire department. It will increase the tax base, which hopefully we can reflect that in lowering taxes to keep it where people can afford to live here," he added.

Also, "It obviously means people like this place," Brown said.