Island Living near Old Town and the Beach.

Attractive pre-construction prices from $215,000 to $219,000

Fishing with friends
Walks on the beach
Cookouts and lemonade stands

• Huge commons area
• Large 20′ x 35′ heated pool
• 2 cabanas and grill areas with private gathering spaces
• Free WiFi
• A short walk to the beach

Easy living
Green building
Solid and lasting

• All units 3 bedrooms or 2 bedrooms with den
• High wind resistance engineered to meet Cat 5 wind rating
• Perimeter of each unit of insulated concrete (ICF)
• Quiet low-noise living spaces with low energy usage

The Commons at Seashell Drive – Contact Us Now!

For Sales, please contact Linda Johnson, Agent
lindajohnson@wesellporta.com
(361) 749-6603

For Vacation Rentals please contact Starkey Properties
www.starkeyproperties.com
(361) 749-3591

]]> http://www.thecommonsatseashell.com/thecommons.html/feed 0 http://www.thecommonsatseashell.com/whyportaransas.html http://www.thecommonsatseashell.com/whyportaransas.html#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:21:47 +0000 admin http://www.thecommonsatseashell.com/?p=99

Vacation Getaway to Sun and Fun

Its summer here all round the year… breezy and fresh. If you want to get off your front porch at The Commons there are a lot of things to do

The Coast

As a beach community on the Texas coast, Port Aransas enjoys a climate that allows for year round enjoyment. The broad sandy beaches of Port Aransas may be the first thing people think of  but the fishing, birding, kayaking [both ocean and bayside], golf on an Arnold Palmer designed links course, and good food all keep bringing people back year after year.

Getting out on the water couldn’t be easier – Dolphin encounters, sunset cruises, fishing charters, kayak adventures and just plain old wave jumping keep people coming back.

Getting Outdoors

Swimming in the ocean or pool, biking on the beach for miles, lounging in a hammock, visiting Winton’s Candies for an old-fashioned candy fix, eating a Thunderbird at Café Phoenix, having guacamole made tableside at La Playa, buying fresh caught shrimp off the PollyAnna  — you won’t lack for things to do!

Going into Town

Getting around town can be by car, trolley, beach buggy, bike or foot. The trolley can be flagged down just outside The Commons on 11^th, and taken on a circular loop around town The trolley is quite a bargain at $.25 a ride! Beach buggies and bikes are available for rent from various places in town, and are a fun way to see and be seen. View the Trolly Schedule

Grab Your Binoculars

Birding is year round on Mustang Island, with the excitement increasing during peak migration seasons. Port Aransas has created several birding centers, and there are weekly guided birding tours at the Leona Belle Turnbull Birding Center. List of birds to see in Port Aransas are available in the Port Aransas Visitor Center.  Some folks prefer boat watching, and head to the ship channel for the best viewing of huge oil tankers, cargo ships, fishing boats, sail boats and pleasure boats. View nations flags here.

Education

The UT Marine Science Institute recently opened the Wetlands Education Center to help people understand Mustang Island’s ecosystem. There are self guided tours that explain how sand dunes protect a barrier island, why salt marshes are so ecologically productive, and help identify sand dune and salt marsh vegetation.

Additional Vacation Activities

Check out another source for finding fun here.

Further afield are other fun choices – you can help with turtle release on North Padre , visit the Lexington and the Texas State Aquarium  with a stop at Snoopy’s Pier for a fried fish fix along the way.

Local newspaper is found here

Who We Are

Seashell Village Associates, LLC is a partnership formed to develop The Commons at Seashell Townhomes in Port Aransas.  While this is the first project developed under the Seashell Village name, all three members of the partnership have been active real estate investors and developers, both individually and together for some time.

After some small real estate investments as individuals, we joined together in 2004 to become major investors in a small development project in Austin.  The property being developed had in place 11 small manufactured homes surrounding a 1890s era Victorian home that had recently been designated a City of Austin Landmark.  The challenge was to develop the land surrounding the Victorian home with new homes compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.  Working with a talented builder and architect, the project was a great success with all but one of the units sold before completion.  Following that, we invested in another Austin project, a 30 unit garden apartment development.  Soon after the project plans were completed and all permits secured, an investor placed an offer to buy out the entire project.  We decided to take advantage of this early, profitable exit that would allow us to pursue other projects.

Around this time was when one of our partners fell in love with Port Aransas.  After again making some small, individual investments there, we decided to work together on a larger project that we could build ourselves from the ground up.  Looking at our previous projects for insight into what made them successful and what we personally enjoyed about the projects, we came up with some success factors.

First – purchase land in a high growth area.  Our two Austin projects were done at a time when Austin was experiencing very high rates of growth.  Because of the past and projected growth on Mustang Island, close proximity to downtown and the new Arnold Palmer designed Scottish links-style Newport Dunes Golf course, our location for The Commons on 11^th Street in Port Aransas is ideal.

Second – partner with a builder who knows what makes sense for the local market and can deliver a quality product.  For our two Austin projects, we had the local expertise, but for Port Aransas we felt the need to add local perspective to our team.  While looking at various locations in and around Port Aransas we noticed a few that stood out for their beachy look and design simplicity.  In short order, we met Nick Lorette, a builder who had relocated from Austin to Port Aransas.  Combining years of experience building high-end custom homes in Austin with an excellent sense of what a true beach home should look and feel like, his projects are adding tremendous value to the Port Aransas landscape while staying true to its’ small, beach town look and feel.

Third – details, details, details.  This is where many developers drop the ball.  You can have an ideal location and an excellent design, but if you don’t deliver on all the details the project will come up short.  Attention to detail is what separates the Commons from other nearby projects.  A detail like having outdoor showers by every front door means it is easy and convenient to rinse sand and chlorine off before going inside.  In-pool seating that runs the length of both long pool sides makes it fun for small children and inviting for parents who want to sit and cool off while in the pool with their kids.  Landscaping with plants like rosemary helps deter the local gophers and can even be clipped to enhance your cooking on the grill.

And then we wanted to go one step further.  Building a nice place to stay that is also a sound investment is good, but creating a sense of community at the same time takes the project from good to great.  Placing our units around a central common area with front doors just steps away from each other makes it easy to meet your neighbors and make new friends.  Keeping the parking on the outside and people on the inside of the common area provide a safe space for kids to play.  And hopefully, our open, friendly, welcoming attitude towards everyone who comes by to visit will attract buyers with a similar attitude.

We believe that building from these ideals while also building for community will allow us to create something that not only is attractive to second home buyers and investors, but also is a project we can be proud of and homes we enjoy staying in ourselves.  Taking that last statement to heart, you will find one or more of us staying in the model unit #304 at The Commons almost every weekend.  (Usually with our kids, too!)  We hope you will stop by to visit so we can tell you more about the opportunity, quality, and details we have created at The Commons