Rolesville Mayor Seeks Commecial Growth.  Commercial growth means a larger tax base.  That fact is not lost on the Mayor of Rolesville and he wants to do something about it.  Rolesville has been the fastest growing town in North Carolina for the last two years.  Permits for single family homes attest to that fact.  There have been nearly 1,000 of them since 2002.  At the same time there have been only 33 commercial permits issued.  Last year 530 new arrivals called Rolesville home.  That’s a 29 percent increase.  The Mayor would like a 75 percent residential and 25 percent commercial mix.  The U.S. 401 bypass around the southeast side of Rolesville is slated to open in 2013.  That six mile stretch should provide enough commercial sites to provide the town (and the Mayor) with the desire mix.  However, the powers that be will need to try to balance the desire for commerical locations with the need to protect the watershed of the planned Little River Reservoir.  Fun and games a city hall.

You can’t talk about Rolesville without talking about the new Rolesville high school: where it will be, when it will be, and how much will it cost?  Wake school leaders say the school is going to take longer to build and cost more because the county commissioners rejected the site northeast of Raleigh that everyone seemed to think had been chiseled in stone.  If an alternative site isn’t found and agreed to by October the school would be delayed a year and not open until the 2012-2013 school year.  Currently, half of Rolesville’s high school students are going to Wake Forest-Rolesville High and the other half to Knightdale High.  Local residents don’t like that and neither do the residents in the other two areas.  With regard to this issue, the closer it gets to a solution the farther away the end result seems to get.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Wake Forest, North Carolina.  St. Ives Has 17 New And Resale Homes Available.  If you are looking for a convenient location in the Wake Forest area you should look at homes in the St. Ives subdivision.  Anyone who knows the Wake Forest area knows where the McDonald’s restaurant at Rt. 98 and U.S. 1 is.  From that point go just a half mile west on Rt. 98, go right on Wake Union Church Road, left on Kearney Road and right into St. Ives.  It is very close to good shopping and restaurants, is away from aircraft noise and is close to both Routes 1 and 98 without having to put up with loud highway noise.  Prices range from $599,000 to $934,900 and home sizes from 3403 to 5132 square feet.  Furthermore, their is a variety of styles to choose from including English Country, Bungalow and even a 1.5 story home that looks like a ranch and lives like two-story and has 5 bedrooms and 5 full baths.   Great features abound in these homes.  One home has a family room with barrel vault ceiling.  Another has a master that has soft lighting recessed with a triple-trey ceiling. There are home theatres, screened porches, great kitchens with granite, granite, granite and, as real estate agents are fond of saying, “other features too numerous to mention.”  Exteriors offer all brick, fibre-cement, fibre-cement and stone, etc.  If you would like more information concerning any of these homes or would like to visit any of them call me or send me an email at the number and email address given below.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com 

Wake Forest, North Carolina.  Hasentree - Describing The Best Is A Tough Job.  An add that everyone remembers is what copywriters dream about.  Some come because the writer is truly exceptional, others come through a flash of inspiration and still others, to barrow a line from a Harry Potter movie, come through “sheer dumb luck!”.  At the moment the add that comes to my mind is the one from Hallmark Cards “When You Care Enough To Send The Very Best.”  I hope they paid whoever came up with that line a bunch of bucks because he or she earned every cent of it - and then some.

Describing elegance and the unique in a home is a difficult assignment and is best done if you have several days to devote to the task.  The obvious tendency is to use words and descriptions you get tired of using and that readers get tired of reading.  They are used in endless MLS listings and, for the most part, are used for homes that are at opposite ends of the pole in price.  Unfortunately I don’t have the time to give to describing the home I am going to show photos of and a manner that it deserves so I will simply give the price - $3,997,5000, the finished square footage - 10,841 and list the Special Features as they were given for the home in this year’s Parade of Homes book:  * Olde-World English Tudor Style  * 3-story spiral staircase  * Seven fireplaces  * Gourmet kitchen with two islands  *  Master retreat with coffered and cathedral ceilings  * Two second-floor master suites with a four-floor elevator  * Three laundry rooms  * Fitness room, spa and steam shower  * Wine cellar; theatre and billiars room and bar  * Multiple screened and covered porches  * Multi-level pools with waterfalls and firepits  * Spectacular golf course views.  If this doesn’t whet your appetite perhaps photos will.  As with the first Hasentree home I showed, the photos will be provided over several days; probably several weeks.  If you have any questions call the number at the bottom of the post or send me an email.  I would be happy to arrange a showing but as I have said before, you will need to talk to the lender I use first so I know that you can handle the freight.   To view these photos full size just click on them.  To return to the next one click on - Back.  Enjoy.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Wake Forest, North Carolina.  Developers Desire To Deliver THE Premier Private Golf Community In The Carolinas.  Creedmoor Partners has a history of developing the finest high-end subdivisions in Wake County.  These subdivisions include Birklands, Devon, Chatsworth, The Overlook at Chatsworth, Crossmoor, Glenmoor, Galloway, Linville, The Moorlands, Olde Creedmoor, Renaissance At Regency Park, Stonemoor and now - Hasentree. 

I have mentioned Hasentree in previous posts and during the last couple of weeks I have been showing photos of a home in Hastree built by Walt Steen.  Today’s photos are the last of that home.  The movers and shakers of Creedmoor Partners, Henry MacNair and Carlton Midyette are determined that Hasentree will, indeed, be the finest private golf community anywhere in the Carolinas.  The developements golf course is a masterpiece by golf course architect Tom Fazio.  As Creedmoor Partners didn’t want members to try and function out of some “shanty” until the 30,000 square foot Clubhouse was completed they had a 5,200 square foot Pro Shop Cottage built to handle member needs. It was designed by Small/Kane Architects of Raleigh, has 12-foot ceilings and elegant mahogany woodwork.  It will eventually be linked to the Clubhouse.  The Clubhouse will include both casual and formal dining and include a the Pro Shop, men’s and women’s locker rooms, banquet facilities a grill and valet services.  In addition there will be a 13,000 square foot Family Activities Center with three separate pools, whirlpools, waterslides, and a poolside grill.  The Center will also have six lighted clay tennis courts, a Kids Club Room and Media Room and a state-of-the-art Fitness Center.  The Clubhouse will be managed by East West Partners Club Management.  Hasentree has more than six miles of nature and fitness trails.  Creedmoor Partners has made a full commitment to protect the adjoining Falls Lake watershed.  In so doing the community as been registered as a member of the Audubon International Gold Signature Program and the partners are working toward a designation as an Audubon Gold Signature Sanctuary which calls for a strong environmental stewardship commitment.

Hasentree is close to the stores and shops at the corner of Route 1 and Route 98 and also the Wakefield subdivision shopping areas.  For those you who can afford the finest it would be hard to improve on what Hasentree has to offer.  I also mentioned Hasentree several times with regard to the Parade of Homes.  Currently, there are eighteen Multiple Listing Service listings of Hasentree Homes.  The prices range from $936,135 to $4.595,000.  If you would rather build than “buy off the rack” there are hundreds of excellent lots available both on and off of the golf course. 

This last group of photos of the home by Walt Steen prove that the back of the home is equally as breathtaking as the front.  You see the master bedroom deck and the vast scope of the window walls and the latticed deck that are spread grandly across the entire range of the home.  What a magnificent Christmas or Valentine give this home would make.  For more information about this home, the other homes in Hasentree and about the Hasentree community call me or email me at the telephone number and email address below. 

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Success breeds Success.  Impact Properties, developers of Cameon Pond, Weycroft and Highcroft are coming on board with South Lakes in Fuquay-Varina.  At 500 acres and 1000 homes it will be their largest development to date.  Homes are already under construction in Julian Village, the first of the the developments three neighborhoods.  Julian Village is named after Alexander Julian and Megan Julian who designed the villages homes.  Alexander Julian is the Alexander Julian of fashion designer fame.  The Julian homes will have 8 plans and 3 varied exterior treatments.  The homes sizes will range from 1800 to 3000 square feet and prices will range from the $240s to the $300s.  You can view three of these homes this week-end.  The grand opening of South Lakes is set to coincide with the opening day of the Parade of Homes which is on Saturday, September 29.

A second neighborhood, Vanderbilt, will offer homes that are roughly the same size and in the same price range as those in Julian Village.  The custom builder for Vanderbilt will be Biltmore homes.  The third neighborhood will feature one level homes.  The builder in the third neighborhood will be Impact Design-Build. 

South Lakes will eventually include offices, shopping, daycare, an elementary school, a church and the amenities that will be provided are junior olympic pools, water fun features, cabanas and toddlers playgrounds.  South Lakes has 5 lakes and ponds that are from 4 to 30 acres in size.  They are stocked.  For more information about the homes in South Lakes or homes of any price in any area of the Triangle, call me or send me an email at the telephone number or email address given below.

John Fish (919) 696-3474      Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com      Website: www.JohnFish.com 

I have a “Dirty Jobs” candidate for Mike Rowe!  Do you watch ”Dirty Jobs” on the Discovery channel?  It’s a great program but not one to be watched during the supper hour (or CSI any city for that matter).  My “Dirty Jobs” candidate is a white shirt and tie position on the Wake County School Board. The latest figures indicate that just over 5,600 new students are enrolled in Wake County schools this Fall - and they are still coming.  By the time the dust settles Wake County may well be the 19th largest school district in the U.S. overtaking both San Diego and Maryland’s Prince George’s County.  The inscription on the Statue of Liberty says, in part, - “Give us your tired, your poor, you huddled masses yearning to breath free…”.  Let’s see, a suitable inscription above the meeting room of the Wake County School Board might be - ”Y’all GO!”  Trying to figue out where to put all the bodies, existing and new, how to handle school reassignments and the attendent screams of parents when they do, is not something I would wish on my worst enemy (hmmm - then again).  Add to this the bond issue after bond issue for new schools that follows each staggering increase in student enrollments and the tax payer howls that follow them and you have a situation that most certainly qualifies for Mike’s program - - IN SPADES!

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Apex, North Carolina.  A 1000 acre, 10 year project called Trinity is on the way in Apex.  It will be between downtown Apex and Holly Springs and have a dramatic impact on the size and economy of Apex and surrounding areas.  It will have as many as 4,000 homes, half a million square feet of commercial space and a hotel.  The site, which is bordered by U.S. 1, N.C. 55, and the future I-540, was approved for rezoning at an Apex board meeting on Tuesday evening.  Projects of this size don’t just happen overnight.  It may take another year for site plans to be drawn up and approved by the Apex planning board.

Those who still think of Apex as a sleepy small town just West of Raleigh aren’t keeping up with the times.  In 1990, Apex counted 7,257 residents.  In 2006 that number had grown to 26,311. Projections call for that number to be nearly 31,500 by 2011.

John Fish (919) 696-3474         Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com         Website:  www.JohnFish.com