Crown Team Texas Sells Cade Ranch on Bolivar Peninsula

Dallas based Provident Realty Advisors purchased 2,795 acres of prime beach front property on the northern tip of the Bolivar Peninsula between Gilchrist and High Island in Galveston County.

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The property, known as Cade Ranch, is considered one of the largest remaining beachfront properties on Texas' Gulf Coast, according to a news release from CB Richard Ellis announcing the sale. The site has more than 13,000 feet of frontage on the Gulf of Mexico and Intracoastal Waterway

Bruce Endendyk and John Endendyk of CB Richard Ellis represented Crown Team Texas, the sellers of the land and also the owners of the Audubon Village Resort and several other new developments on the Bolivar Peninsula including Laguna Harbor in Port Bolivar and Seagrass Resort in Caplen.

The property is next to the new Audubon Village Resort in Gilchrist and is literally untouched beachfront property ideally suited for development given that the nearby Beaumont Part Arthur energy capital has 10 billion in new energy plants being developed and 1000s of new jobs which will create new demand for beachfront property in that area.

The property being located in the Gilchrist - High Island area is the closest resort quality beachfront property to the Beaumont Port Arthur area. Already the sales team at Audubon Village resort in Gilchrist is seeing interest from engineers relocating to the area for the new energy plants.

The Dallas-based buyers do not expect to develop the land for at least two years.

HIGH ISLAND

A Dallas real-estate firm has purchased almost 2,800 acres of raw ranch land on Bolivar Peninsula, snapping up one of the largest remaining beachfront properties on Texas’ coast.

Provident Realty Advisors, in partnership with The PLN Cos., purchased the land, where cows still graze on a site known as the Cade Ranch.

The seller was Crown Team Texas, a development firm that has, through affiliate companies, invested about $30 million in the past four years acquiring and developing peninsula land and infrastructure.

Neither Provident, nor Crown Team Texas, would divulge the purchase price of the tract, which includes 13,000 feet of waterfront.

The acquisition marks Provident’s first foray into barrier island real estate, said Jay Hawes, development partner for the firm. Provident has no immediate plans for the land, he said.

But the booming Bolivar Peninsula, averaging about 90 building permits a year, is an attractive investment at a time when large tracts of beachfront property are disappearing, Hawes said.

Only about 6.5 percent of Texas’ coastal property remains, said John Endendyk, who with Bruce Endendyk of CB Richard Ellis’ Land Services Group represented Crown Team Texas in the sale.

Most of the coastal land is being developed or reserved as federal and state parks.

The Cade Ranch is northwest of the intersection of state Highways 24 and 87 near High Island. In 1879, C. T. Cade made headlines for moving the largest herd on record — 23,000 head — across the Neches River. Cade, according to online reports citing The Daily News, was known for his yearly cattle drives from High Island to his ranch in Iberville Parish, La.

Jim Hayes, a principal in Crown Team Texas, purchased the ranch several years ago from the Cade family.

Until the sale to Provident, Hayes and partners owned almost 8,000 acres. Hayes is behind several luxury residential projects on the peninsula. Allco, an affiliate of Crown Team Texas, has spent $3 million so far to develop a sewer treatment plant to accommodate residential development. Peninsula residents rely on septic tanks.

Provident’s acquisition marks the second time in as many years that an investment group has purchased such a sizable chunk of ranch land in Galveston County.

Last year, Chicago real estate firm Marquette Land Investments paid almost $33 million for 1,050 acres that was long a part of Chapoton Ranch on the island’s West End.

Cows also graze on the Chapoton property, where development of a large resort-style project is generating controversy among environmentalists who fear the scope of the project would hurt a sensitive ecosystem. Some locals also say it would generate too much traffic.

Baby boomers and retirees are fueling beach front development, Endendyk said.

Texas land prices still are cheap enough to keep the costs of condominiums and homes reasonable, he said.

“Prices are achievable to the average consumer,” Endendyk said.

By Laura Elder
The Daily News

Beach properties that went for $35K seven years ago now worth $400K

By: CHRISTINE RAPPLEYE, The Enterprise

BOLIVAR PENINSULA - Howard and Carolyn Smith, who had lived in California and still have a home in the Florida Keys, headed down Bolivar Peninsula during one of their RV trips and fell in love.

They promptly bought a beach house in the new Audubon Village.

"It's wonderful," Carolyn said. "The beaches are gorgeous."

"We come here to cool off," Howard said. Florida, he added, is hotter.

Their home, which sits 20 feet above sea level, is in a row of 10 built in the 130-lot development.

Audubon Village is among several developments contributing to Bolivar Peninsulas's residential boom - Seagrass, Laguna Harbor, Biscayne, Rancho Carribe, Surfside, Egret Bay and Avocet, to name a few.
Some have beachfront property, while others are on the bay with canals backing up to the water. Some are gated, others are open.

Vacant lots in other subdivisions also are becoming scarce as more people build beach houses.

"In the last two to three years, people have built like crazy," Tim Byrom, owner of Brint Construction, said in a phone interview. His company is hard at work in Gilchrist on Bolivar and Surfside, west of Galveston in Brazoria County.

For some, the answer is simple.

"I still think Bolivar is the best price around for beach properties," said Anne Willis with Swede's Real Estate. "Our market is better than Galveston."

Even though it might be less costly than other areas for beach lots, prices are rising.

Four years ago, lots close to the highway went for $3,500, Willis said. Now, they are going for $25,000 to $30,000.

Front-row lots going for $35,000 about seven years ago had jumped to $200,000 by 2004.

This year, they're double that, Byrom said, adding they would cost at least $1 million elsewhere along the Gulf of Mexico.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the market slowed but since has bounced back, Byrom said.

The Surfside development originally was intended to be a recreational vehicle park, Byrom said.

Permits were secured and construction was about to start, but property values started rising. Byrom re-thought his plan, and this week he will start on five speculative homes in the 22-home subdivision featuring half-acre lots.

However, Byrom is cautious, too.

He's keeping an eye on the market and watching which homes are selling.

"There's a lot of stuff for sale," he added.

About 60 of the 87 lots at Laguna Harbor have sold, said Jim Hayes, a principal with Crown Team Texas. Lots in Seagrass and Audubon Villages also are selling well.

"Every day people are stopping by," said Alice Donahue, Seagrass marketing manager.

That's what the Smiths did several months ago. Now, they split their time between Bolivar and Florida, using their 38-foot RV to run back and forth.

Speaking of running back and forth, Howard Smith has discovered another unexpected benefit of the Bolivar house.

"It makes me a young man," he said about climbing the 32 stairs up to the house.

Real estate that was $35k seven years ago is now worth $400k?!? Wow! Thats a pretty good rate of appreciation. Thats around 50% increase per year. Thats incredible.

Provident, PNL Shaping Major Gulf Plan
By Globe Street Connie Gore

BOLIVAR PENINSULA, TX-Dallas-based investment partners Provident Realty Advisors and PNL Cos. have started entitlement work on one of the largest undeveloped tracts on the Texas coast. The partners control 2,700 acres with three miles of Gulf of Mexico beach frontage and one mile of intracoastal canal.

Jay Hawes, partner for Provident Realty, predicts the entitlement process will take two years to complete. He tells GlobeSt.com that infrastructure work on the Galveston County land, of which roughly 600 acres are developable, most likely won't get under way until 2010. The balance of the land will remain wetlands for the 20-mile island.

Bolivar Peninsula, connected by a state-run ferry to Galveston, is predominately single-family properties and wide open space controlled by the Houston Audubon Society, intermingled with scattered neighborhood retail. "There are no condos, hotels or resorts right now," Hawes says. "We will get the entitlements in place and determine what the market wants."

The development partners' affiliate, GM-I Ltd., bought the former Cade Ranch in late August in an off-market transaction with Crown Team Texas, a local partnership that had acquired it several years ago from heirs of the C.T. Cade family. The ranch is situated northwest of Texas 24 and 87 near High Island.

"With just over 6% of Texas coastal property remaining for development, we saw the Cade Ranch as a very compelling story," says Leon Backes, founder of Provident Realty Advisors and general partner of GM-I Ltd. "As the pricing on the East and West coasts continue to escalate, the demand for the Texas coast will too and we see the Bolivar Peninsula as a direct beneficiary."

Hawes says the partners acquired the land on a per-acre basis, cash on the barrelhead. Prices on the barrier island are widespread. Real estate agencies are hawking home sites from $70,000 to upward of $300,000.

"It varies in value. We feel like we made a good buy," Hawes says. "The island has not been developed in a dense manner historically. We don't see our development changing that." But, the build-out plan is sure to include the missing links of condos, hotels and resorts in some fashion, with the developer promising to take full advantage of the ocean exposure and nearby wetlands. "And, we will probably have enough retail to serve the demand that we create," he adds.

Provident historically has developed mixed-use projects and master-planned single-family communities, but it's making inroads into the second-home market to place a bet on Baby Boomers from inside and outside the state. It recently acquired 130 acres on Lake Texoma, the state's largest man-made lake situated 70 miles north of Dallas. "We will continue to evaluate opportunities. As with all our endeavors, if the fundamentals are in place, we’ll be active participants," Backes says.

Isnt most of that sold property the High Island salt dome oil field?

Do you get a boat and life preservers with this property ?