Places Where No More Timeshares likely to be built

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

There are some places where market or political forces or both have created situations where it is unlikely any more timeshare will be built. I would be interested in members thoughts on what places fall into this category.

TO START OFF - THE OUTER BANKS OF NC

There is now only one resort still in sales, BIS-Kitty Hawk, by a local developer. It has been in sales for over ten years, but still has some development phases to go before it builds out. All others are sold out and the developer is out of the picture.

The last tract bought for timeshare development was over ten years ago by Peppertree/Equivest, but as that organization's finances went south, that tract was foreclosed and sold at the courthouse door in Dare County and has since been used for other purposes.

After Cendant took over Peppertree/Equivest, it inherited the old Outer Banks Beach Club sales office, which it turned over to Fairfield which reopened it to sell Fairfield points. Given the bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths over the fiasco of the Peppertree points, OBBC would not let them tour on their property, so Fairfield made a deal to pay the Seascape HOA to tour sales prospects there. They also started looking for a site for a new resort on the OBX. When they could not find anything suitable, they pulled up stakes, closed the sales office,and even sold the sales office property.

The problem is one of land costs. Oceanfront land has long been too expensive for timeshare development, and cost and availiblity is now a problem on land off of the beach. Part of the equation is that the OBX has no sewer system and relies on septic tanks which limits density that can be built. Of course, that means no high rises towering over the beach to put the beach in the shade in the afternoon as happens at some places farther north.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Cancun is another place where timeshares are likely not to be built. The hotel zone is just about full, so there is no place on the beach left. Off beach development is possible, but not very saleable. Any new timeshares will be refurbished or rebuilt on existing sites and since the trend is to vacation south of Cancun, new resorts will be unlikely or few and far between. Most of the new building in the area is going to be south of Cancun and that will be continuing for quite some time.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Beachfront in southern California.. Development inland - even a few blocks inland - is more feasible. But directly on the beach is difficult.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Steve I am not sure if I agree about the OBX. There is a very long stretch of land than can be developed. Maybe not in the Kitty Hawk area but certainly on the OBX somewhere.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Frank - Undoubtedly the land you are thinking of is the National Seashore, which cannot be developed. Fairfield was primarily looking at the northern and southern ends for land - Duck/Corolla and Hatteras but came up with nothing satisfactory. Peppertree's tract was way off the beach. There was large undeveloped tract smack in the middle of Nags Head, just to the south of The Windjammer, that ran from ocean to sound for many years - but it is now The Village at Nags Head development.

With current land prices, the highest and best use of oceanfront seems to be the ''mini-hotels'', 8-12BR mansions built for rental. Hotels and other oceanfront structures are biting the dust to make way for them. When you have to rely on septic tanks, it takes a bigger piece of land than it would if there were a sewer system for a timeshare resort, and land prices, especially on the oceanfront, have become prohibitive. The only developer in sales, Barrier Island Station, has been saying for years they will not be building another resort after they sell out their Kitty Hawk timeshares. Fairfield did an extensive property search and found nothing to their liking availible at a price that would work. The former Peppertree tract was probably the last reaslistic possibility and it wasn't that great of a location.

When it comes to the northern Outer Banks above Kitty Hawk, there are also some very serious zoning hurdles that would be difficult to overcome.

[ebram Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ebram]

Other Places

Cape Cod and Newport , RI.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Frank - Undoubtedly the land you are thinking of is the National Seashore, which cannot be developed. Fairfield was primarily looking at the northern and southern ends for land - Duck/Corolla and Hatteras but came up with nothing satisfactory. Peppertree's tract was way off the beach. There was large undeveloped tract smack in the middle of Nags Head, just to the south of The Windjammer, that ran from ocean to sound for many years - but it is now The Village at Nags Head development.

With current land prices, the highest and best use of oceanfront seems to be the ''mini-hotels'', 8-12BR mansions built for rental. Hotels and other oceanfront structures are biting the dust to make way for them. When you have to rely on septic tanks, it takes a bigger piece of land than it would if there were a sewer system for a timeshare resort, and land prices, especially on the oceanfront, have become prohibitive. The only developer in sales, Barrier Island Station, has been saying for years they will not be building another resort after they sell out their Kitty Hawk timeshares. Fairfield did an extensive property search and found nothing to their liking availible at a price that would work. The former Peppertree tract was probably the last reaslistic possibility and it wasn't that great of a location.

I do remember there being some kind of amusement park on the what to Hatteras. There should be room in that area. There was also a spot at the end where the museum is. I can not recall the name of it. I think it was something like the sunken ships museum.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Cape Cod and Newport , RI.

I agree that Newport can use more but there is no real place to put them unless you can find a spot near the Castle inn.

The cape does have a lot of areas that still can be developed. What I have seen is a few motels that have been converted to timeshares. If you start from lets say Falmouth near the Sea Mist and go to Provence town going through the ocean side(the long way not the high way but the back roads) You will see lots of great possible locations. We did this by car last year and it is a very long drive but we got to see areas that many would miss. We enjoyed stopping somewhere in the middle and going to a Christmas shop. BTW this seemed to be a very rich area.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

I can see a few more on Cape Cod. InnSeasons has recently redone a motel to timeshare conversion they call Harbor Walk. The big problem on the cape is restrictions and the one season for tourists (Summer). I believe a couple of small timeshares there folded last year.

[JuneB Member Find all posts View Profile Close JuneB]

I know there won't be any new ones built on Sanibel and I doubt if there will be any conversions.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

This reminds me of one of the many lies in the timeshare salesman's book. Several times I've heard the comment that there has been a regulation passes prohibiting the building of any more timeshares. Every time there has been subsequent projects forthcoming.

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

Over time things change. All it takes is the right price and approvals that make sense to a developer and formerly "unbuildable" becomes possible. All of the areas mentioned are high priced and protected (hopefully) land but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. It is more likely to occur in the warmer areas that offer a better chance of easy sales of all available time but that isn't a necessity as there have been more seasonal areas with timeshares as well. No place attractive to tourists can be ruled out as a potential timeshare site. But if the economics of timesharing don't make sense to the developer then you're more likely to see a rental project as in the mini-mansions Steve mentioned. That isn't good for timeshare owners unless the system they belong to offers access to that type of accomodation in addition to the more standard timeshare ownership.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

The same argument can be made for hotels. Any hotel property can theoretically be converted into condos, condo hotels or timeshares if the local zoning ordinances permit it.

If the ordinances don't forbid it, then the only thing holding it back is whether or not a resort developer can make good money doing it.

It just depends on the most profitable use of the property.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Another logical extension for exchange companies is to accept deposits of weeks from owners at some of those projects (both from whole owners as well as fractionals such as quarter shares). With a Points system all they need to do is estalish point values for the weeks for condos/private hotel rooms from a given project.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

DAE already accepts deposits from non-timeshare vacation properties. My brother has deposited weeks from his beach house at Holden Beach, near Wilmington, and I have seen a week or two from a wholeownership OBX condo online at DAE, as well.

They have quite a few vacation cottages in France, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland deposited as well, and occaisionally from the Czech Republic, Italy, Romania, and other places.

They do require that they be managed, so that inbound exchangers will have someone to deal with.