Add to Del.icio.us
Digg this Article
Add to Mixx
Park your car and walk to everything. That idea is just enough to attract many DC-area residents to travel to neighboring beach destinations in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Some stay for a weekend or week, while others make it their permanent home.
“You can be at the beach and not feel old,” says Aaron Georgelas, partner at The Georgelas Group and developer of The Opal in Dewey Beach. “Dewey Beach is so alive …it’s what Arlington is to the DC area,” he says.
Georgelas worked with his late father, Thomas G. Georgelas, and McWilliams Ballard to convert the 80 spaces of the Southwinds Motel into 36 high-end units. “We started over in both buildings,” Georgelas says, but repurposed the concrete structures. All new wiring, plumbing, and HVAC systems were installed. “There’s nothing else like The Opal in Dewey Beach,” he adds.
The exterior design was his father’s, Georgelas says, while inside they all worked together to make the condos spacious and functional with a central kitchen with granite counters and stainless steel appliances. Each unit comes with a plasma TV as well as wiring for speakers. Buyers can upgrade with a Bose system.
The Opal also includes a central pool with patios for relaxing and a short walk to the beach. Prices start at $399,000 for the one-bedroom, two-bathroom condos and $499,000 for two-bedroom, two-bathroom units.
In the traditional neighborhood development of East Beach in Norfolk, VA, is a new condominium community, East Beach Villas at Pretty Lake. Developed through a joint initiative between East Beach Company and the City of Norfolk with a master plan created by Andres Duany, a renowned planner of New Urbanist neighborhoods, East Beach includes these condominiums developed by Pretty Lake at East Beach Inc. and designed by CMSS Architects. Prices range from the high $300,000s to $1 million.
“East Beach is rooted in the tradition of historic waterfront villages and towns along the Eastern Seaboard,” says East Beach managing partner D.B. “Bart” Frye, Jr. “Boaters will love the newest addition to our neighborhood, East Beach Villas at Pretty Lake, because they’re set across from deep-water marinas with easy ocean access,” he says. “The concept of the community is to provide diverse home styles for its residents as well as the ability to easily walk from their homes to the Chesapeake Bay,” Frye adds. “It’s a wonderful water-oriented lifestyle, a place where homeowners are living year-round.”
