Mr Williamsburg, Revolutionary ideas on real estate!Hampton Roads Virginia

A Maryland company has purchased the financially struggling Ford’s Colony of Rocky Mount, North Carolina for $3.25 million.

The Halle Companies, located in Silver Spring, Md., and developer of the Villages of Apex in North Carolina, has purchased the assets formerly owned by Realtec of Williamsburg, Va.

In January of 2011, the upscale community’s golf course shut down and a section of the community was taken over in a foreclosure action by banks.

BB&T bank took over 132 lots it had financed for the developer, which has been struggling in the down economy. The golf course reopened last April after the bank hired Traditional Golf Properties to manage the course.

Halle Companies did not buy the golf course as part of the transaction.

“Our goal is to tie (the golf course and community) all back together, to form a partnership with the bank or whoever owns the golf course and community and homeowners’ association who want to get all that back together,” said Rex Osborne of Apex, who was a broker in the transaction and will be selling home sites and marketing the community.

The assets included 132 lots and the acreage around them, including 805 acres and a lake.

“We purchased the largest share of the finished lots, and all of the developable land around there,” Osborne said.

Homes in Ford’s Colony had been selling in the $250,000 to $500,000 range. The 1,400-acre master-planned community is slated to have 1,200 home sites.

Development began at the Rocky Mount community in summer 2004.

A press release from the Halle Companies states that no development plans have been formalized, but they are under way.

“We’re going to continue the development of Ford’s Colony,” Osborne said. “We just made the purchase. It is kind of status quo right now until we get marketing in place. We want to complete the community.”

In a prepared statement, Mike Howington, general partner of Apex First Development, a division of The Halle Companies, said he is excited about this next step for The Halle Companies that “will continue its commitment to the state of North Carolina.” Howington will be heading up the development of Ford’s Colony and is currently in charge of the 202-acre downtown project in Apex, one of the largest downtown planned unit developments in the country. .

“This was a cash purchase and as with The Villages of Apex, The Halle Companies continues to operate on a debt-free basis with no lenders to partner with,” he said in the statement.

Howington said buying the property in Rocky Mount with cash “allows us to move at the proper pace, and keep the community on a sound financial footing.”

The Halle Companies, was founded in 1972 by Warren Halle. He started as a carpentry contractor before expanding into single-family residential building development and subsequently into commercial office and retail projects. The company has developed two large planned unit developments similar to Ford’s Colony. The first, Kingstowne, begun in 1985, is located in Fairfax County, Va. and consists of 5,500 residential units and two million square feet of retail, office and flex-office space. The second, Seven Oaks, began in 1987 and is located in Anne Arundel County, Md. and consists of 3,500 residential units and is approved for 5.5 million square feet of commercial space. The Halle Companies have developed over 15,000 residential lots and built several thousand residential homes, the release stated.

Read more about Fords Colony , Williamsburg VA here

Like what you are reading ? Want to receive updates by email in the future ? Sign up here  psst … I’m a Realtor! Thanks for stopping by my website. I  would love to help you find your dream home and community in the Hampton Roads or Williamsburg area or to sell your existing home. This post was authored by local resident and REALTOR, John Womeldorf. John is known around town as Mr. Williamsburg, for both his extensive knowledge of Hampton Roads and the historic triangle, and his expertise in the local real estate market. His websites, WilliamsburgsRealEstate.com  and Mr Williamsburg.com were created as a resource for folks who are exploring a move to  Williamsburg, VA , Hampton Roads VA and the  surrounding areas of the Virginia Peninsula. On his website you can search homes for sale , foreclosures, 55+ active adult communities,   condos and town homes , land and commercial property for sale in Williamsburg, Yorktown, New Kent,  Poquoson, and Gloucester, VA as well as surrounding markets of Carrolton,  Chesapeake,Gloucester, Hampton, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth  Mathews, Newport News Norfolk, Poquoson, Smithfield, , Suffolk, Surry,  Va Beach, Yorktown  and York County Virginia You can reach John by email John@MrWilliamsburg.com or phone @  757-254-8136

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