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FROM THE DESK
BUYING? SELLING? KW HAS YOU COVERED!
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Company on the Beach for Sold Volume.*in 2020 #1 For sold volume in Corolla! #1 *in 2020 For sold units over $1,000,000 #1 *in 2020
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but first...
Outshining the Others
EVERY SEPTEMBER SINCE 2010, WIKIPEDIA HOLDS AN INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST to celebrate historical monuments and other heritage sites. Called Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM), the competition is fiercely stiff – in 2011, the Guinness Book of World Records reported that it was officially the largest photography contest in existence, and a whopping 10,700 contestants from 43 countries submitted nearly 277,000 photos in 2016. The ranks of WLM hopefuls only grew in 2020, but this time the finalists included one of our own. Coming in sixth place out of more than 6,000 U.S. submissions, Elizabeth Neal of Milepost Living Photography took top honors with this stunning light-streaked image of Bodie Island Lighthouse (above) – a photo which was originally taken as part of a commission for the fall 2019 edition of the North Beach Sun. While Elizabeth acknowledges that there can be an element of luck involved in photography, taking a picture of this caliber undeniably takes a good deal of skill, and sometimes, a healthy dose of patience. “After I got the assignment, I thought it would be neat to have some great clouds in the background,” she explains. “So I waited for summer storms to come through, and went out there twice with no luck – but the third time was a charm.”
Author photo of Katrina Mae Leuzinger.
Reading Rainbow
MAKING IT IN THE PUBLISHING BUSINESS AIN’T EASY – just ask any aspiring writer how many unfinished manuscripts they’ve got squirreled away in a desk drawer somewhere. But for North Beach Sun freelance writer extraordinaire (and Kill Devil Hills resident) Katrina Mae Leuzinger, the persistence it takes to get your work noticed ultimately paid off when she
recently signed a two-year contract with indie press Dreaming Big
Publications to publish her forthcoming novel, The Fairy Thief, in the fall of 2022. “It only took a year of looking for an agent – and 115 query letters,” Katrina says with a laugh as she talks about her light-hearted urban-fantasy/romance debut manuscript. “I got a lot of rejections, so when I finally got the email from [Dreaming Big], my whole brain sort of fizzled out. Now I’m just working on things with my editor – and planning on a sequel.”
Moving on Up
Will Deane is held aloft by his peers after his NSSA win this past October. Photo courtesy of Shawn Deane.
IN THE SUMMER OF 2020, 12-YEAR-OLD WILL DEANE GRACED THE COVER of the North Beach Sun as surfing’s next big thing – and he hasn’t rested on his laurels since then. If anything, Will closed out 2020 – the most successful year of his competitive career so far – with the major win of a national title as part of the National Scholastic Surfing Association’s (NSSA) Explorer competition, which was held at Jennette’s Pier this past October. But going from his home break to his big break wasn’t easy – and the stats bear this out. By the end of 2020, Will was #1 ranked number one in the NSSA’s 12-and-under Explorer division, and tied for first place in the U.S. Surfing Prime East’s 14-and-under division. Training for this level of competition isn’t for the faint of heart. As long as the swells are good, Will can train as much as
four to seven days a week for two to three hours per day
in good weather – and this jumps to seven days a week for six to eight hours per day when he’s traveling for the sport. Speaking of traveling, Will clocked an impressive 11 flights in order to train or compete professionally in 2020 – including one trip each to Carolina Beach, Texas, Hawaii and Costa Rica, three trips to California, and four to Florida – which logged him nearly 21,353 frequent flyer miles.
business briefs COMPILED BY CATHERINE KOZAK
Iconic Downtown Manteo Inn Sold
The Tranquil House Inn, a sprawling 25-room inn situated along the Manteo waterfront, has been purchased by Carolina Retreats, a specialty lodging and vacation rental management company based in Surf City on Topsail Island, N.C. In an announcement published on its website, the company said it plans to make unspecified improvements to the property over time, including upgrades to its rooms. There will be a future announcement about plans for the former 1587 Restaurant that had been located inside the inn, the statement said.
Carolina Retreats was established in 2015 by CEO/owner Mike Harrington, who was formerly the CEO of Resort Realty on the Outer Banks.
Fishing Industries Suffer Some Losses
Covid-19 shutdowns had a major impact on Southeast commercial fisheries and recreational charter/for-hire industries, according to a recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report.
The updated NOAA assessment, released in January 2021, showed a decrease in charter boat revenues from North Carolina to Mississippi of $142 million, or 24 percent, from January through June. Head boat revenue in the region – from North Carolina to Texas – fell 34 percent as well.
Landing data for federally managed species in the Southeast also showed a sharp decline of 36 percent from March through May, with April spiking at 48 percent below the 2019 catch. Landings in additional high-value Atlantic migratory species fisheries, such as bluefin tuna and swordfish, dropped precipitously as well, with overall revenue down 36 percent from April through June compared with 2019. With more than 70 percent of seafood typically consumed in restaurants, the report stated, even strong gains in grocery sales could not offset these steep losses.
More Accolades for Basnight Bridge
Dare County’s new 2.8-mile bridge over Oregon Inlet has garnered another prestigious award, adding to several others since opening two years ago. This past January, the Marc Basnight Bridge was named 2020’s Bridge of the Year by American Infrastructure magazine, an industry publication.
In an article about the award, the magazine applauded the project as “an impressive feat” and complimented the engineering design, calling it “a visually superior replacement” to the old Herbert C. Bonner Bridge.
Previous honors for the Marc Basnight Bridge include a Project of the Year award from the American Society of Civil Engineers, an Award of Excellence from the American Segmental Bridge Institute, and a Sustainable Design Award from the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.
Real Estate market snapshot
The December year-end report from the Outer Banks Association of Realtors proves that 2020’s through-the-roof real estate activity was a record-breaking – and unexpected – flashback to the peak local housing boom in the mid-2000s. In fact, the year-to-date (YTD) sales shot up 44 percent over 2019, resulting in 3,742 properties sold in 2020 compared to 2,606 in 2019. According to the statistical report by MLS Director Dan Sutherland, 2020’s stunning sales total of $1.57 billion has not been seen since 2004, when 3,747 properties sold.
Residential sales in 2020 jumped $302 million, totaling $1.47 billion versus $1.16 billion in 2019. Other jaw-dropping figures in the report revealed that sales in December 2020 were not only five percent higher than the previous month, they were 78 percent higher than the previous December. The median sale price also rose 31 percent to $485,000 over the previous year – a $114,000 increase.
Sales totals soared the most in Corolla, with an increase of 129 percent over December 2019 sales. The biggest leap in median price was seen in Nags Head, from $399,900 in December 2019 to $480,000 in December 2020 – a 20 percent increase. But Corolla beat other towns for the highest median sale price locally in December 2020 at $560,000 – which was $70,000 higher than December 2019.
New Target Store Still on Target
Although no activity has been evident all winter at the old Kmart building off U.S. 158 in Kill Devil Hills, the Target Corporation is still planning to open a location at the site, according to Aryn Ridge, a spokeswoman for Target.
“We’re excited to bring an easy, safe and convenient shopping experience to guests in the community with this new Target store,” Ridge said in a February email.
The store will be about 80,000 square feet and be tailored to the needs of its coastal location, Ridge stated. No further information about the project, including its grand opening date, was made available as of press time, but Ridge promised that “more specific details” will be shared closer to its expected opening.
RPC Contracting Company Sold
After more than 30 years serving construction industries in northeastern North Carolina, RPC Contracting, Inc. was sold to Construction Partners, Inc. (CPI), an Alabama-based civil infrastructure company, this past December. According to its website, CPI has acquired 24 businesses in the Southeastern U.S. since its inception in 2001. RPC owner Robbie Parker and his team at offices in Kitty Hawk and Elizabeth City have been integrated into the CPI company.
