BUSINESS BRIEFS

COMPILED BY CATHERINE KOZAK

Sustaining the Future of Our Community

At the Dare County Tourism Board’s March 17 meeting, Outer Banks Visitors Bureau Executive Director Lee Nettles announced that development of a long-term management plan to foster sustainable tourism growth on the Outer Banks is now underway, with a consultant expected to be selected in May 2022. The planning process will seek to identify what local qualities to preserve and enhance over time, and will include opportunities for public input.

“It’s really important that we take this opportunity just to catch our breath and set a path for sustainable tourism growth,” Nettles said in an online recap of the meeting. “That is, being able to grow in a way that doesn’t compromise the things that we hold true about the Outer Banks, the things that make us special and unique.”

Two New Directors at Roanoke Island Attractions

The Elizabethan Gardens announced in April that Theresa M. Armendarez has been hired as the 10.5-acre site’s new executive director. Armendarez has a background in nonprofit management and education, according to a press release from the 71-year-old Gardens. She replaces Carl Curnutte, who resigned in January after serving 12 years in the position.

“We are confident in Theresa and how she will fit seamlessly into our mission and vision at The Gardens, and look forward to working with her,” said Linda Davenport, president of The Elizabethan Gardens’ board of directors.

Another beloved and time-honored Outer Banks attraction, The Lost Colony summer theater production, has a new person holding the reins. In March, the board of the Roanoke Island Historical Association (RIHA), which produces the outdoor play, appointed Chuck Still, a 30-year veteran of theater management, as RIHA’s executive director.

“Chuck Still has the skills, experience and personality that we wanted in our executive director as we prepare for our show’s 85th year,” said Kevin Bradley, chairman of the board.

The show opens on May 27 and runs through August 20. The Lost Colony is presented at the Waterside Theatre, which is located at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site alongside The Elizabethan Gardens.

New Bridge on Hatteras Island

A new jug handle bridge that juts out over the Pamlico Sound between the north end of Rodanthe and the south side of Mirlo Beach opened to pedestrian traffic in early April, giving the public a good look at the 2.4-mile span and its surrounding marshland before opening to traffic a few weeks later. In the works for four years, the $145 million Rodanthe Bridge bypasses the locally famed “S-turns” surf spot, as well as one of the most troublesome, and often dangerous, overwash areas on NC 12. During storms, or moon tides, entire sections of the roadway in that area often flooded with water surging from the Atlantic Ocean or the sound (or both). At times, the breach was so bad that the road was closed for days – all too often at the height of the busy summer season.

Dare College of The Albemarle Opens

Completion of the new Dare County College of The Albemarle (COA) campus was celebrated at a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 8. Costs for the 36,000-square-foot academic building, located off U.S. 64 in Manteo, were provided for by $1.5 million in state ConnectNC bond funds and a $17 million contribution from Dare County.

Replacing a 60-year-old facility, Dare-COA’s new campus boasts the latest technology to connect students and faculty, as well as allowing classrooms, workspaces and gathering areas to easily connect with other campuses.

Real Estate market snapshot

The local real estate market’s sugar high may be over, but market activity on the Outer Banks is still plenty sweet, as demonstrated by the Outer Banks Association of Realtors’ March 2022 MLS Statistical Report.

According to the report, only 50 residential listings in the entire MLS system were priced below $400,000, and just 19 of those properties were located on the Outer Banks between Corolla and Hatteras. Year-to-date residential sales were down 20% over last year (703 versus 877 in March 2021), but residential median sale prices were $575,000, an increase of 27% over last year. The town of Duck had the highest percentage increase in median sales price, at a 38% increase to $900,000, and Hatteras the lowest, at a 1% increase to $530,000.

Although lot and land sales (190 total) were unchanged over March 2021, the median lot/land price of $116,417 was also up 7% over last year. Total volume sold was up by 8%, including a jump of 45% in commercial sales, thanks mostly to three large sales in March 2022. In addition to this, the number of days residential properties spent on the market averaged 42 in 2022, compared with 78 in 2021, and for lot/lands the market days averaged 160, compared to 205 in 2021. Overall, inventory was down by 24%, with residential down by 30%, lot/land by 24% and commercial by 4%.