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Controversial Tortuga Dunes Construction Underway
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5 Comments ::  |
Developers of a resort subdivision on Padre Island after receiving City Council approval have started construction on a $200 Million Dollar Project on Padre Island.
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The $200 million Tortuga Dunes development near Zahn Road and State Highway 361 is expected to include about 142 houses, 97 condominiums and 37,000 square feet of retail space.
Infrastructure and amenities for the first phase of the project, about two-thirds of the project, are expected to be completed this spring. |
The total acreage of the tract is 146 acres with development on only 30 acres. The remainder of the acreage will be preserved as a wetland area with conservation and educations programs.
Once the development is complete and all the units are sold the estimated annual tax revenue to local entities is $4.5 million with the bulk of that, $10.6 million going to the Flour Bluff ISD, $5.6 to the City of Corpus Christi and $3.5 to Nueces County. The development was done without tax incentives from any of the taxing entities involved and is not expected to affect vehicular passage along the beach.
The development is being done by the Forestar Real Estate Group which is a Temple Inland Company. Temple Inland is a Fortune 400 company which specializes in forestry, banks and investments, and real estate development. For information on Forestar see their website at forestargroup.com.
Plans call for the architecture in the Tortuga Dunes project to feature a theme derived from Caribbean and West Indies designs.
Features:
- 1,000 ft of Beachfront
- Swimming pool
- Boardwalks
- Tropical trees
- Breezeways
- Wooden awning-style shutters
- Gabled towers
- Balconies
- Pedestrian gates
- Shaded wrap-around porches
- Private courtyards
- 70 acres for wetlands conservation
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There will also be parks embedded in the design. Lot sizes will vary between fifty and sixty feet in width. The company estimates the development will bring more than $200 million in added tax base and infrastructure to the Island economy.
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Tortuga Dunes falls within an area designated by the Resources System (CBRS), comprised of undeveloped coastal barriers along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Great Lakes coasts.
The law encourages the conservation of hurricane prone, biologically rich coastal barriers by restricting Federal expenditures that encourage development, such as Federal flood insurance.
Learn more about the Coastal Barrier Resources Act.
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UPDATE: March 24th 2008 - based on reader comments we provide this map
Here is the map from the CBRS site - according to what we can see, Tortuga Dunes is within TX-15P.
We are contacting the Governement officials to find out the exact status and report an update of our findings.
Please note that Insurance will still be available from private sources in either case.
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| Comments | |
By
Anonymous @
Thursday, March 13, 2008 7:02 PM |
Since the property is located in a Coastal Barrier Resource Act (CBRA) designated area, that indicates Federal - (FEMA) Flood Insurance and State - (TWI) Texas Windstorm Insurance will not be available.
Only private insurance would be applicable.
Which could be two - three times the price of the Government backed policies.
And could be subject to cancellation, leaving the homeowner without insurance or with insurance that is not affordable, but required by their mortgage company. |
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By
Barrett D Allison @
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 7:57 PM | |
I've got a lot reservation down there, so I checked this issue out for myself as a result. I found that they are building in an "Otherwise Protected Area", on the Department of the Interior official map TX-15P. They are not in a CBRA area. Competing developers have been keepin that rumor alive, apparently, and now this article and website contributes to keeping the inaccurate information alive by repeating it without checking the accuracy of the statement. Of course it is just the internet where anyone can print anything. But the OPA status can be verified with the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife office if anyone else cares. |
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By
Mark @
Monday, March 24, 2008 10:17 AM |
Here is a link to the CBRS Map for TX-15P Mustang Island, if you are inside the red lines, you cannot get FEMA or TWI.
The CBRS maps can be confusing, because they mark the areas that are excluded from Federal Insurance.
So if you are in a number area, like TX-15P - that means you are indeed excluded.
www.glo.state.tx.us/coastal/maps/cbrs/pdf/36_TX-15P.pdf
It looks to me that Tortuga Dunes is within that red section?
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By
B Johnson @
Monday, March 24, 2008 10:18 AM | |
Explain to me how you can be "in" Tx -15p and also be "in" an otherwise protected area. You can either get TWI or you can't. My reading is you can't at Tortuga Dunes. Enlighten me please. |
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By
Michael Stuart @
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 12:45 AM |
There are several successful developments in non-FEMA coverage areas. It simply means that the Government "Insurance of last resort" coverage is not available.
There are plenty of private insurance companies to choose from and they are more than willing and capable of providing affordable coverage.
Plus todays more stringent building codes produce a coastal home product that is much more resistant to storm damage and is therefore even more insurable - at less risk. |
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