Property sells like hotcakes

The sign says it all! Phase 1 of the land at Hilliard’s Bay Estates sold out in less than a day June 27-28. The demand for lakefront property on Lesser Slave Lake is high because of how difficult it is to acquire.

Kevin Laliberte
For the South Peace News

The sale of prime lakefront property lots at Hilliard’s Bay Estates on Lesser Slave Lake is proving to be anything but a hard sell. “The response from the public has been absolutely phenomenal,” says Greg Radstaak, one of six principal investors of the 111-acre piece of land surrounded by Hilliard’s Bay Provincial Park adjacent to the group use area. So good in fact that all 51 lots offered in the opening phase of sales for the project were sold within a brief 24-hour period June 27-28. “We opened it up (lot sales) to family and friends on the afternoon of June 27 and it snowballed from there through word of mouth. By the following day we were completely sold out,” says a pleased Radstaak. Hilliard’s Bay Estates Inc. was formed in late 2007 following the successful acquisition of the property by a group of six local investors from former landowner Mary Franklin of Bloomington, Minnesota in the United States. Franklin, in her eighties, is the daughter of Mr. Hilliard who homesteaded on the north shore of Lesser Slave Lake in the early 1920s. The six principal investors of the property include Radstaak and his spouse, Hilary Wait, Art and Yvette Cloutier, and Guy and Sylvia Mathieu - all of whom felt as if they stumbled upon a tremendous opportunity after inquiring about the possible sale of the prime real estate property. “I guess it was just good timing and luck on our part,” says Radstaak. The title transfer of the property was finalized Jan. 15, 2008, with investors subsequently approaching the M.D. of Big Lakes with a subdivision plan. That plan was approved by the M.D. in June and will be registered by Sept. 1 of this year at which time titles will be transferred over to the new owners. Radstaak says phase one of the project, currently under development, consisted of 51 lots including 12 lakefront, 17 lake view, 13 creek and nine lots opposite the creek. Future phases will be developed in response to demand, a key aspect of the project which appears to be spreading like wildfire. “The demand for lots has definitely surpassed our expectations. Right now there’s more demand than what we presently have available in terms of lots,” he says. Additional lots will, however, become available in the future in conjunction with the progression of future phases. Radstaak says that when it’s all said and done they hope to have between 150-200 lots making up Hilliard’s Bay Estates, 30 of which could be up for grabs as early as the summer of 2009. The lots vary in size from 70 feet to 100 feet in width by 130 to 175 feet in length and range anywhere from $75,000 to $275,000 in price depending on location. “With such limited opportunity for private ownership of lakeside property, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for families to acquire an heirloom lake property to pass along from generation to generation,” Radstaak explains. The intent of Hilliard’s Bay Estates developers is to establish a lakeside cottage community environment around an architectural theme favouring traditional lake cabin, chalet or cottage designs in earth tone colours. Owner requirements are that all homes must be new and can be custom built, pre-fabricated, modular RTM (ready to move) with a minimum size of 600 square feet. The maximum lot coverage of buildings is 35 per cent of the total property in accordance with M.D. of Big Lakes zoning. Radstaak says architectural guidelines in the condominium bylaw document are in place in an effort to achieve an “overall expression of harmony and character with nature while protecting the integrity of Hilliard’s Bay Estates.” He adds that ATCO Electric and Prairie River Gas Co-op will be providing power and natural gas services up to each property line, adding it’s the responsibility of each owner to tie in these services to their respective dwelling. Water and sewer services, meanwhile, are also the responsibility of owners with each being required to install an approved underground septic holding tank and underground water cistern. Owners are also responsible for their own garbage removal and can access two landfills in the area including Grouard and the regional landfill on the Enilda Tower Road. All bylaws will be regulated by a yet-to-be-formed condominium association which will be comprised of an elected board of directors made up of lot owners. In terms of building timelines for cottages/cabins, Radstaak says property owners are required to commence construction within a period of eight years from the point of title transfer. All home exteriors must be completed two years after the construction start-up date or up to a maximum of 10 years after title transfer. A holiday trailer or other recreational vehicle can be used for temporary accommodation purposes during the 10-year construction period. Property taxes are applicable to all owners through the M.D. of Big Lakes. Current estimates for taxes based on the 2008 assessed residential tax mill rate of 2.76 plus the education component is approximately $576 per year using a property assessment of $100,000. Lesser Slave Lake is the second largest lake within Alberta and the eight largest in Canada, encompassing an area of 1,160 square kilometres. For more information on the lots at Hilliard’s Bay Estates, call 1-877-277-LAKE.

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