Doc, queue the fireworks GIF! Hard to hide money on Lake Martin. Sorry y'all - WSJ prolly requires a subscription for the full read. Excerpt below.
https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/lux...ama-real-estate-e0d19fd0?ns=prod/accounts-wsj
Aug. 23, 2023 at 10:02 am ET
After Bruce Pearl discovered Lake Martin in east-central Alabama, he dreamed about owning a piece of property along its shoreline.
Pearl, who has been head coach of Auburn University’s men’s basketball team for roughly a decade, began visiting the lake in 2014 on the recommendation of a friend. In 2019, after he coached his team to the NCAA Men’s Final Four, a bump in pay allowed Pearl, now 63, to build his family a vacation home on the lake.
“There’s just no way you’d expect, in the middle of Alabama, to have this amazing lake, these incredible golf courses and these multimillion-dollar homes,” he said.
Lake Martin is a man-made lake that is fed by the Tallapoosa River and surrounding creeks and supported by the Martin Dam. Its roughly 40,000 acres includes a sinuous shoreline of over 800 miles. Surrounded by the small Alabama cities of Alexander City, Dadeville and Tallassee, Lake Martin has dozens of its own residential neighborhoods including Willow Point, The Ridge, The Heritage and StillWaters. The area has long attracted a high-net worth clientele made up of CEOs and business owners from nearby cities including Birmingham, Montgomery and Auburn, according to local agent India Davis of Lake Martin Realty.
Arnberg said that Lake Martin’s central location, ongoing development and family-friendly lifestyle are key attractions for Alabama-based vacationers, some of whom used to travel four to five hours to visit the Gulf of Mexico, but now opt for the one to three hours it takes to drive to Lake Martin. The area has also seen a recent rise in out-of-state home buyers, said local agent Amanda Scroggins with Re/Max. Many of them are from Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. One draw for these out-of-staters, according to Arnberg, is Russell Lands’ new Wicker Point Golf Club, which will have a Coore & Crenshaw-designed golf course and is scheduled to open late September. Home lots near it are getting multiple bids, many over $1 million, he said, and are going into contract well over list price.
In 2018, Pearl, who is based in Auburn, Ala., said he bought a waterfront lot in The Ridge for around $900,000. His intention was to eventually build a home on it. “At the time, I didn’t have the money to do both, buy land and build a home,” he said. Nor did he have the time. “So I bought it as an investment and I said, ‘Someday I’m going to build my dream home. And it’s going to be a family home, a place my children and my family can all use forever.’ ”
That day came sooner than Pearl expected. In 2019, Auburn’s NCAA Men’s Final Four appearance propelled Pearl’s career and earned him an extended contract with the university with a higher salary, he said. This provided the wherewithal to spend the next year and a half building a home on Lake Martin with his wife, Brandy Pearl. “Because we have western exposure, I wanted really big decks that feel like outdoor rooms,” he said, adding that they love to watch the sunsets. “In the fall, you can be outdoors all day and have a fire at night when it gets cool.”
https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/lux...ama-real-estate-e0d19fd0?ns=prod/accounts-wsj
A Man-Made Lake in Alabama Is Giving the Gulf Coast a Run for Its Money
Lake Martin is drawing wealthy vacationers willing to spend big on waterfront homes
By Libertina BrandtAug. 23, 2023 at 10:02 am ET
After Bruce Pearl discovered Lake Martin in east-central Alabama, he dreamed about owning a piece of property along its shoreline.
Pearl, who has been head coach of Auburn University’s men’s basketball team for roughly a decade, began visiting the lake in 2014 on the recommendation of a friend. In 2019, after he coached his team to the NCAA Men’s Final Four, a bump in pay allowed Pearl, now 63, to build his family a vacation home on the lake.
“There’s just no way you’d expect, in the middle of Alabama, to have this amazing lake, these incredible golf courses and these multimillion-dollar homes,” he said.
Lake Martin is a man-made lake that is fed by the Tallapoosa River and surrounding creeks and supported by the Martin Dam. Its roughly 40,000 acres includes a sinuous shoreline of over 800 miles. Surrounded by the small Alabama cities of Alexander City, Dadeville and Tallassee, Lake Martin has dozens of its own residential neighborhoods including Willow Point, The Ridge, The Heritage and StillWaters. The area has long attracted a high-net worth clientele made up of CEOs and business owners from nearby cities including Birmingham, Montgomery and Auburn, according to local agent India Davis of Lake Martin Realty.
Arnberg said that Lake Martin’s central location, ongoing development and family-friendly lifestyle are key attractions for Alabama-based vacationers, some of whom used to travel four to five hours to visit the Gulf of Mexico, but now opt for the one to three hours it takes to drive to Lake Martin. The area has also seen a recent rise in out-of-state home buyers, said local agent Amanda Scroggins with Re/Max. Many of them are from Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. One draw for these out-of-staters, according to Arnberg, is Russell Lands’ new Wicker Point Golf Club, which will have a Coore & Crenshaw-designed golf course and is scheduled to open late September. Home lots near it are getting multiple bids, many over $1 million, he said, and are going into contract well over list price.
In 2018, Pearl, who is based in Auburn, Ala., said he bought a waterfront lot in The Ridge for around $900,000. His intention was to eventually build a home on it. “At the time, I didn’t have the money to do both, buy land and build a home,” he said. Nor did he have the time. “So I bought it as an investment and I said, ‘Someday I’m going to build my dream home. And it’s going to be a family home, a place my children and my family can all use forever.’ ”
That day came sooner than Pearl expected. In 2019, Auburn’s NCAA Men’s Final Four appearance propelled Pearl’s career and earned him an extended contract with the university with a higher salary, he said. This provided the wherewithal to spend the next year and a half building a home on Lake Martin with his wife, Brandy Pearl. “Because we have western exposure, I wanted really big decks that feel like outdoor rooms,” he said, adding that they love to watch the sunsets. “In the fall, you can be outdoors all day and have a fire at night when it gets cool.”
