Losing Lake Boone Trail

As mentioned in an earlier post, this windy woody stretch of Lake Boone Trail has always been a pleasure to behold. I was shocked to see the house chosen for removal, and then the trees that went after it. See picture in earlier post.

The million dollar question is whether a teardown or two will change the tone of the street and encourage more rebuilds, or if these new homes will become a part of a diverse community culture.



Here's a clue.




This house down the street and across has also sold and been destroyed. Dated 6/8/07, the transaction cost $430,000.



It currently looks like this.



Land in these parts is netting approximately $330,000 for nearly .50 acres and another $100,000 plus for the house. With teardown costs, the builder is facing around $500,000 in base costs. My prediction is that these will be $1.5M-2.0M investments in order to recoup the costs.

The character of this section of town hangs in the balance. Down the road on Nottingham are several more megahouses. Further down in Sunset hills, Banbury Park is replacing the older rental units and displacing tenants. Up on Brooks Ave, up and down the cross streets, pre-1945 houses are going into the landfill and new larger houses are taking their place. Ridge Road is particularly popular for hunting down ranch houses.

Call me paranoid, but I think there is a plan for rebuilding old Raleigh. In the past they cleared farmland to develop subdivisions, now they clear lots. Lake Boone Trail residents are soon to be living in a million dollar neighborhood, it is happening one house at a time.