This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

New Subdivision at Hamilton Proves People Still Want to Buy in Novato

As the market expands, will the city exhaust its housing menu?

With all the talk surrounding affordable housing in Novato, it’s easy to forget that non-affordable new housing startups have slowed almost to a standstill, even as some outperform the rest of the market. The Landing at Hamilton Field – a collection of 27 single-family homes priced at the top of the local market – pretty much puts the cap on Hamilton Field, the final large-scale residential development in Novato, for well into the future. In fact, Hamilton Field could very well be the last of its kind in all of Marin.

In June, 2010, San Francisco also saw the grand opening of its “final” large residential building. The recession, combined with the city’s difficult planning and permit process, torpedoed several proposed projects, leaving One Hawthorne, a 24-story tower located South of Market, as its swan song.

Novato lacks San Francisco’s maddening Board of Supervisors; its issues are as basic: there is the recession and there is a lack of infill space. Hamilton became available when the air base was decommissioned, and hubbub surrounding the density of local proposed affordable housing projects is partial evidence of Novato’s attitude regarding urban congestion, reducing options for growth.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

According to Kyle Frazier, head of the sales team at The Landing, interest in the former Hamilton Field is brisk. With homes almost ready for occupancy, three of 27 are already in contract. Other buyers, he says, are circling. “We have several sets of potential buyers who must sell (their existing homes) in order to buy,” Frazier notes.

The Landing’s developers took a chance in creating homes whose price range begins $300,000 above the citywide average. Their early success, says Frazier, mirrors the good fortune enjoyed by other Hamilton Field subdivisions over the past decade. So far in the early part of 2011, he notes, “Homes in Hamilton Field, Breakers at Pointe Marin, Country Club, Rush Creek and Bel Marin Keys (have) generated the most calls and showings.”

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

That Frazier points to above-the-median homes at Hamilton Field as generating more interest than the rest of the local market points to one possibility – that buyers are coming from outside Novato, using the city’s relative affordability to get themselves into homes that would otherwise be well outside their budget.

“It’s no secret that buyers get far more bang for their buck in Novato,” says Frazier, who mentions young buyers priced out of southern Marin as a strong demographic for The Landing. In the past, those buyers came for entry-level homes. The early interest in The Landing suggests they are now also coming for luxury homes at what would be entry-level prices a few miles south. Homes at The Landing begin at $809,000.

In San Francisco, the answer to a market bereft of large condominium buildings has been the emergence of “boutique” developments: small buildings with 10 or fewer units. With so many Bay Area bedroom communities turning their attentions to their downtowns – Millbrae, for example, has added three downtown condominium complexes in the past five years – could boutique buildings be Novato’s future?

Or maybe “boutique developments,” smaller single-family projects like Rudnick Estates, a proposed 19-unit development from the same developer behind the successful, nine-unit Olive Court subdivision. Construction is set to begin later this year.

The winter of 2010-2011 has been kind to Novato’s real estate market. In January, traditionally the last month of the holiday lull, 22 local homes changed hands. Compare that to Millbrae, a city of similar size, where only seven homes sold in January. Recent activity shows 49 percent of all Novato listings priced under $1 million already in escrow.

If The Landing proves anything, it’s that people want to buy in Novato. It can reach beyond its niche with positive results. Long considered Marin County’s home for bargains, Novato is developing a market for second-time buyers as well as first-timers. With large residential developments off the table, though, you have to wonder if will there be anything left for them to buy.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?