WELCOME TO THE ISLAND OF SANTA CLARITA; UPSCALE HOMES WILL DOT OASIS IN LAKE.Byline: Jason Takenouchi Daily News Staff Writer In an attempt to cash in on an increasingly upscale market, the city's biggest developer will soon offer homeowners their own piece of a desert island. They may have to share it with others, but Valencia-based The Newhall Land and Farming Company The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state. is betting that buyers will still be willing to pay $500,000 or more to live in a gated, water-locked enclave enclave /en·clave/ (en´klav) tissue detached from its normal connection and enclosed within another organ. en·clave n. A detached mass of tissue enclosed in tissue of another kind. . The island's 80 houses and the 15-1/2-acre lake surrounding them form the center of Bridgeport, a 700-home development that will begin sales in 2000. The island will be connected to the mainland with a two-lane bridge. The 300-acre project has been on the drawing boards for years, but it was only recently that deep grading for the lake has begun. Jack Kyser, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the with the nonprofit Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Economic Development Corp., said Bridgeport epitomizes the type of design that is making Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, a major draw. ``What you're seeing in Santa Clarita is somewhat unique in Los Angeles County,'' Kyser said. ``They have a lot of land to play with and they're doing development in an imaginative way.'' Newhall Land officials say the island is just part of the project's appeal. ``The island is obviously one of the focal points focal point n. See focus. of the community, but all of Bridgeport is going to be unique,'' said company spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer. The rest of Bridgeport will include a private beach club, a 12-acre park and 12 acres of commercial space. Bridges and pedestrian walkways will link those sections with other groups of lake-front homes. The clay-lined lake will be the largest free-standing body of water in the city. Depending on the decisions of future homeowners, it may be used for sailboats and paddle An input device that moves the screen cursor in a back-and-forth motion. It has a dial and one or more buttons and is typically used in games to hit balls and steer objects. See joy stick. Paddle - A language for transformations leading from specification to program. boats. Newhall Land will not build the homes, choosing instead to sell sections of the project to other builders. Prices will range from the high $200,000s to $600,000 or more, depending on placement, market conditions and other factors, Lauffer predicted. Realtors said they expect the project to attract builders and homeowners throughout the region. Its lake-front design and two gated sections are seen as bonuses in an area already marked by upscale housing projects, they say. ``It's a sophisticated residential development, and I think people are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. that,'' said Nancy Starczyk, president of the Santa Clarita division of the Southland south·land or South·land n. A region in the south of a country or an area. south  land·er n.Noun 1. Regional Association of Realtors. ``It will fulfill a need,'' she said. ``We don't have very much like that out here.'' Bridgeport is far from the first Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, development to offer lakeside homes. The first major California planned development, Westlake Village in Ventura County, was built around a lake and includes an island. Lauffer said the Bridgeport design was influenced by Westlake and other lakeside housing projects. The island originally was designed as a way to maximize lake frontage, she said. Bridgeport's combination of lake homes and other amenities could make it especially attractive to executives, Kyser said. ``One of the reasons for the success of south Orange County is that you have this sort of nice executive housing,'' he said. ``If you want something brand new with some space around it, this would make a lot of sense.'' CAPTION(S): Photo, Map PHOTO (Color) The 700-home Bridgeport development will have 80 upscale houses constructed on an island in a small man-made lake. MAP: Bridgeport development |
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