The owner of a troubled condominium building in Crisfield, Maryland, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy shortly before a foreclosure sale on the building was to take place. Captain’s Galley Condominiums, completed in 2006, features luxury condominiums in Crisfield, Maryland. Shaw Development, L.L.C. is the owner of Captain’s Galley Condominiums.

After completion of the project, Shaw Development became entangled in litigation with the project’s builder, Southern Builders, after the condominium building failed to achieve LEED Silver certification, a standard of green building that if met would have brought Shaw Development an estimated $635,000 in tax credits from the state of Maryland green building tax incentive program. While the case was settled out of a court, it became one of the first examples of major green building litigation.

Court case aside, Captain’s Galley Condominiums also struggled from unfortunate timing. Completed at the turn of the housing market, owner Jim Shaw of Shaw Development was not prepared to sell the condominiums at a lesser price. Then, the restaurant that took up residence in the building closed earlier this year after a financial dispute with Shaw.

Of the 17 units in the building, three are under contract including one of the building’s penthouse units. Late last month, the remaining units in the condominium building were set to go to auction. But just prior to the sale, Shaw Development filed for bankruptcy canceling the auction, and allowing time for the business to restructure. The homes under contract can now proceed, and the building’s Realtor was already expecting several contracts on other units in the building. New homes in the building start at $247,000, a nearly 50% price reduction since Captain’s Galley Condominiums first went on the market.

Captain’s Galley Condominiums is a waterfront building in the quiet town of Crisfield on Maryland’s lower Eastern Shore. The new community is located on the Chesapeake Bay close to Somers Cove Marina, and also includes a few boat slips on the property.

Home Options:

• 2 bedroom, 2 bath home–1,570 square feet (Start at $247,000)
• 3 bedroom, 3 bath home–1,862 square feet (Start at $369,000)
• Penthouse Homes: 4 bedroom, 4 1/2 baths–2,902 square feet

This is the second case in recent months of a luxury condominium building on the Eastern Shore going to auction, or nearly going to auction rather. In late November, The Residences at River’s Edge in Salisbury, Maryland, suffered a similar fate.

Luxury condominium buildings featured on EasternShoreHousing.com include Sunset Bay Villas in Chincoteague, Virginia, by Burbage Properties. Sunset Bay Villas offers new homes in Chincoteague Island, something which there is a limited supply of. In Ocean City, Maryland, you’ll find The Gateway Grand, the resort town’s premier condo building. Both Sunset Bay Villas and The Gateway Grand offer amenity rich living to their residents.

Happy New Year! Now onto the first ESH blog post of 2009…

One of the many benefits of buying a new home is that home builders today have easier (and more affordable) access than ever to environmentally friendly, energy efficient, “green” materials. New homes of today are often built with energy efficiency in mind, saving home owners money on energy costs and helping better sustain the environment. While owners of existing homes are seeking ways to upgrade their appliances to ENERGY STAR appliances and pricing new windows, doors and more efficient heating and cooling systems, new home buyers are privileged to seek out builders and homes that already include these features.

In Delaware, the green building bug is really catching on and state and county officials are moving forward with an exciting plan that will bring even more green homes to home buyers in Delaware. The state will soon launch a program that will encourage developers to create environmentally friendly residential communities. Pilot communities will be selected in the first quarter of this year. The initiative is being called “Super Green” and a feasibility study is under way to determine the best way to incorporate the project.

Sussex County, the southern most county in Delaware, will add to the state project with its own incentive program. Developers of new home communities in Southern Delaware will receive points for incorporating green practices and environment sustainability into their developments. Examples of things that will earn developers points are preserving open space, installing solar powered streetlights, creating large buffers and building energy efficient homes.

Developers can submit their communities within three levels of participation, or “greenness” as I like to call it. The first level is a certificate for green development which requires a set number of points on the state’s scale and at least 25% of the homes attaining certain energy efficiency standards. The next level requires more points, and at least 75% of homes meeting the same energy efficiency standards. Developments that meet this level are granted expedited review by the county. The highest level is Super Green. Developers who achieve this level of greenness are given expedited review by both the county and state.

The statewide program will start in Sussex County with up to three pilot communities, and will then move into Delaware’s Kent and New Castle Counties after the details and kinks are worked out.

For more information on how the Eastern Shore home builders from EasternShoreHousing.com incorporate green and energy efficient features into their homes, contact them through our site. In fact, I was just chatting with Donna from DJHomes earlier this week about how new home buyers are lucky to own homes with all new systems, and energy efficient features. DJHomes offers new custom built energy efficient homes throughout Delmarva, and is currently offering homes on the Eastern Shore of Virginia near Onancock, Virginia, in Sunset Village and Temperanceville, Virginia, near Chincoteague Island in Heron Landing.

Another EasternShoreHousing.com home builder with a focus on new green homes is Capstone Homes, a Delaware home builder that builds in Southern and Central Delaware and specializes in energy efficient homes. Capstone Homes is active in Cannery Village, a new home community in historic Milton, Delaware with lots of amenities.

This past summer and fall, I spent a lot of time exploring Lewes, Delaware, in search of what was available in terms of new homes. I discovered a lot in this Delaware beach town and made visits to many new Delaware communities like The Villages at Herring Creek with new homes by K. Hovnanian, a quiet enclave of single family homes, Herring Creek on Rehoboth Bay by K. Hovnanian, a waterfront community of single family homes that features a clubhouse and outdoor pool, and Henlopen Landing with new homes by Ryan Homes, a community of single family homes with a clubhouse and outdoor pool located just off Route 1.

Many other Eastern Shore home builders are building in the town of Lewes, Delaware, and because of that a vast opportunity exists for home buyers seeking new construction at the beach. Home buyers can choose from new homes by K. Hovnanian on the Eastern Shore, new homes by Ryan Homes on the Eastern Shore, new homes by NVHomes on the Eastern Shore, or new homes by Capstone Homes on the Eastern Shore. (Click the links for more info on these home builders and the communities they offer.) Other builders in Delaware on the Eastern Shore with communities in Lewes are Schell Brothers and Ocean Atlantic, Gemcraft Homes, Pulte Homes and many others.

Add now, another developer has officially been added to the list. Lifetime Living Inc. will develop Canary Creek, a new residential community in Lewes. After receiving approval for a zoning change, Lifetime Living can now move forward with its plan to build 77 units of unattached and attached single family housing units. The community will include 75 acres, 27 of which will be preserved as wetlands.

The approval was a big win for Lifetime Living, whose previous request for a zoning change to build a 190 unit age restricted community and assisted living facility on the land was denied in 2006. With a new plan for single family homes, Lifetime Living can finally start building.

Visit EasternShoreHousing.com to learn more about new homes in Lewes, Delaware including information on home builders, floor plans, new homes, communities and home prices. You’ll also learn a little bit about the town while you’re there.

In August 2005, the first residents moved into The Peninsula on the Indian River Bay, a new home community in Millsboro, Delaware. Since the community’s initial construction, many amenities have been built and completed. This includes a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, a cafe, pool and spa, wave pool, tennis courts, post office, boardwalks and a water taxi.

But even with all that, the new community’s promised amenities still remain unfinished. The community’s developers, Ribera-Odyssey LLC still need to build a clubhouse and nature center at The Peninsula. When Sussex County officials were granted a change-of-zone approval in November 2002, it was under the condition that within two years of issuing the first building permit, the developers would build a clubhouse and nature center.

Even though they’re already in violation of the condition, Ribera-Odyssey LLC has been given a time extension by Sussex County officials. Officials have given the Eastern Shore developers two years to begin construction on the amenities, and another 18 months to make substantial progress on the projects. This was in response to the developers’ request to delay construction until the golf course receives 500 members. Currently there are 400 members.

The Peninsula on the Indian River Bay is sited on nearly 800 acres on Delaware’s waterfront. It underwent four years of planning, before ground broke on the premier planned golf course resort community. The gated, mixed-use community has space for more than 1,400 residential units. New home owners can choose from condominiums, townhomes, villas and custom single family homes. Eastern Shore home builders in The Peninsula include Miller & Smith, Atlantic Homes, Brosnahan Custom Homes, Klabe, Echelon Custom Homes and Resort Pointe.