Del Webb's first community in the Charleston area caters to mature buyers at Cane Bay

Webb site

Webb site

Looking to gauge interest in Del Webb Charleston at Cane Bay?

For one thing, many of the first group of buyers agreed to purchase homes after a summer tour on a rainy, muddy day, hardly the most attractive circumstances. In addition, buyers, which must include at least one resident age 55 or older, started holding get-togethers such as barbecues even before they moved in.

"There are people your age you can do things with," says John Rudowski, a local banker who with schoolteacher wife Pat moved from Hanahan to the new neighborhood about five miles north of Goose Creek and six miles east of Summerville, which is the mailing address.

Along with the amenities at Del Webb Charleston, built by the same company that laid out Sun City Hilton Head active adult village in Bluffton, the Cane Bay development will include a commercial area with stores. "I'm trying to get John to sell our car so we can get a golf cart," Pat Rudowski says.

Larry and Pat Davis made the move from west of the Ashley. "I was at the point I wanted everything on one level," Pat Davis says.

The first residents relocated to Del Webb Charleston earlier this month. All told, the community will have 1,000 homes on about 360 acres by 2012. The 8-acre "Resort at Cane Bay" has a 20,000-square-foot welcome center with heated indoor and outdoor pools, fitness center, social lounge, four tennis courts, outdoor fire pit and four bocce courts. There also will be two courts for "pickle ball," an outdoor game similar to racquetball. Del Webb spent $10 million on attractions not counting the welcome center. There is green space, lagoons and miles of walking trails. Staff includes full-time lifestyle director Jennifer Burton, who supervises classes in yoga, personal training, dance instruction and arts and crafts. Clubs range from outdoor kayaking and bird-watching to fishing and hunting. This summer, the neighborhood staff sponsored a community picnic followed by a Charleston RiverDogs baseball game.

"We are excited," says Jon Cherry, South Carolina coastal division president for Del Webb parent Pulte Homes. "It's exceeded our expectations. People have come from Florida and the North for affordability, culture and climate."

Base home prices are $159,990 to $369,990 and sizes are from 1,103 to 2,597 square feet. The 11 floor plans come in three styles, the Seaside Collection that includes the Brookside, Fox Run, Gray Myst and Pine Spring; the Harbor Collection with the Copper Ridge, Surrey Crest, Vernon Hill and Willow Bend; and the Coastal Collection that has the Bluffton Cottage, Cumberland Hall and Morningside Lane.

The homeowners association fee, which pays for amenities and other services, is $199 a month.

"What we are seeing are local buyers who are dissatisfied with the situation in the residential community where they are located," says Stacy Bruder, director of sales and marketing for Pulte-Del Webb's Charleston office.

A sizable number of purchasers are semiretired. "There is still a percentage (of homeowners) in the work force," she says. "These folks are extremely active."

Del Webb is a division of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Pulte Homes, one of the largest home builders in the United States delivering 41,487 houses and reporting $14.3 billion in sales in 2006.

Del Webb has four neighborhoods in South Carolina: two in Bluffton, one in Rock Hill and the Cane Bay community, which quickly has garnered a communal feel.

"What you see is that people came, looked at the surroundings and have built a friendship," Rudowski says.

To get to Del Webb Charleston at Cane Bay from downtown Charleston, travel west on Interstate 26. Take exit 209A, the U.S. Highway 52 exit off I-26. Follow Highway 52 into Goose Creek and turn left onto St. James Avenue (U.S. Highway 176). Continue on Highway 176 as it crosses U.S. Highway 17A at Carnes Crossroads, where the highway becomes State Road. Travel about three miles. Turn right at the Cane Bay sign on the right. Del Webb is near the end of the Cane Bay access road.

Neighborhood

Del Webb Charleston at Cane Bay.

Location

Berkeley County.

Developer, marketing

Pulte Homes' Del Webb division.

More info

phone: 482-4600.

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday.

WEB SITE: www.delwebb.com.

Total homes

1,000.

Typical features

--Active adult settings, amenities.

--Ranch-style homes.

--Self-cleaning oven with smooth-cook top, microwave and dishwasher in kitchens.

--9-foot ceilings.

Home sizes

1,103-2,597 square feet.

Home prices

$159,990-$369,990.

Property taxes

$934 on a $260,000 home.

Area attractions

Lake Moultrie, Cypress Gardens, Goose Creek Municipal Complex, area golf courses, Francis Marion National Forest, Moncks Corner and Summerville downtowns, Charleston Southern University, Trident Regional Medical Center, Interstate 26.

Distance to downtown Charleston

28 miles.

Schools

Whitesville Elementary

Grades K-5; phone, 899-8880; enrollment, 676; certified staff, 56; PACT results, 21.9 percent of fifth-graders scored proficient or advanced on English/Language Arts, 28.9 percent on math, 22.1 percent on science and 31.2 percent on social studies.

Berkeley Middle

Grades 6-8; phone, 899-8840; enrollment, 1,163; certified staff, 84; PACT results, 16 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient or advanced on English/Language Arts, 13.4 percent on math, 30.1 percent on science and 13.3 percent on social studies.

Berkeley High

Grades 9-12; phone, 899-8800; enrollment, 1,518; certified staff, 110; SAT results, 470 verbal and 485 math. The 955 combined score is lower than the state average (984) and the national average (1017).

Housing trends

Berkeley County between College Park and Jedburg roads:

Number of sales in the third quarter of 2007: 243 (down from 260 in the third quarter of 2006).

Average sales price: $159,100 (down from $174,100).

Median sales price: $155,500 (down from $164,600).

Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com.

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