The Settings of Black Mountain - Bankrupt Developer Leaves a Mess Behind
Beyond the attractive entrance, it was sad this week to discover how deteriorated the roads have become in the past year at this gated North Carolina mountain community. The Settings of Black Mountain is located about 20 minutes east of Asheville. This Asheville real estate development's clubhouse was lifeless, weeds growing tall where the planned swimming pool was earmarked. The Settings of Black Mountain is another Asheville neighborhood with ugly utility stub outs decorating the landscape between the sparsely completed mountain homes. To top it off, we were welcomed again, by two vicious dogs chained to a tree blocking the roadway reminding us of a scene from the movie Cujoe.
The Settings of Black Mountain is hardly 'almost across the finish line' as some claim and won’t be anytime soon. In December 2010, Asheville real estate developers Richard McWhorter and Mark Wilson, cofounders of The Settings Development Company, filed personal bankruptcy. With commercial credit markets frozen, The Settings Development Company was unsuccessful in obtaining financing to continue development of this gated North Carolina community. Fortunately, the Town of Black Mountain and Town of Valdese had required performance bonds purchased by The Settings Development Company at the beginning of development, to insure completion of the roads, water and sewer. As reassuring as this sounds, insurance companies and bonding sureties aren’t quick to open their check books especially when the costs to complete the infrastructure exceeds the face value of the bond. This leaves property owners at The Settings of Black Mountain living with bumpy roads and eye sores while attorney’s battle out who will pay for and finish the infrastructure.
At least The Settings of Black Mountain is further along in development than its abandoned sister lake community The Settings of Lake Rhodhiss which had no infrastructure in place before the financial collapse of the development. Property owners who purchased at The Settings of Lake Rhodhiss may never see a clubhouse and lifestyle amenities promised when they bought. Without roads and utilities, property owners cannot build their mountain homes on their lots.
When an Asheville real estate developer folds before turning over the development to the property owners, it leaves a tremendous burden on property owners to come together and find the financial resources to fund the necessities of their mountain community and now expensive legal fees. We would not be surprised if the property owners at The Settings of Black Mountain receive special assessments to cover these unexpected costs. To make matters worse, the lender who took back the project from The Settings Development is selling lots at a steep discounts devaluing this gated North Carolina community.
It takes strong leadership and wisdom by a Board of Directors of the Property Owners Association to solve these issues on behalf of the community. We don’t envy the task at hand for The Settings of Black Mountain’s Board of Directors and wish them well. We hope the board addresses nuisances like Cujoe as well as the physical attributes of this Asheville real estate development.
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