ADIRONDACK REAL ESTATE GUIDE OFFERING ADIRONDACK REAL ESTATE PROPERTIES

ASSOCIATED PRESS articles with Rob Grant, President, Adirondacks.com discussing the history of Adirondack property values and the impact on residents.

The Buffalo News

The Buffalo News
Rich downstaters push up Adirondack realty prices
Locals see a return of the Gilded Age — with them as servants of the visiting wealthy
By Michael Virtanen - ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated: 02/17/08 7:09 AM

SARANAC LAKE — The sharp two-decade climb in Adirondack property prices has re-created a class chasm in preferred enclaves with echoes of the Gilded Age, according to real estate brokers.

Despite hitting a plateau in the past year, prices have been driven up by wealthy second-home buyers to about 10 times what they were in the 1980s along choice waterfronts, brokers say. On Upper St. Regis and Upper Saranac lakes, for example, the least-desirable camps go for $1 million.

“I think the Adirondack Park has almost gone full circle back to its origins when you used to have the famous Great Camps and you had a two-tier society . . . the very wealthy who owned the Great Camps on the lakes and you had the service class — the guides, the folks who operated the local shops, people who essentially serviced that group,” said Rob Grant, who opened his brokerage in Saranac Lake in 1991. “You do have a middle class here, but it’s small.”

Census data from 2000 showed median household income of $34,823 for the central Adirondacks’ Essex County, compared with $43,393 statewide.

Building limits, state ownership or control of more than half the 6 million-acre park, growing Internet and telecommuting capability, and baby boomers heading toward retirement all promise to keep pushing up prices, brokers said. There’s limited supply and strong demand for a private slice of Adirondack beauty.

Ann Pillmeier, part of a homeowners’ group suing over assessments in Harrietstown, said she and her husband have watched their assessment rise the past 30 years from about $80,000 to more than $1 million. “We love where we live, and want to live out our years here,” she said. “But being told the only relief to your overassessment situation is to sell your property is outrageous and egregious.”

In a message posted on the Web site of citizens4fair assessment, Pillmeier said she believes lake shore owners are being targeted in particular to pay the costs of everyone else. Assessors disagree.

The boom in snowmobiling has raised off-water property prices on the western side of the park well into six figures, said Greg Timm, a broker in Old Forge.

“A young person can’t graduate from college or high school and buy a starter home for $50,000 or $100,000,” he said. “Our average sales [in 2007] were probably between $600,000 and $900,000 for waterfront.”

Similar to what’s happening in Vail, Colo., where the desire for a private piece of ski country has driven up property prices, municipal officials and employers are grappling with finding affordable nearby housing for workers.

“Where we are in Old Forge, much of our service class comes from outside the park. They can’t afford to live here,” Timm said. “That class difference is getting much stronger than it had been for a long time. It’s one of the things we notice and nobody likes to talk about, but it’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room.”

In the southeastern Adirondacks, recent sales listings ranged from $199,900 for a one-bedroom cottage with rights to a shared beach 50 feet away on Brant Lake, to $5.69 million for a house under construction on four acres on Lake George near Bolton Landing. It listed 1,700 feet of waterfront, a boathouse, four-car garage and initial estimated annual tax bill of $31,000. It just sold.

Mark Bergman, broker in North Creek and president of the Warren County Association of Realtors, said the Gilded Age notion doesn’t apply everywhere and there’s still a substantial middle class in the region.

“Lake Placid or Mirror Lake, you’re virtually talking about the aristocracy,” Bergman said. “If you pick a small non-motor lake, there’s still opportunities for middle-class second homes or camps.”

And while Bergman may sell a $600,000 second home near the Gore ski area to one family, another will pay $175,000 for their cherished Adirondack base for skiing, canoeing, hiking and getaways. In Warrensburg, at the southern end of the park, you can still buy a modest house that needs work for $100,000 or $110,000.

Bernard Miller, real property tax services director for Essex County, said that even at the high end, the Adirondacks are still a relative bargain.

“Million-dollar homes in Westchester or Connecticut are not that unusual. A million-dollar home here buys you quite a bit,” he said, though not everywhere. “You can’t buy much in Lake Placid anymore for $1 million.”

Among the changes noted by longtime residents are more second-home owners from the New York City metropolitan area and northern New Jersey, more houses empty on weeknights even in the hamlets, traditionally home to locals, and the emergence of landscaping services.

Miller, who presented a study on affordable housing in 2004 to the Adirondack Park Agency, said he found local buyers competitive in sales up to $150,000 to $175,000. “Beyond that the number of local folks involved dropped off considerably,” he said.

In the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, wealthy tycoon families like the Du-rants, Whitneys and Pruyns built or bought three dozen sprawling Great Camps in the Adirondacks, compounds covering large wilderness tracts, with elaborate log-hewn mansions and outbuildings or quarters for the hired help.

Proximity these days to communities with some amenities and culture — like Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Old Forge — is preferred.

“When you get to the more remote areas of the park they’re less desirable,” Grant said. Those prices have also tracked upward from middle-class second- home buyers, brokers said.

Values are expected to keep rising in the long term and there are plenty of townhouses, luxury homes and houses being built or proposed.

Possible measures to increase affordable housing range from government incentives and set-aside requirements for developers to special zoning, housing trusts and homesteader tax breaks.

The Adirondack Park Agency, which regulates development, has been studying the challenge of affordable year-round housing for the 133,000 full-time residents among the 92 towns and 11 villages, where an estimated 10 million visitors come annually. There are an estimated 250,000 seasonal residents.

Park spokesman Keith McKeever said measures include approval of an extra lot or two in subdivisions for builders otherwise inclined to maximize their return with luxury housing.

On Jan. 10, the agency issued a permit for developers to convert, for $700,000, an old brick laundry building in Lake Placid into 12 apartments for employees of the developer and the Crowne Plaza Lake Placid Resort.

“People forget that years ago the Adirondacks were one of the most depressed areas in the country. We were right up there with Appalachia,” said Grant, the broker. “It was because — and we’re talking 30 to 50 years ago — there was no real means of making a living up here.”

Now summer and winter employment is strong — but there are still weaker shoulder seasons in spring and late fall, and Lake George mostly closes for the winter. But many Adirondack hotels have winterized and several restaurants stay open for snowmobilers, skiers, climbers and snowshoers.

Rising Adirondack property prices
Release: 2/15/08

The Albany Times Union
Sunday, February 17, 2008 Page: A1
SARANAC LAKE - The sharp two-decade climb in Adirondack property prices has re-created a class chasm in preferred enclaves with echoes of the Gilded Age, according to real estate brokers. Despite hitting a plateau in the past year, prices have been driven up by second-home buyers about 10 times what they were in the 1980s along choice waterfronts, brokers said. On Upper St. Regis and Upper Saranac lakes, for example, expect to spend $1 million or more for the least camp. Nationally, median residential sales prices have risen about 350 percent, or one-third as much.

I think the Adirondack Park has almost gone full circle back to its origins when you used to have the famous Great Camps and you had a two-tier society where you had the very wealthy who owned the Great Camps on the lakes and you had the service class -- the guides, the folks who operated the local shops, people who essentially serviced that group," said Rob Grant, who opened his brokerage in Saranac Lake in 1991. "You do have a middle class here, but it's small."

Census data from 2000 showed median household income of $34,823 for the central Adirondacks' Essex County, compared with $43,393 statewide.

Building limits, state ownership or control of more than half the 6 million acre park, growing Internet and telecommuting capability, Baby Boomers heading toward retirement, all promise to keep pushing prices over the long haul, brokers said. There's limited supply and strong demand for a private slice of Adirondack beauty.

Ann Pillmeier, part of a homeowners' group suing over assessments in Harrietstown, said she and her husband have watched their assessment rise the past 30 years from about $80,000 to more than $1 million. "We love where we live, and want to live out our years here. But being told the only relief to your over-assessment situation is to sell your property is outrageous and egregious."

In a message posted on the Web site of citizens4fair assessment, Pillmeier said she believes lake shore owners are being targeted in particular to pay the costs of everyone else. Assessors disagree.

The boom in snowmobiling has raised off-water property prices on the western side of the park well into six-figures, said Greg Timm, broker in Old Forge, Herkimer County. "A young person can't graduate from college or high school and buy a starter home for $50,000 or $100,000," he said.

"It's entirely different than the average market. Nobody has to buy in our market. Nobody has to buy a second home, a vacation home, a retirement home. People that do that have the wherewithal to do that," Timm said. "Our average sales this year (2007) were probably between $600,000 and $900,000 for waterfront."

So successful CEOs and high-level executives are buying waterfront estates.

It's similar to what's happening in Vail, Colo., where the desire for a private piece of ski country has driven up property prices, municipal officials and employers are grappling with finding affordable nearby housing for workers.

"Where we are in Old Forge, much of our service class comes from outside the park. They can't afford to live here," Timm said. "That class difference is getting much stronger than it had been for a long time. It's one of the things we notice and nobody likes to talk about, but it's the 800-pound gorilla in the room."

In the southeastern Adirondacks, recent sales listings ranged from $199,900 for a one-bedroom cottage, with rights to a shared beach 50 feet away on Brant Lake, to $5.69 million for a house under construction on four acres on Lake George near Bolton Landing. It listed 1,700 feet of waterfront and initial estimated annual tax bill of $31,000. It just sold.
Mark Bergman, broker in North Creek and president of the Warren County Association of Realtors, said the Gilded Age notion doesn't apply everywhere and there's still a substantial middle class in the region.

"Lake Placid or Mirror Lake, you're virtually talking about the aristocracy," Bergman said. "If you pick a small non-motor lake, there's still opportunities for middle-class second homes or camps."

Bernard Miller, real property tax services director for Essex County, said while prices have flattened they haven't fallen yet, and even at the high end the Adirondacks are still a relative bargain.

"Million-dollar homes in Westchester or Connecticut are not that unusual. A million-dollar home here buys you quite a bit," he said, though not everywhere. "You can't buy much in Lake Placid anymore for $1 million."

Miller, who presented a study on affordable housing in 2004 to the Adirondack Park Agency, said he found local buyers competitive in sales up to $150,000 to $175,000. "Beyond that the number of local folks involved dropped off considerably," he said.

In the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, wealthy tycoon families like the Durants, Whitneys and Pruyns built or bought three dozen sprawling Great Camps in the Adirondacks, compounds covering large wilderness tracts, with elaborate log-hewn mansions and outbuildings or quarters for the hired help.

Proximity these days to communities with some amenities and culture -- like Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Old Forge -- is preferred.

"When you get to the more remote areas of the park they're less desirable," Grant said. Those prices have also tracked upward from middle-class second-home buyers, brokers said.

It's become harder for retirees, owners of longtime family properties and others to keep up with rising property taxes. Their assessments rise along with those of their newer neighbors. Some have sued, challenging higher assessments. And while wealthy owners will pay for the services they need, including reconstruction, it's increasingly difficult for workers to live close.

Possible measures to increase affordable housing range from government incentives and set-aside requirements for developers to special zoning, housing trusts and homesteader tax breaks.

7Online

SARANAC LAKE, NY -- The sharp two-decade climb in Adirondack property prices has re-created a class chasm in preferred enclaves with echoes of the Gilded Age, according to real estate brokers.
Despite hitting a plateau in the past year, prices have been driven up by second-home buyers about 10 times what they were in the 1980s along choice waterfronts, brokers said. On Upper St. Regis and Upper Saranac lakes, for example, expect to spend $1 million or more for the least camp. Nationally, median residential sales prices have risen about 350 percent, or one-third as much.
"I think the Adirondack Park has almost gone full circle back to its origins when you used to have the famous Great Camps and you had a two-tier society where you had the very wealthy who owned the Great Camps on the lakes and you had the service class - the guides, the folks who operated the local shops, people who essentially serviced that group," said Rob Grant, who opened his brokerage in Saranac Lake in 1991. "You do have a middle class here, but it's small."
Census data from 2000 showed median household income of $34,823 for the central Adirondacks' Essex County, compared with $43,393 statewide.
Building limits, state ownership or control of more than half the 6-million-acre park, growing Internet and telecommuting capability, Baby Boomers heading toward retirement, all promise to keep pushing prices over the long haul, brokers said. There's limited supply and strong demand for a private slice of Adirondack beauty.
Ann Pillmeier, part of a homeowners' group suing over assessments in Harrietstown, said she and her husband have watched their assessment rise the past 30 years from about $80,000 to more than $1 million. "We love where we live, and want to live out our years here. But being told the only relief to your over-assessment situation is to sell your property is outrageous and egregious."
In a message posted on the Web site of citizens4fair assessment, Pillmeier said she believes lake shore owners are being targeted in particular to pay the costs of everyone else. Assessors disagree.
The boom in snowmobiling has raised off-water property prices on the western side of the park well into six-figures, said Greg Timm, broker in Old Forge. "A young person can't graduate from college or high school and buy a starter home for $50,000 or $100,000," he said.
"It's entirely different than the average market. Nobody has to buy in our market. Nobody has to buy a second home, a vacation home, a retirement home. People that do that have the wherewithal to do that," Timm said. "Our average sales this year (2007) were probably between $600,000 and $900,000 for waterfront."
So successful CEOs and high-level executives are buying waterfront estates.
It's similar to what's happening in Vail, Colo., where the desire for a private piece of ski country has driven up property prices, municipal officials and employers are grappling with finding affordable nearby housing for workers.
"Where we are in Old Forge, much of our service class comes from outside the park. They can't afford to live here," Timm said. "That class difference is getting much stronger than it had been for a long time. It's one of the things we notice and nobody likes to talk about, but it's the 800-pound gorilla in the room."
In the southeastern Adirondacks, recent sales listings ranged from $199,900 for a one-bedroom cottage, with rights to a shared beach 50 feet away on Brant Lake, to $5.69 million for a house under construction on four acres on Lake George near Bolton Landing. It listed 1,700 feet of waterfront, a boathouse, four-car garage and initial estimated annual tax bill of $31,000. It just sold.
Mark Bergman, broker in North Creek and president of the Warren County Association of Realtors, said the Gilded Age notion doesn't apply everywhere and there's still a substantial middle class in the region.
"Lake Placid or Mirror Lake, you're virtually talking about the aristocracy," Bergman said. "If you pick a small non-motor lake, there's still opportunities for middle-class second homes or camps."
And while Bergman may sell a $600,000 second home near the Gore ski area to one family, another will pay $175,000 for their cherished Adirondack base for skiing, canoeing, hiking and getaways. In Warrensburg, at the southern end of the park, you can still buy a modest house that needs work for $100,000 or $110,000.
Bernard Miller, real property tax services director for Essex County, said while prices have flattened they haven't fallen yet, and even at the high end the Adirondacks are still a relative bargain.
"Million-dollar homes in Westchester or Connecticut are not that unusual. A million-dollar home here buys you quite a bit," he said, though not everywhere. "You can't buy much in Lake Placid anymore for $1 million."
Among the changes noted by longtime residents are more second-home owners from the New York City metropolitan area and northern New Jersey, more houses empty on weeknights even in the hamlets, traditionally home to locals, and the emergence of landscaping services.
Miller, who presented a study on affordable housing in 2004 to the Adirondack Park Agency, said he found local buyers competitive in sales up to $150,000 to $175,000. "Beyond that the number of local folks involved dropped off considerably," he said.
In the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, wealthy tycoon families like the Durants, Whitneys and Pruyns built or bought three dozen sprawling Great Camps in the Adirondacks, compounds covering large wilderness tracts, with elaborate log-hewn mansions and outbuildings or quarters for the hired help.
Proximity these days to communities with some amenities and culture - like Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Old Forge - is preferred.
"When you get to the more remote areas of the park they're less desirable," Grant said. Those prices have also tracked upward from middle-class second-home buyers, brokers said.
It's become harder for retirees, owners of longtime family properties and others to keep up with rising property taxes. Their assessments rise along with those of their newer neighbors. Some have sued, challenging higher assessments. And while wealthy owners will pay for the services they need, including reconstruction, it's increasingly difficult for workers to live close.
Values are expected to keep rising in the long term and there are plenty of townhouses, luxury homes and houses being built or proposed.
Possible measures to increase affordable housing range from government incentives and set-aside requirements for developers to special zoning, housing trusts and homesteader tax breaks.
The Adirondack Park Agency, which regulates development, has been studying the challenge of affordable year-round housing for the 133,000 full-time residents among the 92 towns and 11 villages, where an estimated 10 million visitors come annually. There are an estimated 250,000 seasonal residents.
APA spokesman Keith McKeever said measures include approval of an extra lot or two in subdivisions for builders otherwise inclined to maximize their return with luxury housing.
On Jan. 10, the agency issued a permit for developers to convert, for $700,000, an old brick laundry building in Lake Placid into 12 apartments for employees of the developer and the Crowne Plaza Lake Placid Resort.
"People forget that years ago the Adirondacks were one of the most depressed areas in the country. We were right up there with Appalachia," said Grant, the broker. "It was because, and we're talking 30 to 50 years ago, there was no real means of making a living up here."
Summer and winter employment is strong but there are still weaker shoulder seasons in spring and late fall, and Lake George mostly closes for the winter, but many Adirondack hotels have winterized and several restaurants stay open for snowmobilers, skiers, climbers and snowshoers.

Rising Adirondack property prices echo Gilded Age divisions

Associated Press - February 15, 2008 12:45 PM ET

SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. (AP) - More than a century ago, you could find two types of people in the Adirondacks -- the very rich and the people who catered to them.

Today, some real estate brokers say the North Country has made a full circle back to the Gilded Age, when tycoons bought up large sections of forest and built elaborate log mansions in the wilderness.

Property values in the Adirondacks are up about 10 times what they were in the late 1980s, mostly driven by second-home buyers from the New York City metro area. The rising property prices mean higher assessments for longtime Adirondack residents who face higher tax bills.

Some people believe the situation has recreated a class structure reminiscent of the era when wealthy industrialists used their Great Camps as Adirondack playgrounds, hiring the locals as guides and housekeepers.

The difference, some brokers say, is that today's locals are being priced out of their old neighborhoods.

SARANAC LAKE -- The sharp two-decade climb in Adirondack property prices has re-created a class chasm in preferred enclaves with echoes of the Gilded Age, according to real estate brokers.

Despite hitting a plateau in the past year, prices have been driven up by second-home buyers about 10 times what they were in the 1980s along choice waterfronts, brokers said. On Upper St. Regis and Upper Saranac lakes, for example, expect to spend $1 million or more for the least camp. Nationally, median residential sales prices have risen about 350 percent, or one-third as much.

"I think the Adirondack Park has almost gone full circle back to its origins when you used to have the famous Great Camps and you had a two-tier society where you had the very wealthy who owned the Great Camps on the lakes and you had the service class -- the guides, the folks who operated the local shops, people who essentially serviced that group," said Rob Grant, who opened his brokerage in Saranac Lake in 1991. "You do have a middle class here, but it's small."

Census data from 2000 showed median household income of $34,823 for the central Adirondacks' Essex County, compared with $43,393 statewide.

Building limits, state ownership or control of more than half the 6-million-acre park, growing Internet and telecommuting capability, Baby Boomers heading toward retirement, all promise to keep pushing prices over the long haul, brokers said. There's limited supply and strong demand for a private slice of Adirondack beauty.

In a message posted on the Web site of citizens4fair assessment, Pillmeier said she believes lake shore owners are being targeted in particular to pay the costs of everyone else. Assessors disagree.

The boom in snowmobiling has raised off-water property prices on the western side of the park well into six-figures, said Greg Timm, broker in Old Forge. "A young person can't graduate from college or high school and buy a starter home for $50,000 or $100,000," he said.

In the southeastern Adirondacks, recent sales listings ranged from $199,900 for a one-bedroom cottage, with rights to a shared beach 50 feet away on Brant Lake, to $5.69 million for a house under construction on four acres on Lake George near Bolton Landing. It listed 1,700 feet of waterfront, a boathouse, four-car garage and initial estimated annual tax bill of $31,000. It just sold.

Mark Bergman, broker in North Creek and president of the Warren County Association of Realtors, said the Gilded Age notion doesn't apply everywhere and there's still a substantial middle class in the region.

"Lake Placid or Mirror Lake, you're virtually talking about the aristocracy," Bergman said. "If you pick a small non-motor lake, there's still opportunities for middle-class second homes or camps."

Bernard Miller, real property tax services director for Essex County, said while prices have flattened they haven't fallen yet, and even at the high end the Adirondacks are still a relative bargain.

Proximity these days to communities with some amenities and culture -- like Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Old Forge -- is preferred.

"When you get to the more remote areas of the park they're less desirable," Grant said. Those prices have also tracked upward from middle-class second-home buyers, brokers said.

Values are expected to keep rising in the long term and there are plenty of townhouses, luxury homes and houses being built or proposed.

Possible measures to increase affordable housing range from government incentives and set-aside requirements for developers to special zoning, housing trusts and homesteader tax breaks.

APA spokesman Keith McKeever said measures include approval of an extra lot or two in subdivisions for builders otherwise inclined to maximize their return with luxury housing.

"People forget that years ago the Adirondacks were one of the most depressed areas in the country. We were right up there with Appalachia," said Grant, the broker. "It was because, and we're talking 30 to 50 years ago, there was no real means of making a living up here."

SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. (AP) - More than a century ago, you could
find two types of people in the Adirondacks -- the very rich and
the people who catered to them.

Today, some real estate brokers say the North Country has made a
full circle back to the Gilded Age, when tycoons bought up large
sections of forest and built elaborate log mansions in the
wilderness.

Property values in the Adirondacks are up about 10 times what
they were in the late 1980s, mostly driven by second-home buyers
from the New York City metro area. The rising property prices mean
higher assessments for longtime Adirondack residents who face
higher tax bills.

Some people believe the situation has recreated a class
structure reminiscent of the era when wealthy industrialists used
their Great Camps as Adirondack playgrounds, hiring the locals as
guides and housekeepers.

The difference, some brokers say, is that today's locals are
being priced out of their old neighborhoods

SARANAC LAKE (AP) -- The sharp two-decade climb in Adirondack property prices has re-created a class chasm in preferred enclaves with echoes of the Gilded Age, according to real estate brokers.

"I think the Adirondack Park has almost gone full circle back to its origins when you used to have the famous Great Camps and you had a two-tier society where you had the very wealthy who owned the Great Camps on the lakes and you had the service class - the guides, the folks who operated the local shops, people who essentially serviced that group," said Rob Grant, who opened his brokerage in Saranac Lake in 1991. "You do have a middle class here, but it's small."

Census data from 2000 showed median household income of $34,823 for the central Adirondacks' Essex County, compared with $43,393 statewide.

In a message posted on the Web site of citizens4fair assessment, Pillmeier said she believes lake shore owners are being targeted in particular to pay the costs of everyone else. Assessors disagree.

"Lake Placid or Mirror Lake, you're virtually talking about the aristocracy," Bergman said. "If you pick a small non-motor lake, there's still opportunities for middle-class second homes or camps."

Bernard Miller, real property tax services director for Essex County, said while prices have flattened they haven't fallen yet, and even at the high end the Adirondacks are still a relative bargain.

Proximity these days to communities with some amenities and culture - like Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Old Forge - is preferred.

"When you get to the more remote areas of the park they're less desirable," Grant said. Those prices have also tracked upward from middle-class second-home buyers, brokers said.

Values are expected to keep rising in the long term and there are plenty of townhouses, luxury homes and houses being built or proposed.

Possible measures to increase affordable housing range from government incentives and set-aside requirements for developers to special zoning, housing trusts and homesteader tax breaks.

APA spokesman Keith McKeever said measures include approval of an extra lot or two in subdivisions for builders otherwise inclined to maximize their return with luxury housing.

Summer and winter employment is strong but there are still weaker shoulder seasons in spring and late fall, and Lake George mostly closes for the winter, but many Adirondack hotels have winterized and several restaurants stay open for snowmobilers, skiers, climbers and snowshoers.

Median residential sales data in parts of the Adirondack Park compared to the state and nation over the past 26 years:

"I think the Adirondack Park has almost gone full circle back to its origins when you used to have the famous Great Camps and you had a two-tier society where you had the very wealthy who owned the Great Camps on the lakes and you had the service class - the guides, the folks who operated the local shops, people who essentially serviced that group," said Rob Grant, who opened his brokerage in Saranac Lake in 1991. "You do have a middle class here, but it's small."

Census data from 2000 showed median household income of $34,823 for the central Adirondacks' Essex County, compared with $43,393 statewide.

"Lake Placid or Mirror Lake, you're virtually talking about the aristocracy," Bergman said. "If you pick a small non-motor lake, there's still opportunities for middle-class second homes or camps."

Bernard Miller, real property tax services director for Essex County, said while prices have flattened they haven't fallen yet, and even at the high end the Adirondacks are still a relative bargain.

Proximity these days to communities with some amenities and culture - like Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Old Forge - is preferred.

"When you get to the more remote areas of the park they're less desirable," Grant said. Those prices have also tracked upward from middle-class second-home buyers, brokers said.

Values are expected to keep rising in the long term and there are plenty of townhouses, luxury homes and houses being built or proposed.

Possible measures to increase affordable housing range from government incentives and set-aside requirements for developers to special zoning, housing trusts and homesteader tax breaks.

APA spokesman Keith McKeever said measures include approval of an extra lot or two in subdivisions for builders otherwise inclined to maximize their return with luxury housing.

“I think the Adirondack Park has almost gone full circle back to its origins when you used to have the famous Great Camps and you had a two-tier society where you had the very wealthy who owned the Great Camps on the lakes and you had the service class — the guides, the folks who operated the local shops, people who essentially serviced that group,” said Rob Grant, who opened his brokerage in Saranac Lake in 1991. “You do have a middle class here, but it’s small.”

Census data from 2000 showed median household income of $34,823 for the central Adirondacks’ Essex County, compared with $43,393 statewide.

Building limits, state ownership or control of more than half the 6-million-acre park, growing Internet and telecommuting capability, Baby Boomers heading toward retirement, all promise to keep pushing prices over the long haul, brokers said. There’s limited supply and strong demand for a private slice of Adirondack beauty.

Ann Pillmeier, part of a homeowners’ group suing over assessments in Harrietstown, said she and her husband have watched their assessment rise the past 30 years from about $80,000 to more than $1 million. “We love where we live, and want to live out our years here. But being told the only relief to your over-assessment situation is to sell your property is outrageous and egregious.”

In a message posted on the Web site of citizens4fair assessment, Pillmeier said she believes lake shore owners are being targeted in particular to pay the costs of everyone else. Assessors disagree.

The boom in snowmobiling has raised off-water property prices on the western side of the park well into six-figures, said Greg Timm, broker in Old Forge. “A young person can’t graduate from college or high school and buy a starter home for $50,000 or $100,000,” he said.

“It’s entirely different than the average market. Nobody has to buy in our market. Nobody has to buy a second home, a vacation home, a retirement home. People that do that have the wherewithal to do that,” Timm said. “Our average sales this year (2007) were probably between $600,000 and $900,000 for waterfront.”

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It’s similar to what’s happening in Vail, Colo., where the desire for a private piece of ski country has driven up property prices, municipal officials and employers are grappling with finding affordable nearby housing for workers.

Bernard Miller, real property tax services director for Essex County, said while prices have flattened they haven’t fallen yet, and even at the high end the Adirondacks are still a relative bargain.

Proximity these days to communities with some amenities and culture — like Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Old Forge — is preferred.

“When you get to the more remote areas of the park they’re less desirable,” Grant said. Those prices have also tracked upward from middle-class second-home buyers, brokers said.

It’s become harder for retirees, owners of longtime family properties and others to keep up with rising property taxes. Their assessments rise along with those of their newer neighbors. Some have sued, challenging higher assessments. And while wealthy owners will pay for the services they need, including reconstruction, it’s increasingly difficult for workers to live close.

Values are expected to keep rising in the long term and there are plenty of townhouses, luxury homes and houses being built or proposed.

Possible measures to increase affordable housing range from government incentives and set-aside requirements for developers to special zoning, housing trusts and homesteader tax breaks.

APA spokesman Keith McKeever said measures include approval of an extra lot or two in subdivisions for builders otherwise inclined to maximize their return with luxury housing.

“People forget that years ago the Adirondacks were one of the most depressed areas in the country. We were right up there with Appalachia,” said Grant, the broker. “It was because, and we’re talking 30 to 50 years ago, there was no real means of making a living up here.”

Median residential sales data in parts of the Adirondack Park compared to the state and nation over the past 26 years:

SOURCES: State Office of Real Property Services, Essex County Office of Property Services; National Association of Realtors. AP analysis based on town sales records. Third quarter 2007.

Rochesterturning.com

Buy, buy Adirondack pieby ladkiddo on February 20, 2008 @ 12:36 pm · Filed under Fairness, News, ladkiddo

At the turn of the century, only the rich vacationed in the pristine wilderness that we call the Adirondack Park. The 50’s and 60’s gave rise to a swell of middle class families using the park for summer vacations and weekends away. Close to Rochester and other major cities in New York State, it was the perfect distance away to provide fun in the sun (or rain, hence the sentiment-”If you’re lucky enough to be in the mountains, you’re lucky enough.”) for a fairly reasonable drive and a fairly reasonable price. The middle class began buying up vacation properties and setting up camps. Once camps were established, they often became family compounds where extended families built cabins for each family unit. These camps remained in the family for years and evolved into heirloom properties with much sentimental value related to the memories made and cherished. Most did not want to part with their beloved family camp.

But things are changing, once again, inside the “Blue Line“. A return to the pre-20th century Gilded Age is forcing middle class and even some upper class owners to reassess their priorities. Prices for property in the ADKs have skyrocketed. To purchase a property on the water, you may have to spend close to a million dollars. From the Associated Press, Monday:

“I think the Adirondack Park has almost gone full circle back to its origins when you used to have the famous Great Camps and you had a two-tier society where you had the very wealthy who owned the Great Camps on the lakes and you had the service class - the guides, the folks who operated the local shops, people who essentially serviced that group,” said Rob Grant, who opened his brokerage in Saranac Lake in 1991. “You do have a middle class here, but it’s small.”

So, in an unfortunate turn of events, the local homeowners and the smaller “out-of-towners” are being assessed out of their homes and camps.

There’s limited supply and strong demand for a private slice of Adirondack beauty.

Ann Pillmeier, part of a homeowners’ group suing over assessments in Harrietstown, said she and her husband have watched their assessment rise the past 30 years from about $80,000 to more than $1 million. “We love where we live, and want to live out our years here. But being told the only relief to your over-assessment situation is to sell your property is outrageous and egregious.”

In a message posted on the Web site of citizens4fair assessment, Pillmeier said she believes lake shore owners are being targeted in particular to pay the costs of everyone else.

I know so many local people who are wondering how they will be able to hold on to their piece of the pie, and others who have already sold. The Adirondack Park belongs to all New Yorkers. Will only the rich be able to afford serenity once again?

Watertown Daily Times
Published on February 18, 2008, Page B1,
Watertown Daily Times
ADIRONDACK PROPERTY PRICES ECHO GILDED AGE
The sharp two-decade climb in Adirondack property prices has recreated a class chasm in preferred enclaves with echoes of the Gilded Age, according to real estate brokers. Despite hitting a plateau in the past year, prices have been driven up by second-home buyers about 10 times what they were in the 1980s along choice waterfronts, brokers said. On Upper St. Regis and Upper Saranac lakes, for example, expect to spend $1 million or more for the least camp. Nationally, median residential sales