New Build Homes On STX?

I own a condo in La Grande Princesse @ Coral Princesse Condos & have no clue where this new development is.  Is this home built or will it be built? Also I did not see the name of the construction company.   I did see name of RE agent. . 

My wife and I were just talking about this yesterday as we drove on the Northside Road through La Grande Princesse. I see some land being cleared between One Love Gas Station and Quality Grocers on the other side of the street. It's only six lots so that could be it.

Pretty ugly designs though...but at that price someone will buy them.

The vicinity map at the link shows right where it is.  This is not between One Love Gas Station and Quality Grocers on the other side of the street.   There is a bunch of vacant land in the area.   Take the road at Gas City past Sugar Mill vet center, past the school, first left past the new Gas Lamp restaurant, lots would be on the right.  The design looks very basic, flat roofs, probably block walls and concrete roof.  <.25 acre lots.  Even with that it may be optimistic to build 6 at that price.  There is city service there, looks like they would not have cisterns or septic, that saves.  We built a maintenance building shell of similar size and construction (no windows) for about $140 not including land.  The Calabash office is close by at the Palms.

across from Grande Princess Villas.

SONGGS OF PRINCESSE
www.JBDevelopmentsLLC.com

Jasmine Model
1,410 sqft
Tiffany Model
Single-Story
• 3 Bedroom - 2 Bathroom
• Enclosed Garage
• Laundry Facility
• 1,417 Sq. Ft.

Both Homes
Green Construction Process
Hurricane Resistant
Reinforced Concrete Structure
Energy Efficient
Wood Doors and Frames
Locks on All Doors
All Appliances Included
Tile Flooring
Wood Kitchen Cabinets
Granite Countertops
Bathroom Vanities
Dual Flush Toilets
Laundry Facility in Every Home
Smart Home
Air Conditioning and Security Upgrades Available
Rigged for Solar Panels (if home owner wants to add later)
Each home will sit on about 0.21-0.215 acres

No Landscaping included.

Sounds too good to be true and I would be very wary. The  construction  company is probably one of those EDC  operations.  

A flat roof design in the tropics   is a big no no in my opinion. They do not state what material the roof will be. They only state home will be reinforced concrete.  

Posted by: Jumbie

A flat roof design in the tropics   is a big no no in my opinion. They do not state what material the roof will be. They only state home will be reinforced concrete.  

A big no for what reason?  Our new maintenance building is reinforced concrete block wall and poured concrete steel reinforced flat roof.  It's built like a bunker.  Anything else I would be concerned.  

Posted by: Scubadoo

Posted by: Jumbie

A flat roof design in the tropics   is a big no no in my opinion. They do not state what material the roof will be. They only state home will be reinforced concrete.  

A big no for what reason?  Our new maintenance building is reinforced concrete block wall and poured concrete steel reinforced flat roof.  It's built like a bunker.  Anything else I would be concerned.  

Scubadoo - I concur with you.  I was referring to flat roofs that are wood, metal, etc. 

If these homes have reinforced concrete roofs, (which the developer does not specifically  state), then flat is ok.   

Posted by: Jumbie

Posted by: Scubadoo

Posted by: Jumbie

A flat roof design in the tropics   is a big no no in my opinion. They do not state what material the roof will be. They only state home will be reinforced concrete.  

A big no for what reason?  Our new maintenance building is reinforced concrete block wall and poured concrete steel reinforced flat roof.  It's built like a bunker.  Anything else I would be concerned.  

Scubadoo - I concur with you.  I was referring to flat roofs that are wood, metal, etc. 

If these homes have reinforced concrete roofs, (which the developer does not specifically  state), then flat is ok.   

From reading the website, the developer is using a builder from Aguadilla, PR.  Chances are these homes will have concrete roofs. 

These are not the only new homes being built on STX right now.

Flat roof design fault:

During hurricane conditions wind with pull upward on a flat roof as it blows over it. A tall hip style roof for instance, gets pushed downward in high winds.

As wood beams, planking, sheathing, on these kinds of roofs age, the wood inevitably deteriorates and weakens. That’s the problem with most angled roofs here. The design is however, better for high winds.

Cement roofs have other drawbacks, like cracking and leaking. Cement is more porous than most people imagine. Steel rebar rots over time as cracks develop and water gets in. From an Engineering perspective they also have no give. Things under constant pressure, again, like an airplane wing, need to be able to move/flex.

I've got a wooden, hypolan coated, flat roof on my house on STT.

No issues, easy to clean/pressure wash/recoat when needed and survived intact, no leaks, thru both Irma and Maria.

Thank goodness!

Glad to hear you got through it in good shape Alana33

There are many, many factors involved. Elevation on a hillside, ridge top, or valley. Direction the building faces. Distance from the sea. Mature trees on the property. Distance between structures. Age and maintainance of the home.

But probably the most important thing... Luck!

Yep. I'm below a ridge and have no large trees immediately around 3 sides except for 2 giant mahogany trees on the north side of house. They survived quite well, leafless but intact.

My deck and its roof survived. 

I did have quite a bit of damages but house itself, windows and generator house was intact. Very Lucky. 

My previous house had a hip roof, and also sat beneath a ridge to the south.  During Marilyn, the roof was set to do a lift off when the back door exploded out and released pressure inside. Cracked roof along ridge beam so had interior flooding and had to put a ridge cap on peak. At least it stayed on. Everyone else in that neighborhood lost their roofs. Neither roof overhangs more than 1 - 2 feet.

That one survived Irma and Maria which the new owners were happy to report.

It really is luck of the draw and not having a tornado within the hurricane hit you. Prayers for a uneventful season.

What became of this development? We were just looking in that area over Christmas  did not see anything obvioulsy going on.  Specific question for @ohiojumbie-2 as well. 

@fishtacos 

Sorry, I have no clue what’s going on there. It is not unusual on St Croix for a project to start & then nothing more for months/years.

We left St Croix 3/21/20 & have not returned like we normally we do for winter. We are still in Ohio until we can get fully vaccinated for Covid 19. 

Must have driven right by it on our way to look at Mill Harbour unit with realtor.  Pictures on website noted above show one home under construction as of December 19.  Says mid 200's. 

Posted by: @ohiojumbie-2

We left St Croix 3/21/20 & have not returned like we normally we do for winter. We are still in Ohio until we can get fully vaccinated for Covid 19. 

It might be easier to get vaccinated on STX than it is in Ohio.

Posted by: @jaldeborgh

Posted by: @ohiojumbie-2

We left St Croix 3/21/20 & have not returned like we normally we do for winter. We are still in Ohio until we can get fully vaccinated for Covid 19. 

It might be easier to get vaccinated on STX than it is in Ohio.

You are absolutely right. I know if we were there we could get our 1st shot fairly quickly. Problem - my wife will not go through airports and on a plane until she's vaccinated.  Anyway Ohio is a disaster -shortage of vaccines and 3 wks out after you get an appointment. Today 1/18 the county just began their 80 & up category. Our age group starts 1/25 but not hopeful until mid Feb at earliest for 1st shot.

Jumbie

Posted by: @ohiojumbie-2

Problem - my wife will not go through airports and on a plane until she's vaccinated. 

My wife had mixed feelings about flying as well but I was determined to escape the cold, so we agreed to prepare well and take the risk.  We came down on December 2nd, from the Boston area, and our ages are 64 & 67 so we're on the edge of the vulnerable population but both in good health.  The data on the airlines didn't look bad and the airports weren't crowded so we never felt uncomfortable (we also flew down 1st class, boarded last to maximize distances and minimize exposure to others.

Once we heard the vaccinations had begun distribution we started networking to try and get on the list, it took about 10 days to secure a spot for our first shot (on January 9th), we're scheduled for our 2nd shot on the 29th.  The process here was well managed and organized.  We were in and our in about 30 minutes and all the waiting rooms (pre and post) were set-up for social distancing and not over-crowded.  There was no charge for the vaccination. We have a number of friends (mid-50's and up) who have had a similar experience to us.

Whatever you decide to do, stay safe.  We all have a difference tolerance for risk.  I think our children are more cautious than us as they've all canceled their plans to visit this season and admonish us every time we do anything remotely social (so we've stopped telling them what we're doing)....the children have become the parents.

@jaldeborgh We flew Delta from Chicago right before Christmas and felt quite safe, plenty of spacing.  We made the mistake of taking Spirit back.  Never again.   

Posted by: @fishtacos

What became of this development? We were just looking in that area over Christmas  did not see anything obvioulsy going on.  Specific question for @ohiojumbie-2 as well. 

Drove by Songs this afternoon.  The land is cleared, apparently some time ago as the ground cover has grown in, and the concrete shared road/driveway is in along with a a couple modest masonry columns flanking the entrance at the street with the house numbers on it.  Looks like the shell of the first house is complete, no idea of how much inside is finished.  Looks just like the picture on the sales sign that is still up at the street.

@fishtacos if you drove by at Christmas you must not have driven past the Songs property or you missed it.

@fishtacos

Tell us what happened on your Spirit flight!

We were delayed a bit in leaving because the plane was full. Full. No open seats. We were not prepared for that. Then three young people decided to sit with a friend rather that their seats in the back. They were uncooperative and almost got kicked off.  Boarded FLL to ORD stopped because first officer got pulled for another flight. Now 10:30 pm. Waited for another one. Boarded at 12:30. Sat for 30 minutes and flight attendant had to leave because too long of a day. No immediate hotel or auto rebook. Long long line at 2:30 am to rebook. Gate worker said don’t stand in line. Faster online. Rebooked online United at 7 am. Slept on bench. Terrible. No refund yet. Response says 60 days. 

@fishtacos

What does any of this have to do with the thread? People will click on the thread because they want information on New Homes Being Built in STX.

There should be another thread on travel experiences which might be helpful to people.