Per a Trustee Sale advertised in today's Daily News Record (view ad), the bulk of the Preston Lake subdivision may be headed to foreclosure.  This doesn't necessarily mean that the foreclosure sale will take place, but this is a significant step in that direction.

Preston Lake is Harrisonburg and Rockingham County's first master planned community, intended to include nearly 500 townhomes and single family homes, a large section of retail stores with a main street appearance, and many amenities such as a community center, soccer fields, swimming pool, and more.


  The vision....


 Main Street renderings


 Amenities at Preston Lake

Now, however, all of those plans may be coming to an end, at least for now.  On February 3rd at 12:00 p.m., 124.693 acres of Preston Lake is scheduled to be auctioned at the Rockingham County Circuit Court.  Please note that an advertised trustee sale (all that has happened thus far) does not necessarily mean that the foreclosure process will take place. 

This wasn't the first sign of trouble for Preston Lake, as the developer of Preston Lake and its lender (Wachovia) have been in the midst of legal proceedings for almost a year now, as described in the Mar 2, 2010 article from the Daily News Record:


While it was happening quite slowly, residential construction at Preston Lake had been continuing even over the past year.  Since the first closing in 2008, there have been 37 sales at Preston Lake recorded in the HRAR MLS, ranging from $318k to $883k, with a median price of $421k.  Three of these sales took place as recently as the fourth quarter of 2010.

Today, only four properties are being marketed for sale at Preston Lake per the HRAR MLS -- three are resale properties, and one is being sold by the developer.  (view active listings at Preston Lake)

A few notes about the foreclosure sale:

• It appears that most (or all?) of the common areas (such as the Village Green) will not be sold at the foreclosure sale.
• It appears that the property being conveyed will still be bound by the covenants and restrictions already in place.  (view the HOA disclosure package as of October 2008)

What could happen from here?  These are my best guesses:

1. The foreclosure sale will not take place, construction and sales will continue, quite slowly.
2. The foreclosure sale will take place and the subdivision will be purchased by a new developer who will continue with the current vision, or adjust it and move forward with development, construction and sales.
3. The foreclosure sale will take place, but nobody will buy the subdivision, and thus the bank will become the owner.  They will then work to sell Preston Lake to a new developer through more traditional sales and marketing means.
4. Same as #3, but the bank will then try to sell the lots individually, instead of as an entire subdivision.

If you have questions about Preston Lake, feel free to call me at 540-578-0102 or e-mail me at scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com.