Lowe's Will Offer 'Katrina Cottage'
For Gulf Coast Area Residents
Gulf Coast residents looking to rebuild soon will be able to shop for houses at their neighborhood home-improvement store.
Lowe's Cos., the second-largest U.S. home-improvement retailer after Home Depot Inc., will sell the plans and materials for a neotraditional Katrina Cottage at about 30 stores in Louisiana and Mississippi beginning in November. The announcement comes after Marianne Cusato, a New York designer, struck a deal with the Mooresville, N.C., company to market her concept.
Though not exactly a kit, the Lowe's product will provide just about everything short of a foundation and heating and cooling. The cottages, in four floor plans ranging from 544 square feet to 936 square feet, are made to withstand heavy rains and winds as high as 140 miles an hour. Though Lowe's has yet to put a price tag on the houses, company officials say packages will sell for about $45 to $55 a square foot, or from about $25,000 to more than $50,000.
A variety of Katrina Cottages emerged last year as part of an effort by New Urbanists, a group of architects and planners who favor high-density, mixed-use development, to rebuild after the storm. Ms. Cusato came up with the prototype, a 300-square-foot house that created a buzz at the International Builders' Show in Orlando, Fla., in January. Construction costs could total as much as the cost of the blueprint and supplies, Ms. Cusato says, while the job could take as little as a month to complete.
A Land Trade
It's only a handful of homes now, but Habitat for Humanity hopes a fledgling land-donation program will help hurricane victims get their houses rebuilt.
Habitat, based in Americus, Ga., is an international organization that builds homes largely with volunteer labor, and then sells the houses and the land through a no-interest mortgage to people who otherwise couldn't afford a down payment. Recipients must be in need but also capable of paying a monthly mortgage. Habitat is limited by one of its highest costs -- land to build on.
In deals designed to be mutually beneficial, Habitat says three or four families in Mississippi who had no insurance or were underinsured donated the title to their land to the organization. Habitat then built those families houses on the property and discounted their mortgage payments based on the land value, says Kenneth Meinert, senior vice president of Operation Home Delivery, Habitat's rebuilding effort after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The program has been slow to take off largely because of families' uncertainty about whether they will stay in the area and how much rebuilding assistance they will receive, Mr. Meinert says. But as those questions get answered, he hopes more people will offer Habitat what may be the only valuable asset they still own.
A Lifestyle Change
J.P. Morgan Asset Management is placing a bet on Casto Lifestyle Properties LLP's mixed-use centers in Florida, buying a 50% stake in five properties for $150 million. J.P. Morgan's Strategic Property Fund, which has net assets of $11 billion, also will team up on future similar developments with Casto Lifestyle.
Casto Lifestyle, which has typically built projects in the range of $50 million to $60 million, is looking to put together developments in the $100 million to $200 million range, says Brett Hutchens, president and chief executive of the closely held Sarasota, Fla.-based developer.
Casto Lifestyle has resisted institutional partners, but Mr. Hutchens says J.P. Morgan "gets" mixed-use development. Hilary Spann, a J.P. Morgan Asset Management vice president, said the deal would "expand our access to some of the most dynamic markets in the country for mixed-use lifestyle investment."
Lifestyle centers, a growth segment in the mall industry, offer street-facing retail, close-in parking and an emphasis on dining. Casto Lifestyle typically adds second-floor offices and a residential component. Its Main Street at Lakewood Ranch in Lakeland, Fla., has 170,000 square feet of retail, 46,000 square feet of office space and 65 condos.
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