BusinessReport.com

Like most well-heeled neighborhoods in Baton Rouge, the sprawling Santa Maria subdivision nestled off Perkins Road has seen a significant increase in property values in the past three years—a trend that has shown no sign of abating.

Statistics show average home sale prices in Santa Maria jumping from $291,000 in 2005 to more than $357,000 last year, with the average price per square foot increasing from $133 to $138. So far this year, the increase is much more staggering, with the average sale price topping $728,000 and $176 per square foot.

Those 2008 numbers may be misleading when compared to the previous three years, however, because only five homes have changed hands so far this year and all were in the high-end range for the subdivision, which has houses priced from the mid-$300,000s to more than $1 million.

“Santa Maria is all pretty much high-end real estate, and it’s all kept its value through the years,” says Dolly McKenney, a real estate agent who sells in the subdivision and also lives there.

Santa Maria sits on more than 250 acres of largely rural land that once belonged to the Santa Maria Plantation. In the 1980s, a developer purchased the property to turn into a golf course community but, thanks to the oil bust, only got as far as the golf course. He sold the course to BREC, which has maintained and operated it ever since.

In 1992, developer Charles Cole purchased the land surrounding the golf course and began developing the subdivision, which today is subdivided into more than a dozen sections with names such as The Fairways, Parkside, Charlestowne, Creekside, The Highlands, The Estates, The Lakes and The Grove. All share the same rural feel, however, with access to 15 lakes, walking trails, plenty of mature trees and proximity to the golf course.

One of the advantages of the development is that homeowners don’t have to pay maintenance fees for the golf course, as they would in a golfing community. Because BREC owns the course, which is a public course, they get the benefit of having it in their backyard without having to shoulder any of the financial responsibility for it.

“Golf courses are difficult to maintain, and that is frequently a problem in golf course communities,” says Wayne Woody, who heads the Santa Maria Property Owners Association. “We get the best of both worlds.”

Woody and his wife, who are originally from New Orleans, moved to Santa Maria nine years ago after spending the previous 20 years in San Francisco. They chose the development because it’s where their daughter and son-in-law lived, and they were impressed by everything it had to offer.

The Woodys liked that there were retirees like themselves and also many families with young children.

“It kind of depends on the street,” Woody says. “Some streets are kind of quiet. Other streets have hundreds of children.”

More important, perhaps, the development is home to many upper-level executives and professionals, many of whom live there because their firms or companies moved them there. It’s a popular neighborhood for transplants and, as a result, experiences a certain amount of turnover each year.

Still, statistics do not reflect a particularly high turnover rate. Only nine houses changed hands in each of the past two years, not counting a considerable number of new constructions that sold. That suggests there aren’t a lot of people leaving the area. Of those houses that did sell, given their size and asking price, they didn’t spend much time on the market—less than two months in 2007 and just slightly more than that in 2006.

If there is a drawback to Santa Maria, it might be its location on the outskirts of the city and a fierce commute from just about anything but Blue Bayou Water Park. Given Baton Rouge’s traffic headaches, the thought of facing bumper-to-bumper traffic along Interstate 10 or Airline Highway might scare off some who would otherwise house hunt in Santa Maria.

But residents defend their neighborhood, reasoning that there’s traffic everywhere in Baton Rouge.

“You’re going to have traffic in this city wherever you live,” McKenney says. “At least we have access to the interstate and Airline Highway.”

Residents also point out that in the future they won’t have such a far drive when they want to access mixed-use commercial establishments. Plans are in the works for a Towne Center-style development that will be located at Perkins and Highland roads, on the Santa Maria side of the I-10. It will have an upscale market, shops and office space.

“We’re really looking forward to it,” Woody says. “There’s nothing like that around here, and it will really be a nice addition to the area.”