Bedico Creek Preserve – Preserving St. Tammany Parish’s “Resort Lifestyle”
Remembering the Past
Historically, St. Tammany Parish was a destination location for New Orleanians who wished to get away from the havoc of the city and spend the weekend or a week away in the lush, fragrant, peaceful cottages and camps on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain. The Northshore was known for its over-abundance of trees, natural surroundings, a prevalence of wildlife, and a slower pace of life. Unfortunately…or fortunately – however you choose to look at it – time, growth, and Hurricane Katrina changed the face of St. Tammany Parish, which now has one of the most stable economies, some of the fastest business development growth in the Greater New Orleans Area, and is highly renowned for its excellent school system. The community of St. Tammany Parish has commercialized and is seeking to grow and grow quickly with the I-12 corridor becoming one of the fastest developing areas in Southeast Louisiana.
While many people may be moving to the Northshore to enjoy this growing urban lifestyle, there are still those residents and buyers that reminisce about, and virtually long for, a slower pace of life while enjoying the accessibility of all that “the city” offers. Except now it’s not just “the city” (New Orleans), it’s “cities” which include Covington, Mandeville, and even Slidell. Although rare, the Northshore lifestyle choice of the past can still be found in Bedico Creek Preserve. A conservation community consisting of over 500 acres, Bedico Creek Preserve has evolved into a neighborhood that fosters and preserves the “original Northshore” lifestyle with more space, more room to breathe, and an abundance of the “great outdoors!” At Bedico Creek Preserve, your lot doesn’t end at the street. As a homeowner in the community, you purchase your lot and then enjoy the usage of 20+ acres of lakes, a 375-acre nature preserve, 3.5 miles of completed concrete hiking and biking trails, up to 200 acres of parks and green spaces, and endless “make your own” nature trails. And that’s just inside the community.
Bedico Creek has managed to capture the old world essence of St. Tammany Parish while still offering new homes and custom homes built by the highest quality, award-winning builders in St. Tammany Parish. There are currently 5 distinct neighborhoods within Bedico Creek Preserve that have lots developed and ready to build as well as a 6th neighborhood that is still in the planning stages. Lots are priced from the $40’s – $160’s and home pricing starts in the mid-$200’s and goes up to over $1 million plus. So if you are interested in low-maintenance Garden homes or building your dream estate, Bedico Creek has a neighborhood that is built just for you. The community is located just minutes from the new Nord Du Lac Shopping Center and the ever-growing Louisiana Hwy. 21 shopping district. It is also easily accessible to the intersections of Hwy. 190 and Hwy. 1085, as well as just minutes from I-12.
A Look at the History
To understand how Bedico Creek has evolved into a community that has the perfect blend of lifestyle, natural wilderness surroundings, and an amazing selection of lots and builders from which to choose, you must understand the community’s history. Many residents of Madisonville and St. Tammany Parish remember that when Bedico Creek started out, it was planned to be a golf course development designed by Bland Pittman and his son Hunter Pittman known for designing courses such as Battle Creek Golf Club, Bailey Ranch Golf Club, and Peoria Ridge in Oklahoma and Gettysvue Polo, Golf & Country Club in Tennessee, though Bland Pittman has designed courses worldwide. Through a combination of an ambitious, out-of-town developer and the mortgage crisis of 2008, Bedico Creek was not able to be completed as a golf course community, but instead was purchased by local developer David Waltemath to be a cash-stable, debt-free, real estate development with a fully-supported, realistic growth plan to build out the entire community over an extended period of time.
“Bedico Creek will be a series of neighborhoods within one great ‘master plan’ that is surrounded by almost 600 acres of green space!” says Waltemath, “We know we will be here for over a decade developing our community so everything we do is geared toward creating lasting value.”
Completely reversing the branding of the community to reflect the mood and demographics of the market’s current home buyers, David Waltemath charted a new course for the community by turning the development into a conservation community. A conservation community weaves the development of the residential neighborhoods into the natural environment of the subdivision. So, instead of clear-cutting the land in order to make room for the developed lots and houses, each of the neighborhoods within Bedico Creek are designed to maximize the use and exposure of the parks and green spaces, carefully carving out niches into the existing acreage. Because the land is officially being used as “green space,” it cannot be developed. Statistics have shown that this has led to a rise in home appreciation rates, which in this market, is a huge incentive for someone looking to invest long-term in real estate. The local community and government also benefit from a conservation community because it causes less storm water runoff from the lack of clear cutting. This type of community development naturally preserves the land while creating a wildlife habitat and refuge.
New Ownership and Direction
As president of Classic Properties, a prominent real estate development firm in New Orleans, David Waltemath has over twenty-five years experience in over a quarter of a billion dollars of residential and commercial real estate planning, development, construction, and project management, as well as financial planning and asset management. In his position of president and broker of Classic Properties Realty, he has handled commercial leasing and property management as well. Waltemath, a developer from New Orleans, is best known for his residential developments English Turn and Estates at Northpark. He has affiliations with the home builders associations in both New Orleans and St. Tammany Parish as well as the Realtors Associations in New Orleans, St. Tammany Parish, and Baton Rouge. David Waltemath has his finger on the pulse of the real estate market in Southeast Louisiana with new residential developments being sold in both Baton Rouge (Green Trails) and Plaquemines Parish (The Parks at Plaquemines). His vision for the development of Bedico Creek Preserve has ensured that this hidden treasure in St. Tammany Parish will have a stable and successful future.
The success rate at Bedico Creek Preserve is defined by the growing interest of local builders in the community as well as lot and home sales by new home buyers. Currently, the community features 8 St. Tammany Parish home builders who either have homes for sale or are building new homes on lots they have purchased within the community. Lot sales are “hopping,” and 3 homes in Bedico Creek sold within 10 days during the month of June. Buyers can select their own lot from a choice of 5 developed neighborhoods. They can either bring in their own builder or architect or choose from a list of builders, architects, and designers that are already working within the design guidelines of the community. Bedico Creek has strictly defined covenants that not only protect each buyer’s investment, but they also protect the community’s quality of life. With the conservation community development structure, the covenants are written to be mindful of the preservation of the natural environment and wildlife habitat as well as the design and maintenance of the homes within the
neighborhoods.
A Bright Future
Future plans for the development include the completion of a sixth neighborhood that will be an exclusive, gated enclave within Bedico Creek Preserve with its own private golf hole, pitch and putt practice facility, and lakefront recreation area. In addition to the natural amenities and the miles of concrete paths that meander around the parks and lakes at Bedico Creek, current subdivision amenities include The Pavilion, a covered, open-air gathering place next to the lake available for neighborhood and private parties, crawfish boils, and dances; a fishing pier, an outside fire pit at Sunset Point, and boat and RV storage. Future amenity plans could include a beach on the lake, swimming pool, soccer and baseball fields, basketball goal and playing area, playground/tot lot, and a dog park – amenities so vast, that Bedico Creek will be a “golf cart friendly” community.
Because of proper investment and community planning, the solid management of local developer David Waltemath, and the support of local builders and St. Tammany Parish residents, Bedico Creek Preserve will be a place where home buyers can capture and keep the essence of that slower pace of life for which the Northshore, throughout its history, has been so well known. Waltemath and builders of Bedico Creek will play a vital role in bringing back the real estate market in the Greater New Orleans area, and especially St. Tammany Parish, through steady lot and home sales as well as the stable growth of the community. If you haven’t had a chance to tour one of St. Tammany Parish’s best kept secrets, come visit Bedico Creek today! To find out more information about Bedico Creek Preserve, call 985-845-4200 or visit online at www.LiveBedico.com.
