Our mosquito bites are starting to fade, along with that wonderful sense of calm that envelopes us every time we visit Loreto. It's back to reality here in Albuquerque, which makes it the perfect time to revisit our visit and tie up some of the loose ends left in previous blogs.
The question of whether homes in Agua Viva will be permachinked was put to rest with the news that all homes will receive that finish on doors, window frames and even pergolas. This news came via homeowners who met with a top Beck representative during their visit.
This is good news for two reasons: The cost of having an outside contractor apply permachink to a Nueva Chica can run has high as $2,300. And after witnessing the damage to outside wood while walking through the Founder's Neighborhood, it became clear that applying permachink is a necessity, not just an option.
During that same walk we noticed a good bit of rust on iron work, so we're hoping a new finish for the iron is also in the works for Agua Viva homes. Otherwise we'll most definitely be applying some kind of rust inhibitor to the iron railings on our stairs. And we'll be mighty glad we didn't opt for even more iron work.
As for fears that construction has slowed to a mere crawl, take heart... During our visit we saw workers - often many workers - toiling away, not only on the Paseo project but throughout the development.
Work on our cluster - and many others - was going strong during our entire visit. The stairs were poured and re-bar set for the tower on our home, while two of our neighbors went from bare dirt to poured slabs, with walls going up quickly on one lot. Great news for us and our neighbors and proof that although work on homes may have shifted into a lower gear due to work on the Paseo, it's still going strong.
It's possible that activity was pumped up for the benefit of those attending the homeowner event (a few jokes to that effect were somewhat nervously made), but the news that Beck is planning on delivering some 26 homes by the end of the year seems to belie that line of thinking. We hope.
In other news, we learned that Loreto's Farmer's Market is still being held on Sundays, but we never found out why it was changed from Saturday to Sunday.
Our dining adventures continued with a farewell dinner at Domingo's (located on the main road into town), where we enjoyed fabulous steaks in a beautiful outdoor setting. Domingo's is now one of our favorites, which makes us wonder why the concierge at the Inn discouraged us from dining there during our visit in April. Hmmmm.
Another good choice was Islas for breakfast where we experienced incredible huevos rancheros (that's high praise, indeed, considering we're from New Mexico where that dish has evolved into high art) in a bright, airy, charming setting. But for me, the pièce de résistance was dinner at Mediterraneo where the sea bass with spinach atop angel hair pasta is heavenly! As always, everywhere we dined the wait staff was charming and the service great.
While I've been writing this, George received an e-mail from LBC with an even bigger incentive for people to buy a Casita Cortez - a $50,000 rebate, in addition to all furnishings, free Explorer Club membership and no HOA fees for two years. The same rebate is being offered for a two-bedroom condo at Posado Sur and for Founder's custom home site 515. Yow! That kinda hurts!
No comments:
Post a Comment