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A new
high-rise under construction in downtown San Antonio is
expected to feature many of the amenities common to
other downtown condo high-rises, which are tacking on
luxuries such as rooftop gardens and pools, valets, and
exercise rooms.
But this new
residence, Fairfield San Antonio at La Cascada, isn't
really for locals, and it's not just condos.
The 10-story
tower is under development by Fairfield Resorts Inc. and
is the newest addition to the company's portfolio of
more than 70 timeshare resorts around the world.
Fairfield is expected to open the 100-unit urban resort
next summer.
"We're very
excited to be coming to San Antonio," company
spokeswoman Lisa Burby said. "We responded to where our
owners want to go, and Texas and San Antonio is
definitely a destination they wanted."
Timeshare, a vacation option that in the past has come
under fire because of scammers and unethical sales
tactics, has gained more respect in the last decade or
so. The attitude adjustment came as major hotel chains
started flying their flags over timeshare resorts.
Timeshare allows vacationers to buy the right to spend a
set amount of time at a vacation property, either with a
percentage ownership or a long-term lease. With
timeshare, the purchase is not so much of a specific,
physical property but of time at a resort.
San Antonio has drawn several big names in timeshare
over the past few years, and some new concepts in
timeshare are coming here soon.
Fairfield San Antonio at La Cascada for example, will be
the first resort the Wyndham Worldwide-owned company has
built in an urban setting. The company found that
timeshare buyers wanted big-city vacation amenities such
as Broadway road shows and major league sports. "It's a
new trend for us," Burby said. The company also is
planning urban resorts in San Diego and San Francisco.
Another development, Villa
Verona, is a "private residence club" that San
Antonio-based RTK Development is planning
alongside its ultra-luxurious
Piazza San Lorenzo
condominiums, which RTK is planning on Soledad Street
downtown.
Timeshare prices there are set, for now, at $140,000 for
a two-bedroom, $195,000 for a three-bedroom and $280,000
for a four-bedroom. Owners get a one-tenth-share
interest in the property and pay annual fees of $6,500,
$7,500 or $9,000, depending on the unit.
The residence club is a new concept in timeshare, in
which owners choose 14 days in the first half of the
year and 14 days in the second half. The club also will
set aside 10 units for last-minute vacation plans.
Subject to availability, owners may stay at one of the
10 units for up to a week without paying extra. The
annual fees cover valet, housekeeping, gratuity and a
stocked fridge, among other luxuries.
John R. Kazanjian, the company's chief executive
officer, said he expects that Mexican nationals will buy
as much as half of the time at the resort.
Los Angeles-based HollyHills Development also is
planning downtown timeshare condos.
The plan calls for 17 stories of luxury at 120 Villita,
which is a one-story office building now. The
development will include timeshare, several condos and
retail at street and river levels.
"Timeshares will take up the vast majority of it," said
T.J. Connolly, HollyHills' spokesman.
HollyHills doesn't expect to start on that project until
2010.
Coming sooner is the company's Briggs Ranch Grand
Vacation, which is under development near U.S. 90 West
and Texas 211. The company broke ground on the 58-acre
1,000-unit timeshare resort in June. The resort will
include a 2-acre water park and is near the Texas Golf
Club, which is considered one of the nation's best
public courses. HollyHills is spending $2.5 million to
update the course, including $1.2 million for 75
state-of-the art golf carts with wireless Internet and
global positioning systems.
"Would this work in Peoria, Ill.? Probably not. But it
can work in San Antonio," Connolly said. "You can play
golf almost any day of the year here."
Prices at
Briggs Ranch start at $4,990 for one week every other
year, and top out at $20,000, which might include two
weeks in a four-bedroom unit. All timeshares include
golf and discounts at the clubhouse.
The first 100 units are expected to open in January, and
HollyHills plans to add 100 or more every year until the
development is finished in 2014.
Other new timeshare developments in San Antonio already
are on line.
Hyatt Vacation Club has had so much success with its
Wild Oak Ranch in Northwest San Antonio near Loop 1604
and Highway 151 that it has added a new sales office
downtown, which could employ as many as 30 seasonal
workers. The Hyatt compound includes an indoor-outdoor
pool, water park with water slides, shuffleboard,
horseshoes, a game room, a media room, a fitness center
and a 27-hole golf course.
Prices range
from $6,350 for one week every other year to $43,500,
which could pay for as many as six weeks of vacation
time per year. The prices include a certain number of
points each year that can be used for time at other
resorts or at Hyatt hotels. The high-end packages
include enough points for as many as six weeks of
vacation.
A franchisee
of Shell Vacation Systems has opened five timeshare
units at its Salado Creek Villas, near Harry Wurzbach
Road and Loop 410. The Villas, owned by franchisee Gary
Beckley of Winnipeg, Ontario, is a renovation of part of
Hill Country Inn and Suites hotel, which he expects to
complete in 2011. "It's a work in progress," he
said. "We add units every month." Part of the complex
will remain a hotel. The company also works on the point
system and packages start at close to $10,000. Beckley
is in the hotel and timeshare business in Canada, but
the Salado Creek Villas is his first project in the
States.
Financial
experts say timeshares aren't usually considered good
real estate investments because they depreciate quickly.
But they can make sense for people who like to vacation
extensively at the same location.
"The real bargains are in the resales," said William
Rogers, founder of Timeshare Users Group, a user-owned
consumer group based in Orange Park, Fla. "The savings
can be 50 percent or greater."
Rogers started the group in 1993 after he and his wife
got duped in a timeshare exchange.
The most important thing about buying a timeshare, he
said, is to make sure you understand exactly what you're
getting before putting up the cash or taking out a loan.
"Education before you buy instead of after you buy.
Unfortunately, that's not always the way timeshare sales
go," he said.
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rstone@express-news.net
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