Page 21 - Al Brown Newsletter

Between 1924 and 1926, a group of citizens, mostly from Company’s assets were in real estate , and we better see how to
Brunswick, bought Sea Island (then called Long Island) for monetize some of this land. So, they put me on the case.”
$24,277. A road was cut down the middle of the island, and Any prospect interested in buying a lot was directed to Dewey.
interior lots were sold for $100. A beach lot fetched $250. By He related that not too far beyond the Cloister, to the west and
spring of 1925, prices had gone up to $400 east of Sea Island Drive, there was no electricity,
and $550, respectively. On July 15, 1926, no water, no grading, so the Company would push
Howard Coffin, a cousin of Alfred W. Jones, Between 1924 and 1926, a road down a street and start to sell lots, starting
bought the island for $349,485.17. This a group of citizens bought around $10,000. It was all “seat of the pants”
included Rainbow Island.
Sea Island for $24,277. development, but the demand was definitely
Real estate values weren’t important to the A road was cut down the beginning to grow. Interior lots in the 1960s
Company in the early years. Their focus was were selling for $15,000-$20,000, and prices
on making the little Cloister Hotel a success. middle, and interior lots were working their way up as more streets were
Real estate values didn’t do much in the were sold for $100. prepared for the construction of houses.
1930s and 1940s as Sea Island Company In my research, I found a marsh lot on 7th Street
struggled to avoid financial calamity during A beach lot fetched $250. that sold for $27,000 in November of 1967.
and after the Depression. Indeed, they Cottage 159 on the beach on 12th Street sold in
did survive. 1968 for $135,000. A beach front site on 35th brought $46,000 in

In the 1950s, interest in company-owned real estate started to September 1969. The entire block east of the Drive between 8th
enter the minds of management, and in 1958, Dewey Benefield and 9th Streets sold to the Kilgallon family in 1969 for $400,000.
was hired. According to Dewey, “They decided that most of the Now, let’s take a detailed look at cottage prices since the 1970s:

$6,000,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$5,325,000
$5,500,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$5,000,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$4,370,000
$4,500,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$4,000,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$2,901,000
$3,500,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$3,000,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$3,450,000
$2,300,000
$3,190,000 $2,275,000 $2,262,500
$2,500,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$1,725,000 $2,750,000
$2,000,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$2,175,000
$1,912,500
$1,900,000
$1,949,000
$1,500,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$1,750,000
$1,000,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$500,000 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
$0 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
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