b'P o r tA r a n s a sLUXURY PROPS SELLING AT A RECORD PACEWhen Atlanta marketing guru Jeff Lamkin an-nounced Cinnamon Shore more than fifteen years ago, the success of a high-end, Key West-styleoceanfrontcommunityinPortAran-sas was in no way inevitable. While builders snatched up lots for the opportunity to be part of the most prestigious development in the Coastal Bend, sales slowed amid the 2008 na-tional housing collapse, and the construction of village amenities was delayed.The Cinnamon Shore sales team, determined to deliver Lamkins vision, persisted and found an emerging audience of mainly San Antonio and Austin buyers who sought drive-toon golf driving real estate sales in a period during which golf was on the decline in vacation homes, and who bought into the long-term investment viability of luxurypopularity, which brought the added risk of sacrificing half of the developable land for waterfront development on Mustang Island.In the years around the launch of Cin- the golf course. Today, with the golf course reduced to nine holes, McCombs Develop-namon Shore, major island projects Tortuga Dunes, at the southern end of Mustangment is enjoying great success at Palmilla Beach, selling the highest cost per square Island near Packery Channel, and the former Newport Dunes Golf community, whichfoot in the Coastal Bend. Today, the median single-family home price in Cinnamon became Palmilla Beach, had failed for different reasons. What ultimately set CinnamonShore North (the original) is almost $1.5 million, and homes are popping up at a brisk Shore apart and led to its success was the community plan itself, as well as the strictpace at the developers new South community.quality standards required of builders. Tracking double-digit tourism growth in Port Aransas, high-end projects are emerging Tortuga Dunes was placed in a disastrous location for anyone aspiring to sell mil- along Hwy 361 on both the gulf and bay sides of the island. The word has gotten out lion-dollar weekenders on the beach. The Newport Dunes business plan was centeredaround Texas about Port Aand the buyers are rushing in!128THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE TheCoastalBend.com'