EVOLVING ESTATES: LSU Tigers coach to be Mattie Kelly's new neighbor

Destin matriarch Mattie Kelly may soon have a new neighbor in The Estates at Indian Point.

The first home in the exclusive gated community will be complete in two to three weeks, according to Titan Development Enterprises Managing Member Ron Sassano. The 7,850-square-feet home sits on a .78-acre lot. Construction began about 13 months ago.

“The neighborhood’s starting to have some life,” said Sandestin Real Estate Sales Specialist Bill Cole, who Titan contracted to promote the community. “We’re real optimistic and excited about spring and the opportunity to move some of the lots.”

Titan purchased the 12-acre property from Northwest Florida State College, formerly Okaloosa-Walton Community College, about three years ago for $8.1 million. The purchase resulted from a lengthy legal battle between the college and Kelly’s heirs.

Kelly left the property, which served as her homestead before becoming her permanent resting place in 1994, to the college with the instructions that it should be used to promote the arts, environment and Florida’s cultural heritage. The college said it could best fulfill that wish by using the profit from the sale to establish the Mattie Kelly Cultural and Environmental institute on the school’s Niceville campus.

The first completed home in The Estates is owned by James Clausel, who purchased the first two lots in the neighborhood for $3.1 million in April 2008. Clausel has put the home on the market for $5,975,000.

Four of the 13 available lots in the neighborhood have been sold, and a fifth sale is pending, according to Cole. The third lot was purchased by a Destin business entity known as KH2008 for $1.4 million in August 2008. And the fourth lot was sold in July 2009 for $1.45 million to a person who originally requested not to be identified.

But in the last week, Cole announced that Les Miles, head football coach for Louisiana State University, will soon build a vacation home in The Estates.

“It’s definitely a special piece of property,” Miles said in an e-mail. “My family and I are excited to be part of this community. I’ve met a lot of people in Destin and hope to enjoy a long association with the city over time.”

Sassano said a Titan architect is finishing up renderings for the Miles’ home, which could be complete in 12 to 14 months.

Cole said a lot of interest has been generated in The Estates, and the sales team is building up some momentum. He said the upscale neighborhood is beautiful, isolated and peaceful.

And the Kelly mausoleum, which serves as the permanent resting places for Mattie and Coleman Kelly, hasn’t been a detriment to buyers, according to Cole. He said most of the property owners in The Estate never even asked about the mausoleum, and the one that did had a positive reaction to their prospective neighbors.

“This is such a rare property,” Cole said. “If Mattie and Coleman chose this property as their homestead, it gives people a higher level of confidence about their choice.”

Sassano said he is confidant that sales will pick up in the neighborhood in 2010. There are nine available lots in the neighborhood, priced between $700,000 and $1.2 million. The gap in the prices is due to lot size and water depth.

“Sales are slow right now, here and around the nation, but the type of clientele that The Estates attracts is not affected by the economy as much as most people,” Sassano said. “We feel pleased with the sales thus far and how we’re starting 2010. We’re sure 2010 will be a big year for The Estates.”