High and mighty

NEWBURYPORT — When executives at Keystone Development identified five communities still worth investing in after the real estate crash, they picked four high-end towns west of Boston.

Only one other made the list: Newburyport.

The company recently put the finishing touches on Keystone Crossing, a development of five mustard-colored townhouses at the corner of High and Carter streets.

The project is far from the only transformation that has occurred on the city's premier thoroughfare.

In spite of weak home sales nationwide and across the state, a combination of private and speculative residential construction and renovations on High Street shows that the city is ripe for development, several industry professionals said.

"I think Newburyport is rock solid," said Geno Ranaldi, chief executive officer of the Huntington Group, which converted seven apartments into three upscale townhouses at 244 High St.

Nowhere is the surge in real estate more obvious than the High Street block between Woodland and Oakland streets, where at one point, six out of nine homes were being renovated or built.

One of the new homes, a three-story Greek Revival at 288 High St., sold in late July for a little more than $1.7 million, according to the Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds.

Local architect Scott Brown designed both the Greek Revival, as well as the neighboring Georgian Colonial scheduled for completion early next year. Both homes were developed by Mark DiPiero, a local builder known for his luxury custom homes.

"I think it's fair to say that the higher-end has not been affected at all by the recession," Brown said.

New neighbors

Brown also lent his designer's touch to the transformation of the adjacent former First Church of Christ Scientist. After more than a year of construction, the church pews have given way to a 6,800-square-foot residence that includes a basement with 9-foot ceilings.

"As soon as I walked in, I loved the trim and the openness," said owner Brian Morris, who now calls the First Church of Christ home. "My wife thought I was crazy, but when we put pen to paper, we realized we could do something unique and special."

When Brian Morris' job changed, he and his wife and children relocated to Newburyport from New York City, where they had lived in a federal archive building with curved walls. They were drawn to Newburyport, which they thought had the walkability of the Big Apple and a better "vibe" than the Boston suburbs.

The Morrisses sought to retain some of the property's character in converting the church to their home. The exterior was left intact, while the interior features a nod to the building's past: A pew sits to the right of the columned entryway, curved ceilings were retained, and the end panels of the pews were used to frame the bar downstairs.

Morris spent four months trying to save the pipe organ, but when the cost of disassembling and putting it back together topped $80,000, he gave up. A marble bathroom with a basket-weave tile floor took its place. From the second-floor addition, designed with three bedrooms, the family of four can look down on the dining area, bathing in light from the tall windows.

"It's wonderful to see all the different houses being repainted, redone and revitalized, since we're doing the same thing," Morris said.

On the same block, Chris Ragusa of CM Ragusa Builders is turning a two-story ranch into a 3,500-square-foot premium home that he plans to put on the market for $1.2 million.

"It's Newburyport, and it's High Street, and that's really what I wanted," said Ragusa, who grew up in the city, but now lives in New Hampshire. "Newburyport is one of the few islands of success right now, and people I talk to in the industry say all indicators point to it continuing. This is the mainland Nantucket."

Plenty of appeal

Keystone Development zeroed in on Newburyport in 2008 when opportunities dwindled elsewhere. An ideal mix of factors such as demographics, demand, limited supply and an attractive downtown prompted the company to add the Clipper City to its list of viable communities, alongside Newton, Wayland, Concord and Weston, said Michael Staiti, owner of the Marlborough-based company.

Three of Keystone Crossing's five High Street townhouses, ranging in price from $440,000 to $620,000, have sold. One block closer to downtown, two of Ranaldi's three townhouses, listed at $649,900, have been on the market for close to two months.

Competition is fierce on High Street, with about a half-dozen single-family homes and a dozen condominiums currently for sale.

Although statistics from The Warren Group, a real estate watchdog, shows sales of single-family homes have slipped 15 percent year-to-date and 21 percent for condominiums, with homes staying on the market for longer periods, there are encouraging signs of recovery, said Lela Wright, Ranaldi's Realtor and president of the Greater Newburyport Association of Realtors.

The average sale price for single-family homes this year has crept upward to $487,000, compared to $448,000 during the same period last year. And as bad as the market in Newburyport may seem to some, Wright said surrounding communities are faring much worse.

High Street, in particular, has over the years acquired a certain allure for out-of-town buyers and is consistently being promoted as a prestigious address, said Jim McCarthy, vice chairman of the Planning Board. Homes also tend to be larger on the historic street, ideal for buyers like Huib and Brenda Geerlings.

Like Brian and Allison Morris, the Geerlings found Newburyport more vibrant than the "stifling" Boston suburbs. The former Beacon Hill residents searched a long time for an antique house untouched by renovations before they purchased their home at 212 High St. in 2009.

They have since transformed the stately house, built in 1867. One of the final touches came recently when the landscaping was rolled out, perfecting the manicured look. Gone are the pink exterior, beige carpets, flowery wallpaper and mint-green kitchen. The home is now soundly insulated, powered by geothermal heat and color coordinated by Brenda Geerlings, an interior designer.

"People who want to do it and have the money, they just do it," Huib Geerlings said.

The cumulative effect of the face-lifts on High Street benefits the entire community, McCarthy said.

"What they do with their land really matters," McCarthy said. "When I see DiPiero working on things, it may look a little cramped at first, but he really knows what he's doing, he really, really does. It's all additive to me."

DiPiero's project appears to have created a certain buzz that perhaps motivates others to get into the speculative nature of High Street, Brown said. Brown said the key to a successful project in such a historic setting is to stick to tradition and only carefully add modern touches.

For instance, an unusual dormer built on the third floor of one of the High Street homes offers views of both ends of the road. Brown said looking out the window provides a feeling of being on top of the world.

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