NIPOMO – It's the rebirth of the Maria Vista Estates on the Nipomo Mesa.
"It was a ghost town, still kind of is a ghost town up here not many people know yet", says Maria Vista Estates rehab supervisor Leroy Morgan, "once some families start moving in they will enjoy this area to live in."
Dozens of high-end, top-quality single-family homes built more than five years ago have been spruced up and made ready for sale.
"When we first came here the weeds and brush had not been touched in four to five years", Morgan says, "we literally had to machete our way up to the doorways, cut trees down, to even get our vehicles into the driveways."
They've had to chase away thieves and squatters at the Maria Vista Estates over the past several years but those behind the effort to breathe new life into the project say all of the homes built maintain top quality construction characteristics.
"All top of the line appliances, fixtures there again, top of the line, nothing you'll go to the home improvement store and purchase over the counter", Morgan says, "very high quality items, solid wood flooring."
A private venture capital firm, Sequoia Debt Ventures based in the Bay Area, specializes in scooping up distressed residential properties and is counting on the new life for Maria Vista Estates to pay off.
"When you come into a project like this and there's just so much stuff, it's a little overwhelming in the beginning", Morgan says about the rehabilitation work he and his crews have been doing, "but we'll have it done, these home will look like they were 99 percent brand new, they are going to be gorgeous."
The goal is to have the approximately 24 completed homes at Maria Vista Estates on the market in March.
The project was designed for a total of about 70 homes.
The original developer wound up in court over legal issues involving water and sewer hook-ups for the project.
The issue was eventually resolved but not before the developer filed for bankruptcy and the project was taken over by the bank.
