Paul Weideman | The New Mexican
10/4/2009 – 10/4/09

This condominium is unique at Quail Run. A wall between two penthouse units on the second floor of the main Clubhouse building was taken out to create a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 2-kitchen condominum suite. “This unit is the poster child for Quail Run,” said Realtor Paul Stenberg, who is representing the 1,730-square-foot property with Patricia Love.

The new owner could alter the space, which is configured as a larger unit composed of living room, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, and bathroom; and a smaller, caregiver’s suite, both with access to a balcony shaded by mature aspen trees.

Taken as a whole, there are bedrooms at either end, one with a wood floor and fireplace. Most of the common spaces are carpeted, but the kitchens and bathrooms have floors of Saltillo tile. The main kitchen is outfitted with a Kenmore Elite refrigerator, GE range/oven and built-in microwave oven, a Kitchen Aid dishwasher, and countertops of ivory-colored tile. Behind a pair of doors, in a closet space, are the washer and dryer.

The smaller kitchen has Whirlpool appliances.

This penthouse unit is one of about 20 on the second floor of Quail Run’s Clubhouse. In the same building are a restaurant, a bar and lounge, a library, swimming pools, a billiards and poker room, and a spa/fitness facilities with certified personal trainers available. The 103-acre property holds tennis courts, a PGA-rated, 9-hole golf course (par 32), and nearly two miles of walking trails.

Sales at the Quail Run development opened in 1988. Today about 150 of the 265 units are held by full-time residents. The rest are available to rent as vacation homes at rates ranging from about $300 to about $700. Condominium owners pay dues of $350 to $1,200, depending on the size of the home, and this entitles them to the use of all facilities and covers the costs of security, snow shoveling, and hazard insurance. A portion of the annual dues is held in a $4 million reserve, from which funds are dispersed for common-area maintenance, such as for roof, stucco, and paving work.

Quail Run offers 500 nonresident memberships for the privilege of using the bar, the fitness center, and the golf course. These memberships cost $2,000 to $5,000 initially, with monthly dues of $125 to $240. The demographic in Quail Run is “mostly 50 and up,” general manager Marla Thompson. “We don’t have restrictions against children, but we don’t have very many. We have a handful of attorneys and several doctors, working professionals, and when their families come in to visit, they just rent units for them to stay in.”

Asked about impacts from the recession, Thompson said the project’s vacation rentals have slumped a bit this summer, but the club facilities and the restaurant “are doing well, and our real-estate prices have held their own. Our brokers published a chart showing price per square foot of condominiums in Santa Fe, and Quail Run hasn’t dropped very much compared to Santa Fe as a whole.”

The reasons are that Quail Run is “a stable community, and well-respected,” she said. “We have a lot of old-time Santa Feans who have decided to downsize and came here. Also, with our $4 million reserve account, we don’t have to do special assessments, so it helps with the surprise factor. We have 265 homes and that’s a lot of stucco and roofs; we do it in sections, so when we do it, those are sizeable contracts.

“Quail Run has been well-maintained over these 20 years and the landscaping has matured nicely, and it’s just a bunch of nice people here,” Thompson said.

The double-penthouse unit is listed by Paul Stenberg and Patricia Love, Barker Realty, for $895,000.

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