Condos with a view offered in online auction

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

Fourteen units at a condominium project near the hospital are being sold by online auction.

The starting bid for one unit at Deer Creek At Whitefish, formerly known as The Views, with two bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths with 2,180 square feet, is $99,000.

With a suggested seller's value of $327,000, this is the only unit that comes furnished. It also features a "chef's kitchen, complete with chestnut-colored cabinetry, granite counters and black GE appliances" and "spectacular views of Big Mountain" — albeit through smaller-than-typical picture windows.

Homeowners at Deer Creek At Whitefish will also have the benefits of a "lodge-like clubhouse" that includes a fitness center, spas, a fireplace, a wet bar and a pool table. Homeowner fees are $115 per month.

Two three-bedroom units have $140,000 starting bids, four three-bedroom units have $150,000 starting bids, and seven two-bedroom units have $160,000 starting bids.

The LFC Group of Companies, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based real estate auction marketing firm, is conducting the auction entirely online through its Freedom Realty Exchange Web site, www.FRE.com/253R4. The site opened Aug. 20, and bidding concludes Oct. 23.

Twenty-nine units have so far been constructed as Phase 1. When brought before the city in 2005 by Newport Beach developer Brett Shaves, the project called for 168 units at the site of the former Par 3 on 93 golf course.

The city-county planning board initially tabled a vote on the project, saying it was too dense, even after Shaves offered five of the units to the city's affordable housing program.

The board approved the project at its next meeting after Shaves' architect dramatically changed the design, which he claimed was intended for young families, and Shaves upped his affordable housing offer to 10 units. Shaves, who did not get a bonus density for the project, also agreed to restrict short-term rentals at the project.

The Whitefish City Council approved the project despite stormwater issues that arose after construction crews began discharging muddy runoff from both the condominium site and the new North Valley Hospital site down a neighbor's driveway and into the Whitefish River. Then-mayor Andy Feury broke the 3-3 tie vote.