- March 12, 2025
Beverly Beach officials approved a finalized plat for the Sunset Inlet development with a unanimous vote Thursday during a special meeting of the Beverly Beach Town Commission.
Beverly Beach, whose population is 304 people, hasn't seen new development in more than 10 years, said Beverly Beach mayor Gerry Gersbach. It will be built on land in south Beverly Beach, about 2.5 miles north of the Flagler Beach Pier.
When finished, the development will boast 31 single-family homes, each with water views, a private dock and access to the beach and the Intracoastal Waterway.
Groundbreaking for the development will ideally happen within the next month, said Sunset Inlet developer Jim Cullis, president of both Cullis Real Estate Solutions and Grand Haven Realty in Palm Coast.
Cullis said he hopes that land development will be completed and construction of model homes will begin by the end of the year. Sunset Inlet has a projected completion date of spring 2013.
Architect Dan Evans designed three base floor plans for the development, which range from about 1,750 square feet to 2,500 square feet, though there is room to customize the plans to allow for versatility in appearance throughout the development.
Gersbach said the rise in population the development could bring will add a lot to the town's annual budget. This year, the town is operating on $121,000, and most of the town's income comes from real estate taxes, he said.
“To get 31 additional families in Beverly Beach is like getting 45 high rises in Palm Coast,” he said.
Cullis and his partners, J. Robert Sierra and John R. Sierra of Sierra Properties, purchased the land for the development at auction for $625,000. Despite the current state of the economy, they’re optimistic about their investment.
“We’ve all been through a very difficult stretch economically,” Cullis said. “But this year is better than last year, and last year was better than the year before. The market’s still slowly healing itself.”
Cullis hopes to sell homes within the development for $200,000 to $300,000. He’s seen an upswing in the housing market through his work in real estate, he said, and beach properties in Flagler County have withstood the recession better than those elsewhere in the county.
“Things are picking up,” Cullis said. “Our timing for this project couldn’t be better.”
