Elan Vacations Breaks Ground for University Park

By Kip Tabb – 

Norman Bibeau, President and CEO of Elan Vacations, breaking ground on phase 1 of University Park.

Norman Bibeau, President and CEO of Elan Vacations, waited a long time for yesterday’s University Park groundbreaking ceremony in Powell’s Point.

Originally scheduled to move forward in the spring, the harsh winter of 2013-14 slowed construction on a warehouse that was the first part of the project

Yesterday’s groundbreaking was the official beginning of a two phase development. The first phase will build a new office for Elan Vacations—an Outer Banks property management company that has shown very strong growth over the past three to four years.

Phase two, which Bibeau indicated he hopes to begin in the spring of 2015, will be the construction of housing geared toward Outer Banks workers. “Our next project will be putting up 39 town homes back here,” he said in his remarks. “Affordable housing for our workers here which we desperately need.”

Although the next phase was discussed, the celebration on Wednesday focused on digging a shovel into the sand and officially beginning the University Park project.

To Bibeau it has been a team effort to get to this point. “I really appreciate you guys supporting us in our growth,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it without the (board of) commissioners’ support and the county’s support.”

University Park is located about 200 yards south of Elan’s current offices on Caratoke Highway in Powell’s Point.

In conjunction with phase 1 of the University Park project, Elan is giving away a one week oceanfront vacation. Check out their website for more information.