A Progress Update on the Joshua Markum Builder Project on Bald Eagle Lake — $1.565M
By Tim Ornell | Ornell Group | Real Broker | White Bear Lake, MN
There Is Nothing Quite Like Watching a Lake Home Rise
I have been in real estate long enough to have seen a lot of transactions from beginning to end. Existing homes, estate sales, short sales, teardowns, land deals. Each one has its own arc. But there is something that happens when you stand on a lake lot during framing — when the bones of a home are going up against the sky and the water is visible through the studs — that does not happen in any other kind of transaction. It feels like creation. Because it is.
We are at that moment right now at 5253 Bald Eagle Boulevard.
Framing is underway. The structure is coming out of the ground. Joshua Markum Builders is on site, and what started as a lot acquisition conversation is becoming a $1.565 million lake home on one of the best bodies of water in the northeastern Twin Cities metro. I want to document this project as it develops — not just because the finished home is going to be exceptional, but because the process of getting here tells a story that most buyers never see and most sellers never think to tell.
This is what it actually takes to bring a new construction lake home to market on Bald Eagle Lake in 2026.
It Started with the Lot
Every new build starts with land, and finding the right lot on a lake like Bald Eagle is not a simple transaction. You are not shopping a deep inventory. You are watching, waiting, and moving quickly when the right opportunity appears — because the people who hesitate on lakefront land in this market are the people who tell the story later about the lot they almost bought.
The lot at 5253 Bald Eagle Boulevard checked the boxes that matter. The orientation is right. The water access is real. The setbacks and lot dimensions create the kind of build envelope that makes a premium home possible rather than just technically achievable. And Bald Eagle Lake — 1,050 acres of open recreational water in Hugo and White Bear Township, part of the broader Rice Creek Chain — is the kind of lake that supports a $1.565 million build because the underlying asset justifies it.
Lot acquisition on a lake is due diligence work as much as it is a purchase decision. You are looking at shoreline classification, DNR setbacks, city and county jurisdiction questions, floodplain considerations, soil conditions, utilities, and the specific variance landscape that comes with any non-standard lot on protected water. Getting this right before you break ground is the unglamorous work that determines whether the project goes smoothly or sideways.
This lot was ready. We moved on it.
The Part Nobody Talks About: Working Through the City Process
I want to spend a moment on something that buyers of new construction lake homes almost never see, because it happened here and it is worth understanding.
Getting a new home built on a lake lot in Minnesota is not as simple as buying land and calling a builder. The regulatory environment around lakefront construction — shoreline setbacks, impervious surface limits, grading and stormwater requirements, height restrictions, design standards — is layered in ways that require real expertise to navigate. And when your lot has any non-standard characteristics, as lake lots often do, the variance process becomes part of the work.
We went through that process on 5253 Bald Eagle Boulevard. Variance applications, city review, the back and forth of getting the design aligned with what the municipality requires while preserving the architectural vision that makes a $1.565 million home worth what it is. That process takes time. It requires patience. And it requires a builder and a real estate team that understand how to move through it without letting it derail the project.
Joshua Markum Builders brought the right approach to that process. Their team knows how to build in this regulatory environment, how to present a project to a city planning process in a way that addresses concerns before they become obstacles, and how to keep a timeline moving when the bureaucratic pace would otherwise invite delay.
That work — the variance work, the city approval work, the permitting work — is complete. Which is why we are standing in the framing stage right now instead of still waiting for a building permit.
Joshua Markum Builders — Why the Builder Matters on a Project Like This
I represent Joshua Markum Builders on this project, and that representation is not a formality. On a new construction lake home at this price point, the builder is not interchangeable. The difference between a builder who understands lake construction and one who does not shows up in every detail — the way the home is oriented to capture water views from the rooms that matter, the way the mechanical systems are spec'd for a home that will see the full range of a Minnesota climate, the way the finish selections are made to hold up in a lakefront environment over decades rather than just look good at the final walkthrough.
Joshua Markum Builders builds at the level this lot demands. The $1.565 million package reflects that. It is not a number that was arrived at by adding square footage costs and rounding up. It is a number that reflects a specific vision for what this home should be on this lot on this lake — and the craftsmanship required to deliver it.
Watching their team work the framing stage, seeing how the structure is being laid out relative to the water, understanding the thought that has gone into the sight lines and the flow — this is a home being built the way lake homes should be built. With the water at the center of every decision.
Where We Are and What Comes Next
Framing is one of my favorite stages of a new construction project to visit, and I make a point of being on site regularly. There is information available during framing that disappears once the walls close in — you can see the structure, understand the proportions, stand in rooms that do not yet exist and feel whether the layout makes sense, look through future window openings at the water and evaluate the view that the finished home will deliver.
Right now, at 5253 Bald Eagle Boulevard, those views are promising. The home is going to sit beautifully on this lot. The orientation relative to the water is exactly what we wanted when we made the lot acquisition decision.
From framing, the project moves through mechanical rough-ins — plumbing, HVAC, electrical — then insulation, drywall, and the finish work that ultimately defines the character of the home. Every stage builds on the foundation of getting the structural work right, which is where we are now.
For a buyer considering getting involved before the project reaches the market as a finished home, the framing stage is typically the last real opportunity to have meaningful input on selections and finishes. Once the walls close, the options narrow. The buyers who have historically gotten the most out of a new construction process are the ones who engaged early, understood what was being built, and made decisions while there was still time to make them.
Bald Eagle Lake — The Asset Behind the Address
I wrote about Bald Eagle Lake earlier this year, and everything in that piece remains true. This is 1,050 acres of legitimate recreational water — waterskiing, wakeboarding, sailing, serious open-water use — sitting in the northeastern corner of the Twin Cities metro with a price point that still comes in below comparable properties on White Bear Lake.
A new construction home at 5253 Bald Eagle Boulevard, finished at the Joshua Markum Builders level, on this lot, on this lake — that is a proposition that does not come around frequently. The lot was acquired because the opportunity was right. The builder was selected because the project deserves the right team. The variance work is done and the city process is behind us. The framing is going up.
The question for a serious buyer is a simple one: do you want to own this home, and do you want to have a voice in how it finishes?
I am happy to walk the site. Reach me at [email protected].
Tim Ornell | Ornell Group | Real Broker | White Bear Lake, MN | [email protected] Waterfront Specialist | 24 Lake Transactions | 28.6 Avg Days on Market | 97.2% List to Sale Ratio | $125M Personal Sales Volume
