OCEAN SHORES — “I want one of those new condos at Ocean Shores, but I can’t afford it.”

That’s the dilemma facing the majority of people who fall in love with Ocean Shores, according to George Donahoe, a developer with 45 years of experience with resorts and time-shares in and out of Ocean Shores.

Donahoe believes he has the answer. He is now taking reservations for a 192-unit “cottage” community to be located across from the Post Office on Chance A La Mer.

Buyers of “The Cottages at Ocean Shores” will have two choices — a 550-square-foot one-bedroom cottage selling for $104,900 or a 940-square-foot two-bedroom cottage for $164,900. They’re modest but modern, and low-maintenance, according to Donahoe right down to artificial turf lawns.

In a sense, they’re the latter-day equivalent of the beach “shacks” that sprang up on the North Beach after World War II, followed by A-frames in the 1960s.

The question is whether there will be reverse “sticker shock” when buyers see what a tiny place $104,900 will buy today.

“Ocean Shores is not set up for high-income tourism,” Donahoe said. “The average income earners from the I-5 corridor love to come to the ocean, but when they want to buy a vacation home, they’re priced out of the market.”

The average price of a home in Ocean Shores was $236,000 in 2006. One-bedroom condos in high-density buildings sell for more than $150,000, and luxury condos can reach $450,000.

Donahoe is convinced these prices aren’t suited to middle-income Washingtonians looking for a beach escape.

“These cottages are for the average family,” he said. “The purchase price includes all furnishings, even silverware and towels. All you have to do is bring yourself, food and clothes and you’re good to go.”

Donahoe says he sold lots when Ocean Shores began to take off in the 1960s and later developed the Windjammer before working for time-share companies RCI and Trendwest. Now he’s the president of Quality Vacations.

The pre-fabricated cottage condos are arranged in rows, with a landscaped greenbelt separating the patios. Buyers aren’t purchasing lots; they are buying their own individual cottage inside the development.

Construction is set to begin this fall, and thanks to the modular construction of the cottages, Donahoe says they should be finished by spring or summer of 2008.

Every unit will have a patio covered by an awning, an outdoor fireplace, landscaping and Dream Turf — a next-generation field turf like the kind used at Qwest Field and Husky Stadium.

“All you have to do is put it in,” Donahoe said. “There’s no watering, no chemicals, no maintenance, and the deer won’t eat it. ... When you’re on your patio, you’ll see landscaping, not the unit across the way.”

The streets, parking lots, driveways and sidewalks will use “drain pavers,” a concrete block that lets rain water seep into the sand rather than into a retention pond.

“If we get that 100-year storm, it’ll go down to drainage ditch into the Grand Canal,” he said.

An 8,100-square-foot clubhouse, complete with small cafe, fitness center and 75-foot pool, will greet owners on their way into the development. Solar panels will be installed on the roof to partially heat the pool.

Since the development is on commercial property, the cottages will be available for nightly rental, with the owners seeing an 85 percent kickback.

There are maintenance fees to cover landscaping, utilities, insurance and staff costs, as well as long-term maintenance projects on the condos themselves.

Donahoe, who lives at Ocean Shores, estimates a quarter of the cottages will be occupied full time, either by younger professionals or senior citizens fed up with maintaining a home or paying rent.

Donahoe is currently in negotiations to finalize the purchase of the land from Jim Jordan, and says he will be meeting with city officials to come up with mitigation fees for the development’s impact on city services.

“You do not see very many condominiums that are like this,” Donahoe said. “I’m thinking horizontally rather than vertically.”

On the Net: www.thecottagesinoceanshores.com