At least one neighbor of a pricey new home for sale in Birmingham’s East Lake neighborhood said it sends a clear statement to those who live there.

“It means, ‘We’re going to come in with our money and push you out,’” Tamara Curtis, a homeowner and East Lake property owner said. “Where does that leave the people who do keep up their property?”

The home in question is a new 2,100-square-foot home, with three bedrooms and two baths, which has a price of $569,000.

It comes fully-furnished, with designer grade furniture, Tempur-Pedic mattresses, a stand-up shower and two tubs, wifi, a side Lanai porch, chef’s gas stove, and other amenities, such as a tankless gas water unit and underground electricity.

It sits in a residential neighborhood among homes in various states of repair that would sell for a fraction of its asking price, and near abandoned houses showing decades of neglect.

Curtis said a more understandable price, in keeping with the neighborhood and the surrounding homes, would have been something like $180,000. Even that, she said, was “still pushing it” when considering the income of neighboring homeowners.

“I’m not trying to stop anybody from investing in property,” she said. “But in this area, in this climate? Even people in that neighborhood, they cannot afford it.”

Andre Halston is the owner of FlipBama, the company that built the new home.

Halston did not comment for this story, but referred to a statement placed on the company website after a story appeared in AL.com about the house.

It states the home was built for the property owner, who set the price.

“To the thousands who have sent in positive messages and thank you notes over the past months, weeks and days for choosing this area (…) and trying to make a positive impact on this community, I sincerely say that those notes are much appreciated,” the statement reads. “To the immediate neighbors who have been touched by us, we trust that it has been a positive, respectful, collaborative experience.

“I know that many of our contractors shared their talents, support, equipment and building materials – free of charge to several neighbors and they only ask that you ‘Pay it Forward’ to other neighbors as they did.”

Willie Wooten, president of the South East Lake neighborhood association, said he hasn’t had any comments from residents over the house.

City Councilman Hunter Williams was aware of the house but said he wasn’t “bothered” by the price.

Williams said several builders are investing in projects in East Lake, and the average home value in the neighborhood is rising. Most of the projects, he said, involve rehabilitating houses that are not considered livable when potential residents are seeking a bank loan.

“When they’re building up to code, it creates synergy in the neighborhood,” he said. “You can list whatever you want for a house, but will you get $569,000 for it? I don’t know.”

Curtis, who said she has lived in East Lake her whole life, said the obvious issue with the house is gentrification.

A new expensive house, Curtis said, will drive up the property taxes on surrounding properties, forcing out long-time homeowners who will be unable to afford higher taxes, and unable to afford new or existing housing.

She said some residents may not even realize they can dispute a reevaluation of their property values.

“Say you have an elderly family that has lived in the area and has worked to retirement and have put everything they have into their properties and paying them off,” she said.

“At what cost do we evaluate what the neighborhood means to them? Their houses will never achieve the value of that particular home. They may never be able to bring up their house even to half the value of that home.”

She says she supports bringing in affordable housing, as some homes in the neighborhood are in obvious disrepair.