Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
With several economic indicators in their favor, organizers of Hillsborough's spring parade of homes hope for good traffic and plenty of sales.
By JUDY STARK, Times Homes Editor
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 9, 2002
With mortgage interest rates under 7 percent, a brightening national economy and good job growth in the Tampa Bay area, builders could hardly find a better time for their spring parades of homes.
Hillsborough's parade, sponsored by the Builders Association of Greater Tampa, opens today. This two-week showcase of new construction puts the spotlight on 128 models by 50 builders in subdivisions throughout Hillsborough County and north into central Pasco.
"That's only four fewer entries than last year," said Sharon Donofrio of Arbor Greene, parade vice chairwoman, who is sharing organizing duties with Teri McGinnis, also of Arbor Greene, a community off Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in New Tampa. "That's a strong indicator of the strength of our market."
It's also a hint of things to come. By this time next year, models will be open at several major new subdivisions that are now only in the stage of moving dirt. Among them are Seven Oaks in Pasco, Waterchase in northwest Hillsborough and MiraBay in the Southshore area of southeastern Hillsborough. "If they had been ready, we'd have been over last year's numbers," Donofrio said.
"Our greatest strength is in single-family homes in planned communities," she said, "but there are a lot of newer townhome products coming online in South Tampa." Pulte offers its Bayshore West project and Centex its Bayshore Point development, both on MacDill south of Gandy.
All of the parade models were permitted under the old building codes, which were superseded March 1 by new codes designed to make houses more energy efficient and hurricane worthy. Some builders pulled large numbers of permits at the last minute so they could keep building legally under the old codes. Buyers should question builders about which set of codes will apply to the houses they buy.
"The Parade of Homes was very beneficial to us last year," said Gary Briggs, sales and marketing manager at Southern Crafted Homes. "We saw good traffic and made quite a few sales during the parade. I hope, with the interest rates staying down, that we see the same this year. Some years you get good traffic but no sales, or the sales come weeks or months later." His company is showing two models, one at West Meadows and one at Cross Creek, both in New Tampa.
Each year the builders association sponsors a showcase home whose sale benefits association programs and a charity. This year's showcase is the 3,511-square-foot Ashbrook model, built by Hannah-Bartoletta Homes at EagleRidge in FishHawk Ranch in southern Hillsborough. The house has four bedrooms, 31/2 baths and a game room and is priced at $550,000 including homesite. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Bakas Equestrian Center's Horses for the Handicapped program.
At the Eagles Golf and Country Club off Race Track Road in northwest Hillsborough, Avalon Building Corp. is showing a house full of unusual details. In the master bathroom, builder Ralph Zuckerman said, the tub deck is in the shape of a whale, and the whale's tale passes through the glass shower enclosure to create a seat inside the shower. The master bath looks out onto an enclosed garden with a fountain.
The kitchen has two islands, one with a cooktop, the other with a sink, dishwasher and bar top. A three-sided fireplace can be seen from the breakfast nook, living room and dining room. Two walls of the family room are made of mitered glass sliding doors that can be opened out to the pool. The model, with a golf-course homesite, is priced at $433,900.
The parade continues through March 24. Models, marked by blue and yellow signs, are open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday. For information, call the Builders Association of Greater Tampa weekdays at (813) 873-1000.