Jim Wesche, a vice president of institutional sales with Raymond James Financial, moved into his $1-million-plus penthouse in the GrandView on Harbour Island about a year ago.
"I felt like Harbour Island was one of the best pieces of real estate in Tampa," said Wesche, 36. "I like being able to walk to movies and dinner at Channelside. And being on the island across from downtown provides a nice barrier. It helps you feel safer."
Since moving in, Wesche has been surprised at how fast the neighborhood is changing, with new condos sprouting in downtown Tampa. He considered buying one as an investment. "But they sold out too quick," he said.
Engaged to be married in October, Wesche doubts even the prospect of parenthood will make him leave his urban high-rise.
"Of course, we'll want to secure the balconies and doors," he said. "But with four bedrooms and four baths, we're certainly not going to be pressed for room."
Larry and Liz Heinkel, Parkshore Plaza, St. Petersburg
With two sons in college and a third entering high school, Larry and Liz Heinkel decided the time was right to flee Orlando, where the couple had raised their family. So in May, the Heinkels moved into a two-bedroom townhome in the Madison in downtown St. Petersburg.
But that's just temporary: In early 2006, the family will move into a $925,000 condo in Beach Drive's Parkshore Plaza.
The Heinkels - he's a lawyer; she works in his office - are the ultimate boomers. Fed up with yard work, they wanted to live in a downtown where they could walk to dinner, the movies and the yacht club. The couple looked at condos on Clearwater Beach, but couldn't see themselves sitting on the sand. Sarasota was too pricey; downtown Tampa didn't excite them.
They considered houses in the Northeast neighborhood, but felt values there had already skyrocketed. When the $250,000 Madison townhome became available, they snapped it up for the interim.
"I didn't want to rent because I didn't want to be out of the appreciation of the market for two years," said Larry Heinkel, 46. "When we move to the Parkshore, we'll rent the townhome out for three years, then sell it so we can keep the income tax-free."
Arden and Eleanore Engebretsen, Belle Harbor, Clearwater Beach
Arden Engebretsen's ground-floor townhome in the Belle Harbor project, with two bedrooms, a den and a boat dock, will be ready for occupancy this fall. But Engebretsen, 72, won't be moving in.
The retired defense company executive will stay at his penthouse in the Mandalay Beach Club across the street.
"I intend not to do anything with it unless forced (to sell) by an unreasonably high offer," said Engebretsen, who said he paid "under $800,000" for the Belle Harbor unit. "I assume it will appreciate at least 20 percent a year, although since it's on the Intracoastal and not the beach, it may be slower."
Engebretsen's bullishness comes from experience. In 1998, he and his wife Eleanore bought a penthouse at the Grande on Sand Key. When they sold it a few months ago, they had doubled their money.
Despite his recent good fortune, Engebretsen knows real estate is cyclical. A dozen years ago he picked up several housing lots from a bankrupt development in the Port Charlotte area. Those parcels, for which he paid a couple hundred dollars each, are now worth tens of thousands of dollars.
