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I admit I've lost track of all the projects planned for Channel District. Towers of Channelside. Downtown Channelside. Channelside Village.
The names read like shades of white paint at Home Depot.
Every project claims to be the hippest, the most innovative and better than the rest. All seek on-the-go professionals looking for urban living amid, of course, granite countertops, hardwood floors and high ceilings.
Yet another project, the Place at Channelside, formally launched its sales center last week. Key Developers Group began selling the 243-unit complex at the end of July but held a grand opening party to invite new and prospective buyers.
And grand it was.
DEVELOPERS seemingly spared no expense trying to convince people that the Place is the place to be. Parking valets. A doorman. Were it not for the gravel parking lot, I would have thought I was going to a party at the Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club.
Inside bartenders poured blue martinis and Las Rocas wine. No surprise, the Place picked Mise en Place to do the catering. Guests nibbled on salmo n and capers while touring the sales center, designed in sunny yellow and blue.
At the exit, hosts handed out gold-ribboned boxes of Lindt chocolate. The only pimple: The air conditioning went kaput earlier in the day, much to the dismay of Key president Fida Sirdar, who quietly fumed in his dark suit.
Key Developers spent $1-million on the sales center at Channelside Drive and Whiting Street, dubbed the "Discovery Center." In a matter of months, crews will reduce it to rubble to make way for condo construction, scheduled to start by the end of the year and last a year and a half.
FOR NOW, mural-like photos of Tampa's skyline, cruise ships and downtown attractions adorn the walls. "The time is right, the place is here," cheers text on a photo of a perky, young couple in pajamas having breakfast in bed.
A large architectural model shows the project's two eight-story buildings with pool, spa, cabanas, fitness center and terraces, including one with a dog park. Retail space will take up the ground level.
The center's piece de resistance is a full-scale, decorated unit. Step through the bank-vault-like door and you're inside a virtual condo, with clothes in the closet, wine in the kitchen and a copy of Tampa's buzz book, The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida, on the bedside table.
Ryan Khouri, 25, says one look at the unit and he was sold.
"I was able to see it," he said at the party. "It was an easy sell."
A real estate investor who buys and sells houses, Khouri purchased a large, one-bedroom unit for $299,000 on the first day the sales center opened. He liked the look and the central location and figures it's a good investment. After living in the north Tampa suburbs, he was ready for a change.
AS OF MONDAY, the Place had sold 91 units - slightly more than a third. Initially, prices ranged from $159,900 to $1,249,900, but already they've climbed to $272,900 to $1,549,900.
Sales reps stood ready at the party to make a deal. Even invited guest Mayor Pam Iorio, wearing a sleeker-than-usual cream suit with black piping, was tempted to grab her checkbook.
"I wish I could live in a place like this. After I went into the model, I'm totally dissatisfied with my home," she said, drawing laughs from the audience of about 150 people.
The mayor's presence further cemented her commitment to developing residential downtown. Her mantra: Downtown needs to be a 24-7 city for living, working and playing.
And it starts in the Channel District.
"I think Channelside will be the place in Tampa to live in the next several years," Iorio said.
SO DOES David Boyum, 29, who bought a two-bedroom, eighth-floor unit. He moved to Tampa two months ago after dividing his time between Minneapolis and Huntington Beach, Calif. He bought a townhouse in the SoHo area but wanted something in the Channel District. He especially liked the fifth-level dog park, perfect for his basset hound, Maggie.
Soaking in the swanky affair, he had no regrets. "It seems to be the place to be."
He's banking on it.
THE LAST DROP: "Sweet on the lips, light on the hips," advertises a sign for the new NOLA Cafe and News Stand off Platt Street. Low-fat beignets? Nice try. But the coffee is goo d and plenty strong.
Susan Thurston can be reached at 226-3394 or thurston@sptimes.com.