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Uptown project plans delayed

The developer of Madison Heights will have to wait for another stalled project before beginning his own.

By PAUL SWIDER
Published July 9, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Jason Sanchez was hoping to fill in another development gap in a changing neighborhood, but his plans are hanging because another project has stalled.

Sanchez's JMS Group plans a seven-unit townhome complex on Eighth Street N between Seventh and Ninth avenues. He was hoping to piggyback on demand from an adjacent project, Highland Courtyard Townhomes, a 30-unit venture expected to be completed earlier this year. But Highland has not even started, so Sanchez waits.

"A big project like that would bring a lot of interest to the area," said Sanchez, the CEO and president of JMS. "It's a little dicey, but it is up and coming."

The Uptown area west of Round Lake is full of vintage bungalows, but many are in disrepair and some rentals are frequent sites of police calls regarding drug sales and prostitution. But Round Lake Chalets recently went up along Ninth Avenue N in the area and sold, Sanchez said, so he was eager to do what his firm does best when tides turn in a neighborhood.

"We fill in the gaps between the larger projects," he said. "That's our niche, the smaller projects."

Sanchez said he is trying to move ahead on his latest project, Madison Heights on Eighth Street, but has only managed reservations on three of the units. He still wants to begin construction in the next couple months and have the complex built in eight months, but he was hoping for more momentum.

"I look at the neighborhood as potentially being like a more affordable part of Old Northeast," he said. "Instead of buying a $600,000 or $700,000 home there, you can have something in the 400's but in the same area."

The Madison project aims to solve issues of parking and privacy that stymie townhomes, he said. Each unit on the 127-foot deep lot would have its own garage adjoining a private, walled 500-square-foot garden. A covered walk would lead from the garage to the townhome itself, which will have upscale amenities and even garden balconies.

A sewer issue is also complicating development, Sanchez said, with developers in the area having to find a way to upgrade a line to accommodate Sanchez, Highland and others. But in the meantime, interest rates rise, insurance goes up and sales get tougher.

"People still want to buy, but they're afraid to put their own house on the market," he said, commenting on the slowing of existing home sales. "They're relying on making top dollar from their homes, but now you can't do that."

Sanchez is feeling the same problem at Quatro, another in-fill project with 20 units along Central Avenue at 17th Street. The uniqueness of that project is that 10 units would have a 600-square-feet storefront along Central that owners could either rent or use for their own business and live above. He said he has reservations from some professionals aiming for the live-work environment.

But Quatro was planned to be between larger projects like Condos on Central, across First Avenue S from Tropicana Field, and the Second and 17th City Homes between Central and Second Avenue N. Those projects aren't as far along, but Sanchez is moving ahead with Quatro, hoping market forces don't hamper himself and other developers. Faced with the vagaries of residential development, Sanchez is eyeing other venues.

"We used to think positively of residential, but between the insurance and interest rates, it's difficult," Sanchez said, noting his wind coverage during construction has increased 15-fold. "But there's a huge demand for commercial."

Sanchez's latest project is a commercial redevelopment between Central and First Avenue S at 66th Street. There he will redevelop a strip center along Central, then build a retail-office condo development on the south side of the block and add a two-story parking garage in between the two buildings.

Paul Swider can be reached at 892-2271 or pswider@sptimes.com or by participating in itsyourtimes.com.

[Last modified July 8, 2006, 23:21:25]