Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Another condo tower in works for downtown

A former FSU football player envisions a 369-unit complex across from the planned redevelopment of Central Park.

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published August 1, 2006

TAMPA - A former Florida State University offensive lineman turned developer wants to transform a downtown parking lot into a 36-story condo tower.

Nick Ekonomou said he thinks the condo construction remaking the west side of downtown can migrate northeast next to the Central Park Village public housing project.

With city officials planning to redevelop Central Park into a 2,000-unit complex with shops, Ekonomou said that an acre across from it, at 602 E Cass St., was a natural for a new condo tower.

"The potential for Central Park is sky-high," Ekonomou said. "Everything around it will change for the better."

He will seek approval from the Tampa City Council during a December public hearing for the tower, which is slated for 369 units and more than 11,000 square feet of office suites. On the ground floor will be shops and retail, he said.

While many analysts predict a slowdown in the condo market, Ekonomou says he's betting that construction costs are finally tapering off after several years of steep increases.

Plus, Ekonomou says he offers prices that will lure young professionals seeking to live close to work. He said prices will start at about $250,000 for the 700-square-foot units. The top five floors will be reserved for penthouses. These floors will include a total of 35 units, but he said no selling price has been determined.

The young professionals market would pit him against pretty stiff competition. Both Wood Partners and the Novare Group have already begun building their condo towers a few blocks west of the Cass Street property. Both are based in Atlanta and among the largest condo developers in the Southeast.

By comparison, high-rise condos are new for Ekonomou. The Cass Street project would be the biggest ever undertaken by his Miami company, Vancouver Acquisitions. He said he just started building a 40-unit townhome project in Fort Myers.

But project spokesman Paul Wilson said Ekonomou's father, Gus, was a prominent developer in Melbourne, so he's used to the development world.

"He's got development in his blood," Wilson said. "Though you have to temper what I'm saying with the fact that we're buddies from college."

That would be FSU, where Ekonomou played offensive guard and center for FSU in 1988 and 1989. He had stints with the World League and Canadian League and tried out with the Miami Dolphins before getting cut. He retired from football in 1994.

Wilson said Ekonomou scouted for property for months before deciding on the 1-acre lot, which, since 1986, has been owned by Conner Properties. Surrounding the land are more parking lots and a busy road, Jackson Street, used by motorists to hop on Interstate 275.

Ekonomou said he expects to close on the property soon, but wouldn't disclose the purchase price. He hopes to begin construction in the next two to three years.

Times staff writer Janet Zink contributed to this report.

CONDO MANIA

More than 10,000 units have been proposed for downtown and the Channel District.

COMPLETED: 635

BEGUN CONSTRUCTION: 2,226

STILL IN PLANS: 7,773

Source: Tampa Urban Development Department, June 15 report.

[Last modified August 1, 2006, 05:59:47]