Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Some condo builders remain bullish

Insiders think the middle market, around $400,000, still has life left in it.

By PAUL SWIDER
Published November 26, 2006

Under dark clouds in a declining real estate market, some developers think they can find silver linings.

"The real estate market has its ups and downs, but we have a positive outlook," said Brad West of Far West Properties, part of a group unveiling plans for Villas on Grove, 16 townhomes in the Round Lake area. "There are still some bargains to be had."

While large condo projects are put on hold, builders of smaller ones like West's are using their flexibility to prepare for what they feel is a rebounding market.

West said the pricing is not yet firm on Villas, but it's likely to resemble that of Round Lake Chalets, a development on Ninth Avenue N that West has almost completed after selling its 11 three-story units for prices that ranged from $350,000 to $450,000.

Another project making a move is Highland Courtyard Townhomes, which aims for a similar price range that marketers are saying has life to it. The Highland project, dormant for more than a year, will eventually put 29 units on both sides of Ninth Avenue N just east of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.

"We're building in the slow time so we're ready for the good times," said Joe Dhaliwall, president and chief executive officer of Florida Suncoast Homes, which will price the three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot Highland units at around $400,000.

That price point seems right for condos and townhomes, according to industry insiders.

"Where the market is extremely soft is over $750,000," said Ann Guiberson, president and CEO of the Pinellas Realtor Organization. "But even at $350,000 to $500,000, even up to $750,000, things are selling."

Guiberson said that last month the Pinellas market actually reduced condo inventories. She said the most popular price is around $150,000, but good products still move at higher prices. Single-family homes are more stagnant, she said.

In past months, large condo projects have halted. Windward at the Harborage on Third Street S closed up. Residences at 601 Central is on hold, and La Vista at Fifth Street and Third Avenue N put its land up for sale, though the developer said he still plans to build.

At the same time, the Arts redesigned its Central Avenue project to include more smaller units with prices starting in the $200,000s. Mirabella, farther west on Central, opened its sales with higher prices but is still touting its project as being mostly under $600,000.

Guiberson said developers can no longer sell condos at escalating prices and are working harder to combine desired style and amenities with more middling prices.

Highland Courtyard, which will have models ready by next fall, is also triggering new activity on a neighboring project, Madison Heights on Eighth Street N. Those seven units are priced around $440,000.

"I see the market changing a little bit," said Jason Sanchez, whose JMS Group will start building Madison Heights in the next three months. "It's all slow, but I can feel that the people are out there."

Sanchez was waiting not so much for Highland as for sewer repairs that both developments need.

But lagging projects are limiting Sanchez's other plans. Developers of 81 units at 1645 Central Ave. asked the city for a one-year delay. Sanchez had hoped to piggyback two of his adjacent projects, Quattro and Bellano, on the excitement the larger building would bring.

The city also granted a one-year extension to a street-spanning project, by ARC Group, between Central and Second Avenue S.

Guiberson said the fits and starts are the market's way of dealing with different inventories and plans. The county, she said, is like a diner after Thanksgiving.

"We're digesting that huge meal we ate last year," Guiberson said.

Paul Swider can be reached at 892-2271 or pswider@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 25, 2006, 22:28:08]