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Convenience key at new condominiums

The developers of Element, a condo tower, are using smart technology to attract buyers.

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published April 4, 2007

TAMPA - You're headed home after a weeklong trip when you start typing into your laptop.

In a series of key clicks, you order dinner from a restaurant down the street, turn up your condo's air conditioning and alert the concierge to pick up the dry cleaning and reserve concert tickets.

This isn't how the super rich live. It's a sales pitch for what life could be like at Element, a 35-story condo building going up in downtown Tampa.

Element's sales center will have its grand opening today with a cocktail reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at 507 N Franklin St. The event will include sneak peeks of the condos, which will sell from the low $200,000s to about $600,000, and the smart technology that aims to make life there a little more convenient.

"Things like this will be expected over time," said Greg Minder, president of Intown Group, which, along with Atlanta's Novare Group, is developing Element. "We want to be at the forefront of this lifestyle change."

Novare and Intown created an intranet system they call Home Automation, Lifestyle Organization.

From their personal computers, laptops or cell phones, residents will be able to program their condo's heating and cooling.

They'll chat with neighbors in an online chat room for residents and post items for rent or sale on a micro version of craigslist. They'll be able to link to local restaurants and grocery and convenience stores for delivery service, or surf the Homeowner Association's budget and meeting minutes.

They'll also download video of guests at the building's call box, in case they need to identify a maintenance worker when away from home.

Minder said HALO is the biggest splash yet for smart technologies in Tampa. But it's not alone.

A growing number of developers are installing "smart home" technologies to woo buyers.

"The prices for this are coming down," said Bill Ablondi, an information technology market analyst. "And thanks to iPods, consumers are much more familiar with digital technology. This is quickly becoming what buyers expect."

In the Tampa Bay area, it's just in the past five years that builders began building smart homes, said Joe Narkiewicz, vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association.

"Indoor plumbing became a necessity," he said. "That's what's now happening with this technology. It's here to stay."

Times staff writer Judy Stark contributed to this report . Michael Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3402 or mvansickler@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 4, 2007, 06:17:16]