Condo auction attracts many bidders, few sales-Tampa, Fl

Condo auction attracts many bidders, few sales
Tampa Bay Business Journal - 2:55 PM EST Monday

Forty condominium units at The Hamptons at Tampa Palms were sold at a public auction over the past weekend, at an average price of $148,000 a unit.

J.P. King Auction Co. of Gadsden, Ala., managed the sale of the units, which were among the most expensive converted apartments in the Tampa Bay area. The auction attracted 171 bidders from 15 states as far away as Minnesota, Nevada and California
.
The sale disposed of 20 two-bedroom units, 15 three-bedroom units and five one-bedroom units, at a total price of just above $5.9 million, a J.P. King spokesman said.
Bay Communities Real Estate Inc. converted the 315-unit Hamptons complex in July 2005 and decided to put 100 condos on the block during the Dec. 9 auction, conducted at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay hotel on Rocky Point.

"We came to reduce our inventory, and that's what we did," Bill Harkins of Bay Communities stated in a release Monday. "We got 40 units sold and some people got a great deal. It's a very soft market."

Among the crowd were several other condo developers who observed the Hamptons sale as they consider auctions to reduce their own inventories.

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Neighborhoodtimes: Condominium project anything but ordinary

Neighborhoodtimes: Condominium project anything but ordinary

CommunityWalk - Under Construction in Downtown Tampa

CommunityWalk - Under Construction in Downtown Tampa
Map of Projects in Downtown Tampa

Venue Condo Tower Approved For Downtown Tampa

Condo Tower Approved For Downtown
Published: Oct 27, 2006


TAMPA - The developer of a proposed 50-story condominium tower on prime downtown land won zoning approval for the project Thursday from the city council.
Gibraltar Development Corp. hopes to break ground next year and see the building ready for occupancy in late 2009.
The site, located along the Hillsborough River, is now occupied by an office building.
The site is less than a half-acre but sits at a prime location at the southwest corner of Ashley Drive and Kennedy Boulevard.

Named Venu, the slender glass tower the council approved Thursday is to have 215 condo units.
Residences would range from 900 to 4,000 square feet and unit prices would run from $400,000-plus to more than $3 million.

Plans call for 3,200 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 10 floors of parking.
The site is a short distance from the site of the Trump Tower Tampa project. Construction on the 52-story Trump project, which also is being built along the Hillsborough River, has been delayed while the developer seeks financing and addresses a foundation issue.

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Condos to be auctioned -Tampa, Fl

Condos to be auctioned in effort to move units: "Condos to be auctioned in effort to move units
STAFF REPORT

In another sign of a slow housing market, 100 condominium conversion units at the Hamptons at Tampa Palms will be sold in December in an auction -- 40 of them in an 'absolute auction.'

That means some of the units on Amberly Drive in the New Tampa area will go to the highest bidders with no minimum bid or reserve.

Condos selling 'absolute' will include 15 three-bedroom units, 20 two-bedroom units and five one-bedroom units.

Residential and real estate auctions have become the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. auction business.

In a real estate market that has been turned upside down, auction specialists are finding interest growing exponentially from would-be sellers desperate to move their product.

Bay Communities, the development firm converting the apartments, decided on an auction strategy to speed up sales, said Craig King, president of J.P. King Auction Co., the Alabama outfit managing the event.

'With the marketplace slowing down a bit, Bay Communities decided it was a good time to get more aggressive and sell a number of units in one day,' King said.

The developer, Bay Communities, started marketing in mid-2005, 'but as everybody knows, the market has slowed down quite a bit nationwide since then,' said Bay's Bill Harkins.

'In that environment, we felt an auction would help reduce the inventory.' "

List of Condos and Lofts in Tampa, Fl

Receive an updated price list of condos and lofts in the Tampa Bay Area, Downtown, Channelside, Ybor City and South Tampa. Pre-Construction pricing and resales available in all developments.

Includes: The Slade, The Place, Victory Lofts, Channelside Lofts, The Meridian, Ventana, the Grand Central at Kennedy, Box Factory Lofts, the Residences of Franklin St.,345 Bayshore, The Towers at Channelside, Skypoint, Element, and The Arlington in Downtown Tampa.

Got a question? Email us: realtyrae@yahoo.com

Six Ten Franklin and Downtown Developments-Tampa, FL

So what's going on with Six Ten Franklin Condos? Well they have a big sign up and a website but no one has said anything about when they will be ready to start writing contracts. When you go to the website you have to provide all your information, but they give little. "Starting in the 200's" I believe is what they say.

Be sure that if you have a Realtor you have their number, email address, and company name handy. If you don't register them when you visit their site, apparently you can't have representation later on in the game unless you are willing to pay a Buyer's Agent directly. All builders pay the commission to a Buyer's Agent so it winds up not costing the buyer to have a Real Estate Agent on their side, this particular developer wants to know upfront if you are using a Realtor.

If you don't have a Buyer's Agent and would like to get someone to represent you, you will need to contact an agent first before you register yourself online at the Six Ten Franklin website, or a Realtor can register for you if they know what your criteria is. To find a Realtor who can assist you in your purchase you can visit www.TampaBayLofts.com and fill out the registration form. They have information on all the projects in Downtown Tampa, including SkyPoint resales, the Residences of Franklin St., the Arlington and the Element. All have resales or original units from the developer that have been released or turned back. These may also be a good option for someone who needs a place to live in the next 3-6 months.

Can we count on the Six Ten project being built?
A friend/colleague of ours said they may be scrapping the whole development because one of the partners was bailing out. That is rumor as of right now, as we haven't spoken with anyone regarding if this information is true. It's out there however, and it may happen.

We will post more information as it becomes available to us. If anyone out there know something please post a comment!

Tampa Bay Lofts: Tampa Bay Lofts

Tampa Bay Lofts: Tampa Bay Lofts Find out what's new in Tampa's Loft District, Channelside, Downtown Tampa and more!

THE INSIDER REAL ESTATE BLOG - TAMPA, FL

Downtown Tampa Condo Developments, Tampa Florida

By SUSAN THURSTON, City Times Editor
Published September 1, 2006

View from the Arlington balcony looking down towards the Residences of Franklin St. and the Skypoint Tower.

Tony Cunningham started buying property on N Franklin Street in 1984 when vagrants and boarded up buildings dominated the north end of downtown. He saw potential in the area a few short blocks from Tampa's gleaming new office towers. He figured it was on the cusp of a rebirth.
Then the city set it sights south. The Tampa Convention Center went up along the waterfront. The ice arena, hotels and highrises followed. N Franklin fell off the map.

Twenty years later, Cunningham, 74, and his partners finally see new reason for hope. "We realized that if you're patient, it would come," he said. "We thought it was going to be a lot sooner than it has been."
A walk up Franklin shows signs of change. The Fly bar and restaurant debuted a month ago to big crowds. The Residences of Franklin Street, a 40-unit condominium project, opens in a few weeks. So does the Arlington, which has offices on the first floor and 21 residential units on the upper level.

Farther south, construction is under way on SkyPoint and Six Ten Franklin condo towers, which promise hundreds of new downtown residents. Buyers generally wanted to be close to downtown attractions such as the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Curtis Hixon Park and the Tampa Theatre. Many also looked in the Channel District but opted for N Franklin because the area was more historic and established.

Only four units remain in the Residences, he said. The Arlington is almost sold out. Some people who bought for investments now plan to live there, either out of necessity or choice.

Unlike the Channel District, a former bare industrial enclave, Franklin emerges with some character already built in.
Years ago, the city curved the street and redid the bricks. It added antique street lights and decorative brick pavement at some intersections and planted trees, which actually matured. Cunningham, a downtown trial attorney, and his wife, Robin, donated $25,000 for a fountain near Massey Park, a small city park at Franklin and Tyler Street.
Still, the area has a ways to go. Several restaurants and stores, once the backbone of downtown, have closed. Doorways of longtime vacant storefronts smell like urine. Pedestrians vanish after dark, surrendering streets to the homeless.

The Tampa Downtown Partnership, ever striving to make downtown more exciting, hopes to fill those storefronts through a new leasing program. The partnership would team up with building owners to renovate and lease ground-level space to small-business owners and artists for a few years as the area gains momentum. "We want to get warm bodies, excitement on the streets," said Paul Ayres, the partnership's director of marketing and business development.

Expect additional commercial activity from the Doring Group, an appraisal, brokerage and development company that's turning the old Walgreens at Franklin and Twiggs Street into 11 or 12 retail and cafe condos on the street level and office condos on the second. Doring bought the building a year ago in the hopes of catching the latest development wave. "It's an exciting time to be downtown," said chief executive officer Brenda Doring. Her daughter, Abbey Doring, has started a property owners' group to work on ways to make downtown more of a destination. High on their list will be quashing negative perceptions of the area starting with Tampa's common gripe: There's no place to park.

THE LAST DROP: People craving more outdoor dining spots have a new choice. The Fly bar and restaurant at 1202 N Franklin St. has the go-ahead to add sidewalk dining on the wide sidewalk out front.
Owner Leslie Shirah plans to put out about 10 tables, possibly as soon as this weekend.

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IS NOW THE TIME TO BUY A CONDO? TAMPA, FL

Is now the time to buy a condo?

If you plan on living in it for 2 or more years the answer is YES! After a big condo boom in Tampa, Fl there are now 1,256 condos, townhomes and lofts on the market according to the Tampa MLS. This is just in and around the downtown Tampa area (a 5 mile radius). Prices range from under 100K to 6.3m for a swanky Trump Tower unit with over 6,000 sq ft.

Condos further north located in Tampa Palms, you can receive incentives such 11% of the purchase price back. To be used in any form weather its closing cost, HOA dues, upgrades, or lowering of price.

There are also New Construction and Condo Conversions that are not listed in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Sites like www.TampaBayLofts.com provide a list of condos, lofts, and townhomes. The site also offers a free custom search emailed to you based on your price range, size and location.

So if you are a buyer looking for a good deal what are your options?

Consider a re-sale:
Sellers are very motivated to sell and if they purchased 1 or 2 years ago you may be able to negotiate a great price. Since building costs have gone up so have new construction condos. Only owners of re-sales have the ability to sell for what they paid for the unit and guess what? They are selling for little or no profit..........even losing money just to get the financial burden off their back. A Realtor can give you information like how long a property has been on the market and how much they paid.

For instance: A 2/2 condo was listed for 214K, there were about 15 other condos in the same complex all listed for around the same price. This unit had been on the market 124 days. Can you say motivated??? My buyer asked me to find out what the owner paid and offered the exact same price. After negotiations the price was settled on at only 5K more than what they originally paid for the condo in May of 05'.


Things to watch out for when buying new:

How long does the deveoper have to finish building? Most new construction contracts state that the builder has 2 years to complete construction and close. All builder contracts are written by the builder so be sure to read all the fine print.

Engage a Realtor who knows new construction. Builders compensate Realtors so it won't cost the consumer to have representation. Most Realtors will know where the new projects are located and can show you any of the properties and provide comparable sales data. They can also assist in negotiating pricing and incentives. Newly constructed condos and condo conversions are listed at today's prices so it's best to view all your options before making a decision.

If a builder doesn't meet their contract quota what happens to your new dream condo? Many projects have not realized their quota within the timeframe allocated by the bank for financing. They are now ditching the project and giving back deposits. If you are buying a new condo conversion or new construction find out if they have reached their quota and if they are ready to close.

Rae Catanese Shatto is a Realtor in the Tampa Bay Area who specializes in New Construction, Lofts and Condos. She can be reached at 813-784-7744 or realtyrae@yahoo.com