The Daily Soak - August 9

Market Conditions Forcing Developers to Shift Gears

With demand for new construction condominiums stalled, many of the multi-family residential projects announced between 2004 and 2006 are being reworked or simply placed on the back burner. NRW Development paid $56.2 million for a 40-year-old Boca Raton apartment complex in 2006 and planned to convert the 160 units into condos. Chicago's Laramar Group just bought the same complex for $32 million from the bank and plans to continue operating the complex as apartments. In a similar scenario, a 232-unit Carollwood apartment complex purchased in 2006 for a planned condo conversion was just re-sold by Compass Bank to Asset Development & Management Group for $13.7 million. Further south, developers of the Grand Bohemian project in downtown St. Pete want to eliminate condos entirely from their project and delay construction until next year. And a planned auction of the 260,000-square-foot Las Olas Riverfront shopping complex has been postponed by the lender. Prior to losing a foreclosure lawsuit earlier this year, Boca Developers had planned to raze Las Olas and build two high-rise towers on the site.


Downtown Fort Myers' 24-story Pink Elephant

Whenever faced with limited food choices, there's something deeply disturbing about eating in a restaurant that used to be a franchise. Large franchisers usually pull out of town when a location loses its luster, and mom-and-pop operations often try to fill the void. A once clean McDonald's becomes Wang's Siam Garden and a once busy Wendy's is converted into Joe's New York Style Pizza, Bail Bonds & Fireworks Emporium. The 24-story hotel in downtown Fort Myers has followed a similar trajectory: From a gleaming Sheraton to a sketchy Ramada to it's current incarnation as the Amtel Ambassador Riverfront Hotel. Sources say the hotel is rarely more than 30% occupied and the reviews on TripAdvisor probably aren't helping lure future travelers. Meanwhile convention business has fallen so dramatically in downtown Fort Myers that the Harborside Convention Center adjacent to the hotel was renamed the Harborside Event Center. City officials desperately want someone to buy and renovate the hotel, but the current owners from Thailand want at least $25 million for the Chateau Pepto.


We Could All Use A Little Sunshine Right Now

The prospect of selling a Florida home in this market is daunting for some and depressing for others. So we'll end the week with a little sunshine...Al Sunshine. In this video segment, the Miami reporter offers his list of "Things You Need to Know to Sell Now." You've heard most of the tips before, but tips #4 (Price realistically) and #6 (Don't wait for the ideal offer) are increasingly relevant in this market where truly motivated sellers are often being rewarded with signed contracts. Still, if you can afford to stay in your existing home for now, Sunshine says do it because, "the experts say this could be the darkest before the dawn in South Florida real estate." Sunshine interviews Tony Villamil of the Washington Economics Group who says, "We may see a lower reduction in prices with home sales, especially single-family, beginning to pick-up in the first quarter of '09 and maybe even the last quarter of this year." (VideoLink)

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