Skypoint Condos For Sale-Tampa, Fl

Skypoint Condos is the first high rise luxury residential building in Downtown Tampa. At one time, they were completely sold out. I remember the lines around the sales center when they were first offered for sale about 3 years ago. If you were looking to buy one of these hot properties you were considered lucky to get selected through their lottery system.

Now is your chance to take advantage of buyer's who backed out. The developer has reduced prices on the remaining units AND there are short sale, resale units priced very agressively. If you've been waiting for a great deal on a condo, this is it!

Tampa's Skypoint Condo Development is running a wonderful promotion for developer units that are still available.

For Sale

One Bedroom/One Bath/One Parking Space starting in the 150's

Two Bedrooms/Two Bathrooms/Two Parking Spaces

Sky Point Penthouses/Two Bedrooms/Two Bathrooms/Two Parking Spaces

call for pricing.

Skypoint has every amenity you can ask for in a luxury living atmosphere. Throw away your gym membership because you won't need one at Skypoint. There's a Cardio Room, Weight Room, and plenty of weight machines, all looking over the fabulous downtown skyline and University of Tampa.

The gym is just the start. There's a game room with a pool table, video games, and hi definition tv's for watching your favorite sporting events. Outdoor decks with grilling areas, and of course a fabulous pool and spa. If you are looking for a social environment this is it!

To schedule an appointment to see this luxury high rise in Downtown Tampa
call 813-784-7744 or email us

see also: Downtown Tampa Updates in the news

SkyPoint or Element Condos? Looking to buy or rent?

For Sale- Skypoint Condos on Ashley Drive in Downtown Tampa are still for sale. Resales are now starting in the 150's, originally selling for 220's and up for the same size 1 bedroom unit. There are bank owned/foreclosures and short sales available, as well as developer units for sale.

Send me an email for a current list of SKYPOINT Condos for sale! realtyrae@yahoo.com

or phone 813 784 7744

This is the latest news on The Element and their decision to consider the rental market.

Tower opens up to renters

By James Thorner, Times Staff Writer Published Friday, September 19, 2008 9:09 PM

Developers of Element, the still-incomplete 35-story downtown Tampa condominium tower, are considering converting much of the building into apartments until the housing market improves.
A shortage of qualified buyers forced the hand of Novare-intown Tampa Development LLC, whose completion of the neighboring SkyPoint condo tower was among the few success stories in the imploding urban condo market.

Novare is considering renting out units, which range from 691 to 3,445 square feet, and using the income to help cover its debts until the sales climate improves in a couple of years.
Christine Burdick, head of the Tampa Downtown Partnership, said the move makes sense: Better a vibrant apartment building than a half-empty condo tower. The partnership has banked on new downtown dwellers to stoke the city's restaurant and arts scene. "There are a lot of people not eligible for mortgages and there's a lot more renters," Burdick said. "I think having people living downtown and contributing to its vibrancy is one of the objectives.

Lauded as a bold follow up to SkyPoint, Element broke ground in February 2007. Work has advanced to the point that Novare expects to remove its tower crane this month from the construction site on North Franklin Street. Though the building is nearly topped out, interior work will stretch to the spring.

Sales prices for the estimated 395 units range from about $220,000 to nearly $1-million. That's proved to be too rich in a condo market where foreclosures and bankruptcies are rife.

Three prominent condo tower bankruptcies within sight of Element are Trump Tower Tampa, The Place at Channelside and The Towers of Channelside.

Interested in purchasing a condo at SkyPoint in Downtown Tampa?
Feel free to email or call us 813-784-7744
Rae Catanese, PA and Michelle Jordan, PA
Realtors.

Search MLS
Prudential Tropical Realty

Urban Tour Of Homes-Downtown Tampa

Luxury living meets urban life-style in this "One of a kind" two story corner penthouse loft featuring: 750 sq ft wrap around roof-top terrace

Discover what Urban Living is all about!

For one day only, 12 of the hottest developments in downtown Tampa will be open to the public!

Take a personal tour through some of the Bay Area's most exclusive new residences and find out why so many people are deciding to call downtown "Home."

the Urban Tour of Homes

Saturday, October 13th, 2007 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Victory Lofts Penthouse
101 12th Street

To receive a current list of lofts and condos in Channelside or Downtown Tampa, send us an email. or call 813-784-7744

Rae Catanese, Realtor-Prudential Tropical Realty

Now is the time to buy.

Prices have come down on many lofts and condos for less than what sellers paid 3 years ago!

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New director to help Riverwalk raise funds

New director to help Riverwalk raise funds
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff WriterPublished September 5, 2007


TAMPA - The Riverwalk, one of Mayor Pam Iorio's top priorities, now has some full-time fundraising help.

The not-for-profit Friends of the Riverwalk last week hired Alex Petrilak as its executive director.

Petrilak, 53, will head a $24-million capital campaign to support construction of the 2.2-mile linear park along the Hillsborough River through downtown Tampa.

Iorio hopes to cover the rest of the construction costs, about $16-million, with taxpayer dollars from local, state and federal sources.

Petrilak, president of the consulting firm Marketing Systems Management Inc., formerly worked as director of real estate and international trade for the Tampa Port Authority. In that role, he helped promote the Channelside retail and entertainment complex.

He'll earn $110,000 a year in his new post. His salary is being paid by the private Friends of the Riverwalk group, not with public money. "The biggest challenge will be to get the private sector to step up," he said. "The pitch is already in place. It's an economic development opportunity, community-building opportunity and will create jobs."

Petrilak said he comes into the job about one-third of the way towards his goal. Developers of The Heights just north of downtown have pledged to build one mile of the Riverwalk, a contribution worth nearly $4-million.

Cash donors include Sandy MacKinnon, CEO of Yale Industrial Trucks, who has committed $250,000; and SunTrust Bank, which has promised $250,000.
Petrilak said one of his first steps to promote the Riverwalk will be to plan events at segments that have been completed, such as performances on a mobile stage or outdoor movies, to show that the park will be a destination for bay area residents and tourists.

"We're open for business" he said.


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Best Places to Buy a Home-Tampa, Fl- Forbes Magazine

The Tampa Bay area ranks #1! Based on a report by Forbes magazine online issue, Tampa Bay is the best place in the country to buy a home. Forbes notes that the Tampa Bay area is in a V-shape recovery – an area that the market undergoes a freefall, but recovers quickly. The top markets for housing are:

Tampa -Click here to search Tampa Homes for Sale
Minneapolis
Miami
Kansas City
Chicago
Phoenix
San Diego
Milwaukee
New York City
Atlanta -Click here to search Atlanta Homes for Sale

This report may explain why Saturday, July 21st Urban Home Tour was so well attended with many realtors reporting record number of people coming to see what downtown living is all about.

Seeing is Believing
Out with the old to make way for the new. Most reports in the “Seeing is Believing” section focus on projects already underway. But what about future projects? This week, let’s take a look at what will soon be demolished to make way for future growth in downtown:

Tampa Museum of Art:

Officials report that the current building will close in December with all the artwork being relocated for safe keeping to Orlando. The building will begin to be demolished in January. The site will be brought down to grade and used to expand Curtis Hixon Park, which will undergo a complete renovation of its own.

The Slade:

Another condominium project is preparing its site in the Channel District. With a location book ended by 12th Street and Meridian Avenue, The Slade site is clearing away old warehouses that once dominated the entire Channel District. Construction of the new building is not yet set.

U.S. Post Office:

Located at 900 N. Florida Avenue, this post office location will move in November to 400 N. Tampa Street in order for the Florida Avenue location to be demolished. The building is being torn down to make way for a new parking facility and amenities deck for The Flordan Hotel, which is undergoing a full historic renovation.

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Central Park Village changes plans-Tampa,Fl

Central Park Village changes plans
Council approval is needed for fewer homes, more retail space.
By JANET ZINKPublished June 8, 2007

TAMPA - Changes in the real estate market and the prospect of property tax cuts have forced the developers of Central Park Village to modify their plans for remaking an old public housing complex between downtown and Ybor City.

Most significant, Bank of America wants the option to replace up to 680 condominiums with hotels, retail stores and office space. "We want the flexibility to respond to the market," said Roxanne Amoroso, senior vice president of community development banking for Bank of America.

That could mean a loss of about 68 affordable homes that were to be developed and sold on the 28-acre property. It is zoned for up to 2,000 units. Original plans called for 1,100 condominiums.

"That's heavy with all that's happened in the market over the last 18 months," Amoroso said.
More than 3,000 condominiums are finished or being built in and around downtown. Another 6,600 are scheduled to come on line in the next 10 years. But many of the projects are struggling in the face of a softening residential real estate market.

Bank of America also plans to build 750 apartments on the property. Nearly 670 of those apartments will be for low-income renters. They'll replace the 483 public housing units now in Central Park Village. Amoroso said the bank also expects to take a hit once the Florida Legislature approves property tax reforms.

The land is part of a special taxing district where increases in property tax revenue collected in the neighborhood are funneled back into the area to pay for such things as roads, parks and sewer lines. Property tax reform could mean less money to rebuild Central Park Village.
Leroy Moore, chief operating officer of the Tampa Housing Authority, a partner with Bank of America on the project, said in the worst-case scenario, only two of five parking garages slated for the development would be built.

"We would have to find another funding source to get those built," he said.
Amoroso said that won't be a problem. "We're going forward," she said.
Any changes in the plans will need the approval of the Tampa City Council.
Council member Tom Scott, who has been advocating for three years for the redevelopment of Central Park Village, said he's eager to hear about Bank of America's latest plans.
"I hope it gets done. I hope Bank of America doesn't let this community down," he said. "If any area needs to be redeveloped, this is the area."

Plans for redeveloping Central Park Village have changed several times. In 2003, local developers proposed remaking it as part of a 157-acre overhaul of several neighborhoods. But that concept failed.

A year later, some of those original developers, along with Bank of America, offered a 60-acre plan. But one of the major property owners pulled out, and the local backers followed.
That left Bank of America with 28 acres of Tampa Housing Authority land to work with.
Amoroso said the bank remains committed, and the latest challenges are "no more than there would be with any development of this magnitude."

Residents are already moving out of Central Park Village. Only about 100 people remain, said Mary Williams, president of the Central Park residents association.
Demolition should begin at the end of July and take until December, Moore said. Construction is scheduled to begin in March 2008.


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Tampa high-rise pioneers to plant seeds of urban chic

Tampa high-rise pioneers to plant seeds of urban chic

Downtown condo developers have high hopes the lifestyle spreads like a contagion.

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published March 19, 2007


TAMPA - The view from Bobby Neale's home in Land O'Lakes is a field of cows.
From his Brandon townhouse, Ian Markowitz scans a retention pond.

Rock Scaglione looks out his window in Seminole Heights and sees a street of bungalows.
In the coming weeks, they will swap these standard Tampa Bay neighborhood backdrops for something entirely new: high-rise urban chic.

By late April, Neale, Markowitz, Scaglione and a few hundred soon-to-be neighbors will be part of a historic migration to downtown's first major offering of urban living: 777 Ashley Drive. SkyPoint, the $80-million 32-story tower with 381 condos, is the biggest residential high-rise in downtown's history. Its future residents will pioneer a way of life in a downtown known for its office towers, parking lots and deserted after-hours streets.

"Downtown is very transitional," Neale said. "Sometimes it's pretty vacant. But with all the things that are projected to come, I just see it getting better and better."
Will this experiment work? SkyPoint's developers are betting it will.

Novare Group, an Atlanta development company, and Intown Group, a local firm, are doubling down on an acre lot across from SkyPoint. There, they recently started building Element, a 34-story condo tower along Franklin Street.

On Thursday, they will seek zoning approval for another tower on Ashley Drive. This one would be called Twelve, part- boutique hotel, part-condo. As proposed, it would be the tallest condo high-rise yet at 47 stories.

When it comes to downtown's so-called condo boom, forget about Trump Tower Tampa, the project that became the media darling but has yet to find the financing to start construction.
The developers transforming downtown are Novare and Intown. SkyPoint, Element and Twelve would add 1,185 condos and 135 hotel rooms to a downtown that so far can claim fewer than 100 completed condos. With a fourth project pending next to SkyPoint, no other developer comes close to keeping up.

Gregory Minder, Intown's president, said with SkyPoint sold out and Element selling briskly, he doesn't buy the doom-and-gloom talk about a slowing condo market. "We're not worried," he said. "We know there are a lot of people in Tampa who want this type of housing."

City officials have calculated that the tax windfall from SkyPoint, Element and other condo projects will finance a $40-million overhaul of downtown for the next 12 years.

A new waterfront park, better public transportation, and a revamped Ashley Drive are some of the projects that might be financed from the taxes paid by downtown's newest denizens. "This evolutionary stage for downtown will take place in the next two years," said Michael Chen, director of Tampa's urban development department. "Downtown will become not just viable, but a desirable place to live."

So who exactly are the people moving into these condos, which fetch from the $170,000s (for the 650-square-foot units) to more than $500,000? Downtown will soon find out. The target market for Novare's and Intown's projects are those between the ages of 25 and 40.

See also:
skypoint condos for sale
investing in condos
skypoint resale

For an updated list of downtown developments please email realtyrae@yahoo.com
or call 813-784-7744

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Website offers one stop shopping for Condos & Lofts-Tampa, Fl

Looking for a Loft or Condo
in the Tampa Bay Area?

When purchasing condos and lofts in the Tampa Bay Area, Downtown, Channelside, Ybor City and South Tampa, know what your options are.

Developments and inventory are abundant at The Slade, The Place, Victory Lofts, Channelside Lofts, The Lofts at Meridian, Ventana, Towers of Channelside, Box Factory Lofts, the Residences of Franklin St.,345 Bayshore, and The Arlington in Downtown Tampa.

Pre-Construction pricing and resales available in all developments. Pricing has now come down significantly to what sellers paid or less. Now is the time to buy in Tampa!

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

For an updated price list of condos and lofts in the Tampa Bay Area, Downtown, Channelside, Ybor City and South Tampa. email or call us at 813-784-7744

What you should know about selling your pre-construction condo-Tampa, Fl

What you should know about selling your pre-construction condo-Tampa, Fl

Many people may not realize what their options are when trying to sell a condo that they purchased during a pre-construction sale. How would people know until now, when the buildings in Channelside, Harbor Island, and Downtown Tampa are all starting their closings. There's no telling how many people invested in the big Real Estate boom, purchasing units expecting to make big bucks in the Tampa Real Estate Market.

We are now going to experience foreclosures and defaulting of contracts in the areas that became over saturated in condo construction. Our blogsite has been receiving hits over the past month with searches pertaining to "how to get out of a real estate contract" and "are condos good investments". This suggests that people are trying to get out of their contracts, finding out they can't, and then defaulting.

It was customary to put down 10% of a purchase price for a pre-construction project. So figure 300K on the low end=$30K. Are people really willing to loose that much money or will they take the chance that they can re-sell for a profit or break even?

Recently, my Real Estate partner Michelle Jordan was contacted by a former co-worker who is in such a position. He purchased a pre-construction condo in the Channelside area due to be completed sometime this year.

It was purchased for investment purposes and he was curious what his options were when it comes time to sell. This particular "new project" (which will have 392 units in it) still has 40 plus units for sale by the builder.

When he decides to sell, he will more than likely be competing directly with the builder and will have to price it competitively. This could mean selling it for less than his original purchase price. At this point, it's possible he may be out the money he put down as well as the closing costs. He also has to keep in mind that all the other investor/owners who close on their units may be be putting theirs up for sale as well.

With at least a years worth of inventory and the influx of other new condos coming to the market, along with with a shortage of buyers to go around, owners will have to carefully weigh their options. Keep it and move in, sell or rent it. Either way, it's more important than ever to consultant a professional.

For questions regarding the Tampa Real Estate Market, please feel free to contact Realtors, Michelle Jordan (813) 695-5677 or Rae Catanese (813) 784-7744. Prudential Tropical Realty


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The Arlington Historic Lofts-Downtown Tampa

The Arlington is a Historic Renovated Loft Residential building.

Only 1 unit remains!

Rooftop terrace overlooking Downtown Tampa.

By MICHAEL CANNING
LOCATION: 1209 N Franklin St., downtown.
DEVELOPER: Stephanie Ferrell and Russell Versaggi as Arlington Partners LLC.

DESCRIPTION: Two-story circa 1910 brick vernacular building with 31,000 square feet. The ground floor is being converted into 10 units ranging from 1,200 to 1,620 square feet for retail, commercial, residential or live-work use. The upper floor will have 11 residential units, seven of which will be one-story flats. They will range from 680 to 1,200 square feet. Four other units will be two-story townhomes ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet.

AMENITIES: The flats and townhomes will feature much of the historic building's original trim work, including doors, transom windows, carpentry accents, 12-foot ceilings, plus hardwood floors and stone kitchen countertops. The townhomes will have rooftop decks.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: "I was definitely charmed and surprised by (the building)," said Stephanie Ferrell, a Tampa architect who specializes in historic preservation. She said much of the building's interior, "hadn't been disturbed for 50 years. The whole interior was a time capsule from 1910."

TIMELINE: The second floor used to house the 52-room Arlington Hotel. The ground floor had the hotel's lobby and other retail businesses. The hotel closed shortly after Badcock furniture store took over the ground floor, about 1946 or 1947, Ferrell said. The second floor was likely converted to low-rent apartments and eventually vacated, she said. Ferrell bought the building three years ago with former business partner Bob Harrell. Badcock moved out of in October, and renovations began in early January.