REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Tampa, Fla.: Condominium Boom Continues

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Daily Real Estate News | April 15, 2005 | Tampa, Fla.: Condominium Boom Continues Two years ago, Christine Burdick, president of the Tampa Downtown Partnership, envisioned a day when Tampa's multifamily residential component would come of its own. In early 2004, that vision became a reality as a slew of developers caught onto the fact that downtown Tampa was truly a hot spot for urban living. "There's clearly a fever about it right now," says Burdick. "Some of the projects have fallen off or washed out for one reason or another but have been picked up by even more committed developers." Burdick says she’s confident that there’s enough demand to absorb the units being developed. Current projects under construction or in the planning stages would add approximately 6,000 residential units in about 30 different communities to the downtown area. Among the new entries are Crescent Heights Inc.'s planned 29-story cylindrical towers of 879 units, which the company expects to price at $200,000 and up. Already underway is Novare Group Inc.'s Sky Point, which will feature 400 units priced at $170,000 and up, and Pinnacle Place Development Partners LLC's two 40-story condo towers, which will include 170 units each, priced at $300,000 and up. The median price of a Tampa condominium or coop during February 2005 was $152,200, according to the Greater Tampa Association of REALTORS®. On the high end of the condo scale, Donald Trump’s recently announced 52-story Trump Tower Tampa will offer 190 units priced from $700,000 and up. The development is nearly sold out, with construction expected to start by May. When completed, Trump Tower Tampa will be the largest residential building in downtown Tampa. Tanya Traviesa, broker-owner at RealWorks Inc. in Tampa, says the downtown condo boom is not only attracting investors, but also primary buyers who want to escape Florida's bustling East Coast. Many of them find what they're looking for in the Tampa Bay area, says Traviesa, whose firm is the exclusive listing agency for the downtown Ventana project. She says this downtown condo is selling from $300,000 and up and is already 50 percent sold since the project was announced in July 2004. Construction will start within the next 30 days on the 84-unit building, which will be finished by the fall of 2006. With every new condo announcement, it seems demand for such units grows exponentially. As a result, Traviesa says she's seen property appreciation of about 2 percent per month. Tampa's existing home market also is faring well in 2005, according to the Florida Association of REALTORS®. In February, existing-home sales were up 17 percent over the same period last year. During that month, 3,771 homes sold in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan statistical area (MSA), compared to 3,223 homes a year earlier. The median sales price for existing homes rose 24 percent to $175,200 in February, compared to $141,000 in February 2005. With major employers like GTE Florida (9,100 employees), Publix Super Markets (3,150), Home Shopping Network (3,000), and Tech Data (2,800), the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA has enjoyed steady employment. In both January 2004 and January 2005, the region's unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while the state’s rate was 4.9 percent in January 2004 and 4.4 percent in January 2005. New companies moving to the region include Nuco Express LLC, a food transportation and storage business that hired 42 employees from the area; Meridian Cos. (owner of Coldwell Banker Commercial Meridian in Buffalo, N.Y.), which opened a new office in Tampa; and Quadrant Software, a Taunton, Mass.-based technology company that will move its world headquarters to Tampa in July. Not all company moves have been positive for the region, however. Earlier this year, Capital One cut 1,100 jobs from its Tampa credit operations, leaving 400,000 square feet of commercial space vacant. The company retained 200,000 square feet. WellCare Health Plans Inc. is already occupying about 200,000 square feet of the vacated space. Randy Smith, director of research at Advantis Real Estate Services Co. in Tampa, sees such movement within the commercial realm as being "fairly indicative of how the business world works these days." Smith says that companies regularly shift their operations around to accommodate their business needs. "It's unfortunate that such events occur, but I can't see this having any long-term effect on the Tampa market." It certainly isn't affecting the residential market in the region. Brad Monroe, president-elect for the Greater Tampa Association of REALTORS®' and managing broker at Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Tampa, says anything priced at $300,000 or lower is "exceedingly hot," while finding homes in the $150,000-and-under range is getting more and more difficult. For the rest of the year, Monroe expects more of the same. "The market is going gangbusters," he says. "Usually, rising mortgage rates will cool things down, but every year we break new records in housing sales." —By Bridget McCrea for REALTOR® Magazine Online