Cameratta Properties, the developer of High Point Place in downtown Fort Myers has sold the remaining 76 units in the project to Denver-based Real Capital Solutions. Cameratta’s planned First Street Village and 511-acre Preserve at Corkscrew were also acquired by Real Capital Solutions.
This transaction, which provides an infusion of professional capital, bodes well for the highly-regarded High Point Place high-rise development. Real Capital is acquiring the 76 units for $13.1M or about $172,000 per condo. Over the past year, 17 units that have sold at High Point Place at a median price of $325,000. From a valuation standpoint, it looks like Real Capitol was able to get a 47% discount on this bulk purchase.
It will be interesting to see how aggressively Real Capital looks to sell out this inventory. In reviewing their previous track record, they look to be patient investors willing to time the market for the maximum return. A patient strategy would be good news for the entire Fort Myers high-rise market as High Point Place is clearly the best product and should continue to command a significant premium to other high-rise towers.
At present, there are 15 units listed for sale at High Point Place ranging from $149,900 to $880,000. Here is a resource to view active High Point Place listings. Our team has represented buyers on several transactions and remains bullish on High Point Place.
The minnpost.com has a story about a recent speech given by housing researcher John Mcllwain titled, “The Suburban Century is Over.” Mcllwain predicts a shift in American housing and lifestyle preference away from the white picket fence suburbia towards a more urban lifestyle.
In TV terms the wonderful suburban neighborhoods of Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch and Bewitched are fading and the urban lifestyles of the Odd Couple, Mary Tyler Moore and Frazier are coming of age.
What does this mean for the Southwest Florida and the greater Fort Myers area? While no one is ever going to confuse Southwest Florida with the Upper West Side, we do have some really dynamic urban areas like 5th Avenue in Naples. In recent years, a handful of urban-oriented projects have been developed or renovated that address this shifting lifestyle demographic.
Developments in the Fort Myers area offering an urban lifestyle experience include:
High Point Place – Riverfront high-rise in downtown Fort Myers walk to restaurants, Publix, Starbucks, offices, parks, theatres and museums.
Residences at Coconut Point – Condos located on the upper-levels of the Coconut Point Mall which has emerged as the destination in South Lee County.
Rapallo – Gated condos and villas adjacent and very walkable to the dynamic Coconut Point Mall
Cape Harbour – Waterfront boating community with vibrant boardwalk featuring restaurants, retail and community events.
Patio De Leon – Downtown Fort Myers renovated historic condos located above commercial space.
Earnhardt Condominiums – Downtown Fort Myers renovated historic condos located above commercial space
When the market turns and development starts up again, it would sure be wonderful to see more project like these completed rather than starter homes on random 1/4 acre plated lots in the hinterlands.
When we discuss Fort Myers area real estate options with prospective clients, the number one desired feature is “a location close to the beach.” When drilling down further about what beach the client wants to be near, most answer near the Sanibel beaches. The proximity to Sanibel feature trumps all other popular desires including newer, good neighborhood, gated, gulf access, waterfront and low condo/HOA fees.
One of the questions that comes to mind when discussing proximity to Sanibel is exactly what constitutes a location as being close to Sanibel? I was recently looking at a listing located off Colonial Boulevard near I-75 and it was described as being “close to Sanibel.” Per Google Maps, the fastest route between I-75/Colonial and the Sanibel Causeway is via McGregor Boulevard with a distance of 16.5 miles and a driving time of 30 minutes. Unless this listing agent owns a helicopter or has access to George Jetson’s aerocar, this close to Sanibel label seems like a bit of a stretch to me. Whatever the case, I wouldn’t want to ride my beach cruiser in a pair of flip flops from Colonial Boulevard to Sanibel!
There are a number of South Fort Myers developments that are close to Sanibel and are available in a wide-range of housing options from luxury high-rises to single family homes in a gated communities. For the purposes of defining “close to Sanibel,” I am going to include developments from where the average baby-boomer could easily ride a beach cruiser in a pair of flip flops to the Sanibel Causeway Beach.
Here are Fort Myers communities that are truly close to Sanibel:
Sailors and boaters are drawn to the Boardwalk Caper community for its unrestricted deep water access……location less than 10 minutes from the Gulf…………and affordable home prices.
The community is connected by a 1/2 mile lighted boardwalk home to 251 slips. Many friendships have formed, boat purchase decisions have been made, knowledge has been passed along and even a romance or two have sparked during a stroll along the boardwalk.
When you are not enjoying the waters of the Gulf, the gated Boardwalk Caper community has much to offer including four swimming pools, a fitness center, clubhouse, tennis, shuffeboard and basketball courts. Boardwalk Caper’s location just before the Fort Myers Beach Bridge also offers convenient access to the beach.
Housing options at Boardwalk Caper include condos, high-rise condos and town homes. Currently, there are 18 homes for sale at Boardwalk Caper ranging in price from $175,000 to $599,000. Here is a resource to view active Boardwalk Caper real estate listings.
Well not really, but as tonight is the Season Nine Idol finale and Simon’s swansong, it might be fun to look at where the stars of the show might live if they relocated to Fort Myers.
Simon Cowell has ended his longtime illustrious bachelorhood with an engagement to make up artist Mezhgan Hussainy. The Captiva Gold Coast is by far the best choice for these two lovebirds as it offers the exclusivity and privacy required by a star of Cowell’s magnitude. The home I picked out for Simon is a modern 12,000 SF gulf front estate on Captiva Drive listed for $18M.
Despite an attire and vocabulary that never ceases to amaze, Randy Jackson is truly a man of the people. I can’t imagine Randy living in a suburban home with a manicured front lawn. While I initially thought of downtown luxury high-rise development High Point Place as a fit for Randy, there is nothing currently on the market designed for someone of his stature. A good fit for Randy might be a penthouse unit at the Paramount at Gulf Harbour. A 4,370 SF unit done up in South Beach pastels listed for $2.25M is my pick for Randy.
Wow, is Lee County really big enough to handle all these Idol stars? For Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia De Rossi, a waterfront estate on Barefoot beach would seem to be a good fit. With a number of pets, Ellen and Portia definitely need a single-family home. How about an 8,030 SF contemporary European inspired Barefoot Beach home with a huge gourmet kitchen for preparing those vegan delicacies, a fitness center and salt water aquarium. The asking price of $12.575M is a drop in the bucket for this couple.
Oozing with class and style, Kara DioGuardi and recent husband Mike McCuddy need a home to support the growing social demands of Kara’s blossoming career. With her Italian heritage, an estate home on the shores of Lake Como at Miromar Lakes might suite Kara just fine. My pick for Kara is a 5,032 SF waterfront home listed for $3.995M in the Isola Bella neighborhood of Miromar Lakes.
Wow, I have left the toughest for last…..just where does ubiquitous metrosexual Idol host Ryan Seacrest belong? My first thought was Gator Greenwell’s almost finished estate in Alva, but there might be a little too much dust on the roads of Alva for Seacrest’s Bentley. Suddenly it dawned on me that Ryan belongs on Andy Rosse Lane in Captiva. I can visualize him holding court at the Key Lime Bistro and the Mucky Duck during the same evening. How cool would it be to witness a chance meeting between Ryan and Simon at one of the Andy Rosse Lane establishments? Currently, Ryan can pick from five Andy Rosse Lane homes currently for sale.
Southwest Florida condo buyers are taking notice of the significant price reductions at Fort Myers River District high-rise developments.
Over the last 12 months, 63 condos worth a total of $11.4M worth have sold in the six new Fort Myers riverfront condo developments. On a dollars per square foot basis, recent sales have been at about 50% of the price that these condos originally sold for as new construction.
Here is a breakdown by building of these transactions:
Fort Myers High-rise 12 month snapshot
The Oasis has been a complete bust with no sales in the last year and High Point Place continues its leadership position as the premier Fort Myers luxury high-rise building. Buyers are attracted to the high-end finishes in High Point Place units and also welcome the urban amenities including Starbucks and Publix that are available right outside the front door.
Bank of America has foreclosed on the Related Group’s Oasis Condominium development in the Fort Myers River District. The $157M filing ranks as the second largest ever in Lee County. Jorge Perez and the team at Related Group had ambitious plans to bring a slice of South Beach to Fort Myers, but missed badly on the Oasis project.
What went wrong at Oasis? A number of factors have contributed to the failure at Oasis. The biggest single contributor to the failure at Oasis is one of timing. This project was the last Fort Myers Riverfront high-rise development to be delivered with completion after the market had busted. Also, Related was very slow to react to the changing market conditions and didn’t adjust pricing as quickly as competing developers. Another strategy mistake by Related was trying to go it alone on the marketing and not listing Oasis units in the Fort Myers MLS system. In summary, poor timing coupled with a failure to react to the changing market and not initially marketing via the local MLS were key drivers in the projects failure.
What is the current opportunity for a distressed asset buyer? At present a total of 425 units in the 440 unit project remain unsold and are currently being offered in a bulk sale by Bank of America. The offering is being managed by Colliers Realty and does not have an official asking price.
What is the value of this asset? The 425 units at Oasis are a total of 576,640 SF distributed across two high-rise towers. The 2009 Lee County assessed value of the project is $182,402,960, which looks to be a completely unrealistic valuation. One defendable methodology to arrive at a fair value for this asset is to look at sales over the last year at the other River District high-rise projects. For this evaluation, competing projects include: Alta Mar; Beau Rivage; High Point Place; Riviera and St Tropez. Collectively, these five projects had 62 sales in the last year. The average sale was for $177,543 with an average unit size of 1,523 SF for an average price of $116.57 SF. This methodology would peg the retail value of the 425 Oasis units at (576,640 SF x $116.57 SF) $67,218,924. As this is a distressed bulk deal, a buyer would probably look to acquire the asset in the $30M – $40M range.
Our analytically-orientated team is available to lend due diligence assistance to any potential buyers of this asset.
A really quick Fort Myers short sale…..must be an oxymoron or a Realtor’s late night long tale!
High Point Place in the Fort Myers River District
Well not always, our team recently closed a short sale in 37 days! This transaction was for a High Point Place condo located at 2090 W. 1st Street #1609 in the Downtown Fort Myers River District.
This 1,803 SF unit was listed for 299,000 /$165 SF and our client offered $270,000 / $149 SF. The offer was accepted by the owner on 02/09/10. Bank approval came within a month and the transaction closed on 03/18/10, a mere 37 days after offer acceptance.
Hopefully this kind of interval becomes the norm rather than the exception as our MLS database is still pretty weighted down with Fort Myers short sale listings.
The battle royale between New Jersey firefighter Victor Vangelakos and Fort Myers high-rise developer the Related Group is an ongoing fight. As we blogged back in July 2009, Vangelakos is suing to get out of his contract and Related has offered to switch him to the projects sister tower.
This story has attracted national attention and gets more interesting now that Cathleen Vangelakos is serving three years in prison for stealing parking ticket payments from the City of Weehawken, NJ.
Based recent resales at some of the other Fort Myers high-rise buildings, this unit has probably lost at least 50% of the value from the $430,000 purchase price. Our pick for the best Fort Myers high-rise continues to be High Point Place, located in the Fort Myers river District on West First Street. Resales are currently available at High Point Place starting in the mid $200,000s.
Luxury North Fort Myers Waterfront High-rise with Deep-water Access
Dramatic developer discounts have jump started sales at the North Star Yacht Club in North Fort Myers. This community fronting the deep-water Caloosahatchee River boasts twin 12-story high-rise towers. Outstanding views of the river and Fort Myers are available from the south facing terraces of North Star condos.
Finishes in these units are include granite, Kohler fixtures, GE Profile appliances, 18 x 18 inch ceramic tile floors and floor-to-ceiling windows. Six Floor plans are currently available ranging in size from 1,757 SF to 2,457 SF.
The long list of amenities at North Star Yacht Club is headlined by a two-story 15,000 SF clubhouse with a health club, business center w/ WIFI, conference rooms, billiards room, bar and catering kitchen. The pool area at North Star includes includes a spa and 16 private poolside cabanas. Tennis, a fitness trail, sandy beach, a putting green and a marina boardwalk enhance outdoor living at North Star. The marina offers deep-water access and can accommodate boats up to 55 feet and offers dockside hookups for water, electric and telephone.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has an interesting article about Norman Radow, who has been hired to liquidate the real estate portfolio of bankrupt Leman Brothers. West Bay Club in Estero is one of the assets that Radow is currently focused on. A big challenge at West Bay Club is that only 617 of the originally planned 1,054 properties have sold.
In the year that Radow has been overseeing the West Bay Club, his modifications have cut the annual operating deficit has been cut from $2.5M to $31,000. These changes have included the closing of unprofitable restaurants and opening the club to guests of the nearby Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Currently, resale coach homes at West Bay Club are available starting in the mid $300s.
Investors.com reports that investors are swarming the South Florida market targeting condo foreclosures. The Miami condo market was severely overbuilt during the bubble years with waterfront luxury high-rise projects. The “smart” money circling these towers is attracted to prices well below replacement cost.
“A lot of eyeballs are focused on Miami,” said Adam Cappel, president of CondoReports.com.
Cappel says Miami’s rising status as an international hot spot has made bargain-seeking investors more interested in the area than in past downturns, and more interested in it than other Florida locales.
“There’s capital from every corner of the world circling. It’s not just Venezuelan money trying to flee,” he said.
Here in Southwest Florida, there is no word on the street about whether or not Related Group is trying to unload in bulk the virtually empty Oasis I tower. This project received national acclaim when it was reported that just a single tenant had taken occupancy in the 32-story high-rise building.
There are some interesting investment opportunities in the Fort Myers high-rise foreclosure market. Currently, there is a 3/3 foreclosure at Beau Rivage on the market for $177,800 ($119/SF) and a 2/2 foreclosure at St. Tropez on the market for $179,900 ($105/SF).
One of the misfortunes of the Southwest Florida housing bust is that the magnificent Oasis I luxury high-rise in downtown Fort Myers has only one resident. This is truly a shame as the Oasis is a first-class project that delivers a hint of Miami Beach to the River District scene.
The lonely resident is a New Jersey firefighter who spends part of the year in Fort Myers. Most owners in his Oasis I building have swapped their unit for a like one in the adjacent Oasis II building. Unfortunately, his lender did not go for the swap idea and he is stuck owning in an otherwise empty building.
Every mention of the Oasis pulls this Maria Muldaur song from deep in the recesses of my mind:
Unfortunately for the lonely NJ firefighter, it must seem like Midnight at the Oasis all the time!
The auction of 75 units at the Fort Myers riverfront high-rise building, the Riviera, will take place today. The auction is being held off-site at the Harbourside Event Center and starts at 11:00 AM. If you are planning on bidding, you will need a cashiers check for $10,000 per unit.
The most expensive home to sell in Lee County Florida during April 2009 was a Bonita Bay high-rise condo located at 4931Bonita Bay Boulevard, #1710, Bonita Springs. This Azure Tower condo is 4,240 SF and features 3BR and 4BA.
The selling price was $1.925M / $454 SF. Congratulations to selling Realtor Jim McCormick of Premier Properties for closing the most expensive residential property in April 2009.
Honorable mention for 2nd most expensive Lee County home sold in April was a single-family home located at 4945 Normandy Court in Cape Coral. This riverfront direct-access home is 4,478 SF offers 4BR and 5BA.
The selling price was $1.875M / $418 SF. Congratulations to Henry Albrecht of Gulf Gateway Realty for closing this transaction.
We have seen significant price reductions throughout the high-rise community in River District and a significant uptick in interest from potential buyers. Traffic on our Fort Myers high-rise web page has been particularly strong in recent weeks. The units at Alta Mar, Beau Rivage and the Riviera priced under $150K have been drawing significant interest.
Living in an urban setting where life goes on without jumping in the car several times a day can be very rewarding. I had this experience in my late twenties living in Downtown Boston. Walking to work, jogging along the river and trying new ethnic restaurants…..what could be better!
Unlike some of our older livable cities like New York, Chicago, Washington DC and Boston, much of Florida was developed around the automobile. For many years, we have specialized in suburban-orientated, amenity-rich, gated communities, not urban focused settings.
The News-Press ran an uplifting story today about the growing urban scene in Downtown Fort Myers. I truly enjoyed reading about some of our residents who are enjoying an urban lifestyle. Many housing options are available in the downtown River District including high-rise condos and single-family homes in Historic Dean Park.
Downtown Fort Myers offers convenience with a historic vibe [News-Press]
The other day one of my colleagues used the words “affordable” and “Gulf Harbour” in the same sentence. Yes, we are talking about that Gulf Harbour along McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers.
Today there are 182 properties for sale in Gulf Harbour’s 18 distinct neighborhoods. A whopping twenty Gulf Harbour properties are currently listed at asking prices below $200,000. These twenty sub $200K listings include condos at: Long Pond Village; Rivers Edge 1; Rivers Edge 2; Rivers Edge 3 and Rivers Edge 4.
If you looked at Gulf Harbour in the past (and who hasn’t???) and thought owning in this great community was a major stretch, maybe its time to take another peek…..
The News-Press has an article about Fort Myers high-rises and some of the challenges developers are facing in today’s market. This market sector was impacted by to heavy investor involvement in the first couple of projects including Beau Rivage and Alta Mar. The market swooned as these projects were coming to completion and those with a short-term investment strategy were unable to find end-users to facilitate an exit.
The misfortune of these high-rise quick-flippers creates an opportunity for today’s end-users looking for a Fort Myers high-rise deal. Currently, price start at $235,000 for a 3/2 at Beau Rivage and 149,900 for a 1/2 at Alta Mar. These prices are well below replacement cost for this type of waterfront construction. This is truly an end-user buying opportunity.
