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Condo Hotel Center: Property
Alert
June 28, 2004
ATLANTIC
VILLAGE HOTEL & MARINA
Dania's First Condo Hotel Promises to be a Winner
 Joel
Greene here to tell you about an exciting, new and
very reasonably priced, South Florida condo hotel.
This past Saturday I had lunch with Bayard Spector,
the developer of the Atlantic Village Hotel &
Marina. When built, it will be the first condo
hotel in Dania, just on the southern fringe of Ft.
Lauderdale. After a two-hour meeting and a half-hour
golf cart tour (South Florida's version of the Disney
monorail), I came away with an understanding of his
vision and was totally impressed with his master plan
for this 10-acre site. The question is, Where
should I start?
The Project
The Atlantic Village Hotel & Marina is surrounded
by water. This is not surprising, considering
Ft. Lauderdale is known as the "Venice of the America's"
for its more than 300 miles of navigable waterways
and seven miles of sparkling beaches.
Atlantic Village will have a large, deep-water marina.
It sits right on a river that leads to the intracoastal,
which puts you boaters just 30 minutes away from smooth
sailing on the Atlantic Ocean by way of Port Everglades.
The condo hotel will even contain an actual
island where guests will enjoy a Mickey Mouse-shaped
pool and tiki lounge, while watching boats cruise
in and out of the marina and the planes coming in
for a landing at nearby Ft. Lauderdale International
Airport.
Atlantic Village will consist of 349, five-star units,
an 80-private boat slip marina and a 125,000 sq. ft.
Class-A office building with over 1,000 parking spaces
in two garages to accommodate the hotels and offices.
But that is just the beginning.
Built for Success
The average hotel structure devotes
20% of its total square footage to the supporting
structure of the guest rooms. This would include
lobby space, meeting and banquet facilities, restaurants,
parking, pools, lounges, etc. Basically, anything
that helps to fill the hotel rooms with guests.
That means a building with 200,000 sq. ft. of guest
rooms would typically have a total of about 240,000
sq. ft. in the entire structure. However, by
comparison, the Atlantic Village condo hotel will
have only 183,000 net salable space, but gross sq.
footage of over 617,000 sq. ft! The extra space
will be devoted to guest amenities including:
- A European spa
- Magnificent porte-cochere entry
- Beautiful lobby and common areas decorated by
award-winning designers
- Heated swimming pools and Jacuzzi
- Tennis courts
- Poolside café and bar
- Private pool cabanas
- Indoor and outdoor gourmet dining
- Elegant private reception areas
- 20,000 square feet of ballroom and conference
facilities
- A 1,200 sq. ft. business center
- World-class concierge service
- 24-hour room service
- 24-hour doorman
- 24-hour housekeeping services
And if that's not enough, a water taxi will take
you right from the hotel directly to the beach.
For the Investment-Minded
Buyer
Everything from the water, the location and the supporting
structure will contribute to the condo hotel's success.
And on that subject, I should mention that this property
is being built primarily for the investor who wants
a piece of a thriving hotel, not so much for someone
who wants a condo hotel as a second home.
The owner, a master promoter who remains your 50%
partner once he has sold out all of the units, will
make this hotel a huge success and wants as many units
in the rental program as possible to ensure it.
Who Is This Developer?
Bayard's family
started Spec's Music stores in 1948 and built it up
to over 80 stores before selling out their interest
to Camelot Records five years ago. Bayard, an investment
banker, now approaching 50 began working with his
family's retail chain from the age of 18. As a music
producer, Bayard enjoyed a string of hit records with
Capital/EMI records in Los Angeles and Bayard
with his wife Elizabeth have launched some of
South Beach's most famous night clubs and restaurants.
Bayard has an "in" with a long
list of the "A-Crowd," including many celebrities
in the music world and sports figures (not to mention
one very dynamic realtor!). You'll probably see them
at Bayard's owner parties, wine and cheese parties
and cocktail parties. Lots of parties which you will
be welcome to attend, even when someone else is renting
your unit. That's good, no?
Bayard said to me, "I'm committed
to making this hotel successful. I want it to run
99.9% occupied all year round. I want this hotel to
have people waiting to get into the #1 hotel in the
Southeast." Not a bad partner to have minding the
store when you own a unit. You just gotta love his
enthusiasm!
Designed to Be an Eye-Catcher
The Atlantic Village was designed by two of Miami's
best architect companies, Sieger-Suarez, in a joint
effort with EGS2. Together, they are responsible
for practically creating the skyline of the beaches
of South Florida with their architectural innovations.
Portifino, Trump Ocean Grande, The Murano Grande,
ICON, Pinnacle, Hidden Bay, and Ocean One, Two and
Three are just a few of their most notable design
projects.
When completed approximately three years from now,
Atlantic Village condo hotel will be a $100 million
project (not including the office building) and will
be a hip, upscale, quality hotel with a feel that
is similar to a Four Seasons.
Before building the hotel, Bayard will build the
marina and island pool area. Therefore, he has
not yet prioritized getting a hotel management company
lined up. However, as a five-star property,
he is determined to get the best available, and is
currently considering companies like Hilton, Starwood
and Intercontinental among others.
In Good Company
The location of this property is sensational!
It is adjacent to a 388-room Wyndham Hotel and is
across the street from the 250-room Sheraton Design
Center of The Americas, right along I-95, South Florida's
most important North-South highway. With the
addition of Atlantic Village to the market, all three
properties will benefit. Each can now bring
larger conferences to their facilities, knowing that
there are more first-class rooms in the immediate
area to accommodate their overflow guests.
What a Location!
Within minutes
of the property is the entrance to the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood
International Airport which brings in 55,000-58,000
people every single day. In 2003, Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood
International Airport reported the best year in its
history, welcoming more than 17 million visitors.
It was one of only four U.S. airports that expanded
its number of daily flights. Atlantic Village
is also just 30 minutes from Miami International Airport.
Along with the very popular Design
Center of the Americas adjacent to the Sheraton, Atlantic
Village is close to many area attractions, including
the elegant shops on Las Olas Boulevard and in the
Galleria Mall, the Broward County Convention Center
and its Center for the Performing Arts, Pro Player
Stadium (Go Dolphins!) and Bass Pro Shops with its
160,000 sq. ft. of outdoor sports equipment.
Best of all, Atlantic Village is only 10 minutes to
its namesake, the Atlantic Ocean, as well as downtown
Fort Lauderdale.
Atlantic Village is just minutes
from Port Everglades, the largest cruise port in South
Florida. Unbeknownst to many people, Port Everglades
is one of South Florida's strongest economic engines.
Almost 6,000 ships a year call at Port Everglades
giving it a reputation as the "world's premier cruise
port."
Often, cruise passengers will
package their cruise with a visit to the South Florida
area before or after their voyage. The Atlantic
Village's incredible location, practically kissing
the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport,
and being just minutes away from Port Everglades is
bound to make the Atlantic Village a convenient stopover
point.
If you like a little nightlife,
try your luck at the brand new Indian owned Seminole
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, only five minutes from
Atlantic Village. This 500-room Mediterranean-style
tower, on nearly 100 acres, features a colossal 130,000
square-foot casino and a soon-to-be world famous Downtown
Disney-type entertainment complex.
The Seminole Hard Rock is the
closest thing to Las Vegas-style entertainment in
south Florida. Measured in glitz and glamour,
the hotel rivals just about anything on Las Vegas'
famous strip. To be sure, there is nothing else
like it in the Sunshine State.
By fall,
visitors will have even more options when Seminole
Paradise debuts. The 300,000 sq. ft. retail area will
boast more than 30 shops, 11 restaurants and 11 nightclubs,
a 5,600-seat concert venue and an amphitheater where
Seminoles will reprise one of the few entertainments
that drew paying customers when tribal members were
too poor to afford shoes: alligator wrestling.
(Trust me; if you've never seen alligator wrestling,
you haven't lived!).
Condo Hotel Unit Pricing
The bad news is that all 80 boat slips
are sold out already. The good news is that
Bayard purchased his land for $4 million and sold
out his boat slips for $8 million. What this
means to him is that his cost to develop the property
is far less than most developers, as he has zero land
costs when he builds. What does this mean to
you? Prices that are far less than most other
projects and with more amenities for you to enjoy.
Studio units at Atlantic Village condo hotel will
start at only $263,000. One- and two- bedroom
units are available too from $360,000 to $646,000.
All units will have a furniture and fixtures package
costing about $40,000 built into the purchase price.
The package will include:
- Floor to ceiling glass
- Elaborate bathrooms with separate shower and bath,
bidet (and by night) and two vanity sinks
- A choice of a king or two double beds
- Owner's closet
- In-room safe
- 42" Plasma TVs (That alone is worth the price
of admission!)
Now granted, this is not oceanfront property, but
where else can you get a piece of a five-star property,
with all these amenities and this much upside potential
for this little? The answer is nowhere else
in South Florida!
A Big Seller
With only a park bench advertisement and a single
ad in a local condo magazine, this development has
sold out 100% of their boats slips, about 40% of their
condo units, and they have a waiting list for office
space, all in the first 90 days. At this pace,
they will probably sell out their remaining condo
hotel units in another three to four months.
And after 60 more units are sold, they are planning
a 15% price increase with more to follow as they sell
out the project.
How Do You Get One?
At this point, it only takes a $2,500 cancelable reservation
to get your unit. 10% of the purchase price,
inclusive of the $2,500, will be due at contract in
about four to five months, and an additional 10% will
be due when permits are issued and construction begins
about six to eight months later. A scheduled
completion for the project is summer 2007.
One Last Perk
Here is the one thing that this property offers that
no other does--the right to assign your contract.
This is highly unusual and potentially very valuable
to you as a buyer. For a $10,000 fee, the developer
will allow you to assign your contract to another
buyer. Therefore, you can buy now at pre-construction
prices and do any of the following:
- Hold short-term and make a nice quick profit once
prices have increased by assigning your contract
to another buyer
- Hold long-term for more appreciation and a bigger
profit
- Hold indefinitely and enjoy being part of "the
#1 hotel in the Southeast" while receiving a very
healthy rental income
Data Sheet Available
If you want more information, I've
put together a data sheet with the facts and figures
on this condo hotel. Just reply to this
email and I'll send it right out to you. You'll
be glad to know the data sheet is a lot briefer than
my write-up here. Sorry to go on for so long,
but as you can see, I am genuinely enthused about
this new condo hotel. And once I get going on
something I like..
As always, thank you for your interest in news from
Condo Hotel Center. Please feel free to pass
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If you no longer wish to receive our Property Alerts,
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after pouring my heart into a Property Alert this
long, if you ask to unsubscribe I will take it personally.
Just kidding.
Joel
Greene, Broker-Associate
Condo Hotel Center
A division of Sheldon Greene & Assoc., Inc.
13499 Biscayne Blvd. Ste. 210
N. Miami, FL 33181
PH: 305-944-3090
FX: 305-948-0460
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