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Condo Hotel Center: Property
Alert
March
10, 2005
THE PLAZA
RESORT & SPA
DAYTONA
BEACH CONDO HOTEL, PRICES START UNDER $200K
 I'm delighted to report that the winds
of change are making their way from Miami to Orlando,
and finally, to The World's Most Famous Beach -- Daytona
Beach!
As usual, it was a sunny Central Florida
morning as I made my way from Orlando to Daytona.
To boot, it was Friday on the weekend of "The
Big Race" - The Daytona 500. Despite early race
fan traffic, I made the trip from Orlando all the
way to the Atlantic Ocean in less than 90 minutes.
I don't speed. There's too much to miss! Lots of eye-candy
everywhere this weekend -- vintage cars, gleaming
chrome, etc.
But the purpose of this trip was not
to gawk at cars but to visit a landmark Daytona Beach
property on the ocean that is being converted into
a four-star condo hotel. The 323-unit Plaza Resort
& Spa is the first evidence that the condo hotel
concept has begun to take hold in Daytona.
The Plaza Resort & Spa is a 323-unit
oceanfront condo hotel in Daytona Beach.
An Ideal Vacation Home
Owner Charles Bray says he couldn't
be more pleased with this property -- and after $45+
million dollars in renovation costs, he should be.
Fiercely committed to returning true luxury to Daytona
Beach, his restoration, upgrade and conversion of
this landmark property to a condo hotel is nearing
completion.
On my trip there I shook hands with
the renovation crews, leaned from condo balconies,
felt the ocean breeze on my face, and walked barefoot
in the sand. In a nutshell, here's my impression of
this condo hotel.
The Plaza Resort & Spa would make
an ideal vacation home on the ocean. The Ocean Waters
Spa is dreamy; its on-site restaurant, Magnolia's,
is excellent; the bartenders are friendly and accommodating.
And the beach! Directly in front of The Plaza Resort
& Spa is an extremely rare stretch of no-drive
zone! Personal note: don't forget the sunscreen.
Background on The Plaza Resort
& Spa in Daytona Beach
The Plaza Resort & Spa is a landmark
property. It occupies the site of the former Breakers-Clarendon
Hotel. An operational hotel has been on this site
since the late 1800s. During the early 1940s, the
hotel served as a barracks for the Women's Army Corps.
Airplane races used to be all the rage here. Oh, if
this beach could talk!
The newest version of this legendary
property is a Spanish-style deco, evoking "vintage
Florida." A two-story lobby with rich wood interiors
and a new walk-out terrace beckons visitors directly
to the beach.
The style of the renovated Plaza Resort
is “vintage Florida” with rich wood interiors and
a terrace overlooking the beach.
To the right of the lobby is Magnolia's
open-kitchen, casual restaurant, specializing in seafood
and southern delicacies. To the left you'll find the
lively lounge & bar. This summer, when renovations
are complete, the property will become a fully renovated,
converted, and operational condo hotel.
The focus of this property is on tourism,
as opposed to full-time owner residency. The intent
is to make money for condo hotel unit owners and provide
a high-end oceanfront accommodation for both owners
and guests.
A Private Beach
A huge plus: Located directly between the Atlantic
Ocean and the famed Atlantic Boulevard, The Plaza
Resort & Spa commands a rare no-drive beachfront.
More than 500 feet of private beach!
The Plaza Resort has more than 500
feet of private no-drive beach.
Sure, part of the fun of Daytona Beach
might be to actually drive on it -- but it is nice
to have your stretch zoned as "private, no driving."
Owners do have public access to the driving areas
immediately to the north and south of the condo hotel.
But you'll have the choice of leaving your vehicle
behind at The Plaza Resort where parking is plentiful.
The Ocean Waters Spa
At beach level, you'll enjoy one of the largest European
Spas in Florida. A sprawling 15,000+ square feet with
more than sixteen beds, there's plenty of room to
relax.
Wrap yourself in a sea of tranquil
experiences. Immerse yourself in the ocean's life-giving
nutrients with a seaweed wrap. Feel your tension melt
away with an aromatic massage. Enjoy the sauna, steam
room, and a variety of treatments and indulgences.
Or pull up a lounge chair on the huge
sundeck and enjoy the breeze at the oceanfront pool,
read a book, maybe practice your putting at the poolside
green.
Upscale Unit Features
The condo hotel units will be delivered to you fully
furnished with upscale features ideal for the short-trip
guest.
The condo hotel units range from 339
sq. ft. to 746 sq. ft.
and most come with their own terrace.
All that you need to make this your
brief home away from home is included.
- Tile and granite, kitchen and
baths
- Microwave oven
- Designer bath fixtures
- Jacuzzi Roman tub
- Pre-wired cable TV and wireless
high-speed Internet
High-end Services
- 24-hour concierge services
- 24-hour security
- Secretarial services
An Outstanding Location
When you come to Daytona, you want the beach! And
you'll certainly get that at The Plaza Resort &
Spa with access to over 23 miles of beachfront.
Daytona has 23 miles of beautiful coastline.
But Daytona has much more to offer
than sun, surf and sand to its eight million visitors
each year. And many of the area's attractions will
help ensure your condo hotel unit is rented and generating
revenue for you when you're not enjoying it yourself.
- Daytona
International Speedway -
This 480-acre motor sports complex often called
The World Center of Racing hosts the world-famous
Daytona 500 as well as 10 major weekends of racing
activity. The Speedway grounds are also used for
numerous other events.
- Daytona
USA -
An interactive motor sports attraction, Daytona
USA features hands-on activities and displays as
well as two incredible motion simulator rides, Acceleration
Alley and Daytona Dream Laps, sure to get your heart
thumping.
- Ocean Center
 -
Daytona's convention center and civic complex, this
facility will soon undergo a $57 million expansion
that will triple its size by February 2007 giving
it 130,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space. The building's
exterior and interior will also be renovated.
- Daytona
Lagoon Waterpark
- Formerly the Adventure Landing
Waterpark, it has been closed for 2.5 years. It
reopens this month with a new name and new ownership.
It offers water slides and a lazy river as well
as golf cart racing, mini-golf, laser tag, an arcade
and a 3-story play area for tots.
- The Daytona Beach
Boardwalk - Just a few
blocks from the Plaza Resort, it offers dozens of
restaurants, nightspots and much more.
- Ocean
Walk Shoppes - Just built, Ocean Walk
is a four-level, 110,000 sq. ft. oceanside retail
and entertainment complex. It features a collection
of upscale eateries, boutiques and a 10-screen movie
theatre.
- Golf -
Daytona Beach, home to the headquarters of the LPGA,
offers more than two dozen championship courses
without the hefty greens fees. Among them are courses
designed by Rees Jones, Arthur Hills, Arnold Palmer,
Gary Player, Lloyd Clifton and Bill Amick.
- Tennis
- USA Tennis Florida
in Daytona Beach has 24 clay hydro-courts and has
12 lighted courts for night-time play.
- The Daytona Beach
Hawgs - A new franchise
for the National Indoor Football League, the Hawgs
will open the 2005 season this month with seven
home games to be played at Ocean Center.
- Orlando
Theme Parks - Daytona
offers proximity to all the wonderful attractions
of Orlando. It's a 90-minute drive to Walt Disney
World's Magic Kingdom, EPCOT and MGM Studios; Universal
Studios and its sister park, Islands of Adventure;
and Sea World and its sister park where you can
swim with the dolphins, Discovery Cove.
- Other Nearby
Attractions - Daytona
is just one hour from fascinating Kennedy Space
Center as well as the charming beachside town of
St. Augustine.
Daytona is Coming of Age
Once considered only a haven for spring breakers and
NASCAR fans, Daytona Beach is changing. According
to George Mirabal, president of the Daytona Beach
Chamber of Commerce, "We're getting there. This
area is phenomenal compared to what it used to be.
People who were here just a few years ago don't recognize
it. We're going to see more. We're on the cusp of
a wave of change nobody is going to believe."
A new $250 million oceanside district,
Ocean Walk Village, is leading an aggressive revitalization
effort. Spread across six square blocks of shoreline,
this massive project opens in phases through 2007
with more than 1,300 Atlantic-edge rooms, numerous
family entertainment options and over 309,000 sq.
ft. of meeting and exhibit space.
Flash forward five to ten years, and
this is what I believe you'll see in Daytona Beach.
High-rise condominiums and hotels shine, Miami Beach-style,
across the Daytona Beach waterfront. Chartered buses
drop conventioneers off at resorts. Restaurants, nightclubs
and shops hum year-round with customers. Visitors
stroll along the new Boardwalk or choose to see top-notch
entertainment at a new downtown performing arts center.
Experts predict the coming influx
of high-rise luxury condominiums will spark profound
changes to the area's economy by infusing local government
coffers with new cash for improvements, creating a
customer base for upscale shops and eateries downtown
and beachside, and fueling demand for construction-related
services for years to come.
Ironically, by helping to keep property
values under priced, Daytona Beach's reputation as
a low-rent tourism market paved the way for the coming
redevelopment boom, experts say.
Depressed property values made beachfront
properties attractive to developers who saw opportunities
to sell luxury condominiums at prices far below comparably
sized units in South Florida. For what you can purchase
a condo in the Daytona market, you'd pay double or
triple in other areas of the state.
A Performance Driven Team
Involved in the Project
For all these reasons, Charles Bray & Joseph Gillespie
have chosen to focus their development efforts on
Daytona Beach. They bought The Plaza Resort in 1998
and are committed to Daytona Beach's image as a "world-class
destination."
Bray & Gillespie have an astounding
performance record including better than 100 financially
successful transactions. The privately-held firm describes
itself as "a hospitality ownership and management
company specializing in redeveloping and renovating
waterfront properties and transforming them into luxury
resorts and condo hotels."
The company through its subsidiary
Ocean Waters Development manages a portfolio of properties
spread throughout Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach Shores
and Daytona Beach, Florida. Properties include the
Acapulco Resort, Beachcomber, Plaza Ocean Club, Best
Western La Playa Resort, Bermuda House, Sea Side and
the Treasure Island Resort. These players clearly
know what it takes to be successful, and are building
on the proven condo hotel concept.
Vice President Doug Kosarek is quick
to note that demand for oceanfront accommodations
has risen by double digits every year since 2001.
Doug's comment that, "we named our development
arm Ocean Waters Development because we'll be starting
in Daytona Beach" is a telling sign. Starting!
With regard to the Plaza Resort &
Spa, owner Charles Bray said, "We are returning
the Plaza to its rightful position as the leading
hotel in Daytona Beach. In the past six years we have
spent $45 million restoring and renovating this 100-year-old
landmark hotel. This spring, we will invest another
$12 million in improvements as part of our vision
for returning true luxury to Daytona Beach continues.
Our splendid ocean views will be matched by luxuriously
appointed rooms and suites."
As an Investment
As most of you know, condo hotels are sold primarily
as "real estate with a lifestyle" -- not
as an investment. However, as you've no doubt heard
before: they're not creating anymore beachfront, except
for that lava flow in Hawaii that spills into the
Pacific, but let's not go there.
At The Plaza Resort there will be
just 323 condo hotel units when complete, so we're
talking about an intimate and exclusive development
with a very short sales fuse. Family, friends, and
local word-of-mouth account for nearly all early sales
and energy surrounding this project so far.
This condo hotel renovation project
has barely had the chance to be known locally, much
less throughout the U.S. Folks in Europe & Latin
America won't discover it until some of the units
hit the resale market, perhaps six months or a year
from now.
The media have recently published
articles about Daytona's under-valuation, which sparks
long- and short- term appreciation potential. All
of this bodes well for you as a Condo Hotel Center
Property Alert reader, finding out about this project
in its early stages.
If combining a familiar beach resort
lifestyle with investment potential is what appeals
to you, consider these investor benefits:
1. Potential
Appreciation - You can't get much more
"first" than this. This is the first of
what should be many more Bray & Gillespie/Ocean
Waters Development condo hotel projects. And where
the leader goes, others follow.
As much as the developers would
like for development costs to remain constant, the
reality is that they do not. Ocean Waters Development
and other developer projects of the future are sure
to enter the market at prices higher than today's
Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach. Investors
who get in early in the game will see the greatest
appreciation as Daytona Beach, a sleeping giant,
awakens to its true potential.
2. Potential
Revenue - The resort's location near
the Daytona Speedway and the city's convention center
as well as Daytona Beach's growing reputation as
a year-round vacation destination rather than a
spring break hangout means you can expect reasonably
high occupancy rates. Plus, this property has a
10-year history as a successful hotel. Returning
guests will certainly represent a large percentage
of the condo hotel's business.
3. Conversion
as Opportunity for a Starke (1031) Exchange
- As many of you know, most condo hotels are out-of-the-ground
new construction and require anywhere from 12-24
months before they're available for settlement and
occupancy. The Plaza Resort & Spa is the conversion
of an existing hotel to a luxury condo hotel. The
time frame for construction completion is summer
2005, making this a possible candidate for your
exchange. Please, though, do check the suitability
with your accountant and attorney.
Construction
Status
After a 1998 initial outlay of $45 million for exterior
work and facilities upgrades, interior renovations
that will exceed $12 million will soon begin. All
of The Plaza rooms will be remodeled to include new
interior designs and living areas. All public areas
will also be renovated. Full transformation of The
Plaza Resort into a luxury condo hotel is expected
to be complete by late summer 2005.
What's Available
The Plaza's 323 units are former hotel rooms converted
to condo hotel studio and one-bedroom units ranging
in size from 339 sq. ft. to 746 sq. ft. The building
design maximizes the ocean views from almost every
unit, and each has its own balcony terrace.
How to Reserve a Unit at
The Plaza Resort & Spa Daytona Beach
This resort offers an excellent first-in opportunity
to get a vacation/second home condo hotel unit at
an oceanfront property in sunny Daytona Beach, Florida.
Prices today range from $160,000 to $525,000.
Units can be reserved with a $5,000
non-binding deposit; balance of 10% due upon execution
of purchase contract, expected in April 2005. Bottom
line, that means a total deposit of 10% of the purchase
price confirms your unit selection and schedules settlement
for summer 2005.
Thanks for Your Interest
Now you're "in the know" about Daytona Beach's
first condo hotel, a four-star legendary property
available now at pre-construction prices. As always,
we appreciate your business and interest in our Condo
Hotel Center Property Alerts.
Thanks for choosing Condo
Hotel Center as your information source
for all things condo hotel!
Joel Greene
Licensed Real Estate Broker
Condo Hotel Center
13499 Biscayne Blvd., Suite #210
N. Miami, FL 33181
Ph: (954) 450-1929
Joel@CondoHotelCenter.com
www.CondoHotelCenter.com
www.WorldClassCondoHotels.com
www.CondoHotelsDubai.com
www.CondoHotelsBahamas.com
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