Groundbreaking for Florida Gulf Coast Condo Hotel

January 23, 2007
By Dees Stribling, Midwest Correspondent

Commercial Property News

NJR Development Co. has started construction on a new condo hotel project in Clearwater Beach, Fla., on the Gulf Coast in the Tampa Bay area. Once complete in about two years, the 250-unit Aqualea Resort Condominium Hotel and Residence will be part of a beachfront resort managed by Hyatt Corp.

As a condo hotel, units in the project will be available for fee-simple purchase from NJR Development by individual owners who in turn will either use them themselves, or put them into Hyatt's resort management and rental program, or a combination of both. This ownership structure, which is especially common in south Florida, is now also increasingly popular in other parts of the state.

"Condo hotels are extremely popular in Florida," Joel Greene, president of Miami-based Condo Hotel Center, (www.CondoHotelCenter.com), a brokerage that specializes in condo hotel properties, told CPN this afternoon. "At first they were mostly located in the southern part of the state, but developers have been responding to demand by building them elsewhere, such as on the west coast."

Partly driving the property type's popularity, posited Greene, is strong demographics. "The baby boomers are in their peak earning years, and are inheriting wealth from their parents as well," he said. "A good many of them are interested in investing in real estate, and condo hotels are one avenue to do so without a lot of hands-on effort."

NJR was established almost five years ago by industry veteran Neil Rauenhorst, former president and chief executive officer of Opus South Corp. Since then the company has specialized in residential and hotel development in the southeastern United States. About two years ago, Rauenhorst bought the rights to the Aqualea project for about $18.5 million.

As a condo hotel, units in the project are available for fee-simple purchase by individual owners who in turn will either use them themselves, or put them into Hyatt's resort management and rental program, or a combination of both. This condo hotel ownership structure, which is especially common in south Florida, is now also increasingly popular in other parts of the state.

The Aqualea project will be located near Clearwater Beach's BeachWalk re-development project, a municipal plan featuring a beachfront "village" of shops, restaurants, water sports and public attractions. Aqualea is an important component of the city's plan for BeachWalk, because it will include a 400-space public parking garage. The property will also feature a number of amenities common to Hyatt resorts, such as pools, a fitness center, a spa and a restaurant.

Read more about Aqualea here:  

http://www.condohotelcenter.com/condo-hotels/featured-properties/aqualea.htm

See renderings of Aqualea here:

http://www.condohotelcenter.com/condo-hotels/featured-properties/aqualea-photos.htm

 

CityCenter Condos Go On Sale

Information excerpted from an article by Brian K. Miller, GlobeSt.com

Jan. 3, 2007

 

LAS VEGAS-MGM Mirage on Tuesday offered up to the public most of the 2,700 condominium units that are part of its $7-billion CityCenter development in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip.

 

Scheduled to open in 2009 between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts, Project CityCenter includes a 60-story, 4,000-room hotel-casino; two 400-room non-gaming hotels; 500,000 sf of retail shops, dining and entertainment venues; and the aforementioned luxury residential units, which will be housed in five towers. Foundation work for the 66-acre, 18 million-sf development began in June 2006. 

According to Tony Dennis, executive vice president of MGM Mirage’s residential division, the expected minimum revenue from residential sales is $3 billion.

Before releasing units for sale to the general public on Tuesday, the units had been available to MGM Mirage’s executives and VIP clients and their family and friends. That word-of-mouth marketing resulted in 1,200 reservations, which required refundable deposits ranging from $10,000 to $20,000, Dennis says.

MGM Mirage released to the public for reservations three of the four planned residential developments: Vdara Condo Hotel; Veer Towers; and the Residences at Mandarin Oriental. The fourth, the Residences at the Harmon, will be released later this year.

Designed by RV Architecture LLC and Rafael Vinoly, Vdara Condo Hotel will be the only condo hotel at CityCenter. Vdara will have 1,543 residential units ranging from 500 sf to 1,850 sf. Unit pricing starts at around $500,000, which equates to $1,000 per sf for the smallest units. Amenities and services will include a luxurious spa and salon, pool with cabanas, a fitness center, a destination restaurant, 24-hour concierge service, conference and meeting facilities, in-room dining, housekeeping and valet parking.

Veer Towers--two 37-story condominium buildings--will rise from CityCenter’s retail and entertainment district. Designed by architect Helmut Jahn, the towers each will house approximately 350 units ranging from 500 sf to 2,600 sf.

Like Vdara, the asking price for the smallest units is around $1,000 per sf. Amenities include a rooftop entertainment area on each tower that includes an infinity pool, fitness center, spa, cabanas and a patio for entertaining. Each tower also will feature a private valet, a business center and clubroom for managing the day's business and social affairs, and a fitness center and steam room.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Residences will consist of 227 condos atop a 400-room hotel. Similar to the condo hotel, residents will have access to all the amenities of the hotel. The residential units will range from 1,000 sf to 3,900 sf; pricing for the smallest units starts at $1,500 per sf. The designer of the Mandarin is KPF Architects.

Similarly, the Harmon Hotel & Residences, which has not yet been released for reservations, will consist of 228 residences above a 400-room hotel. Foster and Partners is the architect. Residential units will range in size from 800 sf to 4,200 sf. Pricing has not yet been announced.

MGM Mirage is pursuing the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for CityCenter. To that end, CityCenter will utilize reclaimed water and on-site power generation.

Project CityCenter is one of two major redevelopment projects that will transform the area around Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road.  For more information on Project CityCenter, go to www.condohotelcenter.com/condo-hotels/featured-properties/mgm-city-center.htm.

In between the Bellagio and CityCenter, a partnership led by developer Ian Bruce Eichner is developing the Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino, a $2-billion mixed-use project.

The Cosmopolitan will include 3,000 hotel and condominium units, a 75,000-sf casino, 300,000 sf of retail, an 1,800-seat theater, 150,000 sf of meeting space, multiple night clubs, a five-acre “beach club” and a 3,800-space underground parking garage.

The four-million-sf development is scheduled to open in September 2008. The retail component will front in Las Vegas Boulevard.  For more information on The Cosmopolitan, go to http://www.condohotelcenter.com/condo-hotels/featured-properties/cosmo.htm.