Downtown St Petersburg
What’s the right price for a condo in downtown St Petersburg Florida?
February 26th, 2010 categories: 400 Beach, Downtown St Petersburg, Signature Place
St Petersburg Florida skyline and condos
Finding the right price for a downtown condo in StP etersburg is an interesting process. Here are two different approaches happening right now:
SignatureP lace is a 244 unit condo that began closings last June. Approximately 100 condos had sold by the end of the year. Individual unit sales are on hold as it’s been announced that 35 units are being auctioned on March 7th. It’s an absolute auction, with a minimum bid on each of the units. Minimums range from $135,000 to $400,000+. Once those are sold, over half of the units in the building will have been sold. We’re assuming that the auction prices will determine the sale prices on the remaining units. In the last couple of weeks thousands of people have visited Signature Place to look at the condos.
400 Beach had 18 units (out of approximately 100 since the others had already sold) that were part of a foreclosure of Opus South, which had used these units to cross collateralize another project. Speculation continued for some months after the foreclosure sale. Last week the lender announced prices on these 18 units. 10 went to contract in the last 9 days and today they raised the prices on the remaining 8 units by 10%.
This shows that there are indeed buyers out there, ready and able to buy – they just want to find the right price.
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Chihuly on Beach Drive?
February 11th, 2010 categories: Downtown St Petersburg
a Chihuly glass bowl
Is Chihuly coming to Beach Drive? This morning when I passed 400 Beach on my way to the Vinoy, I saw a large dumpster on Beach Drive, in front of the retail space on Beach Drive. A dumpster is often the first sign of construction activity.
Later FoxNews reported that the Morean Arts Center had leased 10,000 sq ft of space at 400 Beach. Morean Arts Center had previously announced a Chihuly gallery to be located on Central Avenue as part of their expansion plan. Though construction plans there have halted, their plans for Chihuly never died. It’s reasonable speculation that this spaced is leased for Chihuly – a grand addition to Beach Drive.
The Museum of Fine Arts had a Chihuly exhibit in 2003 attracted 180,000 visitors to Beach Drive in just 4 months. People were lined up along the park waiting to get in.
Welcome to Beach Drive in downtown St Petersburg Dale Chihuly and the Morean Arts Center.
By the way – if you have an iGoogle home page and like Chihuly, google has 3 Chihuly banners you can choose from.
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Good Night Moon
January 6th, 2010 categories: Downtown St Petersburg
Good Night Moon linens in downtown St Petersburg
Good Night Moon was another destination on yesterday’s Mother Daughter Morning. In the photo at the left you see Tami chatting with Diane Lyle, who owns Good Night Moon. After ten years, this linens boutique has moved around the block from Beach Drive to 205 1st St NE and we wanted to visit Diane and her new location. We found the expected hospitality, and lovely displays of upscale linens. Good Night Moon is also a baby boutique and a great place to shop for gifts, whether for baby or grownups. We hope that the new downtown condo owners will find their way to Good Night Moon at their new location.
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Ovation Penthouse Sale
January 4th, 2010 categories: Downtown St Petersburg, Ovation
Ovation luxury condos in downtown St Petersburg Florida
To cap off 2009, buyers closed on a penthouse at Ovation for $4,200,000. This was the highest sale price for a condo in 2009, according to the Pinellas Realtor Organization. Kudos to JMC and to the buyers of the Ovation penthouse. It’s interesting that the next two highest condo sales in 2009, between $3 Million and $4 Million, were also JMC construction, at the Sandpearl on Clearwater Beach.
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Celebrate First Night in downtown St Petersburg
December 31st, 2009 categories: Downtown St Petersburg, Events
Fireworks in downtown St Petersburg
Celebrate First Night tonight in downtown St. Petersburg. For the 17th time, downtown St Petersburg has lots of fun planned – musical events, fireworks, restaurant specials – you can check out the whole First Night schedule online. Enjoy the downtown waterfront and all the parks, and see why so many people choose to live downtown.
Several downtown condos are great spots to view the fireworks and see the activities. Live at Vinoy Place, 400 Beach, Parkshore Plaza, Cloisters, Ovation, Florencia or Bayfront Towers? Great views. If you don’t live there, we can help.
ALVA International will be closing their downtown St Pete office on Beach Drive at noon today for a long New Year’s weekend. We’re available by appointment, though, so just call our office at (727) 898-2582.
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Fernando Botero bronzes come to the Museum of Fine Arts
December 21st, 2009 categories: Downtown St Petersburg
A Botero Bronze at the Museum of Fine Arts St Petersburg Florida
The Simms Team looked out our window this afternoon and saw this bronze statue being installed. This is a bronze by Fernando Botero, and is part of an exhibition coming to the Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St Petersburg Florida, The Baroque World of Fernando Botero, which will be here January 9 – April 4, 2010. The exhibit will have 100 works of art, including bronzes and paintings, culled from the private collection of Fernando Botero, a Colombian artist living in Medellin.
When you visit the exhibition, please stop in and say hello to The Simms Team at ALVA International, Inc. across the street at 238 Beach Drive NE. If you decide you’d like to live closer to everything going on in St Pete, remember that the Simms Team can help you with all your real estate needs.
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Marine Science Hub in St Petersburg
December 20th, 2009 categories: Downtown St Petersburg
SRI officially opened its new waterfront building this week. Just a couple of months ago Draper Labs opened their St Petersburg facility. They predict more high tech companies will be moving to this area. Both of these companies concentrate on turning university research and patents into commercially successful projects. These are the companies I was mentioning to my grandson, Matthew, at dinner recently, when he asked, “Which is more important, intelligence or creativity?”
There should be a marine monument to Dr. Peter Betzer, former dean of St Petersbuyrg’s College of Marine Science. Back in 1998 the US Geological Survey (USGS) opened in St Petersburg, largely due to Dr Betzer’s efforts. That led to the Florida Integrated Science Center, combining USF, USGS and state and national marine groups. One goal was to spur many satellite companies in the marine industry. SRI and Draper are certainly products of that goal, and we welcome them to St Pete. St Petersburg is a wonderful place for a marine sciences and labs hub.
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Google names The Simms Team at ALVA International a Favorite Place!
December 18th, 2009 categories: Downtown St Petersburg, News and Views
Google Maps Favorite Place for ALVA International Inc real estate
Google named The Simms Team at ALVA International a Favorite Place. This week google began distributing Favorite Place window stickers to 100,000 of the most popular business in its database. When you see this sticker in our window at 238 Beach Drive NE or in any other business window, you can use a code-scanning application on your phone to look up that business – the hours, company information, photos, web site, phone number and more – and either save it on your phone or e-mail it to a friend. Google has blogged about this new way to window shop.
Here’s where you can see the listing for The Simms Team at ALVA International. It includes a place where you can write a review of your experience with the Simms Team and ALVA.
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Christmas at the marina in St Petersburg
December 12th, 2009 categories: Downtown St Petersburg, Lifestyle
Snowman at St Pete Yacht Club marina
We had lunch at the St Pete Yacht Club today, taking friends there to see the fabulous Christmas decorations. Every year they have trees and decorations everywhere you look – lining the halls, in each of the dining rooms.
Our table was beside the window and we had a view of the marina. We really enjoyed looking at this Snowman, hanging from one of the boats (yes, when I went out to look, it was on Spindra.) Christmas can be fun in Florida.
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hermanHOME opens at Baywalk
December 11th, 2009 categories: Downtown St Petersburg
Ed Biggs of hermanHOME
hermanHOME has opened at Baywalk in downtown St Petersburg. Located in the former Being store, the new hermanHOME is a delight for the eyes. Tonight was their soft opening, with champagne and beignets. Ed Biggs and his pleasant, helpful staff were there this evening to greet guests, pointing out their favorites among the varied furnishings. There were things to please both the contemporary furniture lovers and those who prefer more traditional items as well as many things to capture those with eclectic tastes. The owners, Ed Biggs and Steve Herman have collaborated on many projects, have made excellent contacts over the last decades and are passing on savings to their customers by eliminating the middlemen. I particularly liked some of the small scaled groupings which would be perfect for some of the new downtown condos.
In addition to the home furnishings, lighting, accessories and artwork, Ed shared with me that they have complete interior design services and offer staging services as well.
hermanHOME at Baywalk
Visit hermanHOME at BayWalk and share the knowledge and excitement of Ed Biggs and his helpful associates – they’re just down the new alley from ALVA International, Inc.
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