Coming soon: new JMC condo in downtown St Pete

Welcome and congratulations, JMC. We’re delighted to see you moving forward on your latest project in downtown St Petersburg.

This sign was up this morning at the corner of 4th Avenue NE and Rowland Ct NE (between 1st St NE and Beach Drive NE). The existing building will be moved to make room for the new structure.  It’s wonderful to see JMC offering more urban living homes in downtown St Pete.

The web site listed on the sign is only a registration form, at this point. The form does not have a space for you to fill in your Realtor if you’re working with one or choose to have one.  If you want Buyer Representation on your purchase,  please contact The Simms Team by email or phone (727) 898-2582 and we can register you. If you don’t know all the advantages of having a buyer’s agent when you purchase new construction, we’ll be happy to share the benefits with you.  Do remember – it doesn’t cost you any more to have an agent on your side.

Waterfront Park Co-op

What’s the difference between a condo and a co-op? The simplistic answer is that with a condo you own your unit plus a share in the common elements. You can take out a mortgage on your unit and only you are responsible for that mortgage. With a co-op, the co-op owns the building and you own a share in the co-op – so everyone would be affected financially if there were a mortgage default. In either situation, you’d pay a monthly fee for your share of costs.

New York City has a lot of co-ops, often costing many millions of dollars for a unit. You may have read about co-ops turning down famous people because they felt the publicity would be disruptive.

In St Petersburg, there are very few co-ops, but we do have them. For example, Waterfront Park, a building restricted to those 55 and older, is a co-op in downtown St Pete. There are currently three units available for sale, two 1 bedroom units for $60,000 and $80,000 and one 2 bedroom unit for $120,000.  The building is old – from the 1950s, with jalousie windows and wall/window air conditioning.

Another downtown St Pete co-op is the Flori De Leon, also for age 55 and older, built in the 1920s. In the Old Northeast.  Between 4th St and 9th St are Lake Palms and Suncoast Towers, both built in the 50s and both also age 55 and over.

Vinoy Place pool area

Vinoy Place Market Update 4-23-13

The Vinoy Place condos have had two sales so far this year, one at $850,000 and one at $1,675,000.  The average price per square foot is $401, an increase of 22% over last year’s average $/sf of $328.   The average sale this year is $1,262,500, an increase of 13% over last year’s average sale of $1,133,042.  One penthouse, listed at $2,920,000 is under contract. There are two active listings, one at $975,000 and one at $1,129,000.

Search for VINOY PLACE listings here.

Birchwood Inn, the newest old hotel in downtown St Petersburg is getting close to opening. Articles have said it will open in May – when I drove by last week and saw mattresses outside for the rooms, I knew it was close.

Chuck and Kathy Prather have been “renovating” the hotel since they bought it in 2011. They gutted it to its shell, have been rebuilding it to historic dimensions and then adding 2 stories. The boutique hotel will have 18 rooms, a restaurant and a rooftop lounge. I can’t wait to see the views from there.

The hotel was built in1924 as Lantern Lane apartment hotel. In the 1960s the Grayls purchased it and changed the name to Grayl’s Hotel. Grayl’s was given a historic designation by the city of St Pete.

We look forward to welcoming our new neighbor, Birchwood Inn.

Birchwood Inn progressing in downtown St Petersburg  11/13/12

 Hotels find rooftop bars are very popular – Birchwood Inn in St Petersburg  7/16/12

From Grayl’s to Birchwood Inn 5/14/12

Downtown

Posted with Blogsy

Vinoy Place

So far in 2013 there have been 2 condominium sales in Vinoy Place in downtown St Petersburg. A 2,600 sq ft tower unit sold for $850,000 and a 3,529 sq ft townhome sold for $1,675,000. The price per sq ft ranged from $327 to $475, with an average of $401. That’s a 22% increase in the average $/sq ft from 2012 to 2013.

There is one unit actively on the market, a 3,000 sq ft tower unit for $1,129,000. A penthouse unit with 5,359 sq ft is listed at $2,920,000 and is currently under contract.

Check VINOY PLACE CONDOS FOR SALE  here.

Search downtown St Petersburg condos for sale.

Bayfront Tower condominiums

Sales at Bayfront Tower have been brisker in the first quarter of 2013 than in the last several years (the last year with the current rate of sales was 2004). There have been 7 sales in 2013, ranging from $320,000 to $721,000. Price per square foot ranged from $261 to $328, with an average of $282/sq ft, an increase of 42% over last year. Size of units that sold this year ranged from 1,146 sq ft for a 1 bedroom unit to 2,200 sq ft for a 3 bedroom unit.

Search Bayfront Tower Condos

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Signature Place lobby

2013 is starting out as aa good year for sales in Signature Place in downtown St Petersburg. There have been 7 sales, about the same rate as sales in 2012.  Sales in 2013 have ranged from $390,000 to $625,000.  Price per square foot has ranged from $285 to $433.  None of the large units have sold in the first quarter, so there haven’t been enough sales to make overall conclusions. Well priced units are selling within days if not hours and multiple offers are not unusual.

Signature Place is one of the newest condominiums in downtown St Petersburg and is a very contemporary building with many amenities. For many people, the contemporary feel is more important than the small size of most units and the many angled walls and columns.

SEARCH FOR CONDOS FOR SALE IN SIGNATURE PLACE

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Downtown St Petersburg

What will half a million dollars buy in downtown St Petersburg? In the first quarter of 2013 the Multiple Listing System shows only three sales between $500,000 and $600,000.  Two of these were in Signature Place, one with 1,447 sq ft sold at $540,000 and another with 1,465 sq ft sold at $565,000. One city home at Parkshore Plaza with 1,686 sq ft sold at $555,000.

There is only one downtown St Pete condo listed in the $500s – a 1,686 sq ft city home at Parkshore Plaza which is listed at $575,000.

Search downtown St Petersburg condos for sale.

Broadwater Waterfront Home Sold

Broadwater waterfront home sales in St Petersburg Florida were off to a good start in January, with 3 waterfront homes sold:
3 bedroom 2 bath pool home 1,693 sq ft sold for $415,000
3 bedroom 2 bath pool home 2,200 sq ft sold for $440,000
3 bedroom 3 bath pool home 2,587 sq ft sold for $625,000   (built in 1980, vaulted ceilings, fireplace, remodeled)

There are 4 waterfront homes actively on the market in Broadwater, ranging from $389,900 to $650,000.

As for Broadwater nonwaterfront homes, there was one sale in January, a short sale for $292,500 with 4 bedrooms 2 baths a pool and 1,984 sq ft. There is one active listing, a 2 bedroom 2 bath pool home with 1,498 sq ft, offered for $225,000.

Call or email Sharon to represent you in the sale or purchase of a waterfront home in Broadwater – she’s been selling there for 20+ years and living there for over 18 years.  Sharon knows Broadwater!

SEARCH FOR BROADWATER WATERFRONT HOMES

St Petersburg Clay Company

The Warehouse Arts District had its first Sweetheart Gallery Walk yesterday. The participating artists provided a free trolley tour of the Warehouse Arts District, which runs from 1st Avenue N to 10th Avenue S, from 16th St to 31st St in St Petersburg, Florida.

The historic Seaboard Coastline railroad station is the home of St Petersburg Clay Company. There you’ll see outdoor kilns, artists studios, a gallery and retail clay supplies. Wending back through the district, you’ll find Duncan McClellan Glass. Duncan took over an old tomato packing plant (or was it a fish processing plant?) and has made a studio, gallery, hot shop and residence. Artists are moving to St. Pete.

The Warehouse Arts District (WAD) was founded in 2012 with the goal of creating a community to attract artists from all over the country to live and create in St. Petersburg. Their  motto is “Where Art is Made”. There are several arts clusters nearby with galleries and shops, but this industrial area is for noisy artists, down to the nitty gritty. The old industrial/manufacturing warehouses offer great space for large equipment. Many artists are choosing this area to work and to live.

Participating artists/venues included: Craftsman House Gallery, Nuance Galleries, Grand Central Stained Glass, Articles Gallery, St Pete Clay Company, MGA Sculpture Studio, C Glass Studio, Soft Water Studio, Duncan McClellan Glass Art Studio and Hot Shop, Zen Glass and Charlie Parker Pottery.