Developers basking in condo sales
Condo living, ocean
views sought after
By Earl Daniels
Times-Union business writer
Geoff and Karen
Heekin had always dreamed of owning a home by the ocean.
Their dream is now a reality.
The Heekins bought an oceanfront condominium in November at the
new Oceania in Jacksonville Beach.
They discovered they could buy a new condo for about the same
amount, $400,000, as a unit in one of the older buildings.
For now, the condo is their second home. The couple and their
three children have stayed overnight in it four times. The family's
house in the St. Nicholas area of Jacksonville, where Beach and
Atlantic boulevards split, is still home.
The Heekins are a part of a new wave of condo owners who are
settling into their shoreline digs. They are the proof that there
are people who are willing to pay anywhere from $400,000 to $2.36
million for a low-maintenance oceanfront condo lifestyle in
Jacksonville Beach.
More condo developers are realizing this and are combing every
block of beachfront land and old buildings in search of a place to
build. Rumors continue that additional ritzy oceanfront condos are
on the way.
This development will continue to change the image of the beach
from a tourist destination to a place where more people want to live
or own a second residence.
Seven condo buildings are being developed or planned at
Jacksonville Beach. Two weeks ago, officials at LandMar Group Inc.
of Jacksonville indicated they have a piece of land under contract
to develop the WaterMark, a second condo complex for the company.
City officials and real estate observers also say there are
rumors about developers who are interested in buying any one of the
large oceanfront hotels to develop into condos.
'Bullish' market
Oceanfront condos are in high demand.
That has not always been the situation.
"I would have thought you were crazy to say that people would
have paid that much for a condo," said Steve Lindorff, director of
planning and development for Jacksonville Beach. "It is good
economic development."
|
|
Karen and Geoff
Heekin recently bought a seventh-floor Oceania condo in
Jacksonville Beach with a view of the Atlantic Ocean.
-- Will Dickey/Staff
|
City officials
have attracted condo developers without having to offer financial
incentives, as has been done for residential projects in downtown
Jacksonville.
"We have the biggest incentive in Duval County and that is the
Atlantic Ocean," Lindorff said. "When developers say, 'Do you have
any economic development incentives?' We just point them to the
east."
Realtor Mark Werner in Jacksonville Beach has witnessed the
demand for condos.
"About 20 years ago, it seemed like you could not even give them
away when they were selling for $120,000," Werner said.
But contrary to those days, Werner recalls what happened on May
9, 1999, when he received a telephone call at home from the owners
of the former Eastwinds Hotel. The hotel was going to become the
site of a new midrise condo building.
"They said, 'Get over here. People are here to buy,'" Werner
said. "There were probably 10 to 13 buyers for the proposed 16-unit
building. And this was just a dream, a plan. So, I put on my shorts
and tennis shoes and set up a sales stand. It was like a lemonade
stand. It was wild."
Before it was over, Werner said he had signed up eight buyers who
put down $10,000 deposits.
"They had their money with them, or they went home and got it.
This is just a reflection of the pent-up demand. We probably could
have sold that building twice."
Werner recalls one condo buyer whose $500,000 contract to buy a
unit at Eastwinds was bought by another person for $750,000.
"At that point, I came to the conclusion of what kind of demand
there is for condos," he said.
The sales of the new condos are brisk. Most of the condos that
are being built already are sold.
Traditionally, condos stay on the market for 30 days, which is a
relatively short period for such property, said Werner, who owns
Realty Management Corp. in Jacksonville Beach.
"The condo market is bullish," he said.
The swift sales and available land caused LandMar to plan the
second development.
LandMar Group officials are preparing to build somewhat of a
mirror-image of the LandMark Condominiums, a 44-unit condo
development at 1331 First St., according to Roger Postlethwaite,
chief operating officer at LandMar.
Postlethwaite said LandMar officials are mum about the specific
plans for the second project.
"We are pleasantly surprised and pleased with the success of the
LandMark," he said. So far, 41 of 44 units priced from $489,000 to
$1.3 million have been sold.
Condo owners are buying without seeing a finished model.
That was the case with the Heekins and Bob and Rea Fleckenstein.
Two weeks ago, the Fleckensteins closed on their new condo at the
eight-story Eastwinds, a smaller condo community with 16 units, two
units per floor.
The couple bought their penthouse condo, priced at $595,000, 1
1/2 years ago.
|
|
The LandMark in
Jacksonville Beach is under construction, while Oceania
condominiums (left) just north of the LandMark are already
occupied.
-- Bruce Lipsky/Staff
|
Like the Heekins,
the Fleckensteins plan to keep their primary house in Mandarin and
use the 2,350-square-foot condo as a retreat or getaway residence.
Lindorff said condo owners, like the Fleckensteins and the
Heekins, and the buildings they live in, will change the
characteristics of the beach.
Rising values
Property values will increase, and so will property taxes.
"That is an urban phenomenon, but we are not unique from any
other place," Lindorff said. "There are situations across the
country where this has happened."
Some property owners may be forced to sell because of rising
property taxes caused by more expensive real estate development.
Those affected are the ones who live on fixed incomes and owners of
older rental units.
"Throughout the Beaches area, the real estate values are getting
to the point where there are affordability issues," he said.
Lindorff said he is experiencing the impact of rising property
values.
He said he could not afford to build a new house for the same
size and price as the one he and his wife now live in.
"Our desire is to stay at the beach, so we decided to invest in
our existing house," he said.
"From a city standpoint, we are not surprised that this is
happening, but we are concerned about the availability of affordable
housing," Lindorff said. "We are somewhat at a loss about what we
should do. We can not reverse this upward trend if it happens
naturally."
Developers have not been stymied by a height restriction imposed
in 1999 on condo buildings by the Jacksonville Beach City Council.
Lindorff said based on the height code, an 11- to 13-story
building is about as high as developers can go. The code allows for
about 40 units per acre.
"This keeps the density at a respectable level," Lindorff said.
"We think we balanced the regulation as much as we can."
What will follow
The condo residents, many empty-nesters or young professionals,
are not expected to place an extra demand on city services,
including schools.
|
|
High above
Jacksonville Beach Kirill Nikiforov works on the roof of the
LandMark.
-- Bruce Lipsky/Staff
|
"Most of these
people won't put large numbers of children in schools," Lindorff
said. "It is a low-maintenance population."
City officials expect condo development to attract new stores and
restaurants as retailers want to move closer to those with large
amounts of discretionary income.
"I think that is a real strong possibility. We don't have a
strong retail component in our city," Lindorff said. "Retail tends
to follow heads in beds as opposed to leading."
The Heekins, the new oceanfront condo owners, are satisfied with
the close proximity of stores and restaurants.
"The beach is slammed with restaurants," Karen Heekin said.
She said a short drive to Marsh Landing will meet the family's
grocery needs.
Geoff Heekin said they will see how the condo fits into the
family's lifestyle because the couple does not want to move the
children out of their present schools and sports leagues.
"We have spent a significant amount of time setting up the
condo," he said.
Perhaps during spring break the family will have a chance to
spend a few more nights in the seventh-floor condo facing the beach
to watch a few sunrises from a point where the sky appears to meet
the ocean.
Karen Heekin said they might rent the condo, which has
appreciated from $400,000 to $450,000, for the short term and
analyze if they want to keep it.
At least for now, the Heekins are satisfied with their St.
Nicholas house, where they are raising Kacey, 9, Karly, 7, and
Geoffrey, 5.
"The children love the condo," said Karen Heekin. "They wish we
could go there more often."
"It has always been my dream to live at the beach," she said.
Business writer Earl Daniels can be reached at (904)
359-4689 or via e-mail at edaniels.
