Top 30 Deals

Top 30 Deals

Tampa

1. Trump Tower Tampa

Donald Trump kicked off the year with the announcement he was partnering with local developer SimDag-RoBEL LLC to build a 52-story luxury waterfront condominium tower in downtown Tampa.

Trump says it will be the "greatest building in Florida."

The $220 million project attracted the expected firestorm of media attention. "The Donald" in Tampa: Who would have thought?

Well, Trump isn't one to pass up a chance to capitalize on his name and make money. When SimDag-RoBEL called, he answered. His building, at 593 feet, is expected to be the tallest on Florida's west coast. And there's already a Trump tower in South Florida.

The 190 units, priced from $700,000 to more than $5.5 million, sold quickly. People from all over the world, including 40 other countries, have reservations or backup reservations for the units.

Site work has begun, but the developer has not yet received a building permit. Projected completion: 2007.

The development was designed by Tampa's Smith Barnes Santiesteban Architecture Inc. The Toni Everett Co. is handling sales.

2. Vanguard, Nautico, Tamarind and The Edge

Developer Frank Maggio of First Dartmouth Development LLC plans to build four condominium projects, including 900 or so condos, a marina and retail development, in St. Petersburg.

A city board gave three projects, with a combined value of $500 million, conditional zoning approval in September.

Maggio plans to build two 28-story towers at 434 Fourth St. N. in downtown St. Petersburg, three buildings, with 470 boat slips, at 5965 31st St. S., a 10-floor condo-retail development at 950 Central Ave. and a mixed-use tower at 300 Fourth Ave. S. Prices range from $200,000 to $2 million.

The Tamarind would include Maggio's Urban Market on the street level. Through an automated system, the store would place food in residents' pantry.

3. Westshore Beach Club

The Westshore Beach Club is one of the proposed developments expected to transform South Tampa. The Motta Group, headed by Fort Lauderdale developer Jim Motta, and Walton Street Capital paid $125 million in April for the Georgetown Apartments on 162 acres at West Fair Oaks Avenue and South West Shore Boulevard.

The partnership, which paid $772,000 an acre, plans to raze the buildings and build 1,200 waterfront condominiums.

4. SkyPoint

Downtown Tampa's first residential high-rise is going up. Atlanta-based Novare Group Holdings LLC and Tampa's intowngroup broke ground in June on a 32-story, 380-unit condominium tower at 777 Ashley Drive.

The one- and two-bedroom units are priced from $170,000s to $400,000s, and the project will feature about 10,000 square feet of street-level retail shops. Although retail tenants have not yet been announced.

SkyPoint's general contractor is R.J. Griffin, and the architect is The Preston Partnership, Atlanta. It is being marketed by Smith & Associates Realtors, Tampa.

Projected completion: first quarter 2007.

5. Acqua at the Downtown Plaza

Developer Elias Jafif's plan to build a $200 million-plus project for downtown Clearwater received initial city approval in November.

Proposed is what would be the city's tallest building, a 33-story bending glass condominium tower, a 10- to 12-screen movie theater and 43,500 square feet of restaurant and retail space. The four-acre project would be at Osceola Avenue and Cleveland Street.

Baker Barrios Architects of Orlando designed the project, which has a tentative completion date of summer 2007. The tower will include residential units with waterside views, cafes, retail outlets and a theater complex.

6. South Tampa Cove Apartments

An affiliate of the Ballast Point Group paid $61 million in August for the 25-acre South Tampa Cove Apartments.

The partnership of James Chadwick, Bruce Keene and Steve Sembler intends to demolish the 50 buildings at 4003 S. West Shore Blvd. to build a new condominium community. The partnership paid about $2.44 million an acre for the waterfront site. That's one of the heftiest per acre prices paid for South Tampa property.

Founded in 1998, the partnership has strong ties to St. Petersburg's Sembler Co., a retail development company founded by Mel Sembler, the U.S. ambassador to Italy.

7. 400 Beach Drive

Opus South Development LLC completed the $18 million purchase of 2.14 acres in July to build a luxury 29-story condominium tower at 400 Beach Drive in downtown St. Petersburg.

The Mediterranean, mostly glass design will feature restaurants and shops on the street level. Residential features include a heated swimming pool, health spa, covered parking and more. Scheduled completion: December 2007

8. The Sandpearl

In August, JMC Communities began construction of the $140 million Sandpearl Resort & Residences at Clearwater Beach.

The Sandpearl Resort represents the first luxury resort development on Clearwater Beach in more than 25 years.

The 253-room hotel will feature an 11,000-square-foot spa, fitness center and beach club; 9,000 square feet of retail space along Mandalay Avenue; fine dining with views of the Gulf of Mexico; 20,000 square feet of meeting and event space; and 117 condominium homes.

All of the condominiums, which start in the $600,000 range, were sold in one day.

9. Dr. Patel's beach resort

Early in 2005, the Clearwater City Council approved Dr. Kiran Patel's $100 million hotel project for Clearwater Beach, south of the roundabout on South Gulfview Boulevard.

The 757,000-square-foot resort will be 14 stories tall and include 350 hotel-condominium units, spa facilities, a rooftop pool and meeting space.

10. Water's Edge

Opus South Corp. received initial city approval in August to build Water's Edge, a 25-story condominium tower where Calvary Baptist Church and Clearwater City Hall are now.

The 157 units are priced from $500,000 and $1 million. The developer envisions a ring of restaurants and stores around what is now the City Hall property, with offices and lofts above. The condo tower, with garage parking, would be surrounded by 10,000 square feet of retail space.

Opus needs voter approval to buy part of the city property to complete the project. A referendum is scheduled for March.

Manatee-Sarasota

1. Venice Regional Medical Center

$75 million. Early this year, Naples-based Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA) completed its purchase of 312-bed Bon Secours Venice Hospital and its land for about $75 million. The purchase was just one of three hospitals, HMA purchased from Bon Secours, which included the St. Joseph's Hospital in Port Charlotte and the St. Mary's Hospital in Norton, Va.

2. Isles of Athena

$61.6 million. In late April Palm Beach West developer Brian Tuttle, his wife Merja and 64 other investors using the corporate identity of North Port Land Investment LLLP purchased about 5,800 acres of newly annexed property in the city of North Port from South Florida Sod Inc. of Punta Gorda for $61.6 million to develop a village concept called the Isles of Athena. The development is envisioned as 15,000 residential units in a mixture of single-family homes, apartments, town homes and active-adult maintenance free products. In addition, the development plan would designate land for about 4.5 million square feet of commercial space for restaurants, offices, retail space and a movie theater.

3. Allen Investment hotels

$55.5 million. In August, Ronald and Patricia Allen of Allen Investment sold its four hotel properties to Annopolis, Md.-based Thayer Lodging Group. Thayer Lodging purchased the 146-room Holiday Inn Express in Siesta Key, the 115-room Hilton Garden Inn, the 121-room Hampton Inn on Bee Ridge Road and the 116-room AmericInn Hotel and Suites near Fruitville and Interstate 75 in Sarasota for $55.5 million.

4. Lake Club at Lakewood Ranch

$55.5 million. As part of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc.'s plans to develop the Lake Club community, SMR sold the 1,500 acres north of University Parkway and east of Lorraine Road in Lakewood Ranch to an investment group called Lake Club Investors LLC in April. Almost nothing is known about the investment group, and SMR officials declined to comment on the identity or number of investors in the group. Lake Club at Lakewood Ranch is slated to be the most upscale community in the ranch featuring lots up to an acre-and-a-half in size. The development is planned as a total of 768 detached-homes and 322 multifamily luxury condominium and coach home units.

5. Gateway Lakes

$55.5 million. In September, Florida's largest apartment condo converter Prestige Builders purchased the 358-unit Gateway Lakes apartment complex, 1000 Marlin Lakes Circle, Sarasota from New Marlin Lakes Associates LLC for $55.5 million. So far Prestige has focused exclusively on making improvement to the property rather than converting the rental properties into condominiums. The per unit cost to Prestige was $155,028.

6. Mayfair on Palmer Ranch

$46.6 million. In October, Parkland Management Corp. purchased the 248-unit Mayfair Apartment complex in Palmer Ranch from RFC MPR LLC for $46.6 million. The Mayfair is one of five apartment complexes built in Palmer Ranch, and all five of them have changed owners. The Mayfair's purchase price, which equals out to $187,702 per unit, sets a new standard for the price per unit for apartment property in Palmer Ranch.

7. Columns at Cortez

$46.3 million. In March, Highland, Ind.-based Precision Development purchased the 450-unit Columns at Cortez apartment complex from Manatee Columns Ltd.

David VanDyke, owner of Precision Development, was introduced to the property by his father-in-law, who lives in Bradenton. VanDyke renamed the complex the Palms of Cortez. VanDyke says that all the units in the development have since been sold.

8. Citation Club in Palmer Ranch

$44.3 million. Miami Lakes-based Prestige Builders Partners LLC purchased the 320-unit Citation Club in Palmer Ranch. This was the third apartment complex in Palmer Ranch that Prestige Builders Partners purchased. The company purchased and converted the Savoy at Palmer Ranch, Camden at Palmer Ranch to condominiums. The per unit Citation Club purchase price works out to $138,438, which makes it the most expensive per-unit price paid by Prestige for property in Palmer Ranch.

9. Camden at Palmer Ranch

$41.5 million. In February, Prestige Builders Partners LLC purchased the Camden at Palmer Ranch apartment complex from Pennsauken, N.J.-based Crocker Group Ltd. Partnership. The company has since renamed the 432-unit complex Vintage Grand. Currently it is 60% sold. The per-unit purchase price for the complex was $96,000.

10. Mainstreet at Bradenton

$38 million. Fort Lauderdale-based Tarragon Realty Investors purchased the 252-unit Mainstreet at Bradenton riverfront apartment complex from USA Bradenton 1-21 LLC for $38 million. The development is in one of the fastest-growing sections of the city. The purchased price was $150,794 per unit.

Lee-Collier

1. Babcock Ranch

In July, a joint venture between Morgan Stanley and West Palm Beach developer Kitson & Partners agreed to buy Babcock Florida Co., owner of the 91,000-acre Babcock Ranch that straddles rural Charlotte and Lee counties. That's 143 square miles.

Although neither side has disclosed the purchase price, observers say the price tag on the deal is close to $700 million. That's $7,692 per acre. The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2006.

Kitson plans to sell the state 74,000 acres of conservation land for $350 million, or $4,763 per acre. The developer plans to keep the remaining 17,000 acres on the southwest corner of the ranch to develop a 19,500-home residential community.

2. Southwest Florida International

Expect more than a boom in passengers after the airport opened the new 798,000-square-foot terminal in September and welcomed Southwest Airlines.

The airport plans to tear down the old terminal and develop the site for aviation-related business. It's going to call the site Skyplex Commercial Center. In addition, the airport plans to develop 100 acres of land it controls on Daniels and Paul Doherty parkways.

3. Ave Maria Town

The Barron Collier Cos. started construction in April on the massive 5,000-acre Ave Maria development 15 miles east of Naples. The first phase of the joint project between Barron Collier and Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan will include a new Catholic University for 650 students and with 12 buildings, including dormitories. The town center will include 75,000 square feet of shops under 70 condominiums and 20,000 square feet of offices. Pulte Homes plans to start building the first of more than 8,000 homes at Ave Maria in 2006.

4. Hendry County developments

Bonita Springs-based residential developer Bonita Bay Group acquired thousands of acres in LaBelle and Clewiston to pave the way for inland development. In LaBelle, Bonita Bay Group agreed to buy 4,700 acres of citrus groves over two decades from the Bob Paul family. In Clewiston, the developer bought 502 acres from U.S. Sugar Corp. for the town's first master-planned community.

5. Coconut Point

Mall giant Simon Property Group is developing a 482-acre mall and residential development in Estero in South Lee County. The $267 million project, which is scheduled to open in October 2006, will have 1.2 million square feet of shops and restaurants spread out through three shopping districts called The Village, The Lakefront and The Market. Meanwhile, Simon plans to spend $10 million to renovate Edison Mall in Fort Myers, originally built in 1965 near U.S. 41 and Colonial Boulevard.

6. Gulf Coast Town Center

The first 412,000 square feet of what will eventually be a 1.7-million-square-foot open-air mall opened in south Lee County early November with tenants such as SuperTarget and Babies "R" Us. Developed by a joint venture of The Richard Jacobs Group of Cleveland and CBL & Associates of Chattanooga, Tenn., the mall's second phase will measure 1 million square feet and include tenants such as JCPenney, Bass Pro Shops and Best Buy. Phase Two is scheduled to open in the fall of 2006.

7. Renaissance Village, Naples Bay

Naples developer Jack Antaramian plans to tear down a failed shopping center on Goodlette-Frank Road in downtown Naples. In its place, Antaramian plans to build 300 condominiums, 205,000 square feet of offices and 60,000 square feet of shops. The Renaissance Center development also will include a 300-seat performing arts center.

8. First Street Village

Downtown Fort Myers' revitalization efforts will get a boost from Cleveland-based Cameratta Properties when it starts building First Street Village in the spring of 2006. The $200 million project on West First Street will include a Publix-anchored shopping center with 98,000 square feet of shops. The 12.5-acre development also will include 356 condos starting in the $400,000 price range and 38,000 square feet of office space.

The City of Fort Myers provided Cameratta with $18 million in financial incentives.

9. Florida Gulf Coast University

FGCU continues to grow rapidly. A $17 million, 85,000-square-foot library will be completed in June 2006 and construction of Academic Five, a 45,000-square-foot administration and classroom building, is scheduled to be completed in February.

10. South Seas Island Resort

After being destroyed by Hurricane Charley in 2004, Meristar Hospitality Corp. of Arlington, Va., is pumping $140 million to bring the Captiva Island resort back to life. The 600-room resort will reopen Jan. 16, but amenities such as the pool and the golf course won't be ready until April or May 2006.

Also, five of the eight restaurants will open in January.

Meanwhile, Meristar has put its other properties on nearby Sanibel Island on the market for sale.

These include the Best Western Sanibel Island, Sanibel Inn, Seaside Inn, Song of the Sea, Sundial Beach Resort and The Dunes Golf and Tennis Club.