Water Club construction starts, Kolter plans big

After halting development during the recession, The Kolter Group is returning in a big way.

The West Palm Beach-based real estate investment firm and homebuilder has started development along the Gulf Coast again with Water Club condominiums on St. Petersburg's Snell Isle. The $30 million construction project will create two nine-story towers with 84 condominiums and 11 two-story townhomes with two-car garages. The waterfront units will range in size from 1,863 to 2,108 square feet and start in the $500,000s. Located at 1325 Snell Isle Blvd. N.E., the community will feature a fitness center, swimming pool and open-air palazzo.

Bob Vail, president of Kolter Urban, says recent trends in the region spurred them to move forward after buying the property seven years ago. “We've been tracking that market for about two years and feel now is the time,” Vail says. The developer is scheduled to deliver the project by summer 2014.

The project will be The Kolter Group's second real estate condominium project since the crash. It recently completed the 34-unit, six-story 4001 North Ocean condominium in the Delray Beach area.

According to Vail, The Kolter Group is performing a preliminary zoning review with the city of Sarasota to develop the three-acre commercial parcel it owns at U.S. 41 and Gulf Stream Avenue in downtown Sarasota. The company spent $40 million on the land in 2005, but backed off developing the 17-story Grande Sarasotan condominium in early 2007 citing low demand. Vail says Kolter expects to break ground on that project in a year.

The Kolter Group also has ambitions to grow on the single-family side. Late last year it purchased all the unsold developer-owned real estate in the Verandah community in Fort Myers from Bonita Bay Group.