Million-dollar babies

The long condo drought in Southwest Florida is finally coming to an end, good news for the high-rise construction industry.

Here's proof: Many new condos are coming out with sky-high prices, which reflects strong demand in the market after years without new inventory.

Consider WCI Communities, one of the most the prolific condo builders before the downturn. Prices at its first project in years, Altaira at The Colony Golf & Bay Club in Bonita Springs, start at $1 million.

WCI is not alone in starting luxury condo projects in the region.

At Kalea Bay in north Naples, developer Richard Corace says he's confident buyers will pay $1.75 million on average for a condo. And Ronto Group plans to sell condos priced between $1 million and $3 million at Seaglass, a 120-condo tower at Bonita Bay in Bonita Springs.

And there's more to come.

For example, on a conference call with analysts recently, WCI executives say they plan to build more condo towers inside existing communities such as The Colony.

In a transcript of the call posted on SeekingAlpha.com, WCI Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Russell Devendorf says the company has already met 50% of its presale goal for Altaira — even though it won't start construction until the third quarter.

In the same call, WCI President and CEO Keith Bass says there's room for two more condo towers at The Colony. And he says the company is considering condos inside other undisclosed communities, and it is scouting sites on the east coast, north of Miami.