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Realty CheckBy: Caryn StevensA Touch of Urban |
Time was when living over a store was a last resort. Now choosy buyers are seeking shelter over storefronts, and mixed-use projects from Fort Myers to Naples are coming off the drawing board to satisfy them.
Old Naples has always had over-store opportunities in its vintage buildings—cooking maven Doris Reynolds once dwelt in a fabulous store-topping flat—but Bayfront’s riverside village expanded the concept more recently, and now the landscape teems with opportunity.
First Street Village, just south of the Edison-Ford property, is tantalizingly close to Fort Myers’ most popular haunts. The phased development of 140,000 square feet of office and retail space will have 181 of 356 units over storefronts. A Publix, along with other retail stores and townhomes on West First Street, should be complete by the end of the year, with a second residential phase beginning in 2008. Prices start in the $500,000s.
"We’ve found that around the country mixed-use developments have had very strong acceptance," says Cheryl Yano, director of marketing for Cameratta Properties, which is building First Street Village. "With all of the development in downtown Fort Myers, there are a lot of high-rises being built. But not everyone wants to live [in a 20-story high-rise]," she says. "[Mixed-use communities] offer new condominium, luxury living, but in a more urban style that might appeal to more people."
Yano says the retail-residential lifestyle appeals to both young professionals and empty nesters. "It’s a place where you never really have to get in your car," she says. "Everything is right around the corner from where you live."
The D’Jamoos Group’s São Grato promises Brazilian flair for its 15 buildings and 152 over-store condominium units (224 total) in north Naples. Prices start in the $300,000s. São Grato is the patron saint of flowers, and there’ll be plenty embellishing nearly 127,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space that once housed the H.M. Buckley & Sons wholesale nursery.
Mercato will blend 175 coach homes, townhomes and condos with almost half a million square feet of retail and office space. The Strada is the condo-over-store sector. A hotel and cineplex are planned for the 53 acres located off U.S. 41 North, one and a half miles from Vanderbilt Beach. Prices start in the $500,000s.
Closer to swanky Fifth Avenue South, Renaissance Village will have 300 units priced from $750,000. In addition to shops, restaurants and off-site yacht club access, the property is slated to host Florida Gulf Coast University’s 350-seat performing arts hall.
Wish you could live at the mall? The Residences at Coconut Point will have 82 of its 290 units over storefronts in the southeast quadrant of the regional mall located on U.S. 41 in Estero. Prices start at $340,000 for units in three-story buildings that might host Victoria’s Secret or an Apple store. At press time, five of eight planned buildings had already sold out.
MODELS WE LOVE
Villa fanciers will appreciate the regal look and elegant features of the
Valencia, a furnished two-story model in Serafina at WCI’s Tiburón in north Naples. Design Group West composed a coastal Mediterranean style and an airy feel with spa tones and soft colors for the three-bedroom, four-and-one-half-bath plan that has 3,586 square feet under air and 4,804 total square feet.At ground level are a great room, den/study, dining room, master suite, two guest suites, elevator, loggia, summer kitchen, pool and spa. Above are a club room, open balcony, loft and bath. The furnished price is $2,091,655.
WCI also recently finished 10 furnished models designed to enchant a wide range of residents at Castella, an enclave of 72 units in three four-per-floor mid-rises at the Colony Golf & Bay Club in Bonita Springs.
Jinx McDonald Designs’ cool colors complement the dark wood furniture in
Casa 1101, a three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath plan with 2,665 square feet under air, and 3,225 total square feet at a $1,329,000 price.An Asian/Zen mood is expressed in clean, contemporary lines and silver leaf designs hand-painted on the ceilings of
Casa 1102. The color scheme chosen by the Antonacci Group is cream, green, teal and black. The two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath plus den/third bedroom plan with 2,373 square feet of living space, and 2,911 total square feet is priced at $1.1 million.Gary David Designs’ furnished
Casa 1104, a 2,665-square-foot floor plan with 3,225 total square feet, has subtle contemporary and oriental themes accented with burnt sienna and black. The three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath model is priced at $1,329,000.Among Robb & Stucky’s seven Castella displays is
Casa 1201, a design reminiscent of a classic apartment on New York City’s Upper East Side. Rich, bold colors offset by crème fraîche walls and mocha accents embellish a floor plan with 2,665 square feet under air and 3,225 total square feet, including three bedrooms and three and a half baths. The home is priced at $1,250,000.COMMUNITIES WE LOVE
Is it the Tuscan countryside, or a rural encampment of elegant homes in northern Collier County? No passport needed; it’s the latter, where reservations are open for
Arezzo coach homes at Tuscany Reserve.Sited on a cul-de-sac and limited to 15 Tuscan-theme, four-unit buildings, the homes have lake and golf course views, two garages and a choice of two three-bedroom and two-bath floor plans ranging from approximately 1,740 to 2,597 square feet under air. Pricing is expected to start in the high $600s. Residents will have a neighborhood pool and spa. WCI’s
molto Italiano community includes a planned, multilevel, 34,000-square-foot clubhouse, a golf studio, concierge services and planned tennis courts.A new batch of condo owners is settling in at Miromar Lakes Beach & Golf Club, Estero, with the conclusion of construction on the sold-out, second mid-rise in
Mirasol. Closings began in January for 50 units that began in the $700,000s.The newbies dwell in five stories over ground-level parking and in five floor plans with three-bedroom, three-bath, den and three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath, den designs. Air-conditioned living space ranges from 2,037 to 2,790 square feet.
The complex is planned for up to 210 units in four buildings that will share a pool and spa overlooking the community’s 200-acre Lake Como. Eight docks that can accommodate powerboats up to 23 feet in length are also available, and owners have access to housekeeping and room service provided by Miromar Lakes.
Mirasol I opened last April. Mirasol III units, starting at $805,000, are now being marketed, bolstered by the potent attractions of the community’s 700 acres of lakes and beach, pool, boating and golf amenities.
Correction: The photo on page 218 of February’s Realty Check was identified incorrectly. It was a photo of Azure at Bonita Bay.
