It seems like everywhere you turn right now there is a new tower being built. Tampa is growing upwards and towers are booming all around the Bay. 

Bayshore Tower:

After more than a decade with no new condo towers, Tampa's Bayshore Boulevard area could soon be flush with them.

A Naples-based developer today unveiled plans for Altura Bayshore, a 22-story tower at Bayshore and Bay to Bay boulevards. That brings to four the number of condo towers announced in the past few years for one of the city's prime waterfront areas. 

"It's really exciting to see everything happening in Tampa,'' said Anthony Solomon, owner of Ronto Group. "It has great energy to it now and we think it's a great time to be here.''

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Craig’s Take:
The trend continues to move toward condo developers catering to wealthy buyers.  These buyers are looking to dump their single family homes for luxury condos in order to enjoy maintenance free-living, incredible views, first-class amenities, and the walkable lifestyle. Today’s world is becoming more and more demanding and people, especially the wealthy, are always looking for ways to save time and simplify their lives. Purchasing a condo such as Altura will allow the buyer freedom from managing all the vendors necessary to maintain a large single family home. It will also allow them to enjoy amenities on site like a fitness center, spa, putting green and concierge services.  On top of the trend in the wealthy and beyond is to use their cars less and less and instead enjoy the walkable lifestyle combined with alternative transportation options. I believe this trend is only going to continue here in the Tampa Bay market
 
Bayshore hasn’t seen a new high rise built since 2007. In the past three years, we have now seen four different high rises on Bayshore Blvd either break ground or begin sales. Aquatica is a 16-story tower with 31 units. The Sanctuary is a 17-story luxury tower offering only 15 residences--one per floor. The Virage is a 25-story luxury tower offering 71 units. Altura (referenced above) is a 22-story tower with 73 units. The total number of new condo inventory going up on Bayshore will be 190. I believe if economic factors remain the same, the current demand will be more than adequate for this supply. 
 

Water Street Tampa, the $3 billion development that is poised to transform downtown Tampa over the next decade, is experiencing a flurry of activity in its planned hotel, office and retail space.

The 20-story tower at 1001 Water St. becomes the first dedicated office structure to go vertical in the city’s central business district since 1992, the year the 42-story 100 N. Tampa St. skyscraper and the 36-story SunTrust Financial Centre were completed. Together, those two buildings comprise nearly 1.1 million square feet.

SPP says the new 380,000-square-foot building, which is being constructed adjacent to the $152 million University of South Florida’s Morsani College of Medicine from a Cookfox Architects’ design, will be completed in summer 2021.

The developers of Riverwalk Place have stopped taking reservations for condos in the 50-plus story tower planned for the downtown riverfront.

A statement Friday attributed only to "Riverwalk Place'' indicated the halt was temporary and did not stem from any major problems with the project. 

"Now that the tower will be all residential, the designers are updating floorplans,'' the statement said. "Once complete, buyers can reserve those updated plans. We continue to market the project, and potential buyers have always been welcome to visit the sales center to learn all they wish.

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Craig’s Take:

As, mentioned in a previous newsletter, the developer of Riverwalk Place decided to change the original design which was a mixed-used building comprised of residential condos, offices, retail and restaurants at the bottom. The office space will be scrapped for additional residential condos due to the demand. The halt to taking new reservations was simply due to the developer needing time to work with the architect to make the necessary changes. Once the changes are complete, I believe they will begin taking reservations again. This project will the tallest residential tower on the West Coast of Florida surpassing the 41-story One St. Petersburg completed late last year. Riverwalk Place will be an anchor building for downtown Tampa. If this building is completed as planned, it will be a game changer to the downtown Highrise Condo Market for decades to come.

Downtown Tampa Tower:

The developers of the new Virage condo tower on Bayshore Boulevard are planning an even bigger project in the heart of downtown Tampa. 

The 80-unit Arris is expected to rise at the corner of Ashley Drive and Twiggs Street on what is now a surface parking lot. At 34 stories, it would be among the tallest condo towers in the Tampa Bay area. 
"Downtown Tampa has a new level of excitement and vibrancy that people across the country are noticing,'' Jay Tallman, president of Ascentia Development Group, said in a release. "Arris Tampa will be a beautiful architectural statement that adds to the downtown skyline, and residents will have world-class art, restaurants and entertainment just steps from their front door.''

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Craig’s Take:

Units will range from 1,100 to 3,700 square feet and will be priced from $600,000 to more than $2 million. This will be the first downtown high-rise condo being built since the 32-story Skypoint was built in 2007. The major difference between Skypoint and Arris is the size of the condos. The condos at Skypoint are very small in comparison. The condos at Skypoint range from 589 to 1,329 square feet with the average being around 827 square feet. Upon competition, Arris will become the tallest high-rise in downtown and the second tallest in Tampa beyond the 35-story Eleve located in the Channelside District.  Eleve is expected to break ground this year and be completed in 2021.
The plan is for Arris to break ground early next year. The building will most likely be finished within 2.5 years of the groundbreaking date.   

The Federal Open Market Committee has cut interest rates by a quarter percent, its first cut since December of 2008. Lower mortgage rates, higher wages and more homes for sale have helped counteract rising home prices, and ultimately, made it so that buyers are able to afford more than last year.  The housing market will be stronger for the rest of 2019.

“This continued decline in mortgage rates and our upwardly revised view on house price growth have led us to increase our forecast for single-family mortgage originations for the remainder of the year,” Fannie Mae said. “We now expect total originations to rise 7% from 2018 to $1.75 trillion, and we expect refinances to account for 32% of total mortgage originations in 2019, up from 29% in 2018.”

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Did you know there’s more to flooding designation than Flood Zones? 

There are around 4,000 redline properties  in Tampa. Many of them are not in a FEMA flood zone.

The city of Tampa determines redline status based on decades and decades of flooding complaints from property owners, there is not a standardized method for categorizing properties. Input is also taken from workers in the department.

To see if your property or a property you are considering buying has been redlined, click here.

To read more click here.

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