Saw this today reported at Keys Info Net.
This is right in my neighborhood and I look forward to something bright and new, shiny and bold.
As mentioned in the article, the Condo/Hotel craze never took off, (As your Conchquistador advised many of his clients to stay farrrr away from such projects)..
Just not the promised upside when you sat down and did the proverbial math.
At least, may, out of the ashes, rise a glorious new Phoenix.
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| "A" Markes the Spot of the Mentioned Property |
"Hotel Planned For Old American Outdoors Site
Property is a monument to the never-was condo/hotel era
By DAVID GOODHUE
dgoodhue@keysreporter.com
Earthmovers and other construction equipment are clearing the way
for a multi-building "boutique hotel" at the old American Outdoors RV
Park bayfront lot at mile marker 97.5.
Specifics are few, as the
developers seek "a multitude of approvals" from the county, said Larry
Abbo, chief executive officer of Prime Hospitality Group, the
developer. But what is known is that Prime Hospitality wants to build a
15-building hotel on the 14-acre site. The project also calls for 160
parking spaces, Abbo said.
There is no rendering of the hotel released yet, but it will be part of Marriot's boutique Autograph Collection, Abbo said.Joseph
Haberman, manager of Monroe County's Department of Planning and
Review, said the Prime group is in the process of going through various
building requirements. The property is already zoned to allow hotels,
Haberman said.
For the past eight years, the property, with its
faded sales sign for a project called Playa Cristal, stood as a monument
to a fledgling real estate trend that never got off the ground in the
Keys in the mid-2000s, despite a serious and expensive build-up -- the
condo/hotel.
Playa Cristal was to be developed by a now-defunct
company called Cortex Living Resort, which had several other proposed
projects throughout the Keys during that era. Cortex bought American
Outdoors RV Park for $28 million in 2005.
The plan was to
demolish the 154 RV hookups and build a condo/hotel -- where investors
bought and rented out rooms -- with 92 upscale units. The plans boasted
restaurants and a lounge that would take guests back to "Hemingway-era
Cuba." Cortex was selling units for between $690,000 to $4 million.
But
not enough buyers invested, and the condo/hotel age never materialized
despite the gobbling up of dozens of prime waterfront locations
Keyswide by ambitious developers at exorbitant prices.
The Playa Cristal property became tangled in a $40 million foreclosure lawsuit in 2009, according to the Miami Herald.
Monroe
County Property Appraisers records show Key Largo Hospitality Trust, a
Prime Group subsidiary, bought the property for $7.3 million in
November 2012."
Put the experience and expertise of The Conchquistador to work for you!
For more information on the outstanding real estate opportunities that
exist in the Keys, call me at 305.439.7730 or email me at
DropAnchor@TheRealEstateConch.com.
Tucked behind it's Guard Gated Entry sits a Florida Keys Community that is an Oasis and Lifestyle in and of itself..
