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A rendering of what the 13-floor White Pearl Condominiums could look like from
South Peninsula Drive in Daytona Beach. Provided by Zev Cohen & Associates
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Published: Sunday, February 15, 2015 at 8:35 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, February 15, 2015 at 8:41 p.m.
DAYTONA BEACH — Construction of White Pearl, a new proposed 13-story high-rise beachside condominium, may start this fall along the east banks of the Halifax River and could be the first new beachside condo built in eight years.
The project is another sign of an economic resurgence in Daytona Beach, local industry watchers say.
“It's a great time to bring a new condo out of the ground. It's an exciting time with the Hard Rock and Russian project,” said Ron Wysocarski, a real estate agent with a specialty in condo sales with Keller Williams Realty Florida Partners in Port Orange.
Canada-based Bayshore Capital is close to starting construction of a $144 million Hard Rock Hotel & Café condo/hotel in the 800 block of South Atlantic Avenue and Palm Coast-based Protogroup could start work this year on its $150 million beachfront condo/hotel at the eastern end of Oakridge Boulevard.
Investor Laura Andre of Palm Beach, doing business as Emerald Financial Inc., paid $1.67 million at the end of January for the nearly cleared 4.7 acres in the 900 block of South Peninsula Avenue just north of Silver Beach Avenue, and is moving quickly to get the White Pearl project approved.
“At this point in time the plan is to resurrect the old plans and build what was approved there 10 years ago,” said Larry LeNeve, owner of InterAmericas Realty in Palm Beach Gardens and representing Andre.
Daytona Beach in 2006 approved the construction of an 85-unit, Mediterranean-style condominium building, called the Black Pearl. The plan included 13 floors in the middle and 9 floors on the north and south ends, all over a parking garage. The Maitland developer turned the property deed over to BB&T bank in late 2010 in lieu of foreclosure.
A boat dock/marina was also part of the old plan and also part of the developer's intent, said Rob Merrell, a Daytona Beach attorney with CobbCole who is overseeing the project's permitting process.
“We need to get the property rezoned for the condo and amend the comprehensive plan to allow the taller building because the old site plans expired last year,” Merrell said.
Merrell expects to file the applications with the city by the end of February, get city planning board and City Commission approvals by June and construction started in the fall. Zev Cohen & Associates in Ormond Beach has been hired as the project's civil engineering firm.
“The fact that there is interest and the property changed hands indicates a positive market,” Merrell said.
LeNeve said the desire is to get a sales trailer on the site by the end of March. The condos would run from the front to the back of the building, average about 2,000 square feet in size and cost $220 to $275 per square foot, LeNeve said. At the low end, a 2,000-square-foot condo in White Pearl would cost $440,000.
If all goes according to plan, White Pearl would be the first new beachside condominium complex built since 2007 when the Islamorada, now called Opus, went up at 2071 S. Atlantic Ave in Daytona Beach Shores. A couple of beachside condo complexes have added new buildings in recent years to take advantage of an improving real estate market.
“This is an opportunity to offer fresh new inventory,” Wysocarski said. “If White Pearl can get going this summer and offer sales, it would have a competitive advantage over the others. A risk taker could be rewarded with being the first new one.”
The seller was a local investment group that included developer Paul Holub Jr. of Ormond Beach. They bought the property from the bank in 2012 for $761,000.
John Trost, a commercial real estate agent with Prudential Commercial Real Estate FL in Daytona Beach, represented the group.
“I just love this property,” he said. “It overlooks the river, is close to downtown on Beach Street, the baseball park and a walk to the beach. It will also be close to the Hard Rock when it comes. It's just a terrific location.”
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20150215/business/150219591?p=1&tc=pg
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