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Sunday, June 8, 2014

206 Harbour Place Condominium - Elegant Key West Waterfront Property

During the Spring of 1987 I attended a party held at the World Famous La Te Da hosted by proprietor Lawrence Formica who introduced Pritam Singh to Key West society and announced plans for the Truman Annex. I wish so much that I had a camera that night or that I could find a photo online.  In today's world of Twitter and Instagram,  there would be several such photos. But 27 years ago people did not record every day events like they do today. In fact that day was not an everyday event. It was a transformative day in Key West history because the Truman Annex became the most popular vacation destination in Key West.  Pritam Singh redeveloped prime ocean front real estate that had been NAVY property for decades. He removed old structures, built seven new communities of condominiums, town homes, and sold single family lots for development by individual homeowners. He added streets, trees and tropical foliage that has grown and matured into a beautiful city-scape. Today Truman Annex is a gated community located behind the historic Presidential gates on Whitehead Street and the Key West waterfront. The Shipyard Condominiums are the least expensive of the properties. Many owners in each of the communities have obtained special transient rental licenses from the City of Key West which allows owners to rent their homes on a weekly basis. The ability to rent one's unit has given would-be Key West second homeowners a realistic and affordable alternative to the purchase of a single family house in Key West. The Harbour Place Condominiums are the most luxurious of the Truman Annex communities. 206 Harbour Place is the largest condominium on the Key West waterfront.
Unit 206 is located on the second floor of the original Naval Administration Building.  I found a couple of photos of President Harry S. Truman standing at the front of the Administration Building in 1969. This was President Truman's last visit to Key West. Today that area looks out to the boardwalk  and Sunset Key beyond. The Administration Building was renovated and became the Harbour Place Condominiums. Balconies and decks were added. Office interiors were transformed into living spaces. Over the years some individual owners have done their own interior renovations. In recent years the windows and doors were replaced with wind impact resistant glass. The building itself was built NAVY STRONG. It may be the safest structure in Key West. It undoubtedly has one of the very best views on the Island of Key West.
The listing Realtor describes unit 206 as "unparalleled elegance and understated luxury".  Two units were combined to create a one-of-a-kind 3073 square foot luxury residence. When you enter the residence your eyes are drawn through the beautifully decorated foyer past the living and dining areas and out to ocean.  The "great room" measures 44 ft in length and has four sets of windows/doors with Plantation Shutters. One set of French doors opens out to the front deck and another set at the south end opens to another deck that overlooks the huge pool. The kitchen has dual counter top cooking surfaces, dual ovens, and dual dishwashers. This place was designed for entertaining and everyday sophisticated living.
The foyer leads into the great room but it also provides access to the master suite at the south end of the unit and provides a genteel entry to the guest bedroom wing by passing through the den. The two guest bedrooms each have baths. The guest rooms have access to a separate balcony that looks out to the community pool, the "outer mole", and Ft Zach Taylor in the distance. There will never be a day when you won't have something new to see.
 
The master suite shown above is probably larger than most condos or town homes in the Truman Annex and anywhere else on the island for that matter. The suite includes the extra spacious bedroom chamber and adjacent office and sitting area. Just to the west is a lady's make-up room with access to the huge walk-in closet. Both the make up area and bedroom enter into the opulent master bath that includes shower and tub, dual vanities, and lots of mirrors.
Unit 206 Harbour Place Condominium is a 3 bedrooms plus a den, and 4.5 baths waterfront residence that includes 3 covered parking spots and a special Truman Annex Transient Rental License which allows the property to be rented up to 25 weeks each year.  CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on this property that is offered for sale at $2,699,000.  You can view more photos if you CLICK HERE. My photos include many more water views and that is part of why you would buy this home.

After you have look at the photos and property description, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing of this very special waterfront property. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Let me help you find your place in Paradise. I'd love to be with you on the day you move in and post a selfie on Instagram looking out to the magnificent Key West sunset.





4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm.... Cigar makers cottage in KW or a flat in Dwarka? That's a toughie.

I think I'll go with KW. Something about human rights, basic sanitation, (on-and-on-and-on)

Gary Thomas said...

Dear Anon,
I was notified this guy spammed my blog earlier today. He has done a bunch of them - all of which I deleted. I love your sense of humor.
Gary

Anonymous said...

I don't know ... some say it was a great event to behold the future of Key West and some say it was the saddest day .... you know "paved paradise and put up a parking lot". It was bound to happen, Singh just beat everyone to the punch but the affordable units at Shipyard (where you could get in for just two thousand back then!) are all gone and many are short term rentals today. Some say it marked the end of what made the island special but it was bound to happen. And it looks better than some of his developments since. I want to see how they develop the Navy property next .... that ought to be interesting for all the TAMPOA residents.

Gary Thomas said...

Dear Anon above - I read your comment on my iphone and could not respond. Then I forgot.

I am getting a bit disheartened by how much the greedy bar owners on Lower Duval and the T shirt proprietors up and down that street have screwed up what just used to be a bit seedy.

Likewise, I am getting very upset by the extreme intrusion by HARC into the rights of property owners to make even simple replacements to existing elements of their homes without HARC approval and a building permit both of which are often burdensome and unnecessary from my point of view.

The residents of Truman Annex will surely have a surprise when they start to smell the horse manure wafting through the palms when the new waterfront park is finally completed. They city is building a horse stable on some of the most valuable ground in Key West for police departments fleet of horses. The Mayor (who is running for a second term) recently delivered a speech to the Key West Association of Realtors when he said it will take the city five years to build the new waterfront park. Pritam Singh could build it in six months and it would look fantastic. But building it quickly and efficiently would interfere with the city's aggressive monument building projects (new city hall and new fire station among the projects but not the only projects). Gotta save up money for the homeless shelter.

Gary

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