JUST LISTED, but not by me,
710 Bakers Lane,
Key West. The historic house (pictured above) appears on the 1899 Sanborn Fire Map. However, the Monroe County Property Appraiser records show official construction date as 1901. Same difference. The lot measures 50.3' wide and 100' deep. Bakers Lane is located near the peak of Solares Hill, the highest point on the island of Key West.
I searched my old shoebox and found two photos attached above that show the location (aerial photo above taken in 1979) and the black and white pic taken in 1965 showing the front porch with entrance on the right. The porch now extend to the left where the entrance is now located adjacent off street parking for two cars.
Many changes occurred to the property over the years and they are not all pretty. This is a
fixer property. The photos will scare some buyers but will enthrall others because of the prime location situated amid many multi-million dollar homes at the highest point on the island. The lot is very large and basically free of trees giving a developer many renovation options. By this I mean some lots have giant old trees which are protected and may not be taken down. The existing trees on this lot are small and may be cut down.
710 Bakers Lane as viewed about 2/3 way in the lot. The listing Realtor describes the house as a one bedroom one bath home with 1056 sq ft of living space. See the photos below for a glimpse of what is. I would assume any new owner would totally gut the interior, remove the applied rock facade on rear, and rebuild the entire structure. The point is what you see is not the mess pictured but the opportunity to create something new in a great location.
There is an existing very large pool in the center of the lot with a stand alone building at the rear. That building is located about seven or eight feet from the rear setback which means it could be renovated in place and not have to comply with current and more stringent setback requirements. Perhaps a new owner might add a second story or simply capture some of land under the current canopy on the left.
There is a gate at the rear of 626 William Street which gives that owner a secret access to Bakers Lane. That house sold in October 2018 for $3,75,000. It was rebuilt by Broadway impresario Jerry Herman a couple of decades ago. James Leo Herlihy (author of Midnight Cowboy) lived across the lane at 709 Bakers Lane about the same time period. I sold that house about ten years ago to another author. Bakers Lane is located half-way between Southard Street to the north and
Windsor Lane to the south. The lane dead ends about 200 feet from its
beginning. This house and an adjacent property are the two houses which
have not been renovated. The others are utterly charming.
(As I write this I recalled that several other notable literary figures lived within a few hundred feet of this location including James Merrill,John Ciardi, Phillip Burton. See the group photo below.)
From
top left: James Merrill, Evan Rhodes, Edward
Hower, Alison Lurie, Shel Silverstein, Bill Manville, Joseph Lash,
Arnold Sundgaard, John Williams, Richard Wilbur, Jim Boatwright. From
bottom left: Susan Nadler, Thomas McGuane, William Wright, John
Ciardi, David Kaufelt, Philip Caputo, Philip Burton, John Malcolm
Brinnin.
I borrowed the above photo from the Key West Literary Seminar. Of this photo Arlo Haskle wrote:
"How many words is a picture worth if its subjects have penned more than
many thousands of bestselling words apiece, already read by tens of
thousands of readers? If in their beach bags are five Pulitzer Prizes, a
few National Book Awards, two Bollingen Prizes, and office stationery
from the U.S. Poet Laureate?"
Buyers with an interest in the past may find this literary connection interesting, others probably will not. The reason I point out connection is these men and women all chose this location as their place of solace. I often refer to life on our little lanes as "life on the slow lanes of Key West". There are o speed bumps on this Bakers Lane. You couldn't get a car or even a bike up to more than a couple of miles per hour. That's a good thing. The rest of the world spins around like crazy all the time. It's good to have a place where nothing hardly ever happens.
CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet on
710 Bakers Lane offered at
$995,000. Then please call me,
Gary Thomas,
305-766-2642, to set up an appointment to see this property. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at
Preferred Properties Key West. Even though the asking price is pretty high, I think this place will sell fairly quickly. This is a great location with many development possibilities. If you wait too long, someone else will beat you.
7 comments:
Pretty high??
The listing agent feels pretty confident in the price based on comparable recent sales. I will be posting a sale in a couple of weeks for something similar.
Gary
$1,000/ft doesn't sound like any sort of complete renovation pricing model to me. However, we shall see what the market will tell us here. As a local homeowner I'm very much hoping this place goes for that number!!!
Dear Anon, If you have been reading my blog for very long you may have read a comment or to that stated something like "Conchs and their heirs want their million dollars for their houses" and then go on to say they move up to Ocala to spend the rest of their days. I agree with you that the price is very high. A buyer is buying the superior location, a large treeless lot, and two shell buildings which can be dramatically improved. There is not much on the market and we have a very strong demand for cute houses. Somebody will buy this place. That is a given!
Gary
The price of purchasing this property would not scare me whatsoever. The location and size of the lot warrant the asking high price. Just look at the prices commanded for renovated houses surrounding this property if you have any doubt. However, the price of hiring an honest general contractor to renovate this property would scare the heck out of me. This is a real problem in Key West. While we are an island far from the mainland, contractors here feel they can charge unconscionable prices for renovations and repairs, as if we are so detached from reality that money means nothing anymore. A proper renovation of that property would cost well over a million dollars and perhaps significantly more.
Dear Anon, I have two different buyers who are in the process of building new houses. Each has done other projects, both new construction and renovation. They are experienced. They project between $300 to $350 per square foot in construction costs. We will see.
Not everybody in Key West is a crook. You have been hanging out with the wrong people.
Gary
Yep, exactly as I said... let’s assume the renovation is 3500 square feet between the two buildings on the property. At the $350 per square foot price (assuming it is not more for permit overruns, construction delays and unforeseen changes due to surprises, HARC or otherwise, architecture drawings/plans, pool design, landscaping etc.), a renovation of this property would cost $1,225,000.00. I’m quite certain pool costs, parking, landscaping design, etc. would add significantly to this renovation project too. Please don’t misunderstand me, Gary, I’m not saying everyone in Key West is a “crook”. I’m simply saying the construction industry charges unconscionable prices here, in my opinion, compared to the rest of the world, and they evidentially have enough rich people willing to pay the unconscionable prices charged. It’s not illegal nor does it make you a crook to charge outrageous prices, especially if people are willing to pay those rediculous prices charged. For many pseudo rich people, however, that is just astronomical to pay $350 per square feet for a renovation and then have to deal with other outrageous costs for pavers, pool construction/repair and landscaping, etc. These costs simply do not reflect the costs charged for the same exact services charged on the mainland or elsewhere in the country. WIth that being said, I have no doubt whoever buys this property will have a trophy home but they will pay an arm and a leg for it. The fact is that everything, and I mean everything (with the exception of Chinese food at that great place on Fleming and Cuban food at El Siboney), costs more here in Key West, especially construction and renovation costs. Lastly, and most importantly, as you point out, I definitely have been hanging out with the wrong people but as Springsteen so aptly said “Momma told me not to look into the eyes of the sun; but Momma, that’s where the fun is”. Indeed!
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