The asking price on
1122 Southard Street in
Key West was just reduced from $995,000 to
$875,000.
This is the really interesting property with upside potential. The
listing Realtor describes this investment property this way:
"This historic building includes 5 licensed apartments. There is a large 2BR/2BA,
two story unit at the rear ideal for an owner, a 1 Bedroom, an efficiency and 2
studio units. Lot's of the original Dade County Pine and architectural details
including the original staircase are intact. Excellent Old Town location. The
property is currently owned by a non profit organization for their use and so
rents are currently well below market value"
Frequent
readers of my blog know that I have a shoe box where I sometimes find
old photos of actively listed properties. I found just such a photo of
1122 Southard Street that was taken five decades ago when this property
was a laundry of all things. I searched the historic Sanborn Fire Maps
to see if I could determine when 1122 Southard Street was built. The
1889 Map ignored this area entirely but I know for a fact that there
were multiple homes and businesses in existence in the immediate area at
that time. then. It was not until the 1892 map that a building was
cited on the lot and the address given at that time was 1018 Southard
St. The address of 1018 Southard was changed to 1122 Southard Street on
the 1899 map. That map indicated a small cut-out a the right rear of
the lot where a water tower was located. That cut-out exists today which
is now a part of a large adjacent property to the rear. My conclusion
is that 1122 Southard Street existed at least as of 1892 and probably
earlier which I will explain later.
The
Monroe County Property Appraiser shows this building as having 2515 sq
ft of living space plus porches. The irregular lot measures 40 ft wide
by 82 ft deep minus the cut-out for the old water tower in the rear
which I mentioned earlier. The building is located next door to the
historic Key West Armory which is now owned by the State of Florida. This
suggests to me that the Armory will always be maintained and not become a
nuisance neighbor. In fact local painting contractors are just finishing the front facade of this historic building. Southard Street has three of the most expensive
listings in town. Most of the single family homes on Southard are priced
over the one million dollar mark.
As
the listing Realtor indicates this property currently is owned by a
non-profit organization which was providing housing to local artists and temporary artists-in-residence.
Today the building is vacant except for two tenants. I think whoever
buys this building has several options to take advantage of the low
occupancy by re-renting the vacant units at market rate without spending
any money. These units are small and ideal for single occupancy
tenants. There is a real housing shortage in Key West. These would be rented
in a heartbeat. A buyer who wants to do some "fix-up" could do
some improvements to the units. I am not sure the updated units would
rent for a lot more money but a fix-up may make the buyer feel better
about the building itself. The building has been well maintained. I just know
that many buyers feel compelled to spend new money whenever they buy
something. Below are a few photos of the four units in front.
These
apartments would be easily rented to new people moving to the area or
to people who have lost their long time residences to be displaced by
someone who bought a home that they plan to renovate. This building is
located within easy walking distance to Duval Street and the seaport
where many locals are employed. There is adequate on street parking, but
the fact of life in Key West is that many locals do not own cars. Instead many locals walk or ride bikes or scooters as primary means of getting around.
The
two story unit at the rear has so much potential for either an
owner-landlord or as a place to actually spend some money to increase
the rental on this particular apartment. I think any money spent on the
rear unit is money well spent. This space is worth the price of the
building in itself. The income from the apartments in front would pay
all taxes, insurance, and upkeep on the building.
CLICK HERE
to view some not-so-good photos I took with my small pocket camera on a
recent showing of this property. They provide some simple views of the
units and the grounds.
The asking price on
1122 Southard Street was just reduced from $995,000 to
$875,000.
CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet. Then please call me,
Gary Thomas,
305-766-2642 to schedule an appointment to see this property. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at
Preferred Properties Key West.
