1016 Varela Street
I wrote about this cigar make style cottage a couple of times and showed it several times. I was a big proponent of buying this place, expanding it, and making out like a bandit. The house did not look good from the street, but it had a huge rear yard that wrapped around the rear to the left which would give the new owner a lot of possibilities for varying uses. I remember having to show at limited hours of the day. There were closed circuit TV cameras to see who was at the door. The place was always tenant occupied which made showings even harder and they had to be present for all showings. They always watched who entered and what they looked at. Buyers found it diffiecult to think about the future when the present was looming over them like a hawk. But somebody bought the play, hired a good local contractor, and the place got a new lease on life in very quick order. I have not been inside and don't know what happended in the rear, but I am sure it includes a pool.
920 Eisenhower Drive
920 Eisenhower Drive is a big hulk of a house. It looked abandoned for the past few years. It was once owned by the owner of Sloppy Joe. The house was elevated to add a new pier foundation, The house was totally renovated which included re-framing much of the building, siding, and new interiors throughout the house.
1116 Packer Street
1116 Packer St is located in the South of Truman area of Old Town. This area has become a hotbed for renovation during the past couple of years. This was a small house and the renovation got completed fairly quickly by Key West standards.
716 Ashe Street
I wrote a blog about this property a couple of years ago. It was a sad little house. It was lived in but very neglected. I will be writing a new blog about this property in the near future. Until then look at the photos of the front of the old house as that is all that remains. A whole new house has been built to replace what used to be. It supposed to be finished in less than thirty days.
704 Eaton Street
Renovation has just started at 704 Eaton Street. I understand it is going to be featured in an upcoming TV show. That should be interesting to watch. I wrote about the house before and compared it to the place where Boo Radley lived. The house used to sit on a huge lot which included space for an additional house next door. That parcel was sold off and a brand new structure is being built now. It will appear in the post immediately below.
700 Eaton Street
I dug into my old shoebox and found a photo of the dapper owner of the Curry Drug Store once located at the corner of Elizabeth and Eaton. That building was razed years ago and the lot sat vacant for decades. The lot was recently sold and the lot cleared. A new structure is being built in compliance with Florida's strict new building codes. A cement pad was laid upon which a concrete block building was erected. Fir strips were attached to CBS structure and then plywood was attached. A vapor barrier wrapped the plywood after which Hardiboard siding was hung. The city fathers in their wisdom gave the new owners permission to sell expensive wine at this place. Neighbors fought the proposed use, but lost. Don't we have enough joints that sell booze in this town?
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| The old garden and giant Royal Poinciana Tree were cleared to make room for the new CBS building. |
Four homes on Johnson Lane are undergoing varying degrees of renovation. Each one is being undertaken independent of the other. The lead house and biggest undertaking is actually located at 820 Olivia Street. That house sits on a large L-shaped lot upon which a huge rear structure is being built that includes a pool and a covered structure that looks similar to a carport.
The backyard was thick with trees and foliage. It looks like most of the debris on the outside has been removed. There interior was a separate mess. I am sure all of that is gone or will be soon so the the builders can redo the interiors. Remember, this and the other little houses on Johnson Lane are simple little boxes.
832 Johnson Lane
1 Nassau Lane
This little cottage is located on a picturesque slow lane of Key West which abruptly ends about 300 feet to the south. There are several drop dead gorgeous smaller homes on this lane. I wrote about this house a couple of months ago when it was for sale. I showed it a few times. I thought it would be a good buy for someone. It came off the market. Then a couple of weeks ago I was showing a neighboring property when I noticed the house had been painted and work was being done.
421 Simonton Street
Just about everybody in town has driven or walked by 421 Simonton Street at sometime. The 1912 Historic Sanborn Fire Map shows two nearly identical buildings situated next to each other and identified as A and B located at what is now 421 Simonton Street. The 1899 Sanborn Fire Map showed a single totally different which had existed for at least ten years earlier. So the two twin buildings were built sometime between 1899 and 1912. A narrow concrete block addition was added to the buildings replacing the original front porches. This concrete addition was used as commercial space for decades until March 2017 when the concrete block facade was removed and renovation of the historic buildings began.
419 Simonton Street
1500 Albury Street
1500 Albury Street shows that construction can be completed if the project is managed properly. The owner acted as the general contractor on this project, but he engaged a licensed contractor to build the structure. The owner interviewed and engaged all the subcontractors ahead of construction and had each subcontractorcommitted to being on site at specific benchmark dates. The result was the house was completed by year end 2016. The finished home is available for purchase today. See me for details.
1410 Washington Street
I began snapping photos of this Casa Marina East home in June 2016 just before the mid-century house was razed. I sold the property on the back side of this lot. That owner just razed that house and began construction of a new home. I will share those pictures in the next Projects of Key West update. There are numerous projects underway where mid-century houses are being taken down and new houses being built. Most of these projects are being built in areas other than Old Town and the parts of Casa Marina and The Meadows where homes are not designated as being of historical importance, Most of the redevelopment lots are selling around $500,000. One new lot in the Casa Marina is under contract for $1.5 million. A 4200 sq ft lot at 417 Agnela Street sold for $450,000 in September 2016. A big new houses is being built there right now. It faces public housing across the street. Naysayers who think town is over-priced don't get it. The bargain prices are history. New houses are replacing the old places and prices are on the rise.
1100 White Street
They say FIRE never strikes twice in the same place. But they are sometimes wrong. The commercial building located at the busy corner of White and Virginia Streets burned twice. The last time the fire was so severe that the concrete block building had to be demolished. The lot sat vacant for several years except when it was briefly used as a place where tourists could build sand sculptures. An ambitious project the original footprint was undertaken. Under theory this would involve less interference by the city and various citizen boards The new building has three separate units as did the original structure. The building is now completed.
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| January 2011 |
1018 White Street
Several years ago I wrote a blog about the falling down house formally located at 1018 White Street which the city fathers allowed to be razed. (First photo below.) It was beyond repair. The city wanted to add a new mausoleum at the cemetery and identified another house located at 819 Olivia Street which the city allowed to be moved to the 1018 White location. There was an existing property already located at the rear of the lot which looks like it was updated in the process.
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| 819 Olivia Street on wheels and ready to move to new location. |
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| 819 Olivia St as it looked in 1965 |
1401 Grinnell Street
It's not all that often that a relatively new house (built new in 2003) gets a thorough make-over, but that is what has been going on (and on and on) since mid July 2016. The house is located on the corner of Grinnell at South Street in the Casa Marina Area amid homes priced in the low one million dollar to $3.5 million range. I live nearby and as snooty as I am, I was really upset when the house was built. It made no sense for the area given the value of homes here. Let's look at what has been accomplished in the one year since the trees were removed from the perimeter.
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| September 30, 2016 |
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| Photographed Sunday July 16, 2017 |
1010 Whitehead Street
I wrote a blog about this modest little cottage a couple of years ago. It was once the home of one the really great men of Key West - Lawrence Formica, the entrepreneur who created LaTeDa. His house changed hands after his passing and later became a bank owned property that was priced very low. The new owner has begun to renovate.
221 Petronia Street
I wrote a blog about this fire damaged (then a bank owned property) building in January 1015. It went under contract immediately after it was listed and for good reason. The place is very well located just two blocks from Duval Street and near several popular restaurants. The new Truman Waterfront Park is two blocks to the west.
828 Elizabeth Street
I wrote about 828 Elizabeth Street three years ago just before Christmas. The house was a duplex where an exterior stair provided access to the upper apartment. The lower level apartment was a warren of rooms where the tenants shared refrigerator and cooking privileges. The interiors were gutted and work started on giving the old girl a sturdy new foundation. Work has been stalled for the past couple of months.
903 Eaton Street
I have a nice little project site available for purchase which is located at 903 Eaton Street. This happened to be the largest lot in Old Town where the existing concrete block structure may be taken down and a brand new house can be built. The lot measures 50 feet wide and 103 deep or 5300 sq ft. CLICK HERE. If you consider what has been built and what is being built, you may just appreciate the size fo the lot and ability to take down a non-historic existing building.
