The Commercial Projects of Key West - Spring 2020

How many readers remember when there was an F.W. Woolworth's located at the Searstown Shopping Center or a J.C Penny store located at the Overseas Market? Or that there was a Kenny Rogers Roasters located at 2514 N. Roosevelt Blvd before it became Centennial Bank? We drive by houses and buildings so often that we sometimes miss the changes that occur. And sometimes we see places so infrequently that we can't remember what is used to look like.  Today's blog is a continuation in a series showing some of the more notable commercial projects in Key West.

I encourage readers to hit the CLICK HERE link in each series.  There are some historic and many progress photos.  Any reader is welcome to save and re-use any photo here. 

2120 North Roosevelt Blvd.

The black and white photo at the top was taken of the original Burger King restaurant in 1965. The photo below it was taken a couple of days prior to Hurricane Irma in September 2017. The roof got damaged in the storm and Burger King never reopened.  I started photographing the renovations in September 2019 and the completed pictures this past weekend. I was out of the country in early December 2019 when Popeye's opened but well remember the first time I drove past. Cars were backed up more than a block on North Roosevelt waiting to go there. And the parking lot was jammed with cars. CLICK HERE for more photos.

2222 North Roosevelt Blvd.

April 1, 2019

March 28, 2020

I began taking photos of the former Yamaha dealership at 2222 North Roosevelt in December 2018. Much of the original building was glass. Workers took the place apart bit by bit with the glass remaining in place and unbroken.The dis-assemblage seemed to go on forever. After the roof was removed, painters re-painted the iron frame and then installed a new roof.  Concrete blocks were added along with a new skin. The lot was paved and new signage added last week. CLICK HERE to view the laborious process. Compare this project with a much larger project going on across the street at 2401 North Roosevelt Blvd.

2401 North Roosevelt Blvd.

I found the 1950 black and white photo of the Hilton Haven Motel which became the Banana Bay Resort located at 2401 North Roosevelt (aka 2319 N. Roosevelt) which was razed in 2018 along with the adjacent Fairfield Inn. A substantial amount of fill was brought to elevate the site above flood plane. Trees from the original Banana Bay resort were replanted shortly after the fill dirt was added. Two separate projects were built at the same time using different building techniques. I believe the building in the foreground is going to be long term living while the building in the rear will be a hotel. I was amazed how quickly this massive development took shape. CLICK HERE to see all the photos.

2312 North Roosevelt Blvd.

Our office listed the former Banner Tire at 2312 North Roosevelt Blvd which I blogged about a couple of times. This is property enjoyed a huge frontage on North Roosevelt Boulevard heading toward Old Town. The Key West Yacht Club is located across the street. I was hoping for a more  upscale development. We ended up with a SONIC. CLICK HERE for more photos.

1119 White Street

The old gas station still survives after being re-purposed as a bagel shop, a gym, and now a vacation rental check-in center. White Street is a thriving little street with several restaurants and hair salons, yoga studios, gyms, butcher shop, grocery store, tile stores, pet store, and more and more. The Atlantic Ocean is four or five blocks to the south. CLICK HERE to see more photos. Congratulations to Brenda Donnelly for taking on this project. I wish her a speedy recovery to her business which was thriving before the shutdown.

1515 Bertha Street - Marty's Place

Marty's Place was a 16 unit independent housing apartment complex located at 1515 Bertha Street, Mid-Town near the high school and within walking distance to the Atlantic Ocean. AH Monroe County demolished the former cottage style units to build 47 one bedroom units (12 ADA units) with a mix of independent and assisted living apartments. A health clinic will be housed in the building. There will also be 16 parking spaces. It is predicted most of the residents do not drive cars. The cottages and trees are gone but there are three times as many living units most of which are larger in size and much better construction. CLICK HERE for photos.

825 Duval Street

825 Duval Street - 2011

825 Duval Street - January 2020

Several of the historic old homes in the 800 block of Duval Street were torn down years before the Old Island Restoration Foundation ws formed to halt the destruction of our old treasures. Duval Street had several gas stations including one at 825 Duval Street shown above. I remember the renovation in the late 1990s still evident in the 2011 photo. I was driving on Olivia Street in early January and snapped a photo of the most recent redo. It is so eerie to see Duval Street free of people. They will return. They may be wearing gas masks at Fantasy Fest but they will return.

Truman Avenue Guest Houses

701 Division Street

701 Truman became El Siboney Guest House

705 Truman became Chelsea House

707 Truman Ave present day

705 Truman Ave present day

El Siboney Guest House Destroyed by Fire 1985

The color postcard at the top of this series shows some of the Grand Old Dames located on Division Street as it was called in the 1920s. The street later became Truman Avenue. 701 Truman Ave later became the El Siboney Guest House which was destroyed by fire in 1985. 705 Truman Ave became the Chelsea House and 707 Truman became the Red Rooster. In 2018 a California hotel group purchased several guest houses in Key west. The new owner undertook a massive renovation of each property in 2019. The Truman Avenue buildings were completed just a short time before the Corona shutdown. I do not look at the shut down as fatal to this project. This owner took their properties off the late 2019 to mid 2020 season to upgrade the properties. They have a long range view of our market. My take on this is that guest houses like these are the reason Key West has been so popular with visitors. You can stay in a resort style hotel anywhere in the world. These places are like your grandmother's house - if she were rich. People will flock back to Key West as soon as they can.  CLICK HERE to view more photos.

2814 North Roosevelt Blvd

 I added the recent sale of the Overseas Market to remind readers how vibrant our local economy has been and will return to.  We have three good sized shopping centers with large grocery stores. All three stores are open and are always busy.  The only difference now is that we do not have the Searstown Publix overwhelmed by rich tourists buying up all the delicacies.  Go there or the Eaton Street Fish Market and you will see what I mean. They cannot spend enough money. Don't fear folks, they will return.

The Projects of Key West - Spring 2020

I have lived in Key West for 27 years and have watched this town change so much over those years. Sometimes when I drive through a part of town I have not seen for several months I marvel at how nice it looks and try to remember what it looked like before. I reckon it was different but can't remember exactly how it looked. And that is why I am doing these blogs to create a link between what once was, how the changes were made, and what the end house or building looked after completion.

Use the CLICK HERE links to view photos I took of the various properties over the past several months. There will be many photos showing various stages of construction including creating new piers, roofs, additions, and so on. Comparing the before and after pics can be boring in the abstract. Check out the process of how these houses are renovated. The lag time in posting this update can be attributed to my desire to have more houses completed. I actually started this particular update a few months ago and kept postponing until I could get a few more photos. Life here doesn't work as quickly as I wold like.

1316 Whalton Street

It was about ten years ago that I first blogged about this property which started as a short sale that could never get accomplished. There were two old houses located side by side on separate lots each owned by the same person but which had separate mortgages. The short sales never tot completed because the competing interests of the two lenders. Separate foreclosures eventually ended with separate ownership. 1315 Whalton St was acquired by a local developer who took down the houses and built the new house shown above. It immediately sold for $1,900,000. The small adjacent parcel was later acquired by the buyer who purchased 1316 Whalton. Building setback requirements make that lot basically un-buildable. The new owner of 1316 Whalton paid $216,300 or $120 per sq ft for it. The Casa Marina Area location made this mess a must buy in my opinion. It only took Ten years! Long time readers may know that many houses in Key West cannot be torn down because they are deemed contributing structures. Neither  of these houses were contributing structures.
CLICK HERE for more photos which show the original houses (UGH!) and construction photos of the new house.

1425 Whalton Street

The mid-century house located at 1425 Whalton Street sat on a large and mostly treeless lot in the heart of the Casa Marina Area. The new owner engaged local architect Matthew Stratton who designed a two story contemporary with big rooms with big walls for displaying art. CLICK HERE to view progress photos from start to finish. The owner was able to get the address changed to 1100 Von Phister Street which is one of the prettiest streets in all of Key West.

813 Waddell Avenue

I wrote about this home in 2014. 813 Waddell  Avenue was built in 1954 and sits on an extra large lot that measures 105' X 100' (10,500 sq ft) and is located opposite the Casa Marina Resort. HARC determined this was a contributing structure and required ungodly expensive renovation rather than allowing the owner to take down the inefficient CBS house and to build his dream house. Check back in a year to see how a committee builds a house. CLICK HERE to view the property.

828 Elizabeth Street

I wrote about 828 Elizabeth Street around Christmas in 2014 when it was offered for sale. The property had been split into several illegal apartments. The second floor ceiling was very low. The new owner cleared the lot of plants and trees, lifted the house and installed new piers. At the same time the building height was extended by inserting a section between the first and second floors giving the second floor extra headroom. The roof line was dramatically altered from the original. A pool was added at the rear. The house looks nothing like what originally stood on this lot. I think the house looks substantially different form the front and sides. I am not complaining. I just do not understand why HARC is so demanding of some owners and allows others to make such noticeable changes like this.  I think HARC makes some very arbitrary decisions. CLICK HERE to view before and progress photos.

411 Ginnell Street

411 Grinnell Street could be the poster child for the projects blog. I remember showing 411 Grinnell Street several years ago when it was first offered for sale - long before it was renovated.  All it offered was potential. It was like the ugly duckling that nobody wanted but it had a decent sized yard with room for a pool. The adjacent side lot had a valuable ROGO license which offered the potential to build a house on that lot. 411 Grinnell Street was renovated and a pool added. It sold to a new owner who recently completed the carriage house / guest house for the main home. There is a resort sized pool in the rear. CLICK HERE for more photos.

732 Poorhouse Lane

In his book The Streets of Key West: A History Through Street Names author J. Willis Burke informs us that "Over the other side of Solares Hill a couple of entries are self-explanatory. Galveston Lane is named for the Texas gulf coastal city that was served by the Mallory Steamship Company, and off Windsor, on Poorhouse Lane, a poorhouse was once tucked away." You may ask yourself why anybody would want to live on a street with such a desperate appellation.

There is a small community park with some playground equipment and a few parking spaces. 732 Poorhouse Lane is one of several homes on this picturesque little lane which have been renovated in recent years. The lane was rather desperate looking twelve years ago when all the foreclosures and short sales were occurring. 732 Poorhouse was taken down to bare bones and rebuilt in place. CLICK HERE to see how the house was lifted in place to build a solid new foundation. The house was rebuilt from bottom to top. I met the new owners at an open house I was hosting in late 2019. They were so happy that their little home was finally completed.

733 Poorhouse Lane is located across the street from the referenced above property. The new owner purchased the hang-down house about a year ago and engaged architect Matthew Stratton who planned the renovation project which is currently underway. The treeless back yard made the 4,200 sq ft lot a prime candidate for renovation. A significant part of the original house was in deplorable condition. When layers of the linoleum floor in the shed addition (top photo) the owner discovered an old shag carpet underneath which covered big hole in the floor below. CLICK HERE to view photos.

710 Bakers Lane

Bakers Lane is located just off the 600 block of Elizabeth Street. Years ago James Leo Herlihy, author of Midnight Cowboy, lived across the street at 709 Bakers Lane. The original house at 710 Bakers Lane sat on a large lot with a pool and an unfinished building in the rear. I have been photographing the property for several months. The main house has all new piers. The interior appears to have been gutted. Almost everything is new including roof, porch posts, windows, siding, and so on. A new building has been added on the side.The rear of the main house opens out to what I believe is the pool. The odd building in the back appears to have been rebuilt using the original setbacks for creating new living spaces. CLICK HERE to view the old house and current renovations.

I wrote about and showed 627 Caroline Street in 2010 when it was offered for sale. I remember the smell of fresh dog poop and the two old ladies who lived in this house that reeked. They were nice but totally out of it. There was a bay window in the dining room which added real flair to the otherwise forlorn space. The lot was deep and offered space for a pool. And the off street parking space made it especially appealing. CLICK HERE to view photos of the house before an current progress photos. The house was elevated to add new piers and lowered. The odd interiors were removed and a new old house is being re-built in place. I point this out for good reason. When potential buyers look at old places like this, they see the odd rooms or layout. These are boxes. Architects and designers can move walls and make odd stuff go away. Stay tuned. This should be a wow!

533 Petronia Street

I wrote about and showed 533 Petronia Street in mid 2018. I remember telling a gay man, a potential buyer, that the former deceased owner was gay. He had a look of shock on his face as if any gay man could live in such squalor. The place was a frigging mess but it had off street parking, room for a pool, and a charming facade. The saw tooth roof line gave it an abundance of character to enhance any renovation. The new owners engaged local architect Matthew Stratton who designed the project which included moving the house forward and to the side of the lot creating room to expand the house and add a pool.  I understand Craig Reynolds will do the landscape design. CLICK HERE
to view photos.

802 Southard Street

The transformation of 802 Southard Street is staggering. I am one of the few Realtors who got to show this house the day it went on the market in 2018 only to go under contract immediately. Like many of the large older homes in Old Town, this house had been converted into apartments. There were two adjacent cottages that were also apartments. CLICK HERE to see more photos. By the way I included some of the listing photos which make the place look much better than it was.


806 Southard Street

It is not all that unusual for two houses located side by side owned by different people being renovated at the same time. Such is the case of 806 Southard Street, another project designed by architect Matthew Stratton. This home was the longtime residence of a local family until the current owner purchased it in 2018. While it had been updated a bit, the excellent location made it a worthy candidate for a thorough renovation. The interiors were gutted. The ceiling in the rear addition was vaulted and the back opened out to the new pool and water feature not yet installed when I saw the inside. CLICK HERE for photos.

1401 Grinnell Street

1401 Griinnell Street is another good example of why I am doing this series. I have lived a couple of blocks away from this location since 1995. This horrible modular house that was put on this lot in 2003. I was shocked when I saw it. It was so out of character for the otherwise very upscale neighborhood. The house was purchased a couple of years ago.  Trees were removed and renovation began. The house was raised to install new pier foundation. The new deck with roof overhang was added on three sides. New wood siding, new windows and doors were installed. Then all work stopped. This was several weeks before the corona virus hit.  CLICK HERE to view photos.


1100 Grinnell Street

1100 Grinnell Street is located at the corner of Virginia Street just across from the historic Key West Fire Department which is now a museum. I showed the falling down house many times over the years. It is a big house that had so much potential because of its size, existing pool and rear cottage, and off street parking. The buyers I showed the house to thought it would be too expensive to renovate given the location. (It would always be the biggest house and most expensive house in a neighborhood with lower priced homes.)  CLICK HERE to view photos of this ongoing renovation.

608 Grinnell Street

I got a late start on photographing 608 Grinnell Street. It was listed for sale in September 2018 and immediately had multiple offers. A few months later the house was being restored from foundation up. The concrete front steps were removed. New piers and joists and joists were added. A wood structure was added to the rear which appears to be a covered rear porch. A pool and potential water wall are going up at the rear setback. The back of the lot exits onto Griffin Lane which opens onto Southard Street. CLICK HERE for photos.

614 Grinnell Street

614 Grinnell Street was listed for sale on February 28, 2019 and immediately went under contract full price cash at $1,575,000. The Seller was also the listing agent and an agent in my office. He was stupefied that it went under contract immediately. But maybe he should have expected it. The house is a beautiful eyebrow house located on one of the best blocks in Old Town. The house sits on a 5,145 sq ft lot with rear access from Griffin Lane. The new owner gutted the inside, replaced piers, posts, and beams. The old pool was removed. CLICK HERE to see photos of this still in progress property.

819 White Street Know Known As 1204 Pine Street

 New owners bought two small houses located on busy White Street, took them down near to the bone, and put them back together. They got the city and postmaster to change the street address to 1204 Pine Street. CLICK HERE to see the photos of this nearly completed project.

905 Eaton Street

I wrote several blogs about this property over the years. It was a simple mid-century house located at the back of a very large lot on Eaton Street. I sold the house to an investor who painted it, put in new air conditioning, and used it as his Key West getaway house for a few years. He watched his investment appreciate in value. He re-sold the property at a tidy profit to new folks who took down the CBS house and who are building a new house. Check back here in a year or so to see the final house. In the meantime CLICK HERE to see what once was and progress photos of the current project. The photo below shows the view from the rear looking toward Eaton Street. I love the view and the location. I know there are neigh sayers to Eaton Street, White Street, and a couple of other busy streets. This was an exceptional lot. .

There were a couple of projects in the Mid-town area that I followed.

1413 Flagler Avenue

This mid-century home presents an alternative to taking down and building a new house to meet the needs of the early 21st Century. The original CBS house was built just a couple of feet above grade making it susceptible to flooding. Our building codes limits construction improvements to 50% of the building value. The restriction applies just to the existing structure and does not include land value which in Key West is often the highest indicia of value. This owner literally raised the roof and elevated the floor level, replaced window and doors, and so on.  I have watched this happen in other parts of town. CLICK HERE to view more photos. The nearly finished house and rear building is shown below.

2301 Linda Avenue

I took notice of this mid-century house in June 2019 just after framing began on the addition. CLICK HERE to view photos from the side as well. I noticed another stand alone building was built at the rear - not visible in these photos. As I write this I wonder how this house escaped enforcement of the 50% build back rule. The construction cost of the new additions clearly had to exceed the value of the original house.

Even though the tourist business is officially shut down, contractors are still working on many job sites. There are two active remodeling jobs going happening on the block where I live. Check back here in a few days when I will post an update on the commercial projects of Key West. In the meantime if you are looking to buy a place in Key West, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

That is not a younger and skinnier version of me.