2312 North Roosevelt Blvd. Key West - Water View Commercial Property

I wrote about 2312 North Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West soon after it was listed in April 2015. It's time for a new look as this commercial property with terrific US 1 frontage. The nearly 20,000 sq ft lot (102' X 194')  is located opposite the Key West Yacht Club. There is a recent traffic study available to prospective buyers which discusses the traffic flow that passes this location each day.  North Roosevelt Boulevard is the primary road tourists and locals use on into the Old Town just a few blocks to the west. The Old Town location is the heart of the tourist district as well as where the county government offices, courthouse, and city hall are located.

I dug into my old shoebox and found an aerial photo from the not too distant pass taken by Ty Symroski and Wendy Tucker.  I have added arrows to point out the location of 2312 N. Roosevelt Blvd. just opposite the Yacht Club. The small Hilton Haven residential enclave is located on the backside of the Yacht Club. I also found a photo from 1965 that shows the old Dairy Freeze located at 1704 N Roosevelt Blvd. That once lonesome ice cream stand was razed. Today the location houses a mixed use commercial building. The above photo shows nearby 2330 North Roosevelt which housed the Western Auto store in 1979. Today the same building still exists but houses different tenants. I have lived in Key West since 1993 and watched North Roosevelt's dramatic change.

2312 N. Roosevelt Blvd. Photo in 1999

 A few blocks closer to town the old Royal Castle hamburger stand shown as it existed in 1974 was taken down years ago. It became a Checkers hamburger stand. That building was razed to make way for the new Starbucks that opened this year. I have been amazed to see the traffic this coffee stand generates each day from locals and tourists.The little shopping plaza still remains but with different occupants in the buildings. 

The two year long widening and enhancement of  US 1 from its entrance onto the Island of Key West to White Street was completed in 2014. The transformation of North Roosevelt is now near complete. Four major hotels were nearly totally dismantled and rebuilt in place. One by one the buildings of old Key West are being taken down or being re-purposed. North Roosevelt Boulevard is the principal entryway for most first time drivers into Key West. The old Key West we remember with nostalgia is being replaced by new buildings to meet the needs of the evolving Key West economy.  

I walked the entire lot while taking photos for this blog. The width and depth of the space is much larger in person than it appears in these photos.  The 102' ft depth is equal to two large modular homes. The frontage is equal to nearly four modular homes. If you are a developer you'll appreciate the size of the lot. The existing building could be razed and a new structure built. With hotel rooms in the Key West core hitting $400 per night, this space might work well for a new small boutique hotel of maybe 20 rooms with yacht club views but priced at more moderate prices. Or maybe a new owner would build quality retail or office space down and create several long term residential units on the second floor.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on this proerty. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, for more information. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 

323 Fleming Street, Key West - Investment Property

The Case for Buying a Law Office Biding in Key West

 

The listing Broker aptly describes the office building located at 323 Fleming Street in Key West as

"Spectacular, Historic two-story concrete block building in the heart of Old Town. Additional lot provides off street parking for 4 cars and serves the offices currently in use here. Directly across the street from City offices and the Courthouse and adjacent to the US Post Office on beautiful Fleming Street. Separate offices upstairs and down, wrap-around covered porches overlooking Street on both floors, tall ceilings inside with lots of wood floors, elaborate wood trim, private offices, reception areas, updated bathrooms and storage. Building is in great condition. This is a beautiful building."

 I dug around in my old shoebox and found an aerial photo of this part of town which was taken in the 1930s. I added an arrow to point out the location of 323 Fleming Street. The larger white building in front is the old Monroe County Courthouse. The court house was built in 1890 and it originally was painted white. That block changed immensely in the 90 years since the black and white photo was taken. The old courthouse was remodeled into county office buildings. The court house annex to the north was added in 1965. A large administrative building was added at the southwest corner as well. The large white building to the left rear of 323 Fleming is the former Cosmopolitan Hotel which was located on Caroline and Front Street (razed).

The above photo was taken in the 1920s and shows the old courthouse, the old county jail, and courthouse grounds. 323 Fleming Street is noted on this photo. Take note of the group of buildings opposite of the courthouse in the 500 block of Whitehead Street. Most of those buildings still exist today and all are either law offices or offices and a combination of some residential housing except for one guesthouse. Two of the buildings at the corner of Southard were razed and are now tourist related commercial. Several of the larger buildings in the 600 block of Whitehead are law offices with a couple of small guest houses thrown in. The small cottages in the foreground were razed. That block is now a county parking lot.

I understand 323 Fleming was originally built for the US Government. I believe the use was related to the military as was most of the ground in what is now Truman Annex. This building was sold by the US Post Office to a private party in 2000. The deed restricts the purchaser, successors, and assigns to comply with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards of Rehabilitation. That essentially means a subsequent owner will have a really tough time altering the historical architecture of this building. Today this 2408 sq ft building is used as legal offices. The building and adjacent parking lot sit on two adjacent parcels totaling 4611 sq ft lot. As you look at the photos which follow and read the comments I write, remember that this building was built by the United States Government. That says a lot because the government does not build cheap. It builds substantial, and it builds to last. It does not cut corners to save a buck. As a prospective buyer your long term building maintenance costs should be less as compared to a stick built building.

The above photos demonstrate the pure aesthetic beauty of this old building, and suggest the rationale for buying a law office located just steps from the courthouse. I am not a building inspector but I have a lot of experience in showing houses and buildings in Key West. I did not see any deferred maintenance. The concrete block is solid and well maintained. The metal roof was replaced in 2007 as was the HVAC and other interior features. There is no better location than this for a law firm or a building with individual offices rented to solo practitioners. Accountants or other professionals who deal with the county on a routine basis might also find the location a substantial benefit.

The main floor offices could function very well for a small firm or a group of solo practitioners. There is a central reception area and administrative assistant area. There are four offices on this floor one of which is so large it could be divided to create two smaller offices. Another office (immediately above) is so special that it could serve as a conference room as opposed to law office.

The second floor offices offer several different scenarios to an investor including rental of individual offices to solo practitioners with shared secretarial, document processing, and conference room use. This floor has three offices, conference room, substantial file storage space, and bathroom in addition to that magnificent wrap-around second floor deck. One very simple reason a lawyer would prefer to be located near the courthouse is the probability he or she is a litigator or that a large part of his practice involves court appearances. Remember the parking spaces, a lot of the law offices I mentioned on Whitehead Street do not have parking for clients. So while the offices may be close to the courthouse, they do not provide client parking.  Some share the building with apartments where clients may get to smell what's for dinner or hear dogs barking. While the excuse "This is Key West" works for some folks, clients who are paying huge legal fees expect and deserve better.

Finally, look back up at the black and white aerial photos and consider both this building and this location from the standpoint of scarcity. You will see this area of town has a limited number of buildings which currently exist and fewer buildings which could be razed or even renovated to create new office buildings. The city will not allow an existing residential use to be eliminated to create a new business use even in a area zoned for the specific business use. I think as the years pass by, this particular property will appreciate in value to a greater extent than the multi-purpose buildings on Whitehead and nearby streets. As our society becomes more litigious, there will be a greater demand for lawyers and law offices. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet on 323 Fleming Street which is offered for sale at $1,275,000. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

Key West Investment Propety - Price Reduced on 1122 Southard Street

The asking price on 1122 Southard Street in Key West was just reduced to $995,000. 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 owned by the State of Florida which suggests to me that it will always be maintained and not become a nuisance neighbor. Southard Street has two 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. 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 rent in a heartbeat even .  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 is 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 or 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 but use bikes or scooters or their feet 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 to $995,000. 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.