Strip Center - 1200 White Street - Key West

1200 White Street Strip Center Key West Florida in 1965

The same strip center in 2010

The strip center shown above is located at 1200-1206 White Street in Key West. Locals know the building by sight. Ugly sight. A sight that needs razed and rebuilt or renovated into something befitting the location. The asking price has been reduced to $999,000. CLICK HERE for more info and photos.

This is how the listing Realtor describes this property:

"A rare, mixed use strip center with adjacent parking lot on busy White Street in Key West. There are three commercial units and two residential units on this property. Property was formerly used as a bakery and has the potential to be opened under a similar use. White Street is the fastest growing commercial corridor in Key West, acting as a border of Old Town and New Town Key West.Owners may consider owner financing package. Included in sale 1212 White Street."

The property sits in the last block of commercial property in the 1200 block of White Street. All of the remaining properties situated to the south lead to the Atlantic Ocean and the beaches except for two small churches and a doctor's office that is located in a house. The commercial enterprises in the immediate vicinity include the Island Gym, a real estate office, a super expensive hamburger joint, a hand job car wash, Island Tile, Dog 30, a real estate appraiser's office, several yoga places, two gas stations that sell very expensive gas (must be imported or something), several art galleries and antique stores, several hair clip joints, a very confusing French restaurant, more art galleries, a travel agency, a few guesthouses, and Faustos Grocery. The National Weather Service is located one block to the south across the street from the old Key West High School that is used as an elementary school today.

Two parcels that are for sale that have a total square footage of 8147 sq ft according to the listing Realtor. The two properties have approximately 153'.26" frontage on White Street. The lots are 51'9" deep per the Monroe County Appraiser's website.

The adjacent parking lot at 1212 White Street is included in the offering

1223 White Street Key West Florida in 1965

The same location but all new and really attractive mixed use development in 2010

Cars enter on United St and exit on White Street

Look a the three photos immediately above. The black and white pic was taken in the 1960s and shows a one story CBS building (concrete block structure) that was used as a pizza parlor. That structure was razed and a new commercial /residential building with parking was erected in 2007. The new building is mixed use of commercial office space on ground level and residential apartments on the second. A nice bricked parking area and landscaping complete the parcel development. The property at 1200 White has about 40' less frontage but the lots are just about equal in depth. I think that a structure somewhat akin to the building above might work for 1200 White Street. The 1200 White Street lot size is smaller and a new building could not be as large as the one pictured.

There is a real need for nice new office space with parking in the Old Town and Mid Town areas. If you are an investor or developer looking to acquire a development parcel such as this, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or Phil Wilson, 305-394-4105. We are both full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West, Florida. Phil Wilson has extensive commercial sales and leasing experience. Together, let us help you find your investment opportunity in Paradise.

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Invest in Key West

The stock market is probably going to go ape today with word that the United States is going to give AIG another $30 BILLION. Markets in Asia have already burped real bad. The financial news keeps feeding the hysteria and gives credence to the prophets of doom and gloom.

Thirty years ago as we were emerging from our nightmare over South Viet Nam, the ouster of Richard Nixon from the White House, sky rocketing oil prices, inflation, deflation, and stagnation, the county went through a similar economic downturn. What we did not have at that time was 24-hour-a-day news channels and the Internet scarring the beejesus out of us. I'm not saying the economy isn't bad. Back then it was Chrysler that was facing closing down. New York City faced failure in the face. The country responded by building K-cars and painting our appliances harvest gold and avocado green. Chrysler is still making cars and New York City has had its share of ups and downs, but it is still there.

I think there may be some good deals to be had by investing in Key West multiple housing units. I went through the inventory of 3-4 units and selected a few that you may find interesting. A couple of the properties are being offered by the estate of a recently deceased owner. There is at least one short sale in the bunch as well. A couple of the properties are located in really good locations and might be candidates for demolition and rebuilding into a single family home. And there are a couple of workhorses that have years of proven profitability (based on the acquisition cost). CLICK HERE to checkout the list. Most of these properties are lived in by either long term tenants who have lived in the same property for years. A few are apartments for people who rotate through Key West on a seasonal basis. There is always a need for reasonably priced rental properties in good locations. So that is why I think some of the units on the list may be appealing to a buyer looking for an investment property. I am not recommending any one property (or even all of them). I am just providing a list of units that may interest potential real estate investors.

Speaking of investing, I want to mention that Philip Wilson is a fellow Realtor (actually he is an Associate Broker) at Preferred Properties. Phil is a real estate and financial expert with 38 years experience in the private and public sectors specializing i commercial and corporate real estate. Prior to moving to Key West, Phil was the Senior Vice President, Corporate Services for one of the largest international commercial real estate firms. And prior to that, he was a senior executive with the federal government in Washington, D.C. responsible for planning, real estate, design an construction of a nationwide portfolio of 35,000 properties with 300 million square feet, valued in excess of $15 Billion. Phil is an accomplished troubleshooter and problem solver who meets challenges head on.

CLICK HERE to view Preferred Properties commercial properties (for sale or for lease). If you are a buyer or a seller, let Phil and yours truly help you.

If you see a property that interests you, please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or e-mail me at kw1101v@aol.com. Or call Phil Wilson at 305-394-4105 or email Phil at pewtar@aol.com.