The Projects of Key West

What do you conjure up when you read or hear the term "project"? I did a quick search of the Urban Dictionary which contains a lot of definitions including this one:

"Project:- People Relying On Just Enough Cash To Survive.
Usually the leaset econommically advantageous people will live in the projects. Projects lead to many things such as crime as a resort."

I guess I watch too many shows on PBS, HGTV and BRAVO because the shows on those networks use the term project as a vehicle to demonstrate a major undertaking which usually involves considerable money, personnel, equipment, and materials. Most projects showcase how design, construction, and smart selection of materials can transform a lagging structure into something quite admirable.

I do get "business" from people that read my blog. Some readers call and others write. Many of the readers often say they would be willing to take on a project if certain conditions could be met. Those conditions vary from buyer to buyer, but most focus on price reduction as the reason to consider buying what most call a "fixer-upper". Some readers recognize the housing slump has created buying opportunities where one might purchase a truly unique property at a fraction of what it cost before. Others fantasize about buying some run down property which could be restored or renovated at a considerable price saving if the buyer did part of the renovation.

The house below is located at 613 Olivia Street in Old Town. It is situated mid block between Simonton Street to the west and Elizabeth Street to the east. Most of the houses on this block, but not all, have been renovated. I chose this house because it is kind of place that second home owners dream of owning.

The property appraiser notes that "THIS BUILDING WAS BUILT CICA 1850 AT 619 SIMONTON ST. AND MOVED TO 613 OLIVIA ST CICA". This property is not for sale.

Instead of providing you with a list of potential fixers that you may want to consider, I thought I would instead show a few current projects that have been recently purchased. The next time you are in Key West walk by these properties and decide what you think.

I wrote about 730 Simonton Street on at least seven different occasions. It is one of the most notable houses in Key West. It sold in December 2010. Some initial work has started. A nasty old tree that endangered the structure was removed and some exterior prep work has begun. A very short fence has been added to the property. This is probably the property for which I have the greatest expectation.

730 Southard Street in 2009

730 Southard Street - July 2011

1130 Fleming Street sold in 2010. It was a bank foreclosure and many competing offers were made on this house. The inside had been messed around with by amateurs. The entire rear addition was falling into the ground and the main house had major stress issues. I showed it to several potential buyers. One made an offer but not high enough to get the property. This house has one of the best locations in Old Town. Compare the way it looked in 2009 to the way in looks in July 2011. I will be anxious to see if the gingerbread trim is restored and returned to this house.

Rear addition was demolished a and new addition has been added.

Another landmark location at the corner of Eaton and Elizabeth Streets sold in March 2010. It looks like it has been gutted of much of the faux Victorian interiors that were added by a former owner. (That's gotta hurt the ego and pocketbooks.) Construction crews are at the property now. Exterior walls have been blown-out and rebuilt. The old "new" kitchen is gone. It did not work aesthetically. Maybe the new owner will get this re-do done right. Let's hope.

Elizabeth Street before current renovation

Work in progress

Faux Victorian side entrance is gone

Work in Progress

I wrote a couple of blogs about 911 Watson. It was a "diamond in the rough" that required a buyer with a big imagination, a good architect, a competent builder, and money in the bank. The existing house and some other buildings sat on a 10,000 sq ft lot with huge specimen trees on a quiet little street near the end of Key West cemetery. The location was an immediate "turn-off" to some potential buyers while others saw the potential.

The house was hidden behind a huge fence and decades worth of trees and shrubs

A former garage is gone and the side and rear yards are now open awaiting development. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one. I really want this place to be something special.

Sometimes work is done so "quietly" that you don't notice that a house has been updated. Take the simple house at the corner of William at Fleming Street. Below are two photos of the same house taken about twelve months apart. The house was purchased in June 2010. The renovation was recently completed. Don't you wish you had bought this charmer?

This is the "before" picture

This is the "After" picture.
The new owners have redone other houses and know what they are doing.

And there is even new construction occurring in Key West. An example is this beautiful Casa Marina area home that was completed in February 2011.

This South Street home was completed in February 2011

If you are thinking of buying a place in Key West CLICK HERE to search the Key West mls for your dream home. If you find something that interests you, please consider working with me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or by email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. Let me help you find your Key West Project!

Harmony

People that live in Big Cities feel the need to do things on a really Big Scale

In Key West we do many of the same things, only on a Small Scale

I like to think our approach to life and to where we live is more practical, pleasing, and harmonious.

If you are looking to buy a place in Key West, please call me, Gary Thomas. Let me help you find your place in Paradise.

820 Terry Lane - Key West - Bank Owned

Just listed, but not by me, 820 Terry Lane in the Bahama Village area of Old Town Key West. The price on this lovely little two bedroom home with 598 sq ft of living space plus a very large shared pool and an off street parking space is just $210,000. The listing broker describes this Bank Owned property like this:

"Cute Conch Cottage In A Unique Old Town Compound. Gorgeous Shared Pool, Welcome To Shangrila. Condo Restricted To Full TimeResidency 5 Unit Complex. One Off Street Parking Space. All Offers, Buyers Must Have Pre-qualification Or Proof Of Funds Before An OfferCan Be Submitted."

Terry Lane is located two blocks west of Duval Street. It is situated between Truman at the south and Petronia to the north. CLICK HERE for a Google Map aerial view of the location. If you have walked to Blue Heaven for pancakes or an evening meal, you probably walked right past Terry Lane. If you managed to walk to the top of the Key West Lighthouse you probably saw the house because it is located just a little over one block to the north.


CLICK HERE to view slide photo presentation of this property. You will observe a large winding pool sitting behind five houses. These five houses comprise the Terry Lane Court Condominiums that owns the common area including the pool. Each homeowner is responsible for the repairs and maintenance of the individual homes. 820 Terry Lane is one of only three homes to have a designated off street parking spot.

The house needs real good cleaning and a fresh coat of paint. The floor boards on the front porch need replaced. There is some minor wood rot in a couple of places. Otherwise, the house looked in pretty good condition. The house is currently configured with the two front rooms used as bedrooms followed by the kitchen living room at the rear. The bathroom is located off the living room. It might be a bit awkward of you had lots of guests. But a young couple or old empty nesters could make-do just fine with the arrangement. The rear of the house has a big vaulted ceiling and lots of windows that look out to the back porch and the pool beyond.


The listing broker got it right when she referred to the area as "Shangrila". This is the type of cute little compound many buyers dream of. And it is affordable.

If you would like to see 820 Terry Lane or any other property in Key West please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West.

If You Build It, They Will Come!

The photo above is of workers cleaning up after the great hurricane of 1935 that killed hundreds and that left much of the Florida Keys in ruins. Bridges to Key West were wiped out and Henry Flagler's railroad that ended in Key West just ended. Forever.

Ever since the Civil War, Key West was a strategic location for the United States Navy. The United States was in the middle of the Great Depression when the hurricane decimated the Florida Keys and money was scarce - everywhere. The bridges to Key West had to be rebuilt. And they were. The above photo shows the first of the new bridges that re-connected Key West to the mainland. A few short years later Japan attacked the United States and brought us into World War II. Key West emerged as a critical base for Navy operations.

Key West - 1943

Written on the back of the above photo: WAR BOOMS KEY WEST. Wartime installations in Key West are so big that a third of the town has been slowly swallowed by the Navy. It is now, perhaps, the most important spot on the map of the Caribbean area. Key West repairs and supplies and berths ships from the Seven Seas. New War housing pops up on all sides. 780 dwelling units in low cost housing project, 900 more in two War housing groups, and 350 little frame homes that are selling for $3,500 and bought before they are finished. Key West had only 12,000 persons before the war. It now has 40,000. Here is a view down a street in one of the two new war housing projects. 17 March 1943.

It looks like it was a good thing that the bridges to Key West were re-built when they were. Even greater projects like the TVA and Hoover Dam were built during the Great Depression. Both projects were massive undertakings and terribly expensive - especially when money was so scarce. During the Depression these projects employed thousands of workers which in turn helped get the economy to grow. They gave provided water and electricity a few short years later when World War II tested our national metal. The projects were trans-formative as played a major role in the development of the new south and the expansion in the west in the years that followed.

The recent photo above was taken at the end of one of the bridges destroyed during the 1935 hurricane. The sentiment spray painted on the bridge is recent and reflects the huge schism in modern day America.

Like so many teen's in the early 1960's, I was inspired by John F. Kennedy. Kennedy challenged my generation to be better and to achieve more. His vision of the New Frontier thrust America into outer space arguably was the most trans-formative force in American history. We went to the moon. Then we helped build the international space station and began making routine commutes up there. It is how we got there that changed how we live today. The Internet in all of its forms and incarnations, telecommunication, medicine, transportation (cars, planes, trains, and even bikes) are all beneficiaries of new technologies and new materials developed as part of the space race that improved our lives. Like the Hoover Dam, the TVA, and the reconstruction of bridges to Key West, investments in space exploration proved so valuable for decades that followed.

Univac

Sole phone

"Univac" and telephone rolled into one simple, lightweight device that is changing our world

Who would have imagined how much different our world would be fifty years after Kennedy challenged us to go to the moon? Science fiction became science fact - on steroids. Who now can argue that the money spent then was a waste, a boondoggle? I guess some could argue that computers, digital communication and miniaturization would inevitably would have happened. Perhaps. Perhaps not. But the investment made in the 1960s assuredly is still reaping benefits five decades later just as the investment in the Hoover Dam, the TVA, and the bridges to Key West continue to make our common lives better.

There is no present discussion of any big ideas or any grand projects in our national dialogue. Instead the discussion is about our looming national debt and how we are going to pay for government in the future and to pay for programs and entitlement payments that occurred in the past. Past unfunded obligations include two major wars, bank bailouts, and tax breaks for the rich.

It riles me to no end that we are spending our national treasure to "rebuild" Afghanistan when we need to spend that money at home rebuilding our own villages, towns, and cities. We need to spend money on big trans-formative projects like the Hoover Dam or the TVA and smaller projects like rebuilding bridges to places like Key West. Those big projects and those little bridges keep people employed and create the opportunity for business growth and development for decades.

The roads and bridges to Key West destroyed by the great hurricane of 1935 were re-built. People have been coming to the Keys for decades from far and wide for business and pleasure like this couple from Kansas in the 1950's .

912 Windsor Lane - Old Town - Key West - Bank Owned

The new listing at 912 Windsor Lane will be under contract within a couple of days because it has so many of the features many second home buyers look for in a potential Key West property including three bedrooms, two baths plus a half bath, vaulted ceiling in the living area, a private pool, and off street parking. You would never guess this house would have a pool or parking if you view it from the street. But it and the other similar old Conch cottages on Windsor Lane share a common entrance off Olivia Street where owners enter their homes from the rear instead of from Windsor Lane.


The house is a comfortable 1342 sq ft of living space that sits on a 26' x 100' lot. A previous listing of this property described the house this way: "Totally private Key West indoor/outdoor living space behind a historic facade. Open kitchen/great room with French doors opening to a deck with both sun and shade."

Pool photos from prior mls listing

As I recall this place will need some fix-up. And I am confident the pool and property do not look as good today as they did when the above photos of the pool and rear yard were taken. Pools and yards can be cleaned. Repairs can be made and broken things can be fixed or replaced. Having a pool in place and parking in such a great location is worthy of serious consideration.

St. Mary's Catholic Church is located up at the corner of Windsor Lane at Truman Avenue. Duval Street is just a four three block walk walk to the west. There are numerous gyms, yoga studios, and neighborhood shops and services within a few blocks of this location. But it is the nearness to all of the Old Town area that makes this location so very appealing.

912 Windsor Lane is Bank Owned and offered for sale at the asking price of $299,900. If you are interested in seeing this property or any other property in Key West, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West.

Pied-à-Terre por Vous? - Bank Owned - Key West

526 William William Street - Old Town - Key West

The term "Pied-à-terre" comes to mind when you first see 526 William Street Unit #3. What you don't expect is to read the words "Bank Owned" immediately thereafter. When you do, read on. This sharp 2 bedroom 1 and 1/2 bath two story unit is located on the second and third floors of the chic Delancey Hall Condominium. The living room and kitchen share the second floor space with a half bath. An interior stairway leads to the third floor bedrooms and bath. The front second floor balcony is shared with the unit across the hall. Other units in the building have their own private outdoor spaces.

There are only five units in this building that was very tastefully renovated in 2001. The facade just oozes class. Architecturally speaking, I think this building is one of the most handsome in all of Old Town. It just looks important. The side gate provides entry to the shared pool and bricked courtyard area at he rear. There is no off street parking. Since most of the surrounding properties are single family homes, street parking is not an issue.

Unit #3 is now BANK OWNED and offered for sale at $315,000. It is located on the north side second floor front of the building. I co-listed this unit in 2004-2005. I held several open houses at this property. Everybody loved it and the location. The only issue raised was the height of the bathroom ceiling. It is tucked into the roof and a tall person (someone over 6') will have to bend the neck to the side while taking a shower. Tall people tell me they often have to bend to fit in many places. Other than that the two bedrooms and bath are comfortably sized. This unit would make an excellent getaway place or one could live here full time.

Delancey Hall is one of the very best renovations I have seen in Key West. The quality of the workmanship and the superior interior finishes look as good today as they did ten years ago when the original renovation was completed. Buyers that work with me know that I am quick to point out shoddy construction and poor workmanship. Nobody should pay good money for unprofessional construction. Each Delancey Hall unit was built to high quality standards.

The Monroe County Property Appraiser shows this unit as having 955 sq ft of living space. The listing agent varies and relies on an appraisal that shows 657 sq ft. All previous listings (including the original developer's agent) showed the unit as having 955 sq ft.

This unit ought to sell this week. Seriously. This is a great building and this unit has all of the features second home (and many primary) homeowners want. You cannot beat the location; the building is both solid and beautiful; the price is affordable.

(Interior photos are from 2004)

Locals and frequent visitors know the value of a good location, and 526 William Street is located in the very heart of the Historic District. The Key West Seaport is three blocks to the north. There are lots of great restaurants and water based activities there. Duval Street is just a five minute walk to the west. Mangia Mangia is a block to the east at the corner of Margaret and Southard. Five Brothers is located one block further to the east where you can get your morning gossip and cafe con leche at the same time. Fausto's Food Palace is three blocks west on Fleming. Fausto's has a great wine selection plus one of the best real butcher markets in Key West. And Fausto's always has fresh sushi. One-half block off the corner of Duval and Eaton you will find the Tropic Cinema, a hangout for the elite of Key West. The point is you can eat and greet and meet just about anywhere in Old Town within a few minutes walk of bike ride.

If you would like to see this unit or get more information, please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or by email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a buyer's agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. in Key West. Do not wait until it is too late!