More Tales from the Projects of Key West

Key West is a small island city located at the very end of the Florida Keys.  State law restricts the construction of new houses under the Rate of Growth Ordinance (ROGO) in all of the Florida Keys as a part of hurricane evacuation plan.  The fact is that Key West, like the other Keys, has a finite amount of land in general and a very limited amount of buildable lots in particular. The City of Key West has its own restrictive ordinances that limit the size, height, and density of new housing when space and ROGO units are available. It is for this reason that much of the construction in Key West is renovation as opposed to new construction.

Today's blog is an update of a series of blogs I have written about the Projects of Key West. I have written about some of today's houses before while others are new. I have even included some commercial spaces that are new or that are being remodeled.

On October 27,2007 the Key West Citizen reported the house at 730 United Street was heavily damaged by fire caused by someone smoking in bed. The house sat abandoned for nearly five years. Earlier this year renovation and expansion began.

Ten months later it looks as though the newly remodeled structure is nearly complete.

 

A bank owned house at 1021 Fleming Street that was listed at just $321,750 had ten cash offers higher than asking price and sold for $400,000 in 2010. I wrote an offer for one buyer. He bid too low.  Dang it!  Look at what is happening now.  This is still a work in progress. The general contractor built a new house from ground up for a buyer of mine. She told me she had worked with numerous contractors on several houses over the years. She said he was the best contractor she had ever worked with.

September 2010

October 2012

 

A former cigar maker's cottage in the 400 block of Virginia Street is getting a redo by a local duo who have revamped several Key West properties.  I remember showing this house several years ago when it was vacant. I told prospective buyers that the location just off Duval Street would make it a great vacation rental and I told them the extra large lot allowed plenty of room for a pool.  We will check back later to see how this turns out. I am expecting nothing less than Key West Charm!

 During the past couple of years I wrote about the really charming house at 821 Southard Street. The house was priced a bit high and it did not have a pool. Those two factors dissuaded a lot of potential buyers from making the move to buy this classic Key West home. One smart buyer succumed to the beauty of the place and is now in the process of doing some tree trimming, cosmetic repairs to the facade, and I understand will be adding a pool in the very near future.

March 2010

October 2012

319 Grinnell Street was a bank owned property that went under contract very quickly after it was listed in 2011. The house had been illegally divided into three separate living units. Construction has just started on the property which has a nice location near the Key West Seaport. I look forward to watching progress on this old place.

This room had a function toilet in it with no walls! Right off the kitchen!

October 2012

I wrote about the formerly bank owned house at 405 Olivia Street in January 2001 when it was initially offered for sale at $450,000.  The house was a friggin' mess on the inside principally because there were three bedrooms on the second floor and only one bathroom which was located on the ground floor with the entrance off the kitchen. Yet the great location opposite the Ernest Hemingway House, the charming original facade, and the deep and wide lot made this REO property a need-to-own for several would be buyers. The house sold for $381,000 on June 30k 2011.  Renovation started with the demolition of an ugly carport shed addition to the main house. Much if not all of the original foundation was replaced, and the entire inside was rebuilt.

405 Olivia St in 1965

 

Before renovation

March 2012

October 2012

Pool has been added

Earlier this year I wrote about one of the grand old Conch Houses of Key West located at 522 Grinnell Street. I got to show it a couple of times to very serious buyers. But the very high asking price for a house that needs an awful lot of work prevented any of my three buyers from making an offer. (All three bought other houses by the way-and not cheap ones!)

 
522 Grinnell Street had been gutted on the inside. The very tall ceilings, ancient crown moldings, and simple but elegant architectural detail remained in tact on the inside. A decrepit old addition at the rear was removed and an out building and garage were torn down. The remaining rear lot left room for a new first and second story porch at the rear. There is plenty of room for a pool.  The listing expired the the owner renewed construction on the house.

A few years ago the mixed use building at 927 Eaton Street suffered a fire. The place was repaired. The building was never a "looker".  In recent times the building started to show signs age (we all do, if we live long enough). In August I noticed a construction sign go up and knew a make-over at minimum was going to occur.

The two photos above show concrete repairs to address spalling which is the deterioration of iron rods used to reinforce the concrete. Spalling normally occurs at the tops and sides of concrete buildings and CBS structures.   The two lower photos show the building after the spalling was addressed and the building re-painted.

Friends and fans of the Green Parrot Bar may be please to learn that the next door neighbor Boalu's looks like it is history and replaced by a newly built Charlie Mac's smokehouse. I was amazed at how quickly the old building was torn down and the new building was constructed. Granted the construction of the new building is simple, but the simplest buildings normally take forever and ever to get built in Key West.

Charlie Mac's is now open. I walked down the parking lot to snap a pic of the smokehouse. It was smoking up something might tempting this morning.

Many potential buyers in Key West see old houses and say they would prefer to tear down some of the old places and build new. That is not normally allowed in Old Town because of HARC (Historic Architectural Review Commission) guidelines.  Exceptions are sometimes made for non-contributing structures. Such appears to be the case for the former house located at 710 Windsor Lane shown below.

The house shown above was built in 1954. It was demolished and the foundation for a new residence is being poured on the quite large lot (5674 sq ft) located near the top of Solares Hill. To be continued...

Finally, there are actually several new houses being built near the Casa Marina area that are affordably priced. Each house has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool, off street parking, and all new construction with about 1311 sq ft of interior living space priced in t e low $600s. These houses compare in price to some condos and townhomes in the Truman Annex, but these are single family homes with substantially more living space and a private pool.

A couple of the houses are already owner occupied and a few are under contract. It is great to see reasonably priced homes available for local and seasonal owners who want new construction. I was told the insurance prices for wind, flood, and casualty are remarkably low on these homes.

If you are looking to purchase a new house in Key West or buy a place that needs some work, please consider contacting me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com.  I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc.  Let me help you find your place in Paradise.

1018 James Street - Key West Renovation Property

I wrote about 1018 James Street (pictured immediately below) in January 2011. It did not sell then, but I'm pretty confident the soon to be completed renovation of the house next door at 1016 James Street will help persuade wannabe fixer-uppers that 1018 James Street is a project worthy of serious consideration.  The Monroe County Property Appraiser says that 1018 James Street was built in 1900.

1018 James Street - 1965

I dug into the old shoebox and found the photo below which says it was taken by the WPA in the 1930s. It shows homes in the 1000 block of James Street (dirt road is a better description).

Look at how sharp and clean the house next door at 1016 James Street now looks. Compare today's visage with how run down and forlorn the house looked in August 2010 when the renovations began at that location.

October 2012

August 2010

Now let's look at the front and rear of 1018 James Street.  Let your mind's eye envision how you could transform this similarly sad street scene into something especially satisfying.


 

 Look at the back of the house and the large back yard. Imagine how you could reconfigure the house, maybe enlarge it and add a rear deck, a pool, perhaps convert the ugly little building to the side into a pool cabana. The lot is 41' x 80'.

1018 James Street offers a bonus to potential buyers that out of towners may not appreciate until you start getting estimates from builders. That bonus is that the rear of the property is located on Thompson Lane. This is make demolition of existing building parts and removal of debris very easy. Likewise, having the extra space available during construction should reduce your construction costs and save money on not having to carry materials back and forth on the side lot or through the house. (Labor makes up a big portion of any project. Keep labor costs down by buying smart renovation projects.)

Rear building might become a pool cabana

 I took some additional photos which you can view if you CLICK HERE. And please CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet and listing photos of this property.  1018 James Street is a 1510 sq ft house that sits on a 3304 sq ft lot (or 41' x 80').  It is offered for sale at $425,000.  (The house next door at 1016 James Street was originally a 984 sq ft house that sits on a 40' x 80' lot.)

The Key West Historic Architectural Review Commission will have some impact on what you can do to the outside of the property, but you as a new homeowner can decide how you want to re-create the inside of the house.  You and your architect and builder will tear down existing walls and eliminate decades of old school design. You can create you perfect Key West getaway place.

1018 James Street is located about two blocks south of the Historic Key West Seaport and the shops and restaurants in that area. The shops, galleries, and nightlife on Duval Street is an easy walk from here, just six blocks or about ten minutes.

If you would like to see 1018 James Street or any other home in Key West please contact me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 or send me an email at kw1101v@aol.com. I am a buyers agent and  a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. Let me help you find your place in Paradise.

824 Terry Lane - Key West - A Piece of Heaven

I have often written about life on the slow lanes of Key West. The cottage at 824 Terry Lane is a perfect example of space and time: it is a wonderful embodiment of space and time means nothing if you live here.

The cottage is located at the rear of the Terry Lane Court condo compound (which I will describe later). The house itself is 747 sq ft of living space most of which is on the ground floor. (Lot size is 1131 sq ft.) The front door opens into a small foyer that leads forward into the combined kitchen and living room. The kitchen looks like it is brand new and has beautiful cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and rich granite counter-tops and back splash. 

 The laundry area is concealed behind a door and is located in the kitchen.

The living area is stunning. It is so simple, but so grand at the same time. The space seems expansive because of the vaulted ceiling and French doors that open out to the garden and pool.  A coy nook off to the side has a writer's desk that Ebenezer Scrooge would find charming. The floor are real wood (not like much of the product you see in many homes and condos these days. And the floors are beautiful. The steel stairway leads to the second level open bedroom which is currently used as an office.

A proper powder room is located just off the entry and opposite the entry into the ground floor bedroom. The bright and cheery is quite large and has extra tall ceilings which are made more prominent by the woven thatched ceiling. The bedroom accommodates a king size bed - not something you see in most Key West cottages where space is minimal.  The main bathroom is extra large as well. It is bright and cheerful.

The little compound is composed of six old homes that were originally located on this portion of Terry Lane. Each house is owned in fee simple, just like a traditional house in just about any town anywhere in America. Only here, the owners share a common area that includes the long meandering pool that is located at the rear of the other homes. Each home looks different from the rest. Some are as cute as a button and one was a bank foreclosure last year that still needs some reinvention. But all work in this little piece of heaven. The condo fees are $200 monthly which pays common area and pool maintenance. Each homeowner pays his own home insurance and home maintenance cost.   But all owners share the use of the pool and common areas. See photos below.

I took a couple of photos of the private area (below) for 824 Terry Lane. The space is precious as it can be. Imagine owning this wonderful little spot.

824 Terry Lane is offered at $424,900. CLICK HERE to view the Key West Association of Realtors mls datasheet and listing photos. I took some additional photos which you can see if you CLICK HERE. Better than pushing buttons, why don't you call me, Gary Thomas 305-766-2642 and schedule a private showing of this cute as hell little piece of heaven. I am a buyer agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. You will fall in love with this house. And I dare you to try to find any condo or single family home in Old Town that beats this property by size or amenities for this price. Compare this property to units available at Shipyard or smaller condos in the Old Town area.  I really think this place beats them all.

Bert and Ernie in Key West

Rumor has it that Bert and Ernie have been in Key West scoping out a new place to live in case Mitt Romney wins the election and makes good on his threat to stop funding PBS.

Bert started out drinking on the plane.  The thought of losing one's home and job is a pretty scary thing to happen to anyone - even a Muppet.  It could cause the most sober of creatures to turn to drink who knows what.

Day and night, night and day, Bert and Ernie did the Duval Crawl. Bert got separated from Ernie after having had one too many....

Bert ended up mounting a Hemingway Cat that looks like Adolph Hitler reincarnated!  Once he sobered up he set out to find Ernie.

Bert got a little edgy and started wandering the streets of Key West.

He ended up in back of B.O.'s Fish Wagon down at the seaport. He wandered around Old Town and found his way up to the Key West Cemetery.

I guess Bert was looking for a new home since Sesame Street might not be available next year.  He found this sweet little pink house over by the Key West Cemetery.  It was sold earlier this year. Bert found out that there isn't much to rent in Key West, especially if you don't have an income.

Later, he found some affordable trailers over on Simonton Street.  That could work, he thought.

Bert ended up next door to Alcoholics Anonymous. He didn't fall off the end of the earth, Thank God!  He wandered the streets for quite some time and eventually reconnected with Ernie.  They embraced and decided that if Romney gets elected they will definitely move to Key West.

Bert and Ernie have been together for a long, long time. The gang at Sesame Street accepts Bert and Ernie for who they are. Not everyone everywhere is quite as accepting. Maybe that is why they came to Key West where the motto is One Human Family. Okay, they aren't human. Neither is Mitt Romney.

But Bert and Ernie need to know that if they decide to leave Sesame Street, they will always be welcomed in Key West.  All are welcome here. Including Mitt.