Water’s Edge luxury condominiums, a Downtown Clearwater landmark at 26 stories high, was once predicted as the catalyst of the Downtown Clearwater Renaissance. As the building filled, its residents were expected to fill the streets. As we head into 2011, the building’s success is still a crucial element in the district’s redevelopment. Water’s Edge, which once stood as an empty monolith with an uncertain fate, now has a bright future ahead of it. A quick review of 2011 housing sales predictions will give us a better understanding of the building’s – and Downtown Clearwater’s – future.
“I am pleased to have seen Water’s Edge rebound so well during a down economy,” says Grant Wood who oversees the condominium’s sales. “The building has managed to go from barely occupied to swiftly and surely filling up.”
As projected by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Fannie Mae, housing sales are projected to rise this year, with the trend continuing into 2012. According to the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR), Florida condo sales were up 11% in November [2009 to 2010]. Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial was quoted in the Washington Post as saying, "The level of activity will still be low relative to the boom. But the trend is starting to move in the right direction, which is a little bit of good news with which to close out the year."
Appropriate pricing will be a major factor in the increase of housing sales. Home prices are expected to rise in 2011, and to continue to rise throughout the decade, which means this year is the ideal time for a homebuyer to purchase a domicile. John Paulson advises, “If you don’t own a home, buy one. If you own one home, buy another one. If you own two homes, buy a third. And, lend your relatives the money to buy a home.”
Water’s Edge has been offering deeply discounted prices on luxury condominiums since their re-grand opening in July 2010, adapting to the market. Water’s Edge is already experiencing NAR and Fannie Mae’s prediction of increased sales, filling up the Downtown Clearwater area with residents, while continuing to reinforce to potential buyers the urgency to take advantage of the “opportunity of a lifetime”. The 26-story, 153-unit condominium at the foot of Cleveland Avenue is the tallest building in Clearwater and features spectacular views of the bay, the Gulf of Mexico and miles of pristine beaches, making it the ideal location for potential residents.
Water’s Edge has become the best-selling condominium in Pinellas County, according to Multiple Listing Service statistics. Sixty families have decided to make Water’s Edge home - the news residents are from all over the US and Canada, including New York, Ohio, Massachusetts and California. As a result the surrounding area in Downtown Clearwater has begun to take off, with new businesses and restaurants opening up, and several restaurants moving to the adjacent block on Cleveland Street.
Should this success continue, as the expert’s 2011 real estate prediction would seem to indicate, it looks like a prosperous 2011 for Water’s Edge, and with it, Downtown Clearwater.
As Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard once put it, “What [does] Apple, Microsoft and Water’s Edge all have in common? Answer: They are all opportunities that you would have wanted in on, on the ground floor.”
About Concierge Asset Management:
Concierge Asset Management, headquartered in Houston, TX, is a value-added, vertically integrated real estate investment company. Together with its institutional partners, Concierge acquires, repositions and manages large luxury condominium and apartment communities. Concierge is often “buyer of choice” for lenders/ sellers of challenged non-performing loans (NPLs) or foreclosed properties due to its expertise in providing both post and pre-closing cost-effective solutions for problems in their portfolios of multi-family and other types of investment properties. Concierge’s founder-chairman, Maxwell Drever, president and chief executive officer Ted Kerr and their teammates, many with decades of service with Concierge, are also recognized for their social and environmentally conscious property and community transformations. Currently, Concierge is investing nationwide in properties and/or their NPLs. www.conciergeassetmanagement.com.
More information on Water’s Edge can be viewed at www.clearwatersedge.com.
###
