Land is scarce throughout Florida's Tampa Bay area, and that combined with it being a popular place to live during an era when owning your own home is popular, and fairly easy to do with interest rates at all-time lows are some of the reasons for the rising rondo, or condo-conversion trend. Rondos are created by converting an apartment into a condo, which is deeded then sold by a developer. Because the overall cost of converting an apartment building or apartment complex into condos is less expensive than developing fresh, new condos, condo-conversions have become both popular and profitable for developers. In fact, a developer contacted me just last week about doing a condo-conversion and an associate and I are currently working to secure a site for his project. This article from RISMedia's Real Estate News, courtesy the St. Petersburg Times, may give you more of an idea as to why rondos are so popular. Here's a snippet:
Five percent of Tampa's apartment stock and 11 percent of Pinellas' have or are expected to "go rondo." That's about 10,300 conversions since 2003.
Like a single family home, a rondo's pull comes down to location, price, amenities and quality. That's why Atlantic American Realty Group snagged the Cloisters apartments (now Fountains at Countryside), just north of Westfield Shoppingtown Countryside. Built in the 1980s, the 168-unit complex has concrete firewalls between some units.
Each unit is gutted. All pipes, flooring, air conditioning and kitchen equipment are replaced. A butterfly garden, Pilates room and 11-person jacuzzi are planned.
Prices range from $101,500 to $157,000 — far lower than $167,000, the median single family home price for Tampa Bay. Forty-one units sold in three weeks.
Villa Sonoma, near Tampa's International Plaza, doesn't offer golf lessons or wine cellars. The location and construction is enough.
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