CHANNELSIDE | Bell Channelside | 6 stories | 422 rental units | complete - Page 7

DShenise · December 17th, 2008, 06:38 PM

I noticed the pool area sucking too on an pic awhile back. Maybe George Hamilton is my long lost father, but I have issues with sticking pools on the north sides of buildings, especially if said building is 5 stories tall. Can't shade the pool man. I think it backs up to a rather unpleasant area too.

Jasonhouse · December 17th, 2008, 07:35 PM

^I was saying on top of the garage, like most other DT residential projects have already done... The garage is as tall as the rest of the place, but is just an exposed roof deck of parking.

DShenise · December 18th, 2008, 02:53 AM

Somehow I don't think they had the budget for an elevated amenities deck. A typical residential inground pool in 2006 was about $21-28K + the decking. Now triple the size (ala Element) and engineer the thing for being on top of the garage, you are looking at about $120K+ for just the pool and then whatever you want to spend to make the deck nice.

Jasonhouse · December 18th, 2008, 05:35 AM

Even if it cost $300k to build a 2nd rooftop pool, that's less than $12 a month per unit over a 5yr period. Recurring maintenance would probably be about 1/2 of that per month... I'm just saying, my guess is that if the prices were let's say $20-25 a month higher and now tenants have two pools, including a rooftop pool/patio area with a great view and steady sun, I think that would be an easy sell.

DShenise · December 18th, 2008, 03:14 PM

But you are assuming the developer thinks they'll own it in 5 years. Never underestimate the cheapness of a developer. I worked for a place that wouldn't buy pool furniture for the townhome project it built. We made the residents do it. I thought is was very cheap, but it was above my paygrade. This is Florida afterall, be cheap and flip it quick is the rule.

Jasonhouse · December 18th, 2008, 06:21 PM

True... very true. I chose the townhouse I have over another one, because the developer had cheaped out so much on the unit I initially preferred, that I couldn't justify their price. I would have had to spend a good $15-20k to refinish the place with what I would consider a minimally acceptable finish quality. I'm sure that they had no trouble selling the place because of location (was on North B, west of Lois), and because of the fact that so many people buy on impulse.

DShenise · December 18th, 2008, 07:27 PM

One good thing to come out of the downturn and housing overcapacity is that developers with inventory will basically give away the store just to breakeven. Novare is offering $75K worth of upgrades on their projects up here. So basically you can get 1200-1400sf, 2/2 and get the whole thing with hardwood flooring, custom closet systems, etc, for about $250ish.

TampaMike · April 11th, 2009, 07:56 AM

Channelside developer seeks condo tax rebate for apartments
By Michael Van Sickler, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, April 10, 2009

CHANNELSIDE — The banner draped across the top ledge of Seaport Channelside reads: "Apartment Homes."

Leasing specialists who work at this five-story, 422-unit complex tell visitors that if they're looking to buy a condominium here, they're out of luck. Apartments only.

So why are the developers of Seaport Channelside Apartment Homes applying for tax rebates as just that — a condo building?

Look no further than a lucrative tax refund that developers say they need to make the $70 million project feasible.

"We feel wholeheartedly that we did everything we were supposed to do, so we are due these credits," said Doug Weber, owner of Synergy Properties, which built Seaport Channelside.

But whether Seaport will qualify, potentially saving more than $1 million, depends on a complex process involving county and state officials.

At the heart of the matter is a Florida law that was created to encourage development in blighted areas such as Channelside and which in the last few years has become an ever larger drain on state coffers.

• • •

In 2003, Tampa officials searched for developers willing to build on 7.5 acres of city land that had been used for years as a fueling station for city vehicles. Synergy, a family-owned development company that specializes in assisted living facilities, won the bid and began cleaning up the site along E Twiggs Street.

The cleanup lasted four years — three years longer than expected — because of the additional waste, including old railroad tracks and a 19th century stormwater system, said Michael DeMarcay, Synergy's vice president.

The plan, DeMarcay and Weber say, is to lease their project's units as apartments, but convert them to condos as the market improves.

They always counted on getting a tax subsidy that was created for industrial zones like this one, the developers say. It gives them a refund on taxes spent on building materials — a rebate that developers are tapping with greater frequency.

In 2001, the tax refund cost the state about $456,000. By last year, the refund cost $25.6 million, according to Robert Babin, legislative services director for the Florida Department of Revenue.

Condo projects represent about 95 percent of the rebates. That's because the law refunds the sales tax per property identification number.

Property appraisers issue identification numbers for each condo unit because they are owned by different entities. If a project has 100 condos, then 100 identification numbers are assigned. Even though an apartment building has 100 units, however, it will only be assigned one identification number because the units typically belong to one owner.

So while condos multiply the tax rebate by each unit, an apartment building only gets up to $5,000 for the entire project.

In Seaport's case, an apartment project designation would mean $5,000 back tax refunds. A condo designation would mean $1.5 million.

That's a big difference, and yet, the tax rebate law never mentions apartments or condos specifically, only the property identification numbers.

DeMarcay and Weber think it should be up to Florida's Department of Revenue to decide whether they get the tax refund, as well as the intent of the law.

But first, the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's Office must decide if each of Seaport's apartments gets its own identification number.

"We don't think these are condo units in reality," said Will Shepherd, the legal counsel for the Property Appraiser's Office. "The problem is, we realize that. We didn't want to appear to go along with this deception."

• • •

Last June, DeMarcay told a tax consultant his plan to apply for the rebate. An attorney told him to put the "bare minimum" condo documents in place to create the separate identification numbers, while making sure only one tax bill would be sent to the owner of the building, DeMarcay wrote in a June 19 e-mail. The Property Appraiser's Office later obtained this e-mail.

"(That e-mail) made it seem pretty obvious to us that the only reason they were setting up these condos was to get a larger sales tax rebate than they were entitled to," Shepherd said.

Shepherd contacted an official with the Department of Revenue and alerted him of his suspicion, including his belief that Synergy would dissolve the condos once they received the tax rebate.

Babin, of the Department of Revenue, said his agency needs Synergy's tax rebate application before it can decide.

"I can certainly see how the local authority has a question there," Babin said. "But I also don't think the rebate specifies apartments or condos."

DeMarcay said that Shepherd misinterpreted his e-mail. "Bare-minimum" only referred to preliminary condo documents that had to be filed, he said, adding that there are no plans to dissolve the condos.

The company always intended to convert the apartments to condos when the market improved. Synergy's February 2003 report to Tampa officials confirms that its strategy was to convert to condos later.

Still, condos aren't practical now. Even if Synergy wanted to sell its units, it would need permission from its lender, which could take time.

But just because condos may not happen for years, that doesn't mean they should forfeit the rebate, DeMarcay said.

Meanwhile, with the condo documents in place, property appraiser Rob Turner said there isn't much choice for his office.

"We are charged with following the law, and if we don't, the court can find us at fault," Turner said. "I just hope this gets attention in Tallahassee."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/growth/article990656.ece

Casey · April 11th, 2009, 03:14 PM

[QUOTE=TampaMike;34975252]Channelside developer seeks condo tax rebate for apartments

Oh sure, and I should be able to get a mortgage based on "how much I think my income will be in the future".

SwooshOU · November 8th, 2010, 12:19 AM

My wife, two daughters (3 and 1) and I just signed our lease for a 2/2.5 townhome at Seaport and look forward to moving-in in January. We had to give 60 days notice where we currently are (Circle at Crosstown) so we decided to get a head start looking around. After looking at four different places we settled on Seaport. Ultimately, the 1770 sq ft and high build quality tipped in Seaport's favor.

The negatives were the lack of valet trash (we're kinda spoiled on that now). Another negative for us was the lack of an on-site playground. Thankfully, after I had mentioned it would be a great selling point for other potential families, the leasing agent spoke to "corporate" and told me they're looking at potentially adding a playset and making one of the six courtyards off limits to pets.

It will be an experiment for us and our young family to live in a urban environment. But, my wife and I have always wanted to live in an urban setting. Besides, the family pass to the children's museum will get a lot of use. We looked at the Seaport and the unit three times before deciding.

After driving through the area several times as well, we look forward to more walk-up retail on that end of Channelside. However, the streetcar stop 100 yards away opens up all of Channelside and Ybor and a lot of downtown too.

In any case, we're excited about moving and think it'll be fun. Anybody live at Seaport and care to give their take on it?

tampasteve · November 8th, 2010, 02:59 PM

Good luck!

Welcome to the board, let us know how you like Seaport and the surrounding area. There are some great people on this board that work in that area that should be able to give some insights. If I am still in Tampa in the next 5 years I would also very much like to live in that area and have access to the street car, but we shall see.

Steve

MODS: Can we change the title from U/C to completed?

John F · November 9th, 2010, 02:13 AM

The title of this thread needs to change. Seaport isn't u/c

Jasonhouse · November 9th, 2010, 06:26 AM

The guy who sits next to me at work lives in Seaport in one of the one bedroom apartments. He loves it, though like everyone else, he wishes there was a grocery store closer than Publix on Bayshore.

btw... I think we lost our mods? I might have to re-mod myself, so that someone can take care of things...lol

FloridaFuture · November 20th, 2010, 09:19 AM

^I'm still here just been very busy.

TampaMike · July 30th, 2012, 08:49 PM

The Apartment formally known as Seaport has a new name now, Bell Channelside. Synergy sold the apartment complex to Bell Partners for $66.21 million.

densitymatters · October 11th, 2012, 12:54 AM

Work has begun on painting the buildings white and gray. I'm looking foward to seeing what it looks like once everything is completed, the old color scheme looked aweful IMO.

Jasonhouse · October 12th, 2012, 05:39 AM

White and gray?

Hmmm.

densitymatters · October 12th, 2012, 07:08 AM

I will post pictures tomorrow

densitymatters · October 12th, 2012, 11:35 PM

image hosted on flickr

securedownload by andrewspics2012, on Flickr

densitymatters · October 12th, 2012, 11:36 PM

image hosted on flickr

securedownload by andrewspics2012, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

securedownload1 by andrewspics2012, on Flickr

April 11th, 2009, 07:56 AM	#128
TampaMike Moderator Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 6,140 Likes (Received): 5	Channelside developer seeks condo tax rebate for apartments By Michael Van Sickler, Times Staff Writer In Print: Friday, April 10, 2009 CHANNELSIDE — The banner draped across the top ledge of Seaport Channelside reads: "Apartment Homes." Leasing specialists who work at this five-story, 422-unit complex tell visitors that if they're looking to buy a condominium here, they're out of luck. Apartments only. So why are the developers of Seaport Channelside Apartment Homes applying for tax rebates as just that — a condo building? Look no further than a lucrative tax refund that developers say they need to make the $70 million project feasible. "We feel wholeheartedly that we did everything we were supposed to do, so we are due these credits," said Doug Weber, owner of Synergy Properties, which built Seaport Channelside. But whether Seaport will qualify, potentially saving more than $1 million, depends on a complex process involving county and state officials. At the heart of the matter is a Florida law that was created to encourage development in blighted areas such as Channelside and which in the last few years has become an ever larger drain on state coffers. • • • In 2003, Tampa officials searched for developers willing to build on 7.5 acres of city land that had been used for years as a fueling station for city vehicles. Synergy, a family-owned development company that specializes in assisted living facilities, won the bid and began cleaning up the site along E Twiggs Street. The cleanup lasted four years — three years longer than expected — because of the additional waste, including old railroad tracks and a 19th century stormwater system, said Michael DeMarcay, Synergy's vice president. The plan, DeMarcay and Weber say, is to lease their project's units as apartments, but convert them to condos as the market improves. They always counted on getting a tax subsidy that was created for industrial zones like this one, the developers say. It gives them a refund on taxes spent on building materials — a rebate that developers are tapping with greater frequency. In 2001, the tax refund cost the state about $456,000. By last year, the refund cost $25.6 million, according to Robert Babin, legislative services director for the Florida Department of Revenue. Condo projects represent about 95 percent of the rebates. That's because the law refunds the sales tax per property identification number. Property appraisers issue identification numbers for each condo unit because they are owned by different entities. If a project has 100 condos, then 100 identification numbers are assigned. Even though an apartment building has 100 units, however, it will only be assigned one identification number because the units typically belong to one owner. So while condos multiply the tax rebate by each unit, an apartment building only gets up to $5,000 for the entire project. In Seaport's case, an apartment project designation would mean $5,000 back tax refunds. A condo designation would mean $1.5 million. That's a big difference, and yet, the tax rebate law never mentions apartments or condos specifically, only the property identification numbers. DeMarcay and Weber think it should be up to Florida's Department of Revenue to decide whether they get the tax refund, as well as the intent of the law. But first, the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's Office must decide if each of Seaport's apartments gets its own identification number. "We don't think these are condo units in reality," said Will Shepherd, the legal counsel for the Property Appraiser's Office. "The problem is, we realize that. We didn't want to appear to go along with this deception." • • • Last June, DeMarcay told a tax consultant his plan to apply for the rebate. An attorney told him to put the "bare minimum" condo documents in place to create the separate identification numbers, while making sure only one tax bill would be sent to the owner of the building, DeMarcay wrote in a June 19 e-mail. The Property Appraiser's Office later obtained this e-mail. "(That e-mail) made it seem pretty obvious to us that the only reason they were setting up these condos was to get a larger sales tax rebate than they were entitled to," Shepherd said. Shepherd contacted an official with the Department of Revenue and alerted him of his suspicion, including his belief that Synergy would dissolve the condos once they received the tax rebate. Babin, of the Department of Revenue, said his agency needs Synergy's tax rebate application before it can decide. "I can certainly see how the local authority has a question there," Babin said. "But I also don't think the rebate specifies apartments or condos." DeMarcay said that Shepherd misinterpreted his e-mail. "Bare-minimum" only referred to preliminary condo documents that had to be filed, he said, adding that there are no plans to dissolve the condos. The company always intended to convert the apartments to condos when the market improved. Synergy's February 2003 report to Tampa officials confirms that its strategy was to convert to condos later. Still, condos aren't practical now. Even if Synergy wanted to sell its units, it would need permission from its lender, which could take time. But just because condos may not happen for years, that doesn't mean they should forfeit the rebate, DeMarcay said. Meanwhile, with the condo documents in place, property appraiser Rob Turner said there isn't much choice for his office. "We are charged with following the law, and if we don't, the court can find us at fault," Turner said. "I just hope this gets attention in Tallahassee." http://www.tampabay.com/news/growth/article990656.ece __________________ Corporations Are People Too - Mitt Romney For the People that dress up like Corporations.

November 8th, 2010, 02:59 PM	#131
tampasteve Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Tampa Posts: 2,363 Likes (Received): 2	Good luck! Welcome to the board, let us know how you like Seaport and the surrounding area. There are some great people on this board that work in that area that should be able to give some insights. If I am still in Tampa in the next 5 years I would also very much like to live in that area and have access to the street car, but we shall see. Steve MODS: Can we change the title from U/C to completed? __________________ Homer: Face it, Marge, Catholics rule! We got Boston, South America, the good part of Ireland, and we're makin' serious inroads in Mozambique, baby! "My badger's gonna unleash hell on your ass. Badgertastic!"

November 9th, 2010, 02:13 AM	#132
John F Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Palm Harbor, Florida Posts: 2,213 Likes (Received): 0	The title of this thread needs to change. Seaport isn't u/c __________________ Raw Charge - Tampa Bay Lightning hockey

July 30th, 2012, 08:49 PM	#135
TampaMike Moderator Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 6,140 Likes (Received): 5	The Apartment formally known as Seaport has a new name now, Bell Channelside. Synergy sold the apartment complex to Bell Partners for $66.21 million. __________________ Corporations Are People Too - Mitt Romney For the People that dress up like Corporations.

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December 17th, 2008, 06:38 PM	#121
DShenise Designer, 1404designs Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Santa Monica Posts: 1,133 Likes (Received): 0	I noticed the pool area sucking too on an pic awhile back. Maybe George Hamilton is my long lost father, but I have issues with sticking pools on the north sides of buildings, especially if said building is 5 stories tall. Can't shade the pool man. I think it backs up to a rather unpleasant area too.

December 17th, 2008, 07:35 PM	#122
Jasonhouse Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 12,270 Likes (Received): 8	^I was saying on top of the garage, like most other DT residential projects have already done... The garage is as tall as the rest of the place, but is just an exposed roof deck of parking.

December 18th, 2008, 02:53 AM	#123
DShenise Designer, 1404designs Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Santa Monica Posts: 1,133 Likes (Received): 0	Somehow I don't think they had the budget for an elevated amenities deck. A typical residential inground pool in 2006 was about $21-28K + the decking. Now triple the size (ala Element) and engineer the thing for being on top of the garage, you are looking at about $120K+ for just the pool and then whatever you want to spend to make the deck nice.

December 18th, 2008, 05:35 AM	#124
Jasonhouse Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 12,270 Likes (Received): 8	Even if it cost $300k to build a 2nd rooftop pool, that's less than $12 a month per unit over a 5yr period. Recurring maintenance would probably be about 1/2 of that per month... I'm just saying, my guess is that if the prices were let's say $20-25 a month higher and now tenants have two pools, including a rooftop pool/patio area with a great view and steady sun, I think that would be an easy sell.

December 18th, 2008, 03:14 PM	#125
DShenise Designer, 1404designs Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Santa Monica Posts: 1,133 Likes (Received): 0	But you are assuming the developer thinks they'll own it in 5 years. Never underestimate the cheapness of a developer. I worked for a place that wouldn't buy pool furniture for the townhome project it built. We made the residents do it. I thought is was very cheap, but it was above my paygrade. This is Florida afterall, be cheap and flip it quick is the rule.

December 18th, 2008, 06:21 PM	#126
Jasonhouse Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 12,270 Likes (Received): 8	True... very true. I chose the townhouse I have over another one, because the developer had cheaped out so much on the unit I initially preferred, that I couldn't justify their price. I would have had to spend a good $15-20k to refinish the place with what I would consider a minimally acceptable finish quality. I'm sure that they had no trouble selling the place because of location (was on North B, west of Lois), and because of the fact that so many people buy on impulse.

December 18th, 2008, 07:27 PM	#127
DShenise Designer, 1404designs Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Santa Monica Posts: 1,133 Likes (Received): 0	One good thing to come out of the downturn and housing overcapacity is that developers with inventory will basically give away the store just to breakeven. Novare is offering $75K worth of upgrades on their projects up here. So basically you can get 1200-1400sf, 2/2 and get the whole thing with hardwood flooring, custom closet systems, etc, for about $250ish.

April 11th, 2009, 03:14 PM	#129
Casey Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Tampa Posts: 306 Likes (Received): 0	[QUOTE=TampaMike;34975252]Channelside developer seeks condo tax rebate for apartments Oh sure, and I should be able to get a mortgage based on "how much I think my income will be in the future".

November 8th, 2010, 12:19 AM	#130
SwooshOU Registered User Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 6 Likes (Received): 0	My wife, two daughters (3 and 1) and I just signed our lease for a 2/2.5 townhome at Seaport and look forward to moving-in in January. We had to give 60 days notice where we currently are (Circle at Crosstown) so we decided to get a head start looking around. After looking at four different places we settled on Seaport. Ultimately, the 1770 sq ft and high build quality tipped in Seaport's favor. The negatives were the lack of valet trash (we're kinda spoiled on that now). Another negative for us was the lack of an on-site playground. Thankfully, after I had mentioned it would be a great selling point for other potential families, the leasing agent spoke to "corporate" and told me they're looking at potentially adding a playset and making one of the six courtyards off limits to pets. It will be an experiment for us and our young family to live in a urban environment. But, my wife and I have always wanted to live in an urban setting. Besides, the family pass to the children's museum will get a lot of use. We looked at the Seaport and the unit three times before deciding. After driving through the area several times as well, we look forward to more walk-up retail on that end of Channelside. However, the streetcar stop 100 yards away opens up all of Channelside and Ybor and a lot of downtown too. In any case, we're excited about moving and think it'll be fun. Anybody live at Seaport and care to give their take on it?

November 9th, 2010, 06:26 AM	#133
Jasonhouse Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 12,270 Likes (Received): 8	The guy who sits next to me at work lives in Seaport in one of the one bedroom apartments. He loves it, though like everyone else, he wishes there was a grocery store closer than Publix on Bayshore. btw... I think we lost our mods? I might have to re-mod myself, so that someone can take care of things...lol

November 20th, 2010, 09:19 AM	#134
FloridaFuture Former Mod Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Tampa/Gainesville Posts: 5,234 Likes (Received): 0	^I'm still here just been very busy.

October 11th, 2012, 12:54 AM	#136
densitymatters Registered User Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 34 Likes (Received): 3	Work has begun on painting the buildings white and gray. I'm looking foward to seeing what it looks like once everything is completed, the old color scheme looked aweful IMO.

October 12th, 2012, 05:39 AM	#137
Jasonhouse Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 12,270 Likes (Received): 8	White and gray? Hmmm.

October 12th, 2012, 07:08 AM	#138
densitymatters Registered User Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 34 Likes (Received): 3	I will post pictures tomorrow

October 12th, 2012, 11:35 PM	#139
densitymatters Registered User Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 34 Likes (Received): 3	image hosted on flickr securedownload by andrewspics2012, on Flickr

October 12th, 2012, 11:36 PM	#140
densitymatters Registered User Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 34 Likes (Received): 3	image hosted on flickr securedownload by andrewspics2012, on Flickr image hosted on flickr securedownload1 by andrewspics2012, on Flickr