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What's Brewing

Making urban life attainable

By SUSAN THURSTON
Published March 4, 2005

Downtown Tampa has a new buzz word: attainable housing.

It's a marketing term that means a little pricier than "affordable." Think housing targeted to young, first-time home buyers with good jobs but not a ton of money.

Developers of SkyPoint, a planned 381-unit condo tower in downtown's central business district, use the term like a jingle when pitching their project.

"Urban living doesn't have to be extremely expensive," they say. "It just has to be attainable to the people who want it."

SKYPOINT OPENS its sales center to the public on Saturday at 400 N Tampa St., Suite 110. With prices starting in the $170,000s, developers expect a crush of people.

Already, one person has asked about buying an entire floor. One offered to buy 75 units.

Last week, developers gave a sneak peek of the 32-story project to about 60 members of Emerge Tampa, an offshoot of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce geared toward professionals under 35. Reaction ranged from excitement to skepticism.

Katie Vickers, a 24-year-old financial adviser, said SkyPoint is a good start toward drawing people to breathe life into Tampa's dead downtown. She's definitely interested.

"I want to be part of Tampa's growth, I love Tampa," said Vickers, who lives and works in Carrollwood. "SkyPoint is exactly in my price range."

Others like Travis Puterbaugh, a 28-year-old curator for the Tampa Bay History Center, had reservations.

"IT'S ATTAINABLE for people making six-figure salaries but not for people like me," he said, pondering the monthly mortgage, maintenance fees and taxes.

For example, a $170,000 unit with 20 percent down could cost $815 a month for a 30-year mortgage at 6 percent. Monthly maintenance fees would run about 30 cents a square foot, and taxes would cost about $200 a month. Insurance would be extra.

SkyPoint won't give a specific number on how many units will sell for the $170,000s but promises that a "significant number" will go for under $200,000. Prices will top out in the $400,000s.

Keep in mind, you're paying for the urban lifestyle and the building's amenities, not the space. SkyPoint's one- and two-bedroom condos average 900 square feet and start at a scant 632 square feet, significantly less roomy than projects in nearby Channel District and Franklin Street.

Developers counter that the entire building is your home. You socialize at the pool, surf the Net in the clubroom, exercise in the fitness center and hang out in the shops planned for the ground floor.

Still, where's the room to spread out and store stuff? This is Tampa, not New York.

And do young, first-time homebuyers really need to be paying for granite counters and stainless steel appliances, which come standard in all the units?

Pros and cons aside, downtown boosters and city officials are welcoming SkyPoint with open arms.

"It's very significant. When it opens, you're going to have people walking their dogs on Franklin Street," said Paul Ayers, director of marketing and business development for the Tampa Downtown Partnership. "It's attracting urban residents. It's changing the face of downtown. They are going where a parking lot stood for decades."

Deanne Roberts, the former chamber chairwoman who helped start Emerge, said SkyPoint may not attract a desired mix of ages and incomes, but it will bring a younger element to downtown than, say, the Trump Tower Plaza.

"You don't make an exciting urban environment without having young people there," she said.

Roberts encourages the city to offer developers incentives to make units less expensive and help first-time buyers with down payments. She cited The Heights project along the Hillsborough River as one that's setting aside 10 percent of the units for low-income buyers.

SkyPoint's developers hope to attract buyers who plan to live in the building rather than buy it for an investment to lease or resell. They'd like to limit sales to one per customer.

Prospective buyers must tour the sales center and get on a list of people to be called back for an appointment. Developers aren't taking reservations. That will come in a few months, after people get a chance to check out the project - and decide whether urban living is really the lifestyle for them.

THE LAST DROP: The city has moved the concrete "living columns" from Curtis Hixon Park on Ashley Drive to the Riverwalk park under construction beneath the Crosstown Expressway next to the Brorein Street bridge. Park officials assure the long neglected Chia Pet-like planters will be restored and replanted. Hmm. If only bringing life to downtown were that easy.

Susan Thurston can be reached at 226-3394 or thurston@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 3, 2005, 09:13:05]