Interest rates delaying breaking ground.
A sign is up across N. Park Rd. from South Florida Baptist Hospital, and people are taking notice. The sign says the 18-acre site will hold a mixed-use development of 256 rental apartments, potential retail, commercial, and medical spaces at the southwest corner of N. Park Rd. and Sam Allen Rd. The apartment buildings will offer elevators and enclosed, air-conditioned hallways. The property the sign refers to is under contract. The owner died last year, and the developers are working with his estate to move forward to acquire the parcel.
The developer is Phillips Development & Realty, headquartered in Tampa Bay. For decades, the primary business of the company has been multi-family developments across the southeast. However, they are also the developers for the 17 Woodie’s Wash Shacks in the region. The commercial and retail sites will be at the front of the property, along N. Park Rd. The multi-family buildings will sit behind that area. This luxury apartment complex will be “similar to Avli, adjacent to the Crosstown Expressway, in Brandon,” Ron Weisser, Development Partner for Phillips, said. Weisser has spent 45 years of his life working as a real estate developer, commercial and residential builder, engineer, contractor, and in other positions. He has built, owned, and operated hotels, golf courses, clubs and restaurants, mixed-use projects, office and retail properties, and large-scale master-planned communities across Florida. “These are Class-A, four-story, beautiful units, which are far and away beyond anything that has been done in Plant City.” The plan is that the apartments will have Class-A amenities like an elaborate swimming pool and deck complex, workout facilities, and a high-end clubhouse. “We had in mind the hospital people who have a need, but there are a lot of other commercial things going on in that region now. So, we feel the timing was right to do it. It is really going to be nice.”
What is the hold up? “At the moment, as you are probably aware, interest rates are too high, construction costs are too high, so we do not have a launch date for it, yet,” Weisser said. “Mostly because we perceive we’ve got to be patient and wait out the market, and see if costs come down a little bit, and most importantly, see interest rates come down, which, presumably, they will. So, at the moment, we do not have a ground-breaking date or a completion date, and we are just waiting and watching the market and trying to decide what the right timing would be. For the multi-family world, you have to get interest rates lower than they are now. In our mind, we, at the very least, need a .75 percent drop, preferably one percent. We think with all the macroeconomics going on in America now, the Fed will attack that pretty quickly….At the moment, if we had to guess, we’d be more likely to break ground 12 months from now, and it takes us about 18 months to build.”
So, why the sign at this time? “The primary reason for putting the sign up was, even though we are early, we thought, ‘Why don’t we find out who is interested in that corridor for some retail activity?’” Weisser said. “Then, as we get our plans confirmed, we could work with some retail people, and there are some hotel people that have been looking in that corridor. That corridor is going to have commercial, and multi-family, and the hospital. It is going to be a very attractive corridor. It is going to be the new go-to spot for Plant City. We are excited about Plant City. We wish we weren’t sitting on the sidelines at the moment, because we wish the market could support it, but we’ve got to be a little bit patient. We’re there, and we want to do it right. I think we are going to see a lot of good stuff happening, and that hospital is a wonderful addition, beautifully done. So, I think that whole region is going to blossom and be really nice.”
