Condos transform downtown into uptown

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January 17, 2006

Condos transform downtown into uptown

By CINDY F. CRAWFORD
Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH -- Mike Ciocchetti wanted his first home to be unique, maybe a beachside cottage he could renovate.

Then he met a young developer -- a guy his age -- who showed him plans for a loft condominium off Beach Street in the city's struggling downtown.

As a Daytona Beach native, Ciocchetti never imagined living downtown. But the idea of a modern, "cutting edge" condo with concrete floors and exposed duct work turned out to be just what the 27-year-old attorney wanted.

He's not alone in his interest of Beach Street. With a month to go before he can move into his Wall Street Lofts condominium on Magnolia Avenue, the 23 other units are sold out in the first new residential project built downtown in years.

At least six other projects are expected to follow and help revitalize the long-stagnant downtown by bringing about 1,400 units -- thousands of new residents -- to Beach Street.

"The face of downtown is changing," said Ciocchetti, who will live across the hall from Wall Street Lofts developer Jack White, also 27. "If you want to get in, now's the time to do it. In a few years a lot of people won't be able to afford it."

From the Seabreeze Bridge to Wilder Boulevard, the city's redevelopment planners have juggled a record number of requests recently for construction downtown -- but they're not complaining.

The more people who move downtown into the condos, which cost $200,000 to $1 million, the more built-in customers for the businesses there, said Laura Morgan, city redevelopment director.

"Downtown needs to be the heart and soul of the city," Morgan said. "We need to give it the TLC it deserves."

Since joining the city last year, Morgan has focused her sights on breathing life into the dying downtown. Beach Street stores lost momentum when Volusia Mall opened in the 1970s, but Morgan sees a downtown rebirth ahead.

Among the changes are plans to bring commercial development to City Island near the public library. Morgan envisions restaurants there that could serve cheesecake and coffee to visitors who just finished a concert at the new $29 million News-Journal Center, which opens Jan. 27 a few blocks north on Beach Street.

She also wants to draw up plans for parks on the riverfront where the area's new residents can toss a Frisbee or walk their dogs. Morgan will ask the City Commission Wednesday night to hire a consultant for about $70,000 to help design the riverfront's future.

The city is negotiating with Volusia County to move their eastside administration building, located north of Bay Street, elsewhere and make "better use" of that property and to realign the road at Fairview Avenue and Ballough Road, Morgan said.

To accommodate visitors, Morgan suggests the city get a multimillion-dollar bond to build a parking garage on Magnolia Avenue and pay the bond back with the expected tax revenue after new development is complete in several years. The garage could have commercial shops lining the outside and condo units on the top, she said.

"It's a new day for downtown," Morgan said.

Wall Street Loft developer Jack White said the changes have sold many young professionals and empty nesters on the idea of moving to the city's urban center.

"People talk about wanting amenities -- downtown is the amenity," said White, who is planning a second loft project on Magnolia Avenue called The William.

After 10 years on the Downtown-Ballough Road Redevelopment Board, Al Smith, owner of Angell & Phelps Cafe on Beach Street, said he's never seen so many projects planned for the area at one time.

"Where are the (condo residents) going to eat or shop?" Smith said. "The (business) opportunity is there. What happens now is up to us."

cindy.crawford@news-jrnl.com