New Hope For Grove Garden
April 8th, 2009 categories: Coconut Grove Real Estate, Condos
Grove Garden is located right across the street from my EWM office in Coconut Grove. I watched the building go up back in 2005/2006 and I have painfully watched its demise. The building was touted as a boutique condo building offering only the finest in finishes and luxury but the units are now selling well below their expected value. I have seen many of the units in here, and they are certainly well built with high end finishes. So if they are so great, then why, 3 years later are units in here selling in the $400,000 to $800,000 range when they were expected to be valued hundreds of thousands more?
The answer comes down to a few simple reasons:
1) Timing. Right when the units came on the market the real estate market tanked. This part is not rocket science. Many of the people who bought in Grove Garden were investors looking to make a quick flip. When the real estate market headed South, they had to dump the condos at whatever price buyers were willing to pay. Since many of the units came on the market all at once they were all instantly de-valued by these low asking prices. And it has been a vicious cycle since then.
2) Storefronts. Losing Cefalo’s and Sammy C’s gave a bad feeling to the joint. Jimmy Cefalo tried his hardest at opening up what was to be the premiere Italian restaurant in the Grove, an authentic Italian Market and a swanky wine bar in the bottom retail space of Grove Garden. It was a difficult task to undertake and in the end the costs were too high and the customers didn’t show. Then Sammy C’s opened up to replace them and history repeated itself. I really feel that these failed businesses gave the building a negative energy that buyers picked up on. You can sure bet that if a Houston’s was down there with their lively crowd it would give a “happening” vibe to the building which would certainly attract people and possibly buyers.
With all of these issues I feel that there is still hope for Grove Garden. First and foremost, a recovering economy will help to stabilize values here and eventually raise them. Second the building will get help from the opening of the new restaraunt Calamari. Calamari comes to us from the same person who owns Villagio and Carpaccio among many other very successful establishments. If his past restaurants are any indication, Calamari will be here to stay and the “vacant” feeling that hangs over Grove Garden will soon be gone (along with the very low prices).
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I think that there is hope for Grove Garden if economy recover its earlier position ,,,,,,,,,
Give me a break… With all the other buildings tanking in value in excess of 40% this building has held up well. The project design is a winner, and this will be sure to weather the current storm… Name me one new development holding up better. Calamari will take it to the level the project deserves…