Aquatera

BY JOYCE OWEN SUN REPORTER



?Aquatera is the perfect place to find yourself.? That was the focus of a presentation on April 21 to introduce Aquatera and its designers to the South Walton community. It has it?s own drink ? the Aquatina ? a pale blue mixture of rum, blue curacao and pineapple juice with a slice of lemon representing the sun, sky and sea, the coastal elements of Aquatera. ZOL Development, developers of Aquatera, was founded on the simple premise, ?Americans love coastal living, especially at prices that offer a true value in the market place.?
The company is one of the largest landowners of Texas beachfront property and ZOL Development plans to build high-quality beachfront communities along the Gulf of Mexico in Texas and the Florida Panhandle, having identified the area as an emerging third coast.
Jose Lora, president of ZOL, said he uses a simple formula, ?listen to market needs. Find out what makes people feel comfortable.
?We designed a true sense of community through careful land planning, architecture and landscaping,? Lora said. ?We created pedestrianfriendly neighborhoods that bring people together in an appealing resort setting.
?We believe it is vital for our coastal developments to offer an exceptional vacation lifestyle, enjoyable amenities, appealing architecture and quality construction,? said Lora. ?We are an ocean front developer by design.?
Lora said the developers don?t plan to complete with the larger projects underway in South Walton, ?We are not fighting to compete with our neighbors. We want to provide quality, elegance and exclusivity.?
Town planner Jim Tinson said, ?Aquatera would become the next jewel on the Emerald Coast.?
Located on 26 acres near the intersection of County Road 30A and WaterSound Parkway, ZOL plans to build a community with 135 single family homes, 105 condominiums, three beach flats and a town center with 18,000 square feet of commercial space.
Real estate broker Johnny Earles is the exclusive sales agent for Aquatera. At Friday night?s event, Earles said he had seen incredible changes on 30A, and promised to bring exciting restaurants, retail and cultural experiences to Aquatera?s town center.
Construction is already underway with the first phase with 49 single-family homes to be completed in the spring of 2007.
Homesite prices start at $600,000.
Houses will range from about 1,200 to 1,800 square feet and will start at about $1.15 million.
Condominiums will start at $1.5 million and beach flat condominiums will start at $3.5 million.
For now, the sales office is at Gulf Place, but Earles said agents would relocate to a sales center on the site once the old Arnsdorff sales office was renovated.

Thanks CCK and KatieBlue:

We usually come to town off-season (Aug - May) so we often find ourselves alone on the beach. We'll see if that changes with these new developments. I plan on walking to Rosemary Beach a few times this next trip and it seems like there will be interesting things to see along the way. I'm partly in denial maybe. Well, we will get some interesting places to walk to (I already frequent Fonville Press, Seacrest Cafe, and Shades -- haven't yet taken time to know Rosemary Beach, but will do so the next few trips).

SoWalSally:

Thanks for posting the article. I though Aquaterra was supposed to be only around 70-80 houses. It's bigger than I thought it would be.

BY JOYCE OWEN SUN REPORTER
Construction is already underway with the first phase with 49 single-family homes to be completed in the spring of 2007.
Homesite prices start at $600,000.
Houses will range from about 1,200 to 1,800 square feet and will start at about $1.15 million.
Condominiums will start at $1.5 million and beach flat condominiums will start at $3.5 million.

Hmmmmm...property prices comming down? condos a bad bet? Methinks before too long, the only way you will be able to live in Okaloosa/SoWal is to fork over a million plus bucks.
These development financial sponsors must know something we dont know....unless they are all idiots...shelly? what say you? how can Aquatera be so bullish in this market?

Once the development machine is started it takes a while to shut it off if you even can. Don't you see the blindingly obvious sales trends?

Once the development machine is started it takes a while to shut it off if you even can. Don't you see the blindingly obvious sales trends?

I see the trends..its just the longevity of these trends that I don't see.
Not sure of your "development machine inertia" analogy..if there is no profit in it, logic says "no investment" no matter the stage of development. Can one say "stop loss".

You should buy then.

You should buy then.

Thank you. I already have.

I see the trends..its just the longevity of these trends that I don't see.
Not sure of your "development machine inertia" analogy..if there is no profit in it, logic says "no investment" no matter the stage of development. Can one say "stop loss".

Apparently, a lot of developers still think there's a profit in it. Was looking at pending dep permits and walton and bay counties are holding their own against Ft Myers, Naples and the East coast.

http://appprod.dep.state.fl.us/www_pa/pa_county_count.asp

I have driven by this development a couple of times and really don't see any beach access.

Is there a beach access for Aquatera?

I have driven by this development a couple of times and really don't see any beach access.

Is there a beach access for Aquatera?

I thought the article said there was 3 beachfront residences which surprised me but skimmed through quick. Need to reread the article.

Re: Aquatera Beach access

Aquatera's beach access is on Green Street; the developer has or will demolish the existing house there and build a quadraplex; 3 units for sale and the 4th unit as the common-use "beach club" for the Aquatera residents

they won't be "green units"; this developer will build them and blow them out as fast as possible

Re: Aquatera stopped??

Johnny Earles abruptly pulled out of the project; sems to be stalled out due to lack of development financing

Re: Aquatera stopped??

Johnny Earles abruptly pulled out of the project; sems to be stalled out due to lack of development financing

This must be a mistake! I'm told developers won't start something unless they're absolutely sure there will be profit in it.

Re: Aquatera stopped??

This must be a mistake! I'm told developers won't start something unless they're absolutely sure there will be profit in it.

ahhhh..uno momento..the exact comment was they would'nt finish the project unless they could make money..:roll:
The operative words here are "due to lack of development financing". Somebody found out there was no profit in it...end of project.

Duh!!! Its not a surprise that funding is a problem--they spent 61 million just to buy the property!! The developer is supposed to be a hot shot from Miami, but I don't know what he was thinking. They also paid way too much for the Collaborations property and progress there also looks slow.

Re: Aquatera land for sale?

Duh!!! Its not a surprise that funding is a problem--they spent 61 million just to buy the property!! The developer is supposed to be a hot shot from Miami, but I don't know what he was thinking. They also paid way too much for the Collaborations property and progress there also looks slow.

Brokers are quietly marketing the land as a whole now so the developer can get out...the price paid for the land was about $26 mil to the seller..the $61 mil is with all the partner fees and profit takeouts up front pre-development added in

Re: Aquatera land for sale?

Brokers are quietly marketing the land as a whole now so the developer can get out...the price paid for the land was about $26 mil to the seller..the $61 mil is with all the partner fees and profit takeouts up front pre-development added in

The Property Assessors office says $61 mil for the sale. It doesn't matter how much the seller got (tho they got the best of the deal because this was a flip). What matters is how much the buyer paid and they paid it when nobody else would touch the property. The numbers just didn't work with the low density.

Wait...so are you saying that Aquatera is no more?

IF so, not terribly surprising..with so many other things for sale, seems crazy to compete with the glut right now. I can't say I'm broken up about it, if this is the case. We have a fairly chill stretch of beach there, and that sure would have changed that in a heartbeat. Not that it won't come eventually, but I may be able to squeeze in a few more solitary sunrise walks this way...

Re: Aquatera land for sale?

The Property Assessors office says $61 mil for the sale. It doesn't matter how much the seller got (tho they got the best of the deal because this was a flip). What matters is how much the buyer paid and they paid it when nobody else would touch the property. The numbers just didn't work with the low density.

I wonder how much that big party cost? Fried lobster tails and champagne! IBD and Chickpea you lucked out ... SHELLY, you should have gone! It woud have made for a good story ...

Has the land been cleared or is it pretty intact? I am happy for those of you in the area.

Re: Aquatera stopped??

ahhhh..uno momento..the exact comment was they would'nt finish the project unless they could make money..:roll:
The operative words here are "due to lack of development financing". Somebody found out there was no profit in it...end of project.

I'm not exactly sure what "exact comment" you are referring to...the only comment I see reads:

"These development financial sponsors must know something we dont know....unless they are all idiots...shelly? what say you? how can Aquatera be so bullish in this market?"

I also see this comment about Mr Earles:

"Real estate broker Johnny Earles is the exclusive sales agent for Aquatera. At Friday night?s event, Earles said he had seen incredible changes on 30A, and promised to bring exciting restaurants, retail and cultural experiences to Aquatera?s town center."

If the comments about Mr. Earles' backing out are indeed true, then I guess Mr. Earles' "promises" are nothing more than RE "puffery"...not that there's anything wrong with puffery, but one should expect all other "bullish" comments made by the developers are puffery as well (especially if one is putting a substantial amount of cash or leverage on the line).

Re: Aquatera land for sale?

I wonder how much that big party cost? Fried lobster tails and champagne! IBD and Chickpea you lucked out ... SHELLY, you should have gone! It woud have made for a good story ...

Has the land been cleared or is it pretty intact? I am happy for those of you in the area.

I'm betting this will be the end of these "par-tays"--now we're entering into the "human directional/sign spinner" phase of the Real Estate Boom: Human Directionals

Yesterday I was driving through Ft Walton Beach on my way out to visit friends on Pensacola Beach and passed some poor Hispanic guy in 95+ heat waiving a sign with an arrow for a "New D.R. Horton Homes" development. (P.S. The new "homes" were tiny, concrete block homes on postage-stamp sized lots).

Re: Aquatera stopped??

I'm not exactly sure what "exact comment" you are referring to...

Touche!...however, I was refering to the working principle here, which is that, one can test the market by floating infomercials, parties and hyperbole at a cost, but when the feedback is dismal, as with Aquatera or any other "investment project" then the major $ are reigned in.
The "exact comment" was subliminal..could'nt you tell..

..."promises" are nothing more than RE "puffery"...not that there's anything wrong with puffery, but one should expect all other "bullish" comments made by the developers are puffery as well ..

Now there is a streatch of imagination!!..is that like guilty by association? Convict me of RE puffery and broken "promises" one time and all my bullish comments become irrelevant ad infinitum?
Kinda like throwing the baby out with the bath water? no?....:shock:

The Jack Lemmon character in Glengarry Glen Ross was named Shelley.

Coincidence? :shock:

Re: Aquatera land for sale?

The Property Assessors office says $61 mil for the sale. It doesn't matter how much the seller got (tho they got the best of the deal because this was a flip). What matters is how much the buyer paid and they paid it when nobody else would touch the property. The numbers just didn't work with the low density.

I thought flipping was illegal?