Harbour House follows schedule
The roof – and even the tree – is in place on Fort Myers Beach’s newest resort condominium and construction is on schedule.
General contractor Carlton-Naumann Construction completed the topping off Harbour House at the Inn last week, according to Mark Beasley of Carlton-Naumann Construction, Inc.
Harbour House at the Inn is a mixed-use, three-story 34-unit resort condominium located on Old San Carlos Blvd. in the downtown district of Fort Myers Beach adjacent to the Matanzas Inn and within walking distance to the beach, restaurants and shopping.
The resort has a variety of floor plans including studio, one, and two bedroom condominiums with panoramic views of Matanzas Pass and the beach. All units have raised ceilings in major room areas, solid surface countertops, quality finishes and come fully furnished including window treatments, ceiling fans, house wares, linens and electronics.
In building construction, topping off is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building. The topping off ceremony actually predates steel-frame skyscrapers by about 1200 years. The earliest references date from around 700 A.D., when Scandinavians topped off construction as a religious practice to appease the tree-dwelling spirits of their ancestors that had been displaced.
The ceremony has also been common in the United States when a skyscraper is completed. The last girder to be hoisted is painted white and signed by all the workmen involved. In other types of building, the ceremony typically focuses on the bedding of the last block of masonry or brick. The ceremony is akin to the practice of placing a newspaper or coins under the foundation stone of a building.
Additional features for Harbour House include an amenity deck with a pool and hot tub and surrounding patio accented with tropical foliage and fountain. An adjacent covered club area/pool cabana offers an entertainment area and barbeque for owners and guests. Boat rentals and dockage are also available through the Matanzas Inn.
An optional on-site rental management program is available to all owners. The program is designed to facilitate owner flexibility while offering homeowners the option to use the facility through shared use by participating owners even if their unit is occupied.
Many of the units offer a layout with a lock-off rental option if combined allowing for adjacent units to be rented as two separate spaces. An owner may to use part of the unit while enjoying the potential of rental income from the other rental suite with each being a separate deeded unit.
“Harbour House offers a tropical atmosphere and a high-end dcor with a style typical of downtown Key West, Playa de Carmen and 5th Avenue South in Naples,” said Joe Jamieson, Broker with Paradise Realty. “The neighborhood is active, pedestrian friendly and in the center of the Fort Myers Beach resort community. The architectural style includes open corridors with decorative floors, wall fountains and design elements.”
Harbour House is the first of three future phases planned by the principals for the Old San Carlos/Downtown neighborhood. Affiliated companies own both Harbour House and Matanzas Inn. The principals are long-time Fort Myers Beach businesspersons with a diversified backgrounds in resort development and management.
In 2006, the Matanzas Inn Restaurant and Upper Deck were extensively remodeled as the first phase of a number of redevelopment efforts in the Times Square/Old San Carlos Boulevard’s Downtown District being coordinated by the Matanzas Inn team.
“We are committed to the future of Fort Myers Beach and are excited about the plans we and our neighbors have to reinvigorate the beach’s downtown/Old San Carlos neighborhood,” said principal Doug Speirn-Smith.
The Harbour House site was the former location of the Dockside Sports Pub, a popular restaurant since 1999. The developers plan to reopen the pub in a new, updated space within the Harbour House building.
Over half of the units within Harbour House at the Inn have been contracted for sale.
“Many residents are excited about the changes going on in the Downtown area,” said Speirn-Smith. “Old San Carlos Blvd, from the bay to the beach, will have a variety of retail and entertainment-related businesses on the ground floor of the new buildings- including Harbour House. They will be an interesting, vibrant and quality addition to the neighborhood.”
Construction of Harbour House broke ground in Spring 2008 and is expected to be complete by Fall 2009. The furnished resort residential units in the Harbour House Condominium Resort are priced from the mid-$200’s to mid- $400’s.
Paradise Realty of Southwest Florida is overseeing the sales of Harbour House at the Inn units. For more information, call (239) 463-0110 or visit www.paradiserealtyswfl.com.