DAYTONA BEACH SHORES — Construction crews at work on two building projects along South Atlantic Avenue offer signs that a decade-long drought of beachfront development has ended with the anticipated opening of two new condominiums, perhaps by year’s end.
Most noticeably, the exterior construction of the seven-story, 26-unit Dimucci Tower is now nearing completion at 3797 S. Atlantic Ave., a $12.4 million project that the Dimucci Co. broke ground on in August 2016.
Glass sliders are visible in the majority of the units and a sign in front of the construction site beckons interested buyers to visit Dimucci’s Sales Center at 51 Dunlawton Avenue, on the northeast side of the Dunlawton bridge.
A few blocks north, earthmovers shovel dirt into dump trucks at the site of the Aruba Condominiums, a planned 12-story, 84-unit complex to be built on two adjoining properties at 3717 and 3721 S. Atlantic Ave. The Aruba is a development of Jacksonville-based GreenPointe Communities and local condo developer Jim Mack.
The two new projects represent the first new condominium construction in since 2008, when the Great Recession crippled Volusia County beachside development.
“NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION!” proclaims a sign in front of the Aruba site, directing potential buyers to visit a sales office at 3162 S. Atlantic Ave. On the condo’s website, thearubacondo.com, descriptions of the three- and four-bedroom units, ranging from 1,400-1,800 square feet, include private balconies, ceramic tile floors in foyers, kitchens, baths and balconies, stainless steel appliances, designer wood cabinetry and high-efficiency heating and air-conditioning.
Aruba’s developers wouldn’t comment for this story, but promised an announcement with updated information about the project by the end of May, said Maxine McBride, a spokesman with Jacksonville-based Clockwork Marketing.
Aruba’s developers had previously stated that the three- and four-bedroom units would range from $370,000-$670,000, according to an August 2017 story in The News-Journal. At that time, they had estimated the cost of the project at $21.5 million and predicted construction would be done by November 2018.
Sales of units at the Aruba are being handled by Oceans Luxury Realty of Daytona Beach Shores, where Mack maintains an office. The project’s general contractor, Peck & Associates Inc., is also based in Daytona Beach Shores, while the architect is Larry Robinson of Daytona Beach.
“We have hard contracts with deposits for 40 percent of the units and another 8 to 10 units under reservation which we are converting to contracts,” Mack told The News-Journal in August. “We’re very encouraged.”
The site of the Aruba, just south of the Sunglow Pier, had been the site of an old two-story motel called the Royal Holiday Beach Motel, on the north parcel, and a few vacation cottages on the south parcel. Those properties were razed when Greenpointe bought the two parcels.
At Dimucci Tower, meanwhile, developers won’t make the project’s initial timetable of opening this spring, said Corinne LeClaire, broker for Dimucci Realty Co. and administrator for developer Anthony Dimucci. Instead, the tower is now expected to open by year’s end, LeClaire said.
“We are currently selling and things are going really well,” LeCLaire said. “Our general contractor is telling us we should be able to move people in by the end of the year — or, in other words, get our certificate of occupancy by the end of the year.”
Weather interruptions, primarily from Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Irma in 2017, might have contributed to the construction delay, said LeClaire, who characterized the hold-up as “negligible.”
“I don’t think it has been delayed by very much,” LeClaire said. “It’s not even an issue.”
Dimucci Tower will offer three-bedroom, two-bath units that range from 1,994- to 2,062-square feet, according to the condominium’s brochure. Units will range from $475,000 -$595,000, LeClaire said.
Unit amenities include floor-to-ceiling, tinted and insulated sliding glass doors, granite countertops, LED lighting, designer wood cabinetry and large individual balconies, according to the sales brochure.
“We also do upgrades,” LeClaire said. “We like to specialize the units for anyone who would have a different idea that they want to explore. If it’s within our ability to modify something for an individual, we always try to help them achieve what’s desirable for them.”
Dimucci has offices in Chicago, Illinois, Daytona Beach Shores and New Smyrna Beach. The company is still putting its showroom together for the Tower, but is offering tours by appointment, LeClaire said.
“We’re happy to take people on a tour of the building, but we’re only touring Mondays-Fridays because of construction,” she said.
The last oceanfront condo complex to be built in Daytona Beach Shores was the 54-unit Opus, at 2071 S. Atlantic Ave., which broke ground in 2006 and was completed the following year as the Islamorada.
Mack was the developer of the Islamorada, which was taken over by its lender before it could open at the start of the Great Recession.
The bank resold the condo complex a couple years later to Canadian developer Bayshore Capital, which renamed it and opened in 2009.