| The AquaBlu Fort Lauderdale condo will prohibit smoking, even in dividual units. (Sun Sentinel) |
About two years ago, when Dennis Eisinger and Jean Francois Roy announced plans to build a smokefree condominium in Fort Lauderdale, they were just hoping the concept wouldn't curb sales. But it turned into a major selling point, say the business partners, who now have launched a fourth smokefree condo, AquaBlu Fort Lauderdale. "Most of the time, the reaction is, 'This is great!' " Eisinger said this week.
The Florida Clean Indoor Air Act prohibits smoking inside public buildings, including the common areas of condo developments. The ban does not extend to individual units, but Eisinger and Roy ban smoking there as well because they say they want to promote a healthy lifestyle and limit exposure to secondhand smoke. Their first condo, AquaVita Las Olas, has sold out of the 22 units, and construction is expected to be complete within a month. Thirteen of the 16 units at Aqualuna Las Olas and nearly half of the 20 at AquaMar Las Olas are under contract. All three boutique condos are in the Las Olas Isles neighborhood east of downtown. The 17story AquaBlu is farther north in the city near the Galleria mall at 920 Intracoastal Drive, on the west bank of the Intracoastal Waterway overlooking the Bonnet House. Fort Lauderdale city commissioners approved the complex in October after the developers reduced the building height in response to nearby residents' concerns. Eisinger and Roy say they already have a handful of contracts for the building, where the 35 units range from 2,136 to 4,295 square feet. Prices are from $1.2 million to $3.8 million. The only places on site where smoking is allowed are on balconies. Violators will be charged a $100 fine, and repeat offenders could face a court injunction. Analysts say they aren't aware of a similar smoking ban in the thousands of condos being built across South Florida. Matthew Competiello, a Fort Lauderdalebased manager of health promotions for the American Lung Association in Florida, said he's hearing from existing condo associations interested in altering governing documents to prohibit smoking in individual units. But switching over is a complicated process, he said. "For Dennis and his partner, I think it's a smart investment on their part," Competiello said. "Being smokefree is an amenity, just like a pool or a tennis court." Barbara Gehrig and her husband are buying a threebedroom unit at AquaVita. Some of their reasons for moving there: the large floor plans, the high ceilings and a boat slip out back. "But certainly it being a smokefree building is at the top of the list," she said Eisinger is a longtime real estate lawyer, while Roy is a former accountant who became a developer and worked
with Jorge Perez in 2009 on Trump Hollywood. In 2006, Roy's firm offered $510 million to buy Briny Breezes, the
seaside town of mobile homes near Boynton Beach. The deal never materialized.
Eisinger and Roy also have a fifth boutique condo, 1800 Las Olas, another project in Las Olas Isles. But they have
postponed sales there for now.
The AquaBlu condo buyers are being asked to make deposits of about 50 percent before closing, a typical
requirement after the housing bust. Developers use the money for construction, in part because financing for
condos remains challenging.
Eisinger says requiring upfront deposits and building smaller, "bitesize" projects help limit the development risk.
"Even if something bad in the economy were to happen, it would still be really, really hard not to be successful," he
said.
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