Get real

I've heard a few rumbles about this story. This is no coming trend, its some people with too much money on their hands. They are going to spend almost as much to house a car as most South Floridians spend to buy a house. A car is a depreciating asset, these people need a life. That could probably be said for the AP reporter too who wasted newsprint on these nuts.

PS- Feel free to point out I'm posting this nonsense. I can take it, I'm a masochist after all.

Open Post- Bright & Early, Right Wing Nation, Cao's Blog,

David deMartino just bought a 760-square-foot, one-bathroom condo for $212,900 in Fort Lauderdale. He's already ordered custom flooring and cabinets and a flat-screen TV, but he has no plans to move there.

That's because the condo is for his collection of cars and motorcycles.

The idea of buying a parking space is nothing new in crowded urban areas. A 180-square-foot space at the Brimmer Street Garage in Boston's exclusive Beacon Hill neighborhood just sold for $200,000, according to a garage manager.

But a parking space may be exposed to the elements, or next to a rowdy family's hulking sport-utility vehicle. That's why some enthusiasts with money to burn are turning to car condos, where their vehicles will be stored in individual, weatherproof, air-conditioned garages with 24-hour security and concierge services.

"It's just peace of mind for my collection," said deMartino, 47, who plans to store a 1930 Ford Model A coupe, a 1961 Corvette convertible, a 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL and three special-edition motorcycles in his condo.

Three car condo developments are scheduled to open in South Florida by the end of 2007, and developers say they've already sold between 20 percent and 30 percent of the condos available.

Park Place Car Condo is opening a 224-garage facility in North Miami and a 179-garage facility in Fort Lauderdale and plans to open locations in New York, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Scottsdale, Ariz., in the next few years. Developer Kevin Buckley said Park Place condos start at $150,000 for a 620-square-foot condo for three cars and go up to $400,000 for an 1,800-square-foot condo that can house a bus.

Buckley said so far, typical buyers have been men in their late 40s to early 60s who have earned enough to buy the muscle cars that enchanted them in high school. Others plan to use their condos for boats and personal watercraft, he said.

"It's part car culture and then a lot of people who are just interested in safe, secure storage," he said.

Another car condo development, DreamCar Carriage House, plans to open a 120-car facility in the Fort Lauderdale area next spring and is scouting for more Florida locations in Naples, Miami and Palm Beach, said Dayna Heit, a car collector who is developing the facility along with her husband. Prices range from $59,000 for a 300-square-foot condo to more than $200,000 for a 972-square-foot condo. Heit says an antique Rolls-Royce and a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air are among the future tenants.

Buckley and Heit say Florida was a logical place to start their businesses because of the number of high-rise housing developments with ocean views but little storage space.

"In most of the new urban high-rises, the average guy has 100 cubic feet in a little cage somewhere," said Buckley, who has previously developed high-end retail complexes. "You've had this massive redevelopment in affluent urban areas in the last five to 10 years, but the storage market really hasn't kept up with that."

The threat of hurricanes also is a problem for car collectors. Right now, deMartino keeps half his collection in his two-car garage in Boca Raton, and half in a warehouse, which has been breached by flood waters and damaged by high winds.

"It kills me. I can't have it," said deMartino, an entrepreneur and chief executive of Ozonelite Inc., a company that makes air-purifying light bulbs.

Both Park Place and the DreamCar Carriage House will offer concierges to take care of details such as picking up and dropping off owners, tuning up the cars before a drive or washing and waxing. The Carriage House will have an on-site photography studio where owners can commission portraits of their cars. Park Place offers infrared cameras that will allow owners to view their cars 24 hours a day, and it will send a message to an owner's cell phone if security is breached.