Tampa developer plans speculative mansion on Westshore waterfront
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: May 19, 2015

On a serene cul-de-sac in Sunset Park sits an overgrown, vacant lot where Tampa Developers LLC plans to build a lavish mansion - for a buyer to be determined later.

The group closed on the site last week, paying $2 million for the .31-acre lot, which sits on a finger of land that juts out into the water. On the site, the group will speculatively break ground on a 7,500-square-foot home with modern Spanish architecture. It will have six bedrooms and seven-and-a-half bathrooms.

Sunshine Bank provided a $3 million construction loan for the project, according to Hillsborough County public records.

Don Hughes, a partner in the group and president of Donald C. Hughes General Contractor Inc., said he expects to begin construction in about six weeks, pending final drawings and permits. He said he expects it to sell in the $5.5 million range.

"It's got a commanding view of the water like nobody's business," Hughes said.

It will be the third spec mansion that Tampa Developers has under construction - the group is also working on homes on Davis Islands and in Westshore's St. Croix area. Construction on each of the homes takes about a year.

Smith & Associates in Tampa will market the property. Buyers typically aren't interested in the homes until they're close to complete.

"They don't buy these things until they're almost finished because they're too expensive," Hughes said. "At this point, all they can really appreciate is the location."