Luxurious living space — This rendering, provided by Joe Valente, shows a proposed interior of one of the two condo units.
Longtime entrepreneur Joe Valente is building a pair of luxury condos in Downtown DeLand, converting what was once a glass company’s drab warehouse space into spacious living for childless adults.
Echoing Valente’s ownership of Boston Gourmet Coffeehouse, the residential project is being called Boston Commons.
“The target is empty nesters who want to live Downtown but don’t want to have to drive a lot,” he told The Beacon. “Everything is within walking distance. If you run out of milk, the 7-Eleven is right there. So is Ace Hardware.”
The units basically form an offset T off East Wisconsin Avenue, immediately behind what is now a Jimmy John’s sub shop.
One condo unit will have two bedrooms and two baths on its two levels, encompassing 2,263 square feet of living space. The unit will face onto Wisconsin Avenue.
The other condo, which will be behind the first one, will have one bedroom and two baths, also spread over two floors, with a total of 2,126 square feet. It features a beautiful view of the park around Painter’s Pond.
Each condo unit will have two covered and secure parking spaces on-site, as well as individual patios and garden areas, Valente said.
Valente bought the former Feasel’s Glass building in early 2014, and he said he intended all along to use the warehouse portion for residential units. And that was before plans were announced for a Marriott hotel or the Athens Commons apartment complex, both within a stone’s throw of the Boston Commons project, he noted.
But first he needed to redevelop the Woodland Boulevard storefronts and get them rented out, he said.
Jimmy John’s is the largest tenant; the other storefronts house Advanced Networking & Computers and DeLand Community Acupuncture.
The condos will sell for “about $225” a square foot, Valente said, which puts them in the half-million-dollar range. He’ll be working with Realtor Maureen Kemp on the sales.
Construction is expected to be complete at the end of April. Valente and the contractor, Associated Design and Construction Inc. of Longwood, have been lining up subcontractors for months, he said.
- Joe Crews, joe@beacononlinenews.com