Developer reminds Govenor Riley about Condominiums Economic Impact

Published by Mobile Press Register

Saturday, July 21, 2007
By KATHY JUMPER
Real Estate Editor
ORANGE BEACH -- Condominium developer Gene Brett is glad a new steel mill will bring 3,700 jobs to south Alabama, but Friday he decided to let the state know that the condo and tourism industry here provides 39,000 jobs every year.
Brett and his partners at Brett/Robinson based in Orange Beach threw a huge "topping out" party for their 18th condo development, the 27-story, Gulf-front Phoenix West in Orange Beach.
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG in May chose a site in north Mobile County for a proposed $3.7 billion, 3,700-worker steelmaking complex.



To get their economic impact message out, Brett/Robinson invited Gov. Bob Riley to the beach-condo party.
"We wanted the city officials and the governor to realize what we and other developers have done down here," said Brett, whose company employs 1,500. The condo developers "are the largest revenue producers of lodging taxes in the entire state. It seems to go unnoticed."
Not on Friday, when several hundred guests enjoyed a fried catfish lunch and toured the construction site of the state's fifth largest building and the largest on Alabama's Gulf-front, according to Brett/Robinson.
The steel-reinforced concrete built Phoenix West is "a mega structure at
1.2 million square feet," Brett said.
The 225-unit complex will open in late 2008. The three- and four-bedroom units prices average $695,000 to $950,000.
Its sister building, Phoenix West II, will be even bigger when it's complete, 1.9 million square feet, according to Marie Curren of Brett/Robinson.

Phoenix West will have a $200 million economic impact in construction spending when complete, according to Brett/Robinson's figures. The complex will also bring in an estimated $735,000 in lodging taxes every year and $1.1 million annually in property taxes, Brett said.
Brett/Robinson's projects collect
23 percent of the local lodging taxes and 5 percent of the state's lodging taxes annually.
"The tourism industry has become the catalyst for economic development across the state," Riley said. "We will not impede it, and we will do everything we can to encourage it. It creates jobs and showcases the state."
The condo developments "have such a huge economic impact on the state -- without having to provide incentives," said Herb Malone, president of the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau. "And this is just one set of buildings" on the coast.
"They build a helluva building," said Bob Shallow, owner of REMAX Paradise, who has known the developers for 25 years. "The day after Hurricane Ivan hit, Gene Brett called the mayor and wanted to look at condos. He didn't want to look at his, he wanted to look at everybody else's; he knew his were good."
A "topping out" ceremony is typically held to honor the construction crew for finishing the top floor. It took the crew three years to get to the 27th floor at Phoenix West, according to Brett/Robinson. The complex will feature outdoor pools including a lazy river, indoor pools and hot tubs. Hundreds of guests could walked through a furnished model of one of the Phoenix West condos during the beach party Friday.