Does anyone have the latest news on

[Beverley]

Marco Island?

It wasn't that long ago that Marco Island was announced in their pre-construction phase. Sales reps were talking it up ... trade value ... posh resort .... too special to be in the Florida Club .... etc. Now when asking about Marco during a sales presentation ... "trade value isn't expected to be that good" ... ??? It seems that the sales people are no longer talking it up or pushing to sell it.

Does anyone know the latest status? Is it halted? or is their a reason that sales reps are no longer saying how great it is? Has construction progressed or met a snag?

Thanks

Beverley

 

[Eric F]

The Crystal Shores at Marco Island resort is under construction now and will open in March 2009. Considering the quality, size, location and demand for a SW FL beach resort, Crystal Shores will be a highly sought after exchange destination.

 

[Beverley]

I tend to agree with you... so why aren't any of the sales people talking it up??

Beverley

 

[Dave M]

...so why aren't any of the sales people talking it up??

One of them just did...

...in this thread!

 

[sfwilshire]

The Crystal Shores at Marco Island resort is under construction now and will open in March 2009.

Wonder if they'll do any bulk banking early on. I'm looking for a nice beach week for mid-March. :whoopie:

Sheila

 

[skidoc]

One of the sales ploys for Oceana Palms is comparing the price of Crystal Shores and Oceana Palms; Oceana Palms is about half the price of Crystal Shores.

 

[Beverley]

That may why sales reps during the presentation do not mention it up here on HHI. Thanks everyone.

Beverley

 

[Eric F]

Crystal Shores will be a great home resort for MVC owners that want to frequently go to Marco Island and use their ownership instead of renting accomodations there. The affluent repeat visitors to the Marriott hotel on Marco Island see the value of an expensive MVC week vs. renting one pool/gulf view hotel room from 2/20/09 to 2/27/09 for $599 per night to total $4612.30 per room per week. Note: rate listed on marriott.com today.

With Crystal Shores Platinum prices between $64,000 and $84,000 it is a lifetime value for the MVC owners that frequent Marco Island during the peak winter months.

Beverly has a valid point about Crystal Shores. The Gold season (Summer) pricing at Crystal Shores is very comparable to the Platinum Hilton Head Island purchase prices. Perhaps MVC sales reps. in HHI and other sites don't meet too many SW FL regulars and choose to focus on the beauty and value of Hilton Head resorts or their home resort areas.

 

[mas]

Eric:

Do you know what the maint. fees for Crystal Shores will be?

TIA

mas

 

[Dave M]

As initially announced, MFs $925.27, plus taxes $236.50

 

[kjd]

Is Crystal Shores a good value? Possibly.

Living as I do about 9 miles from the Marco beach I might be able to shed some insight into the value of Crystal Shores. CS is the old Radisson hotel that has been partially torn down and rebuilt into a Marriott ts. The Marco Marriott down the street is a cat 6 hotel and one of the most successful Marriotts anywhere and enjoys very high occupancy year around.

Room rates at the MM start at $200 (during hurricane season) and can be $400-600 per night during high season. Beach condos rent for about $5,000 to $15,000 per month. Most of the beach condos cannot be rented by the week as per condo association rules.

CS is located on the South part of the island generally considered less busy. There is a public beach access near CS which is usually loaded with visitors on weekends. Marco has a crescent shaped beach which is considered very desireable by beach goers. The sand is white and is either trucked in or dredged up off the bottom of the Gulf to replace the sand lost to constant erosion. There is a tax on hotel bills to pay the cost of it.

The neighborhood can best be described as beach tourist. Unlike many beach communities there are several large condo buildings having some units that are valued at over 5 million dollars. Marco Island's real estate market is a disaster at the present time. A lot of foreclosures and lower prices. Some houses have dropped over $600,000 in value in the last two years.

It's within this context that the CS prices IMHO seem too high. Even the Gold season is very expensive. Although, there are a lot of European tourists that come to Marco in the Summer and may want to buy. I have always believed that MVCI would have to offer a lot of purchase incentives to sell units at CS once they announced their prices.

However, there are people who want to vacation on the beach in SW Florida in prime season and CS will offer a great beach vacation experience. The trade value should be very high and it will be hard to trade into. Barring extrordinary purchase incentives IMHO the value of CS is questionable unless you must have a quality SW FL beach vacation.