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Luxury condo project with projected $200 million economic impact underway in Clearwater

Margie Manning

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Serena by the Sea (artist renderings provided by Valor Capital)

A Clearwater real estate development firm has taken the wraps off its latest project.

Valor Capital held a “friends and family soiree” April 10 to unveil Serena by the Sea, a $70 million, 80-unit waterfront condominium under development at 1020 Sunset Point Road, between downtown Clearwater and Dunedin. 

It includes condos with two- and three-bedroom plus den floor plans that range from 1,400 square feet to 2,574 square feet, and penthouses that are as large as 4,821 square feet. Individual unit prices start at $625,000 and go up to $3.5 million. As of March, about half of the units had already been sold, a spokesman said.

Serena by the Sea includes technology designed to promote health and wellness, as well as high-end finishes in the condos, and amenities such as a spa, a fitness and yoga center, and a dog park.

Moises Agami, CEO, Valor Capital

“We’re making luxury more attainable. We’re bringing luxury at a fraction of the cost that one would pay in New York, L.A., Chicago, Miami, even Tampa or St. Pete,” said Moises Agami, CEO of Valor Capital.

Luxury properties are selling at a fast pace in Pinellas County, according to Linda Caruso, with the Caruso Group-Keller Williams International, in Palm Harbor.

“There is half the [luxury] inventory than in 2020, but 10 percent more [has been] sold since January 2021. That means that Pinellas only has 500 luxury properties at a given time right now to be sold, when there usually should be 1000.  What took eight to 12 months to sell a luxury property now only takes one to two months. People are buying sight unseen because they see the value,” Caruso said in a statement.

Valor Capital has more than 35 years of international building experience and has developed more than $1 billion in properties around the world. Serena by the Sea is its second local project, following SkyView, a 36-unit condo building at 412 Cleveland St. in downtown Clearwater. Actor Tom Cruise is reported to have a penthouse at SkyView, according to Robb Report.

Cruise and Agami are both members of the Church of Scientology, which controls several parcels of real estate in Clearwater. Agami told Freedom, a church publication, that downtown Clearwater is a “blank slate” on the brink of a renaissance.

Serena by the Sea, about two miles from downtown Clearwater, will have a major impact on the community, Agami said, citing an economic development study that said the project would create about 1,300 jobs in construction and maintenance, as well as bring $200 million in economic impact to the community.

Elevating lives and lifestyles

Agami was born in Mexico and visited Clearwater often with his family growing up. He is an entrepreneur who created Road Track, a technology company for the automotive industry. He started working in the family business in 1998, and since 2008 Agami’s main focus has been real estate.

“Vehicles are the second most complex things to build. The most complex thing to build is real estate,” Agami said.

Why real estate?

“It’s the passion to create something that people love. Over the many years we’ve been doing this, we’ve learned to find out what people really want, even when they may not know they want certain things. When they see it and fall in love with it, that brings us a lot of satisfaction to see them enjoying a new lifestyle, a new quality of life,” Agami said.

The design elements of Serena by the Sea are intended to elevate people’s lives and lifestyles, he said. See the gallery below for artist renderings.

“We have 23,000 square feet of amenities. We have 36,000 square feet of landscaping. We’re planting 15 types of trees and 30 types of plants. When people use these amenities and walk through this landscaping, this changes lifestyles. Maybe more people will go outside for a walk at night or take the kids out on the bike or go for a swim,” he said.

“In the residences, we have high ceilings, amazing finishes, Italian cabinetry, quartz or marble countertops. We really go all out in focusing on every detail to bring luxury to the surface. It’s not just about building something and selling it. It’s about changing people’s lives through attention to detail. We focus on how are they going to live and experience every room, every space, and how can we make it better than past experiences.”

The company’s size allows it to focus on high-end details at a lower cost.

“We’re a large development company. We’ve done several million dollars’ worth of development. We are currently engaged in developing a few thousand units at the same time. This size gives us a lot of muscle to negotiate with our suppliers and vendors,” Agami said.

At Serena by the Sea, Agami said he’s most excited about the proactive approach to health and wellness, following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“One question we try to ask ourselves is why would someone live in a condo if they feel endangered by being around other people? How can we make condos even safer and cleaner than homes?,” he said.

One of the solutions is a fresh air intake for each unit, just as if it were a single-family home. There will be a touchless entry system, allowing residents to go from their car to their front door without touching or being in contact with anyone. Filtration systems are hospital-grade design. All the water in the building is filtered, while there are bipolar ionization air filters to kill germs and bacteria. The building will have 600,000 kilowatt hours’ worth of solar panels.

Developers have a responsibility to create healthier spaces for people, Agami said.

“I think these health and wellness solutions are here to stay. People are more health conscious … We believe this new health and wellness is going to go throughout all architecture and buildings, stadiums, hospitals, schools, movie theaters. These things will be implemented everywhere so that people don’t spread their germs to other inadvertently.”

While Serena by the Sea is a luxury development, Agami also is eyeing future projects with affordable homes, using technologies such as 3D printing and mold manufacturing.

“These are technologies we’re familiar with and we’re deploying some of them already, and we would be very excited to deploy those into this area as we expand, so we can bring more affordable homes here. It’s an important need and big focus,” Agami said.

Serena by the Sea

Image 4 of 15

A rendering of the entrance.

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