Ocean Walk. A Condo or a Condo-Hotel?
An excellent question. Honestly, I do not have a definite answer. Let’s think about it.
First of all, the term condo-hotel is not a legal term. It is a condominium if we are talking about the form of ownership and in this sense it is no difference from any residential condo.
And it is a hotel, if you look at it from the point of view of its operation. Daytona condo-hotels were all hotels, that were converted to condominium at some time. Look at it this way. It is still a hotel, where rooms have been sold to individual owners.
From the usage point of view it is a Hotel with a twist. Owners have some rights, can stay in their unit for some time, can rent their units, can decide not to rent… But still it is operated mostly as a hotel.
And this is one of the reasons people buy condo-hotels. Ideally you get yourself a place to come for a week, two, or three, and the ret of the time the Front Desk rents it out and the income covers your Association Dues and the taxes. Of course, what is ideal is rarely a reality, but at least we get the idea of the concept.
Big thing here is that all our beachside condo-hotels are on land, which has double zoning. It may be used as Tourist (and hotels fall under Tourist), and it is multi-family, and residential condos fall under this designation. So, it can be one or the other. But it can’t be both at the same time.
Hotels, which were built in the 60s and 70s can’t convert to multi-family, because the requirements for multi-family are drastically different from the requirements set for hotels. It is really easier to raze a hotel and build a condo, than try to convert a hotel to a condo.
Not going to happen.
But Ocean Walk has never been converted. This is how it was built from day one. It has never operated as a hotel prior to become a condominium. It was set as a combination of a condominium and a timeshare from the get go.
And units in Ocean Walk are traditionally placed in Daytona MLS as condominiums, and not condo-hotel units.
But yet they have one parameter, which ties it to condo-hotel. They have a front desk, and they offer 1night minimum rentals. Like any other hotel.
So, this is why it is not a simple answer. And agents classify it either as condo-hotel, or as residential condominium.
I spent some time yesterday surfing through 211 pages of the condominium documents for the South tower in Ocean Walk. And in the rules I found this important piece of information:
I did not find any mention about homestead in Ocean Walk, but if you are allowed to live there 11 months a year, then it should allow homestead in Ocean Walk Resort.
