688 Skatepark

The 688 skate park which had to be closed after 10 years of successful operation, WHY you ask?

 

Due to  3 years of major road construction on ST. RD. 688 west ( ULMERTON RD.) which caused many businesses on  Ulmerton Road , to fail, including Nissan ,Wendy’s and many others, due to the massive road construction that made it almost impossible to reach business in a several mile stretch of 688 west.

 

While Road Construction did cause many area Businesses to close, which was the tenants claim, along with the economy,  I believe that their were other reasons in addition to the Road Construction.  I have  been told many times that the park failed due to absentee ownership, domestic  problems, bad employee attitudes,  lack of proper maintenance on ramps and the park surroundings. Parents told me that ever-growing holes in the park parking was not comforting nor was the fact that the sign was not maintained and lighted and the parking lot lights were no longer operable which made it look almost Erie at night.  The Park was so dark at night that parents became concerned and would no longer allow their younger teens to come for night activity or planed all night lock-our events.  Parents told me that they really missed the all night events, because it was great to have a parent’s night away from the kids, while the kids thoroughly enjoyed their favorite sports in the Park.

 

As the Property Owner, I saw a severe decline in Facility up-Keep, especially the parking lot and lighting, ( I have  since resurfaced the parking lot and added new landscaping which I did not do so before, due to the fact, that it was a tenant responsibility.) Then tenant continued to abuse Lease responsibilities of Insurance, Building Maintenance and Grounds Maintenance, but in spite of it all the Rent Obligation was met, for a total of 9.5 years.

 

Can the park operate profitably, in today’s economy?  From all indications the park is badly missed, a new operator would enjoy the start up flood of business that occurred in 1998. That is if a new owner that knew how to run a Professional Skate Park with a well stocked skate store.  The statistics and information below support that there is no reason that this park should not have remained a highly profitable business, it should have remained the Gold Mine that it was in 1998. It is a known fact, that when a third operator takes over a business where two other operators have failed the third operator steps in to gold mine.

 

The original partners opened the park in 98 with so many participants that the parking lot was always full. The park began with such a flood of participants that an additional 20,000 square feet of ramps had to be added outdoors with outdoor lighting. The partners did pro events with top headliners and local outdoor events such as the X games with the City of St. Petersburg. The Partners purchased mobile trailers with fold up ramps and did many promotions all over the county, (the 2 mobile trailers with the fold up ramps are on the property).

 

After 5 years the Partners wanted out to focus on their tile business and suggested I allow their manager to continue the lease which I agreed to. The Manager, instantly, put out the word, through the grapevine and the park Flourished. It was doing so well the new tenant was almost never present and began to be the absent owner and no quality employees to maintain the park and store. The new Tenant was on the road constantly, traveling the U.S. and overseas as a hired consultant.   I began to notice fewer cars in the parking lot and finally absentee management, the economy and the road construction all hit. The resulting damage from all of the above was a defaulted lease in the middle of the 9th year, due to late rent.

 

The benefit of the completed road construction is better access, a county bus stop on the property which teens may use 24-7 with a student pass. The location is a high visibility Business location with approximately a 100,000 cars a day.

 

With Skateboarding being  the 3rd most popular teen sport, not to mention it is also for many older people as well I am attempting to keep this to keep an Extreme Indoor Park open for Pinellas County Residents. As thousands of kids are waiting for someone new to open the park.  I have been offering the property for Lease or Purchase, to a worthy Skate Park Operator.  The Park is a “TURN KEY”, offering, fully equipped, with beginner to extreme ramps built by Team Pain in 1998.

 

The 688 Skate Park is well suited for BMX as well as Skateboarding and Rollerblades. The Park is accessible to over 3 Million residents from Neighboring Counties Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk & Manatee Counties. This does not include the 5 million tourists a year. Enthusiast may reach the park within a 45 minute interstate drive.

 

To keep the Skate Park available and avoid stripping out the ramps to rent the property as a prime Business location for more rent, I have offered to extend the low rate of $6.50 a foot per year for the non air conditioned space and $10.00  a square foot for the Air Conditioned-Built out areas in the front of the building and upstairs offices directly on  Ulmerton Road or St Rd. 688 frontage. I may consider concessions, for a start-up period, depending on the worthiness of the Tenant, length of lease etc.

 

The gross size of the property is 2.5 acres less 40’ road right of way. The Gross Current rentable space in the building is:

Air Conditioned- built out space

Non air conditioned space

Fully operable and Equipped skate park  with ramps, partial bowl, rails, half pipes, foam pit and etc.  28,000 sq ft.

 

Rear  special event area behind building  – asphalted – fenced – no buildings or structures  15,000 sq ft

 

Note Additional parking area an undeveloped side yard areas can  add approximately 30  parking spaces to the existing 85. Bringing the total parking up to 115.  This can be achieved without utilizing any of the Rear Special Event area. More parking can be added by using the Rear Special event area.

 

NOTE: The rate stated is low for  a prime business location with Prime Business Frontage on Ulmerton Road also called St Rd. 688. While the rate  includes turnkey business with 500K, invested in equipment in 1998 whereas, Todays cost to duplicate has been quoted at one million dollars. In essence the business and equipment are a free benefit to a very low empty building comparable in a non visible location.

 

 

In support of the rental value of this property I have provided the online listing of the neighbor to the west who rents for a low of $10.00 a Sq. Ft. Per year, in the back, and $14.00 a Sq. ft. in the front, on Ulmerton Road, Clearwater Florida.

 

To access this site you will probably have to cut and paste the address in your browser.

This is not a click on link.

http://www.loopnet.com/property/14969384/6160-6170-Ulmerton-Rd/

 

The Nearest Competition

The Nearest smaller,  indoor park is The Skate Park of Tampa called “The Spot” in East Tampa 22 miles away, and can be viewed on. http://www.skateparkoftampa.com/spot/about.aspx  Many realize the Skate industry is a very profitable business  as the  The Spot continues to operate very successfully and has been open for over 16 years.

 

 However, The Spot Skate park is 1/3 rd the size maybe less. They maintain a large store for skate related products, do many pro-events. They are listed as one of the top 10 skate parks per Playboy Magazine. Their location is in a warehouse district, with very limited parking where as I have increased the parking at 688 to 80 parking spaces.

 

688 Skate Park also has a retail store for related products as well as a large Cafeteria Area. While the cafeteria area is quite large, in view of the prime business location, I would increase the size of Retail Store and with 32,000 sq. ft. to work with it can easily and inexpensively be doubled in size.

 

Vans Skate Park of Orlando is very nice and upscale it is 94 miles to the east and offers 25,000 Sq. Ft. indoor with 15,000 Sq. Ft. outdoor with an exceptional store  like the Spot. Vans if located in the Fiesta Mall on International drive so who can even guess what kind of rent they are paying, I would guess it is triple or quadruple the 688 rent base.  Their website is.  http://www.vans.com/vans/skateparks.asp?sp=orlando   ( this may not be a click on link from the email, if so you may cut and paste it in the top of your browser)               

 

688 west (Ulmerton Rd.)  Is the most heavily traveled East -West highway, between Hillsborough County on the East side of Tampa Bay, to Pinellas County on the West side of Tampa Bay. The Gulf Beaches are 8 miles to the West and many skateboard tourist plan vacations around The 688 Skatepark of Pinellas County and West Coast Gulf Beaches. We are visited by 5,250,255 tourist per year. The customer base is over 2 million people between Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Add a few neighboring counties and the populous increased to 3 million who can reach the park by interstate within 45 minutes. The projected 2010 Pinellas county population is 1,136,175 .

 

 

 

The balance of this Email is facts and data to ponder. I invite interested parties to call me or email and please, only interested people. I have been contacted by hundreds enthusiast who would like to be park operators but when they have been checked out, they are not worthy business prospects.

 

For the right person or group, I may consider some options on startup and/or a purchase.  The value of the property is 3.5 million valuation is based on comparables  East and West on St. Road 688 West, also called Ulmerton Road.  The value of the  Real Estate does not include the skate board equipment and start up business with 10 years of profitable operation. I have been told that the cost of 500 K business and equipment set up cost in 1998 and would cost one million, today, if Designed & Built by , a Premier Skate Park Developer such as the design builder of this park in 1998.

 

 The equipment could be purchased and moved to a cheaper location , if one could  find one a cheaper location but that is not going to happen without relocating to a sub standard - non visible location, back street location and loss of visibility and familiarity of a 10 year successful business operation.

 

 

Give me a call!

 

Kelly Coleman 727-403-8690  fax 727-590-1566

 

 

Email kelly@teammoneytrees.com   or  kelly@688skatepark.net

 

Additional Facts and Statistics

Placement in the area:

From 688 Skate Park, Clearwater is 10 Miles to the NW, St.Petersburg 10 Miles to the South and the Gulf Beaches 8 miles to the West.  Clearwater, St.Petersburg and the Gulf Beaches are in Pinellas County.  Tampa is in Hillsborough County 15 Miles to the East, 

 

Pinellas County contains 24 municipalities ranging in population from the smallest at 78,000 people to the largest 249,068 people Total County Population projected for the year  2010 1,136,175 there are many areas that are unincorporated not within city boundaries.

 

·         Pinellas County is the most densely populated County in the State of Florida 3,372 persons per square mile.

·        as of 2006 & Ranked 6th in population in the State of Florida

·        as of 2007, with a total population 2007 = 944,199 projected 2010 1,136,175 Hillsborough County population is 1,180,784 –

·        There are 35,779 businesses in Pinellas County.

·        434,101 Real Estate Parcels on the 2008 Tax Roll

·        64,676 Tangible Personal Property Accounts on the 2008 Tax Roll

 

24.4 % of all Pinellas County Households have individuals under the age of 18 years

 Age Groups in Pinellas County in 2000 

 

Pinellas County attributes.

 

Know your school choice options in Florida.

In Pinellas County Schools (PCS) students are assigned to a school based on where they live. Students may also apply to attend a charter, magnet or fundamental (back-to-basics) school. High school students also have the option to attend a Career Academy, based on their career/technical interests. Students with special needs may be eligible to receive a McKay Scholarship to attend a private school.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, students attending a Title I school designated as “in need of improvement” have the right to attend a higher-performing school in the district The Pinellas County School Board District is the seventh largest district in Florida and the 21st largest in the United States. With 141 elementary, middle, high and specialty public schools, the district serves all of Pinellas County which means that the Skate Park has a high potential of fulfilling mass percentages of kids skating at 688 Skate Park.  

Florida has an open enrollment policy, which means that if your child attends or is assigned to a low-performing school in the district, you have the right to use an Opportunity Scholarship to attend a higher-performing school (called intradistrict choice), including public schools, public charter schools and private schools, as long as there is space. Some districts will allow your child to attend a school in a neighboring district (called interdistrict choice).

Largo is the closest  to the Skate Park, and has many  Top-Rated  Schools on a scale of 1-10  Rated 9 Oakhurst Elementary School  Rated 8 Anona Elementary School Rated 8 Pinellas Preparatory Academy  Rated 8 Ridgecrest Elementary School Rated 7 Fuguitt Elementary School

School facts from 2003-2004

112,246  students in the district, kindergarten through Grade 12, in the 2003-04 school year.

18,954 students who participated in the choice lottery for 2003-04.

77%  percentage of students received   their first choice school.

7% of students received  none of their five choices.

8,578  students in the district whose parents ignored or didn't know about choice in the first year.

10,608 applications for magnet and fundamental schools this time last year.

2,772 magnet and fundamental openings.

17,000 to 20,000 students expected to enter the 2004-05 choice lottery.

20,000 is a Rough number of students in private school in Pinellas.

2,000 students are homeschooled in Pinellas.

 

Colleges & Universities
The area has 13 colleges and universities also several dozen private  schools such as Remington, Phoenix, Schiller etc. There are many many trade schools for any trade you can imagine.

 

Pinellas County's two vocational and technical education programs provide quality, customized training for new and existing businesses. Pinellas Technical Education Centers (PTEC) offer over 50 technical programs addressing the changing needs of business and industry. St. Petersburg College (SPC) provides associate degree, technical education and continuing education in more than 80 academic programs at eight campuses and off-site locations. SPC's Manufacturing Technology program covers essential industrial production techniques.

13 colleges and universities are located in Pinellas County and the surrounding Tampa Bay area with an enrollment of 78,000 students. The University of South Florida, the largest university in the region, is recognized as one of the top 50 public research universities in the country. USF annually attracts millions of dollars in new research contracts and grants and is fast becoming a model urban research university for the 21st century. The University's Bayboro Campus in St. Petersburg features a nationally recognized marine science curriculum.

 

Pinellas County Churches - 253

 

688 Skatepark is Florida's largest privately owned skatepark located in the beautiful Tampa Bay the countries 19th largest metro-plex with a combined population of 2,636,972 people, who can access the park within a an hour’s drive The skatepark is the worlds largest indoor skatepark, a 32,000 sq ft indoor state of the art facility built by Team Pain world renown skatepark builder.

The property is for sale or lease by the property owner Kelly Coleman. The business is turn key, including all equipment, sound system, approx 5,000 email list POS computers, System and approx 300,000 customer base.

 

 

New additions & Renovations  made by Kelly Coleman

New Paving

New Expanded parking lot from 40 spaces to 85 spaces

New Foxtail & Arica  Palm tree landscaping

New paver front walk

New Upgraded front wall painting

New parking lot security lights that operate from dusk to dawn

New Sign Lighting

New -General cleaning up of the grounds

 

 Suggested additions to start up 

1) Some Interior clean up- painting and floor painting.

2)  New Entrance Canopy

3)   Three  24’ ceiling fans

4) relocate some equipment to create new internet in the courses.

 

 

Why did it close after 10 years of success ?

The primary reason was due to 3 years of  Recently completed, major  Road Construction which diverted traffic to 686 west, a mile to the north  and 118th street, a mile to the south. This major road construction had more of an impact on the skate park because of its location to US 19 overpass and the major reshaping of turn lanes and the winding, in front of the park by 2 lanes. The positive effect is much easier access to and from the park. The downside is the road work  temporally devastated businesses on 688 West including Wendy’s approx one mile away. While the prior tenants were able to last 2.5 years of the 3 year project, rents began to fall behind in later 2008 and the tenants finally vacated the property in Jan 2009. The prior tenant Jay Turner Pres 688 Skate Park and 688 Skate Shop two, has agreed to work with a new owner, as needed, for compensation, to orient them in the parks operational history and  equipment, Jay is operating 688 Skate Shop Two out of Ross Norton Park, a small outdoor City Of Clearwater Park. Jay also work provides day camps in some of the city of St. Petersburg’s outdoor parks.


Was the park profitable

The fact that the rent was paid for 9.5 years indicates that the park can operate financially independent  especially with  county backing and endorsement which opens itself for free St Pete times press and better comfort levels for county parents who’s kids love the park but the parents may have pulled away due to the road construction, economy, or whatever.

 

Is the sport alive and well, I think these statistics indicate, unquestionably so!

688 Statistics

5, 000 person on 688 e-mailing list

300,000 total 688 registrants since 1998

75,800         688 skate Park hits by Google search

 

Related topics for skating & Skateboarding on Google Search

34,400,000 Skating

233,100,000 Skate 2

23,000,000 Skateboarding

757,000 Skate America

585,000 indoor skateboard  parks

336,000 skateBoard parks

2,002,000 Skateboard shoes

1,410,000 Skateboard Vidios

493,000 Skateboard tricks

1,320,000 Skateboard pictures

1,400,000 Skateboard my space layout

1,260,000 Skateboard Pics

 

The statistics above and the fact that sports taught and trained at 688 Skate Park are  headed to  the Olympics, which  suggest that my request is worthily of discussion for Pinellas County moreover that fact that Pinellas County already has one  national champion who could be a gold medal winning Olympian, if the training park can survive.



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