UPDATE: Zom Starts $140M Paramount on Lake Eola

ORLANDO-Zom Inc., a national mixed-use developer based in Orlando, broke ground April 27 on its 10th major mixed-use project–the $140-million, 16-story Paramount on Lake Eola. The structure will house 313 condo homes, 35,000 sf of retail, 10,000 sf of offices and a 15,000-sf pool deck at 400 E. Central Blvd. Downtown. The retail includes a 30,000-sf Publix store.

Zom CEO Steve Patterson estimates the project will take 26 months to complete and is targeting a mid-2008 completion date. Atlanta-based Hardin Construction Co. is the general contractor. Unit sizes of the condos range from 650 sf for a one-bedroom, one-bath residence to a 4,000-sf penthouse.

Weeding a buyers’ list of 600 names, Zom sold all of the condo homes last year after announcing the project in April 2005, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. The price range was $200,000 to $1.3 million. The estimated aggregate price was $156 million, Downtown multifamily brokers in a position to know tell GlobeSt.com. Zom Realty Services Inc. handled sales and marketing.

Zom had planned to start the project in December 2005. At that time, the company announced Paramount on Lake Eola would have an estimated development cost of $125 million and consist of 306 residential condos, 45,000 sf of retail, 10,000 sf of office, a 30,000-sf Publix and a 15,000-sf pool deck. The developer revised the components’ mix as construction materials nationally rose to record levels.

RMC Property Group and NK Ventures are partnering with Zom on the Paramount project. RMC will manage the commercial leasing component.

For Zom and Patterson, the Paramount on Lake Eola marks back-to-back major Downtown projects undertaken in less than three years. Zom completed the 22-story, $45-million, 230-unit Waverly on Lake Eola at 322 E. Central Blvd., directly across the road from the Paramount, as a rental apartment complex in 2001. He converted the units to condos in 2003. The condos were sold out at before the conversions were completed. The price range was about the same as the Paramount numbers, $200,000 to $1 million-plus.