Jill Kushner - Specializing in The Colony Golf & Bay Club, Bonita Springs, Florida FL - Downing-Frye Realty Inc.

Located in Bonita Springs, Florida, the Colony Golf & Bay Club is a private, gated luxury community. One of the many reasons I enjoy listing exclusively for this community is due to the vast array of amenities The Colony offers its single-family, mid-rise and high-rise residents.

In addition to the 18-hole championship golf course and Country Club, residents here can enjoy tennis, private dining at The Bay Club, as well as a fitness center to help members remain active. There is also a spa available to community members and their guests where they can be pampered, as well as a canoe park and private water taxi to The Colony’s beach park.

However, one of the great perks and an amenity I feel surpasses all other communities in Bonita Springs, Florida, is the concierge service.

The concierge can help with a slew of daily tasks such as housecleaning, home repairs, indoor plant care, pool maintenance, landscaping and pest control.

For those who live here seasonally (aka ‘snowbirds’), the concierge can help organize an absentee home watch, key holding and seasonal arrival and departure preparations. Residents traveling can ask the concierge for assistance with both local and international travel, as well as to help set up an airport shuttle. If you desire, the concierge will also find a personal trainer or in-home masseuse.

Residents at The Colony Golf & Bay Club enjoy the hassle-free lifestyle that enables them to spend their days enjoying the many other activities available in Bonita Springs, Naples and surrounding areas. And yes, the concierge can help organize all those other activities as well!

Contact me today for your tour of The Colony.

Labels: Amenities, Concierge Service, Dining, Golf, High-rise, Lifestyle, Real Estate, Single-Family Homes, The Colony Golf and Bay Club

Florida’s master-planned community scene is definitely competitive. There are an abundance of single-family homes, high-rise condominiums and villa homes targeting the first, second and even third home buyer. This means that developers must offer luxurious community and high-rise building amenities in order to separate themselves from the pack.

Most communities have fitness centers, but some of new communities or high-rise condominium towers now offer trendier fitness options like yoga and Pilates classes, or even indoor resistance pools for aquatic workouts.

Theater rooms are another trend in more urban cities, yet have been popular here in Southwest Florida for years now. All of the high-rise towers at The Colony Golf & Bay Club offer this type of entertainment in addition to having a bar, catering kitchen and even a billiards area.

One of the newest trends in community amenities, which is gaining popularity, are private climate-controlled wine lockers for residents. For instance, The Colony Golf & Bay Club’s private dining facility, The Bay Club, offers residents the opportunity to store up to 18 bottles of their favorite wine at a lesser price than what a restaurant would offer – if they even offered it. This makes going out to dinner at the Club even more affordable for Colony residents, plus they can enjoy a bottle of wine from their own private collection. Now that’s a great perk!

What amenities do you look for when purchasing a home?

Labels: Amenities, Bonita Springs, Concierge Service, Dining, Golf, High-rise, Lifestyle, Single-Family Homes, The Colony Golf and Bay Club

Naples and Bonita Springs, Florida are rich with gated communities. A well-planned community offers a variety of housing choices, and of course, amenities.

But how do you decide which community is right for you? I always tell clients I work with that price, floor plan and location are important, but so are the community’s amenities.

To help you through the process, here are some of the main benefits you should look for when looking for a second home or seasonal retirement home within a gated community:

Architectural integrity – A planned community incorporates master architectural guidelines for the homes, which ensures that neighborhoods have a unified theme with enough variations to complement one another. In other words, it’s not cookie cutter. The Colony’s high-rise towers, mid-rises and custom single-famil homes were built with the highest standards of design aesthetic and quality.

Amenities to enhance quality of life – Master-planned communities offer homes or high-rise condo’s that don’t require much maintenance coupled with amenities that make it easy to enjoy free time with friends and neighbors. Amenities will vary by community and may include golf, tennis, a Country Club, dining, social events, and canoe park just to name a few.

Sense of community – Many master-planned communities have these on-site amenities to make life’s daily activities easy and convenient. These amenities help to foster a strong sense of community, since fellow residents get to know one another through neighborhood activities and events.

The residents of the Colony Golf & Bay Club have a host of amazing amenities at their fingertips. Best part is, they don’t have to sacrifice space by settling on a smaller floor plan. The high-rises and single-family homes at The Colony offer spacious, open floor plans perfect for guests or entertaining, plus high ceilings, state-of-the-art appliances and custom cabinetry to reflect their individual personality.

Are you looking for a second home or seasonal home? Contact me today!

Labels: Amenities, Bonita Springs, Dining, Fitness, Golf, High-rise, Lifestyle, Real Estate, Retirement, Single-Family Homes, Tennis

The living room is spacious. The kitchen is a cook’s dream. The master bathroom is like a spa, and there’s even a guest room for the grandchildren. But you still have another room left in your home at The Colony Golf & Bay Club. So what are you going to do with it? Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Home Office – Do you work from home or own your own business? If so, a bonus room can be the perfect choice to convert to a home office. Make sure you decorate and stage the space appropriately complete with ample storage and noise buffers plus everything else you need to work efficiently.

Game Room - Most modern game rooms have a TV, and the bigger the better. Movable seating is for gaming, so it can be easily moved out of the way for more physically active gaming such as Wii Sports. A Murphy bed is a great option to include since it can easily transition into a guest room. For more traditional game room ideas, basic fixtures include a pool table, dartboard and sometimes a bar.

Home Gym – Even though every high-rise tower at The Colony offers a fully-equipped gym, you may still want to use your bonus room as a private workout area. Include a stationary bike or treadmill, free weights and even a TV to keep you from getting bored.

Family Room – Your family and grandchildren visit a few times a year so it doesn’t warrant making it into a play room, but a family room in your new high-rise or single-family residence at The Colony Golf & Bay Club will create a place the whole family can gather and relax in. Include games, movies and a snack area, and keep the space cozy and inviting.

Whatever you decide to do with your bonus room, even if it’s simply creating another guest room for visitors, you’ll have ample space in your new single-family or high-rise residence at The Colony Golf & Bay Club.

How would you design your bonus room?

Labels: Bonita Springs, Bonus Rooms, Decor, High-rise, Lifestyle, Naples, Single-Family Homes, The Colony Golf and Bay Club

For years the trend in real estate sales here in Southwest Florida has been staging. Staging is essentially the modern name for an old technique of decorating the house for the sale rather than for the taste of the current owner.

Why is it so important? Staging your home makes it look its best before you put it on the market.

If you’re considering selling your single-family or high-rise condo, here are some staging tips to help you make your home stand out from the crowd:

Get rid of the clutter: Are you one of those people who have a plethora of small appliances on the kitchen countertop Or have closets filled with clothes from decades past? Perhaps one too many knickknacks used to decorate? Whatever the case, get rid of clutter. The goal is for your house to look roomy, not lived in.
Fresh coat of paint: Whether it be indoors or out, painting is the least expensive way to get the maximum impact. It’s quick and simple plus it helps your home avoid looking boring or dated. Visit paint stores for trendy (but safe) color combinations.
Update your lighting: This is another inexpensive way to make your single family or high-rise home look more modern. Bright brass is now out, and polished nickel is in. Be sure to use the highest safe wattage for each fixture. It makes your home look “bright and cheerful.”
Set the mood by accessorizing: Visit high-rise condominium model homes here at The Colony for ideas from Naples and Bonita Springs best decorators.
Focus on kitchen and bathrooms: Creating a kitchen that “pops” is key. That means it makes a strong and positive first impression. And that certainly means a kitchen and bath that is scrubbed until it sparkles, and may mean new granite counters and fine cabinets.

I always tell my clients who are selling their homes at The Colony Golf & Bay Club that we are trying to stage the home to sell, not to be lived in. You can make your home very attractive to buyers, but you’ll need to “move out” emotionally and look at your house in a new light.

Are you ready to sell or purchase a home here in Southwest Florida? If so, contact me today.

Happy staging!

Labels: Bonita Springs, High-rise, Lifestyle, Real Estate, Selling a Home, The Colony Golf and Bay Club

Waterfront Location. Bonita Springs and Estero high-rises are all located in gated, waterfront communities are, therefore, only in only a few locations so you can take time to check them all out. My website is a good place to start.

Views of Bay, Gulf & Golf. The most striking aspect of high-rise living is generally what you see looking out your window or relaxing on your lanai. Here many factors enter in. Although higher floors and big water views are usually preferred, some homeowners like a treetop and golf course view. Sunsets or sunsets AND sunrises? The view(s) from each residence influences the price you will pay, so your preferences on views need to be carefully balanced with cost. It also might be prudent to find out whether another building might eventually affect your views.

Lobby staff. Of course, high-rises have lots of back-of-the-house staff like a (live-in)manager, an administrator or assitant to manager, maintenance, and security personnel. And they're important. How many hours is the front desk staffed? By the way, some buildings refer to the individual who sits behind the front desk as a “concierge” because they provide some, very limited concierge-style services....such as dry cleaning collection & delivery, calling an airport shuttle, arranging to get staff and service personnel into your residence in your absence.

Personnel costs, including lobby staff, are the largest controllable component of HOA dues, ranging from approximately $10,000-21,000 annually. So you're paying for it. The Colony offers every concept from uniformed officer on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to a locked front lobby door with a key pay entry and no officer.

Pets. If you have a pet, you will need to check the pet policy. Our Colony high rises all have policies in place and some with limitations on number and size. Please contact me if you are interested in learning the particulars to each building.

Guest Suites. Great option for visiting family and friends which are available for a daily fee $50-$125. Though the Hyatt Coconut Resort is immediately off The Colony site, the suites are very convenient and more affordable.

Fitness centers. All Colony high-rises have impressive fitness centers, and, truly, most describe their own as ”state-of-the art.” I'm no judge of fitness centers, so you'll have to evaluate them yourself.

Resort-style Pools. The pool generally anchors the outdoor amenities such as sun deck, grilling area, hot tub, outdoor dining areas, etc. and is generally near the fitness center and social room(s).

Garage Parking. Your ownership of a high-rise condo in The Colony will come with rights to 1-2 garage parking places, which are usually assigned along with an air-controlled storage space.

Other common areas. High-rises now have caterer-friendly party rooms with wet bars, libraries, billiard rooms, business centers with Wi-Fi, and theaters. There seems to be no end to the features you might find. I've tried to list all of the special common areas in the various high-rises I work, but am sure to have missed some.

HOA Dues. What's in and what's out? High-rises are run by the board of a homeowners' association in which each homeowner has voting power. It's the board, with the approval of the homeowners, who collect dues from homeowners to pay for building insurance, pest control, common area utilities and maintenance, employee compensation, fees to management hired by the HOA, etc.

HOA Reserves. When HOA dues are insufficient to pay for things such as a major building renovation, to replace expensive equipment, etc., HOAs can make a special reserve to cover the costs. Although the building must inform a buyer of outstanding assessments it would be prudent to look at the building's annual operating budget including reserve.

Other fees: All Colony HOA's have some form of application fee to the buyer when a residence in the building is transferred, usually a background/credit check fee ranging from $100-$250. The only utility paid independently is the electric bill made payable directly to FPL.com. Most residents have content (also known as 'renters')insurance. Policies are typically quoted under $1000 a year.

Security. Since its own residents often oversee the management in the building, you should expect every high-rise to have good security measures like access controls and monitored video cameras.

Labels: Amenities, High-rise, Lifestyle

It’s a Saturday afternoon. The weather in Bonita Springs, Florida is beautiful – not a cloud in the sky. Gone are the days of spending your weekends doing the lawn, organizing your garage, picking up mail at the post office, or cleaning the pool. For those who live in a high rise at The Colony Golf and Bay Club, it’s all taken care of!

Each high-rise tower has a live-in manager who attends to the day-to-day operations of the building, including the amenities. Building manager's oversee staff who are responsible for logging in all who enter the building, report any abuses to common areas, monitor all the shared spaces around the building and the garage, and above all, respect the privacy of each resident. Talk about a stress-free lifestyle!

Here’s a sampling of the maintenance-free lifestyle you can look forward to when you live in a high rise at The Colony:

Keypad monitored security systems
24-hour security
Basic cable 
Common area maintenance
Landscaping maintenance and seasonal care
Pool maintenance
Fitness center
Trash removal 
Concierge 
Pest control – interior and exterior 
Exterior window washing

High-rise residences at The Colony Golf and Bay Club have all the comforts of a conventional house - plus plenty of state-of-the-art amenities and conveniences - without the many hassles and worries of homeownership. As if that weren’t enough, high-rise living means being able to leave town worry-free with 24-7 monitoring by staff and security. Just think about what you could do with all that free time and energy!

Want more information on living at one of The Colony’s high-rises? Contact me today.

Labels: Amenities, Bonita Springs, Concierge Service, High-rise, Lifestyle, The Colony Golf and Bay Club

Have you ever stopped to consider the merits of living in a high-rise? The Colony at Pelican Landing is home to some of the finest high rises in SW Florida with six 21-story residential towers, including Sorrento (the Colony’s first tower residence, premiering in 2001), Treviso, Palermo, Navona, La Scala and Florencia, the most recent tower, built in 2007. So, aside from being surrounded by the mangrove islands of Estero Bay Estuary or the gorgeous, unobstructed views of the Gulf of Mexico and Estero Bay, just what ARE the benefits of living in a high rise at The Colony?

The most obvious is having all the exterior maintenance of your home taken care of…everything from pest control and painting to keeping the pool bright / sparkling and mowing / trimming all that beautiful lush landscaping. You can sit back and enjoy it all without having to toil over it. Oh, the JOY of getting rid of all the aggravation of overseeing the landscaping!

Florencia Fitness

Navona Guest Suite

High-rise buildings worldwide have amazing amenities and the towers at The Colony are no exception! Depending on the residence, amenities at The Colony range from state-of-the-art fitness centers and resort style pools and jacuzzi/spas to business centers, state-of-the-art theatres, card / billiard / social rooms, guest suites, private libraries, garages, elevators and so much more! Additionally, high rises in general are centrally located in terms of entertainment districts, restaurants, shopping, transportation, etc. Again, The Colony certainly fits that profile. With the back door of Coconut Point Mall just a mile from the entrance to The Colony, you’ll find just about everything you could possibly want within a couple short minutes of home!

But there’s more! High rise HOAs are now getting social…coordinating happy hours, holiday gatherings, and seasonal events, offering a chance to get to know your neighbors in a relaxed setting. Residents enjoy the sense of community offered with this lifestyle and once you've met a few neighbors living in your building, you'll start feeling right at home.

High rise residences typically result in lower utility costs overall. Definitely no hot attics overhead or drafty basements underneath at The Colony! Additionally, many high rises will bulk-negotiate lower rates with utility providers, even when residents pay their bills individually, which results in cost savings for you! Residents at The Colony high rises will find their water & sewer, basic cable and HVAC maintenance included in their association fee, relieving them of those monthly expenses.

Treviso Theatre

You may also find insurance fees to be lower, which can be attributed to the fact that building codes are stricter in implementation for high-rise condominiums. Additionally, between on-site amenities and a plethora of entertainment destinations just a hop, skip and jump from home, think how much you’re saving on gasoline! And these days…that’s a HUGE savings!

Lastly, you couldn’t ask for better security than in a high rise. You are free to travel without the fear of leaving an obviously vacant home. Most buildings at The Colony provide Access Control Officers at the front desks during typical business hours; buildings are locked and owners must use electronic entry systems to access the building. Additionally, all but one of our buildings have below building, secured and monitored parking, which means no walking across dark parking lots alone at night. An added benefit to our parking garage is that it makes it easier to maintain your automobile, also a cost savings. Plus, you never have to worry about finding a parking place again! Sometimes, THAT can be worth a million bucks!

It’s plenty to think about, isn’t it? If you have any questions about living the high rise lifestyle, just give me a call. Jill Kushner 239-691-5505

Labels: Amenities, High-rise, Lifestyle