La Mer

La Mer occupies 4051 Gulf Shore Boulevard North in Park Shore, with the Gulf behind it and the boulevard out front. It is one building holding 104 homes, finished in 1978, with nothing added since and one address for every home.

Start with the property line at the north end. A private beachfront park shares it, and that park is the Park Shore Association's, not this building's. You can see it from the building. Getting in takes a membership card, and nobody here inherits one.

Is this really a beachfront building?

Yes. The condominium holds about 3.8 acres in its own name, outright, and the ground reaches the water. Nothing sits west of the building except sand, and every home faces the Gulf. Pool and spa both sit at the Gulf end of the ground, seaward of the building, and neither is shared with anyone outside the condominium.

Does the beach park next door come with a home here?

No. The park at 4061 Gulf Shore Boulevard North is the Park Shore Association's property, and that association is separate, voluntary, and was formed in 1971. Its published park rules are direct about the entrance: "Admittance by vehicle, bike, or on foot requires your active Park Shore Association membership card." Under the bylaws an owner inside the association's boundaries "may be eligible to become a Member", which is some way short of being one, because the board rules on each application.

The shape of that cost matters more than the amount, and the bylaws fix the shape exactly. "All applications shall be accompanied by payment of a one-time initiation fee and full annual dues as established by the Board of Directors yearly. Dues are not pro-rated." The board sets both figures afresh every year, dues fall on or before 1 January, and the membership year runs the calendar year.

A seller's card does not travel with the home. "Dues are not refunded when the property is sold before the end of a membership year." So a buyer starts the application over, and the initiation fee is charged a second time. Put the eligibility question to the association before that park counts toward your offer.

What comes with a home here?

The association publishes one list of that, and nothing sits outside it: "Each resident is provided with access to the following amenities: Private Pool Spa Outdoor Pavilion 2 Bedroom Guest Suite Fitness Facility Tennis Courts Social Room w/kitchen and bar High Speed Internet Covered Parking Electric Car Charging Capability Storage Lockers Full Elevator Accessibility Rooftop Observation & Sunning Deck 24 Hr. Security"

The guest suite is one suite with two bedrooms, not a floor of them. A visitor gets somewhere to sleep that isn't your second bedroom. And 24 hour security is as far as the association goes on that subject. Park Shore has no gate, and this address doesn't sit behind one: Gulf Shore Boulevard North is a public city street that passes the front door.

Every home carries at least one assigned covered space. Beyond that first space nothing is settled, so get a second one confirmed in writing.

How are the homes laid out?

The homes measure about 1,850 square feet at the low end and about 3,000 at the top. Across the 104 homes there are twelve distinct floor areas, so this is a building of many plans rather than one layout repeated up a stack.

Unit numbers follow the floors up to 12, then jump to 14, with penthouse numbers above them. There is no 13 in the addressing, which is worth knowing when you match a unit number to a height.

What does it cost to own here?

Homes at La Mer have sold from the $850,000s to around $3.3 million. Those are completed sales, not a price list, and 104 homes turn over a few at a time.

Budget around $3,300 a month. That's a planning number aimed high rather than a middle, so plenty of homes here come in below it.

What should you read before making an offer?

Florida law reaches a building of this age. A condominium of three floors or more has to have its structure examined by a licensed engineer or architect once it turns thirty. Buildings already past thirty when the rule arrived were given until the end of 2024. A building finished in 1978 is one of those, so the date is already behind it. The same law makes an association cost out its major structural parts and hold savings against them, which puts a floor under what it has to set aside.

Note that being due is not being examined, and an examination is not a pass. Three papers settle it, and they weigh more than the monthly figure:

• The structural examination itself, and what it told the board to do about the building.
• The costed study behind the reserves, and whether the money set aside matches what it calls for.
• The association's operating budget.

The Village Shops on Venetian Bay, which everyone locally calls Venetian Village, sit about a quarter of a mile north up the boulevard.

Two properties meet at that northern line. One is a park owned by an association formed in 1971, where the way in is a card. The other is a 1978 condominium on 3.8 acres of its own ground, with 104 homes and its own frontage on the sand.