Le Parc

Le Parc's 78 condominium homes share a single tower at the north end of Park Shore in Naples, addressed 4951 Gulf Shore Boulevard North. The Lutgert Companies developed it, and it was finished in 1990. A single condominium association governs the building, directed by its board, with management on the property around the clock.

This building holds two markets, and the tier you buy into decides almost everything else. Most lower-floor homes have 2 bedrooms, while the 10 penthouses at the top have 5, and a penthouse sells for several times what a lower-floor home does. Size, price and the association's assessment all follow that split, so a number for the building as a whole says little about either tier.

How is Le Parc laid out?

The developer describes the tower as designed with "four residences on each of the 17 lower floors and two penthouses on each of the five top floors." That works out to 10 penthouses among the 78 homes, stacked two to a floor above the 17 floors of four.

The penthouses are by far the largest plans in the tower, and the lower floors hold the more compact ones, mostly with 2 bedrooms. When comparing prices, set a lower-floor home against other lower-floor sales and a penthouse against penthouse sales. Averaging the two blurs both.

Every home has a private lanai. The building looks over both the Gulf of Mexico and Venetian Bay, and which of the two a given home sees best depends on where it sits in the tower. Check the view from that home's own lanai before counting on either.

What does the building have on site?

The building's own facilities are these:

• a heated pool with Gulf views, and a spa beside it
• one Har-Tru tennis court
• a fitness center with separate saunas for men and for women
• a card room for billiards and ping pong
• a social room equipped with a catering kitchen

Entry is through the building's own front gate, which controls access to Le Parc alone. The association describes "a private front gate, 24/7 security staff, and an on-site manager," and there's a front desk too.

Covered parking in Le Parc's garage comes with every home. Ask how many spaces go with the specific home, and on what terms, before you sign.

How far is Venetian Village?

About three quarters of a mile to the south, measured on a straight line, and the drive there is no shorter. Venetian Village is the cluster of shops and restaurants on Venetian Bay, the same water the building looks over.

What will the assessment be?

It depends on the home, and the gap is large. The regular assessment is far from uniform: penthouses carry well over twice what a 2-bedroom home pays. Because no single number describes the building, ask the association what the home you're considering pays, along with the budget it's drawn from.

How does the building's age affect what you'll pay?

Finished in 1990, Le Parc is old enough that Florida's structural inspection requirement for condominium towers has already reached it, and a tower like this must also fund reserves for its structural components. Those two obligations are where a steady assessment and a surprise bill part ways.

The association holds the three documents that tell the two apart: the latest structural inspection, the reserve study that rests on it, and the year's budget. Read together, they show whether owners keep paying the present assessment or face an extra levy. Ask for all three, and go through them while the contract is still in its inspection period.

Can you keep a pet or rent the home out?

Only the association can say. Its rules on pets, leasing and similar matters sit in an owners' handbook that isn't published, so the answers have to come from the association directly. Leasing is governed by those rules, which is reason enough to read them before counting on rental income. The handbook is kept behind a residents' login rather than on the association's public website.