Backstreet Boy launches Cocoa Beach condo project
COCOA BEACH — On the showbiz side, Howie D of the Backstreet Boys is in Las Vegas this week promoting the group's upcoming residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. On the business side, the entertainer is developing Flores de la Costa, a $10 million oceanfront condominium complex less than a half-mile north of the Cocoa Beach Pier.
Flores de la Costa will be located in unincorporated Avon-by-the-Sea, between Wilson and Taft avenues in the "presidential streets" neighborhood. Plans for the Turtle Beach Lane complex feature a five-story building containing 14 condominiums alongside a trio of three-story townhouses.
Howie Dorough and his brother John began building Space Coast waterfront luxury condominiums shortly after the Backstreet Boys returned home from a 1997 European tour. Their projects include Flores Ocean Suites in Cape Canaveral (15 units, completed July 2000), Flores del Mar in Cape Canaveral (33 units, completed June 2002), and Flores de la Playa in Satellite Beach (18 units, completed October 2003). "Flores" is a tribute to their mother's maiden name.
"We grew up in Orlando. This was always our beach we used to come to, growing up over the years," Howie Dorough said.
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"Four-fifths of the family is over here now — Johnny's still in Winter Park. Now they're located over here in Brevard County. I love it. It’s a great county. It’s beautiful. It's very family oriented," he said.
Dorough Brothers Development & Consulting, Howie and John's Winter Park-based company, also developed the 154-room Country Inn & Suites in Cape Canaveral (opened June 2006); a hotel off Interstate 75 in Cordele, Georgia; and two condominium complexes in New Smyrna Beach. Howie Dorough also co-owned Tabu, a downtown Orlando nightclub that is now The Beacham.
"I think we've created a great partnership. Me being able to bring the finances to the table. Dale (Cox, chief financial officer) being able to manage it. And Johnny having the vision of this concept, from ground up. It's exciting. It's another creative outlet," Howie Dorough said.
"Back in the days, I was making just as much in some of the condo buildings as I was with Backstreet. Because we just lucked out in getting into the market with the right timing," he said.
During an interview this week, both brothers joined Cox, broker Alyssa Boyd and the Flores de la Costa builder — her father, Charles, president of Charles Boyd Construction — inside the living room of Howie Dorough's new home in Indian Harbour Beach. They unrolled building plans atop a black-felt pool table and discussed the condominiums, chatting alongside framed Backstreet Boys platinum-record displays.
A 1999 Billboard Music Awards silver trophy honoring "Millennium" as Album of the Year stood on a shelf near the television, as did various MTV Music Awards and American Music Awards.
The Orlando-based Backstreet Boys have released nine Top 10 albums in the United States, selling more than 31 million copies domestically, according to Billboard. Worldwide album sales exceed 130 million. Earlier this month, the boy band's genre-crossing collaboration with Florida Georgia Line, "God, Your Mama, And Me," entered Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
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Howie Dorough left Brevard on Wednesday for Las Vegas promotional activities leading up to this weekend's iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena. The group is in midst of recording a new album, and he said they have struck a deal with concert producer Live Nation for an upcoming 150-show tour. Friday afternoon, the Backstreet Boys announced their upcoming "Larger than Life" Las Vegas residency in March at The AXIS at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.
"Every time we’re down, our fans make it right. This is our way of saying thanks (and having lots of fun!!) #BSBVegas" Howie D tweeted Friday afternoon.
Back in Brevard, crews have cleared the Flores de la Costa property and are installing underground utilities. Construction may begin in the next couple months, with an end-of-2017 target completion date, said Alyssa Boyd, who owns Sand Dollar Realty of Brevard in Cocoa Beach. Prices range from $325,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo to $825,000 for a three-bedroom, three-bathroom corner oceanfront condo.
About half of the units have been pre-sold, Boyd said.
In March, Howie Dorough was honored by the Brevard Walk of Fame alongside Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin and three other nominees. Dorough and his relatives founded the Dorough Lupus Foundation in Palm Bay after his sister Caroline died of the disease 1998.
Also in March, he joined the board of directors of the King Center for the Performing Arts at Eastern Florida State College.
"We are honored to have Howie on our board of directors. Not only does he bring a unique knowledge of the music industry that will benefit the King Center, but also he is dedicated to supporting the arts in the local community," said Steve Janicki, King Center executive director.
Regarding future Brevard construction projects, John Dorough said they may pick up another Cocoa Beach oceanfront property, build a restaurant on 2.2 acres in front of Country Inn & Suites in Cape Canaveral, and develop an assisted-living facility or apartment for older residents in Titusville.
"We came from a very humble, middle-class family," Howie Dorough said. "My dad was a police officer. My mom used to take care of not only the five of us kids, but she babysat half a dozen kids. And we had foster kids growing up. Later on, she worked at the local cafeteria in a middle school in our town just to help provide for me to be able to pursue my interests in music and other talents that I had.
"As a little kid, I always loved coming out here to the beaches. Some of my fondest memories I have with my family. I never dreamed that many years later, I would not only be coming to the beach but owning parts of the beach. It's amazing."
Contact Neale at 321-242-3638, rneale@floridatoday.com or follow @RickNeale1 on Twitter
Condo info online
For more information on the Flores de la Costa project, visit sanddollarrealtybrevard.com.
