Talked today to a wealthy real estate developer who considered buying in The Place at Channelside, the insolvent Tampa condo complex up for auction Oct. 5 for a starting bid of $17.25-million.

His opinion? He won't touch it. The main reason? Property taxes. And the location isn't so hot, either.

A bankruptcy judge ordered the auction to dispense of 171 condos ranging from 596-square-foot studios to a 3,665-square-foot penthouse. The whole portfolio will be sold as one unit, and the average starting price of $100,000 per unit seemed attractive.

No so fast. My source pointed out that each unit comes with an undesired albatross: Hillsborough County and Tampa want about $5,000 a pop in taxes. That's a nearly $900,000 in annual carrying costs one may or may not be able to pass to renters.

The property appraiser considers the auction an emergency fix, and the sale doesn't qualify as an "arms length transaction" valid for taxing purposes.

The same developer also hates the location in a semi-industrial zone near the Port of Tampa. Waterfront is great, just not waterfront with an obvious oil slick.

Some history: Developer Fida Sirdar of Key Developers Group signed up buyers for The Place's two 8-story condo towers in 2005. It was to be 245 units in all.

But by 2007, buyers were suing by the dozens to back out of deals based on prices the market no longer could support. Denied sales, Sirdar sought refuge in bankruptcy. The judge ordered the auction to pay off debts.

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