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Custom Home Builder on Davis Islands

Crescent Homes builds custom homes on Davis Islands. We are building there now, and we buy lots there. Our office on Kennedy Blvd is ten minutes away. Built to Last. Built for You.

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Davis Islands

D.P. Davis built the islands in the 1920s from mud dredged out of Tampa Bay, on top of two small natural keys (Wikipedia, "Davis Islands (Tampa)"). Today they hold Tampa General Hospital at the north tip, Peter O. Knight Airport and the yacht club at the south, and a village of restaurants in between, a bridge from downtown.

The houses date from the 1920s through today. Many of the older ones sit on canal or bay lots, and the 2024 storms put water in a lot of them. The question on every waterfront street is the same: repair, raise or rebuild.

Lots on Davis Islands

Vacant lots on Davis Islands are very limited. Creating a new buildable site generally means buying an older home with the intent to redevelop it. Our acquisition team buys those homes for our own account and finds them for clients.

Custom home under construction on Davis Islands

  • 517 Suwanee Cir
    Davis Islands
    custom home under construction

It is a custom home. Come in now and the finishes and selections are still yours to make. Ask us about it.

If you already own a lot on the island, send us the address and we start there.

Three things you get from us

We find your lot

Our acquisition team finds one for you, or you come in early on our custom home under construction and make it yours.

Open-book cost-plus

Every trade bid and every invoice. Our fee is a line in the contract. Nothing is hidden in a lump sum.

The Home Record

A permanent file of the build: photos of every wall before drywall, every inspection, every product and finish, the as-builts. It transfers with the house.

Flood zone and elevation

Davis Islands is low and surrounded by water, so expect a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area on most of it: AE inland, VE where waves can reach (fema.gov/glossary/flood-zones). Look up any address at the City's Flood Information Search (tampafl.withforerunner.com/properties).

A new house here sits at or above the Base Flood Elevation plus 1 foot under the Florida Building Code, or the design flood elevation if higher (FBC Residential R322.2.1). Tampa sets its design flood elevation in City Code Ch. 5-121. Below that line: parking and storage only, unfinished, with flood vents and flood-resistant materials, and a non-conversion agreement recorded by the City. In VE and Coastal A zones the City also requires a geotechnical report, a scour analysis and a V-Zone design certificate, and bars shear walls and structural fill below the design flood elevation (City of Tampa, Technical Guide: Flood Requirements for Residential New Construction, 3/14/24).

We design the entry, garage and outdoor living to that height from the start. An elevated house on the island should look like it belongs there.

Permitting

Every new house on Davis Islands goes through the City of Tampa's Accela portal: sealed topographic survey, site plan, tree survey, sealed building plans, energy calculations and an elevation certificate by an engineer or surveyor (City of Tampa Residential New Construction Permit Application Guide; tampa.gov Flood Protection). Seawalls and docks are separate permits. We file and track all of it.

Our process

  1. Call. We connect you with our senior staff.
  2. Lot. Yours, one we find, or our custom home under construction.
  3. Design and budget. Drawn in-house. Bid by the trades. Shown to you.
  4. Permit. Filed with the City, reviews run by us.
  5. Build. Every inspection and pre-drywall photo into your Home Record.
  6. Close. Keys, Home Record, our number.

Finished Crescent homes

Dock and fire pit at a Crescent waterfront home in Beach Park
Beach Park waterfront, Tampa
Outdoor dining at a Crescent home on W San Miguel St, Tampa
5007 W San Miguel St, Tampa
Kitchen and dining at a Crescent home on S Barbara Ln, Beach Park
403 S Barbara Ln, Beach Park
Front exterior at a Crescent home on W Platt St, Beach Park
W Platt St, Beach Park

Questions we get

What does a custom home on Davis Islands cost?

Priced from the plans and finishes, open-book cost-plus, and given to you in person with the bids behind it. The lot and the elevation requirement move the number more than anything we could publish.

Do you have a lot on Davis Islands?

We have a custom home under construction at 517 Suwanee Cir, and we buy on the island. Ask us.

My house flooded. Repair or rebuild?

That turns on the City's 50% rule and your structure's value. See our Rebuilding After a Flood page, then call us.

How high will the house sit?

At or above the elevation the code and the City require for the lot's zone.

Can you build on my lot?

Yes. Send the address.

Do you handle the seawall and dock?

Yes, with the permits they need.

Who do I talk to?

Our senior staff. Call 813-923-1023 or send the form and we connect you.

Tell us about your lot

Own a lot on Davis Islands, or want one? Send the address or the street. A person calls back the same business day.

Crescent Homes Inc. · 5201 W Kennedy Blvd #132, Tampa, FL 33609 · 813-923-1023