TREASURE ISLAND - Though his project came on the market at the worst of times, Bill Fields is undaunted about the prospects for Treasure Bay Hotel and Marina.

"Our purchasers are second-home buyers, vacation purchasers, people with discretionary income, so they're not as impacted by the market downturn," Fields said of those interested in the condo-hotel project.

Still, the overall market doldrums do drag on the project, a conversion of a motel at 11125 Gulf Boulevard in Treasure Island.

Treasure Bay is operating as a hotel, Fields said, which it will be after there are individual owners. He said he has contracts on a third of Treasure Bay's 84 units and will start closing them early next year.

Fields would have started closing deals already but for a dispute over the marina portion of the project.

He said the city wanted to treat his 12 boat slips as a commercial facility, not a residential amenity.

In a show of confidence, Fields continues to construct another condo-hotel project down the street, the Crystal Palms Resort at Capri, a 36-unit building at11605 Gulf Blvd., the site of the former Gulf Golf miniature golf. Field said that he has reservations on ahalf-dozen units at Crystal Palms, with prices hovering around $375,000 for the one-, two- and three-bedroom units.