Tribune file photo by JAY NOLAN. The 171 unsold units at The Place At Channelside units were originally marketed for about $200,000 to $1 million.

TAMPA - Luxury condominiums in downtown Tampa could be up for grabs soon for about $100,000 each.

But there's a catch: you'd have to buy all 171 units for at least $17.2 million, the minium bid.

The unsold condos at the 245-unit The Place at Channelside may be sold at an auction in October, according to a preliminary order approved Monday by a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Tampa.

That's a bargain, considering units were originally marketed for about $200,000 to $1 million, and the developer owes the bank more than $47 million.

"That's a good deal," said Jack McCabe, owner of McCabe Research & Consulting in South Florida, which follows the state's condominium market. "This is just the beginning of the good deals to come. The best deals will be had by people with lots of cash."

The Tampa developer, Key Developers Group LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in March after some buyers backed out of contracts and others sued to get their deposits back.

Fida Sirdar, who heads Key Developers, could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but he told the Tribune in March that he hoped the bankruptcy protection would enable the company to turn the development around.

In fact, Sirdar said at the time, he had so much faith that the real estate market in Tampa would improve that he was planning to start two more towers in 2009.

If approved by the court at a hearing next week, the auction would be at 11 a.m. Oct. 15 in the condominium's clubhouse at 911 Channelside Drive.

The Place isn't the only downtown condo to face trouble. Four other developers have either filed for bankruptcy or walked away from projects.

•SimDag LLC, the Tampa developer of the proposed 52-story Trump Tower Tampa, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June.

•Also in June, the developers of the Ventana condominiums in the Channel District agreed to turn ownership over to the project's lender instead of filing for bankruptcy.

•Tampa Condo 2 LLC, the developers of the proposed 472-unit Tampa Condo II, filed to reorganize under bankruptcy in March. The company is a subsidiary of Daytona Beach-based Amon Investments LLC.

•Towers of Channelside LLC, the builder of Towers of Channelside, filed for bankruptcy protection in January after Wachovia cut off the company's credit.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at or sbehnken@tampatrib.com.