Closings at Icon Brickell began in December 2008. Since that time, Icon Brickell has been covered by local and national media alike. Some news articles marveled at the sheer size of the development while others predicted its impending doom. Closings at Icon Brickell started tremendously slow with many buyers choosing to wait for the development to revert back to the conglomerate of banks providing the financing for construction in hopes that price reductions would soon follow. This past May, Towers 1 and 2 of Icon Brickell were handed back to its lenders and prices were once again reduced. It appears that the latest price reduction has peaked the interest of buyers who had been sitting on the sidelines. Seems unbelievable but Tower 1 has now sold around 85 percent of its condos while about 90 percent of the units in Tower 3 have sold. Tower 2 was the most recent to become available and has already sold around 25 percent of its condos. Those are very impressive numbers. In my opinion, Tower 2 offers the best views of the three towers and should have no problem selling its remaining units.
Inside sources recently revealed to me that 23-year old hip-hop/rap artist Drake has placed two side-by-side condos at Marquis under contract. My guess is that he will combine the two units to create a mega-condo. Marquis is a luxury condo building located at 1100 Biscayne Boulevard in Downtown Miami. Ever since prices were slashed this past summer, sales have picked considerably at Marquis. Prices start at $263 per square foot. A few months ago, an 8,042 square foot penthouse at Marquis sold for $4.2M.
Yesterday, the Miami Herald reported that Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat recently purchased a 7 bedroom/8 bath waterfront home on North Bay Road for $12.5M. Chris Bosh, along with LeBron James, joined the Miami Heat this past summer through free agency. Since that time, both basketball stars have been busy house hunting and it appears that Bosh has decided to acquire the 12,000 square foot home located at 6396 North Bay Road in Miami Beach. The waterfront home was built in 2009 and comes equipped with a gourmet kitchen, gym, elevator, Infinity-edge pool, boat dock and covered summer kitchen and BBQ area. The Miami Luxury Homes market is getting hot!
Two Recent Luxury Beachfront Condo Sales
Two luxury beachfront condos closed within the past two days. The first, located at Continuum South Tower, closed yesterday for $6,750,000, or $1622 per square foot. The 3 bedroom/3.5 bath condo is located on the 18th floor and has 4,161 square feet of interior. Not my taste at any price but I’m sure there’s someone out there who appreciates this type of decor.
The second condo sale took place at Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach. The sales price was $4.8M, or $837 per square foot, for a penthouse located on the 46th floor. The unit has 4 bedrooms, 5 full baths and 2 half bath with 5,735 square feet of interior and 1,990 square feet of exterior.
Marina Blue 5404 – Then & Now
A few months ago, as some of you may recall, we mentioned that clients of ours from Nigeria had recently closed on unit 5404 at Marina Blue. Our clients purchased the condo with an intent to rent it and hold the condo long-term. The condo came decorator-ready, however, which meant that they first needed to finish it off before renting it. A day after the closing, the buyers flew back to Nigeria and left Michael in charge with making design decisions and working with contractors to ensure that the build-out would be completed within a few months. The video below shows you what unit 5404 at Marina Blue looked like as a decorator-ready condo.
Below is a list of changes/additions that were made to unit 5404 as part of the build-out process:
36 x 36 Crema Marfil marble flooring installed throughout
Custom kitchen island with new countertops, wine rack, beverage center and dual-bowl under-mount sink with garbage disposal and custom fixture
Custom kitchen pantry with frosted glass door
Granite backsplash in the kitchen
Custom lighting throughout kitchen
California-style built-in closets in both bedrooms
Remote-controlled electronic window shades
Baseboards and paint
A few days ago, the build-out process for unit 5404 at Marina Blue was completed. Below, you’ll find pictures of the condo as it looks today. Unit 5404 is a 2 bedroom/2.5 bath condo with 1,663 square feet of interior square feet and 222 square feet of balcony (view unit 5404 floor plan). The condo has direct views of Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and Downtown Miami from the 54th floor. The asking price for unit 5404 at Marina Blue is $3,500 per month and is available immediately. Contact us at 305-428-3860 if you would like to view the condo in person.
For those of you who don’t know, Marina Blue is a Downtown Miami condo developments located at 888 Biscayne Blvd across the street from the American Airlines Arena and within walking distance to Bayside Marketplace and the Adrienne Arsht Center. Marina Blue is one of the few Downtown Miami condo buildings where every unit has a direct water view.
Below is the Before & After video of unit 5404 that our videographer created:
Museum Park Remediation Underway
Late last week, I was showing a condo at 900 Biscayne Bay and looked down at the Museum Park remediation work that is well underway. The remediation process should be completed this November. Construction of the Miami Art Museum building will then begin and delivery is scheduled for sometime in 2013. The Miami Science Museum building will break ground in 2011 and is projected to be completed in 2014. Once complete, Museum Park will be a great addition to the neighborhood and should have a positive impact on the values of Park West condos in the area.
The New Look of Miami Condo Investments
A few months ago, we decided to overhaul the Miami Condo Investments website. Our aim was to create a Miami real estate website with more content and functionality than its predecessor. Today, we’re pleased to present the new look of Miami Condo Investments. The website is still a work in progress but we hope to have all bugs fixed and new content published within the next 30 days. Below, you’ll find a list of a few of the features added to the new website:
Message Board – Many of you have asked for a forum to discuss various topics related and unrelated to real estate. Hopefully many of you will make good use of it.
Photo Blog – I introduced this feature last month. Here you’ll find real estate related pictures that we have taken in and around Miami and Miami Beach.
Client Resources – Clients often have the same questions regarding the rental or sales process or questions regarding financing or closing costs. We felt that this would be a good section of the website to provide the answers to these frequently asked questions.
Earlier this afternoon, we also submitted our updated iPhone app to iTunes for approval. We hope that it will be approved and available for everyone to download by the middle of next week.
It’s amazing when I look back at the original Miami Condo Investments blog and realize just how far the website has come in terms of size and quality since that time.
