Rony Seikaly’s Stunning South Beach Condo at Murano Grande

Over the past week, I have had the opportunity to tour a number of stunning condominiums throughout South Florida.  Tuesday afternoon, was business as usual.  That day I was fortunate enough to tour the 4,000 square foot residence of former NBA star turned international DJ Rony Seikaly.  The luxury, 3 bedroom plus den/4.5 bath residence located at Murano Grande in South Beach did not disappoint.  The entire condo has a zen-like feel to it with an array of natural elements incorporated into its design.  The floor plan features a number of favorable changes and upgrades as well.  Most importantly, the kitchen has been rearranged to allow for a much more expansive view from within the kitchen than what was called for in its original floor plan.  The wooden, sliding track doors, however, still allow one the option to enclose the kitchen from either or both sides.  The condo comes fully furnished with designer furnishings by Ralph Lauren, Holly Hunt, Minotti, Tucker Robbins and others in rich Earth hues.  The design of the entire condo is the work of prolific, New York City interior designer Clodagh.  The unit comes equipped with a Crestron System which, with the help of an iPad, one can control lighting, surround sound, electric window treatments, air conditioning and more.  The asking price is $5,995,000.

One Thousand Museum: Additional Information Unveiled

Additional information regarding One Thousand Museum has recently come to light.  My hunch was correct.  The co-developers, Gregg Covin and Louis Birdman, are out to target the uber-rich with this development.  Prices will range from $4M to $12M for half-floor and full-floor residences.  The pricing for the duplex penthouse has not yet been revealed but will likely crush the record for a non-oceanfront condominium residence in South Florida which, if I’m not mistaken, was set in March 2007 when the 9,000 square foot penthouse at Bristol Tower was purchased by Pharrell Williams for $13.95M.  That same penthouse, by the way, is currently on the market for $13,999,000.  I will not be surprised in the least bit if the duplex penthouse at 1000 Museum gets priced at $20M or even $25M.  Things are about to get exciting for the Downtown Miami condo market!

1000 Museum will be erected at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard, the current the site of a BP gas station.  It will reside just south of Ten Museum Park which was developed by Gregg Covin and completed in 2007.  The footprint of the site is not much different than Ten Museum Park so I expect to see half-floor residences start at around 4,000-4,500 square feet.  One would assume that full-floor residences would be double that but I can’t be too sure.  Zaha Hadid is known for using elegant curves in her work so who knows what we will see.  Actually, I take that back.  Who knows what I will see.  The South Florida Business Journal mentioned in an article yesterday that “the first images of Zaha Hadid’s architectural design for the newly named One Thousand Museum are expected in late March”.  That tells me one thing: that the public will have to wait about a month after VIP real estate brokers and agents, like myself, are expected to see the long-awaited designs.  Sorry folks!  Move along, move along.  There will be no show here today, or this week for that matter.  The general public is likely going to have to wait.  I, along with the other brokers and agents in the room, will likely be asked not to disclose publicly any renderings of the development.  They won’t be the first to do so and this is not uncommon when dealing with high-profile developments in this price range.  In fact, I was asked two days ago by two other development sales offices to refrain from posting any renderings on my website for the time being.  Perfectly understandable in my book.

Obviously, not everyone will have to wait to see the new designs.  Certain brokers and agents are given a sneak peek for a reason.  Our job is to spread the word to our high-profile clients and others who might have the means to afford an ultra-luxury residence in this price range.  If you have a sincere and legitimate interest in learning more about 1000 Museum, contact me Friday afternoon.  Be prepared to prove it though.  Buyers will likely be asked to fork over a quarter of a million dollars just to reserve the smallest unit at 1000 Museum.  I’m expecting to see a design that is truly spectacular – the likes of which South Florida has never seen.

Furnished 1 Bedroom Condo at 500 Brickell with a Great Return!

Here is a unit that is perfect for  a value-conscious investor looking to purchase a condo in Brickell.  It is a beautifully remodeled 1 bedroom/1 bathroom condo at 500 Brickell with dark, wide-plank hardwood floors throughout, window treatments, light fixtures and a custom kitchen backsplash.  The 738 square foot unit has stainless steel appliances, a stacked washer/dryer, two closets and a south-facing balcony which spans the entire length of the condo.  The bathroom features a Jacuzzi tub and separate glass-enclosed shower.  The unit is being sold fully furnished and already has a tenant in place until September 24, 2013.  The tenant is paying $2,200 per month.  The condo association fees are $494 per month.  The current owner paid $2,607 in property taxes in 2012 which included a $25,000 Homestead exemption but it is important to note that the property taxes for a new buyer will be based on the newly assessed value determined by the city and whether the new buyer qualifies for any exemptions.  Best of all, the asking price is just $349,000.  If you find a better return on a condo in Brickell, then jump on it.

500 Brickell is walking distance to the shops, restaurants and bars at Mary Brickell Village and just a few short blocks from the upcoming $1.05B mixed-use development known as Brickell Citycentre.  The fabulous amenities at 500 Brickell  include: two swimming pools (one is a rooftop pool facing Biscayne Bay) two club rooms, a fitness center, 12-person theater, steam room, sauna, concierge and 24-hour valet parking.  The development also has ground-floor retail which includes a number of popular restaurants and bars.

If you or someone you know has an interest in purchasing this fully furnished condo at 500 Brickell, please give me a call at 786-247-6332 or email me at [email protected].  Feel free to contact me with any questions as well.

One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid to be Formally Announced Next Week

The wait is almost over.  The new Zaha Hadid development to be located at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard will be formally announced next week.  It had been expected to be called 1000 Biscayne Tower but that is no longer the case.  The developers have instead decided to call the luxury residential high-rise One Thousand Museum.

Over the past two months, there has been a lot of buzz and excitement surrounding this upcoming development.  The internationally acclaimed architect, Zaha Hadid, has a huge cult-like following all around the world, and for good reason.  Her resume is impeccable with a laundry list of achievements and award-winning past projects.  As a result, I expect there to be a lot of interest for condos at 1000 Museum.  This development, however, will not be for the average buyer.  My sources tell me that this development will target the uber-rich who are looking to not only invest in a luxury residence in Miami but also buy into a work of art that will be known all around the world.  It is expected to set a new bar for condo prices in Downtown Miami.  I would not be surprised to see prices for condos at 1000 Mueum hit $1,000 per square foot out of the gate.

By the way, I did a little research to see if I could substantiate the news which was provided to me yesterday.  I discovered that Louis Birdman, one of 1000 Museum’s two developers, registered the domain 1000museum.com on January 9, 2013.  If that’s not enough proof then I don’t know what is.  Stay tuned because I will have a lot to report on this exciting project in the weeks ahead.

Miami Featured on “Today” Show This Morning

Coming Soon: A New and Improved Miami Condo Investments Website

Coming Soon: A New and Improved Miami Condo Investments Website

Behind the scenes, my business has seen a lot of big changes take place over the past couple of months.  It has been an extremely hectic time for me with most days me getting only three to four hours of sleep.  I’ll get into some of the other big changes at a later date.  For now, I want to discuss a project that has been a little over three months in the making and something for which I am extremely proud of and excited.  My website developers and I have been working diligently to put together all the pieces of the puzzle to create a masterpiece real estate website that will truly wow people.  Our end goal when undertaking this project was to create a real estate website for consumers which is pleasing to the eye but also quick and easy to use.  In a nutshell, we wanted to simplify my existing website and eliminate all of the clutter.  The screenshot above shows what we came up with for the homepage.

It should immediately be clear that the Miami luxury real estate market will now be at the forefront of my business.  That does not mean, however, that the mid-level market, which has been at the core of my business for years, will be abandoned.  The new iteration of my website will continue to include the mid-level market but present it in a more sophisticated manner.

Below, you will see what we came up with for the building profile page.  I like to think of this page as having a left and right panel.  At all times, the left panel will display the picture slideshow for the condo development along with its description underneath.  The right panel is where the magic and innovation happens.  Clicking on the tiles in the right panel will cause content related to that tile’s description to suddenly slide into view.  No new page to load and, most importantly, no need to scroll.  All of the information is hidden off the screen ready to jump into view upon request by the user.  When creating the design for this new website, we kept desktop, tablet and mobile users in mind.  As a result, we went with a responsive website design.  For those not familiar with responsive website design (RWD), the simplest way to explain it is that the design of the website transforms to respond to the size of the user’s display.  See the third screenshot below to see what the second screen would look like on a tablet or smartphone with a vertical orientation.  It is important to note that this is not a mobile-only version of the website.  This is the exact same page but it has “responded” to the user’s display and has transformed itself automatically.

We plan to have the new website launched by the end of this month…so stay tuned.

Best Luxury 3 Bedroom Condo Deal in Brickell

“Luxury” is a word that is oftentimes used carelessly without any regard for its true, intended meaning.  When it comes to Brickell, only a handful of condo developments deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as that descriptor.  In my opinion, Santa Maria is at the top of that list followed closely by Four Seasons Residences.  Despite being built in 1993, Bristol Tower is a second Ugo Colombo development that would make the short list of luxury residential buildings in Brickell.  It has stood the test of time and remains one of Brickell’s most distinguished condo developments.  Colombo’s work is synonymous with the word “quality”.  Along with Bristol Tower, he has developed such masterpieces as Santa Maria, Epic Residences and Hotel and Grovenor House.  All four buildings today look just as flawless as they did the day they were completed.

That being said, luxury three bedroom condos in Brickell are in very short supply.  Very few are available at the aforementioned Brickell condo developments and most are priced above $2M.  There is one listing, however, that is stunning and has stuck out in my mind as being an incredible deal.  It is a spacious 3 bedroom plus den, 4.5 bath residence which has 2,825 interior square feet, a large wrap-around balcony offering majestic bay and city views, a laundry room with Miele appliances, white Porcelanato floors in the living areas, wide-plank hardwood floors in the bedrooms and a white Italian kitchen with rare Quartzite green countertops as well as kitchen appliances by Miele and Sub-Zero.  The condo, unit 3302, is located on the 33rd floor, just two floors below the penthouse.

The best part of this elegantly appointed three bedroom condo at Bristol Tower is its price.  The sellers are asking just $1,749,000, or $619 per square foot.  For comparison sake, unit 2702 at Bristol Tower sold for $1.61M, or $570 per square foot, this past December.  That was a complete gut-job though and requires at least $100 per square foot to make it comparable.  Obviously, unit 3302 also has a better view being that it is located six floors higher  than unit 2702.  Additional evidence to support my assertion that unit 3302 is a great value can be found in a second recent sale at Bristol Tower which closed on October 29, 2012.  Unit 3005, a smaller three bedroom floor plan, sold for $606 per square foot.  It is important to note, however, that the 05 line at Bristol Tower faces southwest and has only a slight water view.  It is predominantly a city view with a sliver of water.  Also, all of the bathrooms in that unit are original whereas all of the bathrooms in unit 3302 have been upgraded.  After adjusting for water view and upgrades, it becomes obvious that unit 3302 is a great deal even at full asking price.  My prediction is that this one will be under contract by month’s end.

The Best 2 Bedroom Condo in Brickell for Under $800K

Update: This condo received three offers this past week and is now pending sale.

I know value when I see it and I recently saw it when I had the opportunity to show a stunning tower suite condo at Villa Regina.  In my opinion, it represents the best 2 bedroom condo in Brickell that money can buy for under $800K.  The spacious floor plan has 1,895 interior square feet, 400 square feet of balcony and soaring 11-foot ceilings.  Every inch of this condo has been tastefully remodeled including both bathrooms and kitchen.  The split floor plan has 24×24 marble flooring in the living room, wide-plank wood flooring in the master bedroom and bath, a private balcony off the master bedroom, front-loading washer and dryer, induction cooktop, recessed lighting throughout the condo and a very large walk-in closet off the master bedroom.  It also offers an amazing view of Biscayne Bay.  The best time to tour this condo though is around 6:10pm as the sun is setting.  Pure beauty!  The asking price is $799,000, or $422 per square foot, without the furniture.  The owners, however, are open to selling the furniture separately.  I highly recommend that because the furniture compliments the unit incredibly well.

This unit is located on the second highest floor in the building.  At Villa Regina, the ordering of the floors is as follows, from the lowest to highest: Penthouse 1, Penthouse 2, Tower Suite 1, Tower Suite 2.  This 2 bedroom condo is located on the Tower Suite 1 level.

I want to note that this is not my listing and am in no way affiliated with the office which has it listed.  I also haven’t received any type of fee from the listing agent for promoting this condo.  I just truly feel that the property represents a great value and whoever buys it will love coming home to it each day.  That actually describes this property perfectly – it doesn’t feel like a condo; it feels like a home.  Obviously, my hope is to represent the person(s) who buy this residence so please contact me if you have any questions or if you would like to schedule an appointment to see this unit in person.  I also have a video which I can forward to you via email.  You can reach me on my cell at 786-247-6332 or email at [email protected].

myBrickell Tops-off According to Schedule

Almost nothing in Miami goes according to schedule.  That is why I was pleasantly surprised to learn that myBrickell topped-off earlier this month.  Far before the first shovel even broke ground, Related Group projected that top-off would occur in February 2013.  Letters were mailed to contract holders last week on February 1st to announce the good news.  Closings had been projected to start in September of this year.  I guess we will see if Related Group is able to meet that deadline as well.

For those unfamiliar with the development, myBrickell is a 28-story, pre-construction condo development in Brickell with 192 total units.  It has been sold out for quite some time.

Case Study: Determining the Value-added for Having High Ceilings

A high ceiling is a feature which is typically associated with a penthouse.  It can be difficult in these situations, however, to ascertain the value that is attributed solely to having higher ceilings.  This is because a penthouse typically also has other value-added features such as one or more of the following:

• an upgraded master bathroom
• an upgraded kitchen
• the best view in the building
• an unusually large floor plan in relation to other floor plans in the building
•  additional parking spaces

Most importantly, a penthouse is rare and therefore commands a higher premium than the rest of the floor plans in the building that are in greater supply.

What if, however, we could hold all else constant in order to better determine the added value that is associated with having high ceilings?  In this regard, Icon Brickell presents itself as an interesting case study.  The penthouses at Icon Brickell do NOT have higher ceilings than the rest of the units.  However, certain floors do have higher ceilings.  In Tower 1 of Icon Brickell, floors 14, 15, 22, 28 and 41 have 16-foot ceilings.  In Tower 2, floors 14, 15, 22 and 41 have 16-foot ceilings.  The rest of the floors, including the penthouse levels, have 9-foot ceilings.  As a result, it is very possible, and highly likely, that a unit located on the 41st floor will sell at a premium to a comparable unit that is located on the 42nd floor.  Furthermore, the situation also presents the possibility that a unit located on the 41st floor will sell at a higher price per square foot than one located on the penthouse level.

Due to the lack of resales, there is no evidence to validate my assumption but I think we can all agree that a high ceiling is a feature that should indeed command a premium.  Of course, there are going to be those who would argue that they would never pay a premium for having higher ceilings due to the higher energy costs that would be associated but, then again, those are the type of people who likely wouldn’t pay a premium for just about anything.  I’m not here to provide everyone with an all-knowing answer as to what that premium should be.  The answer will be provided to us by way of our free market economy.  However, it makes for an interesting story to follow.

Which would you rather have, a penthouse located on the 57th floor with a 9-foot ceiling or a unit located on the 41st floor with a 16-foot ceiling?