Notorious Tremont Towing is Building a Sexy New Parking Garage

1747 Bay Road.

Maybe the sexy parking garage fad has finally jumped the shark. Miami Beach’s Tremont Towing, known for its hard-line attitude, its quick tows, its $20 ATM fees, and its reality TV show, may soon also be known for its attractively styled parking garage. The tow truck company has submitted plans to the City of Miami Beach for a five-level parking facility at 1747 Bay Road where towed cars can be stored, reports The Next Miami, giving them significantly more space than their current lot. The structure will also be lined with office space and “a small amount of ground-floor retail.” The rooftop parking area will also include shade structures. The garage design, by Urban Robot Associates, rises 43 feet, 3 feet taller than allowed by code, for which it will go before the Urban Design Review Board in July.

Terra’s David Martin Debuts his New Real Estate Column in Forbes

David Martin

A warrior and a poet? Meh. Maybe not, but David Martin, head of Terra Group and developer of Grove at Grand Bay, Park Grove, and GLASS, is now a developer and an author. He’s writing a twice-monthly column over at Forbes on ‘real estate development, design, and sustainability,’ beginning with a discussion on why more buyers in South Florida are end users these days as opposed to speculators. To summarize his point in just a few words: Miami’s a bit more grown up, and that makes a big difference.

Centro Moves Closings & Gets Fannie Mae; Check Out Our Drone-Cam!

Centro. Photo by Lucas Lechuga.

Just like everything from Miami’s biggest construction projects to your Memorial Day flight, closings at Centro have been slightly delayed. A month ago we heard word that the project was wrapping up construction and aiming to acquire their TCO by the end of May/beginning of June, allowing residents to close on their units and move-on-in. Now, according to representatives of the project, they’re talking more like the end of June. Okay, so not a big shocker. Stuff happens. Centro, in the heart of Downtown Miami, is still rapidly progressing toward completion.

If you’re the kind of bloke who likes his condos finished before he buys one, Centro does have some units left, with 645-foot one bedrooms starting at $303K, up to 1131 square foot 2 bedroom/bath units topping out at $578,900. Finally, if you’re the kind of bloke who needs financing and you really want to live at Centro, well you’re in luck too. Centro was granted conditional approval from Fannie Mae (warning: PDF) at the end of last month, lasting through January of next year.

And if you’re wondering the type of views that Centro will offer, look no further. Check out the cool drone video below which showcases the building and fabulous views that it offers.

A New Chinatown in North Miami?

Chinatown? Photo via Google Street View.

At a conference last year on the potential for Chinese investment in Miami, one of the takeaways was that Miami needed a Chinatown. To encourage the kinds of investment we want, Miami needs a neighborhood where Chinese have already congregated to some extent that can foster additional growth.  It sounds like North Miami is trying to do that, sort of, on a stretch of six-lane asphalt west of I-95. The bounds of this new ‘Chinatown’ are along NE Seventh Avenue from 119th Street to 135th Street. There are currently few (if any) Chinese businesses in the area, although there are a few strip malls, and a smattering of this and that, and the City of North Miami is probably hoping an influx of Chinese capital just might bring some life to this seriously lackluster area. Interestingly, there is already a significant number of Chinese-owned businesses on a stretch of 163rd Street just west of Biscayne Boulevard, but that’s in North Miami Beach, not North Miami. ‘Officially’ designating an ethnic or culturally-specific neighborhood can be a messy situation (just look at Little Haiti). Let’s hope they can do it right.

Lenny Kravitz and Stephen Muss’s Sunset Islands House Hitting the Market for $25 Million

A lavish Mediterranean Revival house on Sunset Island II once owned by singer Lenny Kravitz and currently owned by developer Stephen Muss (known for ‘saving’ the Fontainebleau Hotel in the 1970s and 80s, etc. and also turning it into kind of a meh Hilton) is going on the market for $25 million. The Wall Street Journal got the exclusive on the listing from the Jills, who are listing the property at 1800 W 25th Street. It has not hit the MLS yet.

Casa Kravitz/Muss has a movie theater, gym, elevator, and surprisingly only four bedrooms. According to the Journal, Kravitz bought the 11,270 square foot pile in 2001, shortly after its completion, for just over $8 million and “put his mark on it,” says one of the Jills, by bringing in sand to create a beach. And by ‘beach’ she more than likely means a really nice, glorified sandbox, because a true beach leads to water, with waves lapping the sandy shoreline, and we’re 99.9% sure there are sea walls running the house’s entire 125 feet of waterfront.  In 2005 Kravitz sold the place to Muss, its current owner, for $14.5 million.

New Video Released for Paramount Miami Worldcenter Showcasing the High Street Retail

A new video was released today for Paramount Miami Worldcenter and includes footage of what the high street retail will look like once finished. Well, the video isn’t exactly new. It’s an edited video with all references of the mall removed and, in its place, new footage showcasing the high street retail. Spoiler alert: It looks amazing!

Floyd Mayweather Jr., World’s Highest Paid Athlete, Buys $7M Pine Tree Drive House

Undefeated champion boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., who Forbes ranked as the world’s highest-paid athlete last year, making a whopping $300 million, has spent $7.7 million of that money on a brand new Miami Beach home at 5501 Pine Tree Drive (it’s so new that Google Street View still shows it as under construction). Although the listing closed on May 13th, Mayweather posted a shot of it on his Instagram account nine weeks ago. What’s the deal with those Bugattis anyways? The house is also a nice little upgrade from his even more modest condo in Sunny Isles Beach.

Almost Sold Out, Two Park Grove Begins Concrete Pour at 2 AM Tonight

The tower in the middle is Two Park Grove.

Up late and in the mood for a show? The foundation pour for Two Park Grove, starchitect Rem Koolhaas/OMA‘s first residential tower in the United States, is beginning at 2 AM tonight and will continue until 4 PM tomorrow. The first of the three Park Grove towers to begin construction (so… Rem Koolhaas’ first, second, and third residential towers in the U.S.) Two Park Grove is being co-developed by the Related Group and Terra Group, and is about 97% sold out (with pricing starting at $2 million). According to the press release 2,600 cubic yards of concrete will “lay the foundation for an elevated 3-foot deep concrete slab at its core that will support the faceted tower columns…This pour requires four pumps and the labor of over 100 people placing up to 400cy/hour.”

Stephen Owens, Builder of Brickell Key and Brickell City Centre, is Retiring

Photo courtesy Swire Properties.

Stephen Owens, President of Swire Properties, builder of Brickell City Centre and Brickell Key, as well as JADE at Brickell Bay (through a joint venture), and just a really nice guy, has had more of an impact on the development of Brickell than just about anybody, with the possible exceptions of the Related Group and Mary Brickell herself. Upon completion of City Centre in 2017, Mr. Owens will be retiring from his role as President, while remaining on the board of the company and providing council on U.S. projects. He’s being replaced as President in January of 2017 by one of the Swire bigwigs in Hong Kong named Kieren Bowers who is the General Manager of a Swire megaproject there. If and when Swire decides to build yet another urban megaproject in Miami, it sounds like the new guy will know what he’s doing too.

All the Stores & Restaurants Coming to Brickell City Centre’s Mall

Recent photo of construction of the mall portion of Brickell City Centre. Photo by Sean McCaughan.

The good people at Miami’s megaproject-of-the-moment Brickell City Centre (the hotel is opening, Akerman moved into a brand new office tower, they’re getting bikes and donating to the Underline, an Italian food hall is coming, the first condo tower opened. Headlines are everywhere!) have announced 11 new tenants coming to its shopping mall. The three levels of open-air retail will be connected together by gigantic skybridges and shaded by a super-duper high tech awning called the ‘climate ribbon.’ The mall opens in November. Here are the eleven new recruits:

Baldinini
Boglioli
Bruno Magli
Carmen Steffens
Hugo Boss
Lafayette 148
Samsonite
Sephora
SPARIS
Tommy Bahama
Violetas/ Baccarat

And the rest of the announced tenants:

ANCHORS
Cinemex
Italian Food Hall
Saks Fifth Avenue

APPAREL
100% Capri
120% Lino
Addict
Adolfo Dominguez
Agent Provocateur
Armani Collezioni
BDBA
Crocus Studio
Chopard
Cole Haan
Intermix
In-Sight
Kiton
Koko & Palenki
LIVE!
Lululemon
Mirto
Orlebar Brown
Onda de Mar
Rhythm of Grace
REISS
SportsAction
Sundek
Ted Baker
Vilebrequin

FASHION AND PERSONAL ACCESSORIES
Addict
Audemars Piguet
Acqua di Parma
APM Monaco
Bally
Caudalie
Capritouch
Coach
Diptyque
Designer Eyes
Font
Harmont & Blaine
Giuseppe Zanotti Design
Italia Independent
Illesteva
IRO
Kendra Scott
Kreations
Leetal Kalmanson
Michele Lopriore
Nars
Nest Casa
Pandora
Porsche Design
Richard Mille
Santa Maria Novella
Stuart Weitzman
Westime

DINING
American Harvest
Big Easy Winebar & Grill
Calissons du Roy René
DAVIDsTEA
Dr. Smood
Haagen-Dazs
Luke’s Lobster
Pasión del Cielo
Pubbelly Sushi
Quinto La Huella
Santa Fe Ca Café
Sugar
Taco Chic

ARTS AND SERVICES
AT&T
Bojanini Art Gallery
Brickell Nail Bar
Musart
Sean Donaldson Hair