An Inside Look at the 21,000+ Square Foot Lanai Unit at Palazzo Del Sol

Last week, I got the opportunity to tour three massive condos at Palazzo Del Sol: Lanai West, a 5 Bed, 5.5 Bath unit with 21,524 total square feet; Residence 7085, a 5 Bed, 5.5 Bath unit with 10,543 total square feet; and Penthouse 1, a 4 Bed, 4.5 Bath, bi-level unit with 11,815 total square feet.

Today, I will share with you the photos that I took last week of Lanai West. As mentioned above, the residence has an amazing 21,524 total square feet, of which 12,844 square is outdoor lanai space! The property is truly remarkable, a massive estate with the conveniences and services of a 5-star hotel.

The ginormous Fisher Island residence also features 11.5-foot high ceilings; a private zero-edge, outdoor pool by Bradford; Lualdi doors; kitchen and master bath by Boffi; and first-in-class kitchen appliances and fixtures by Sub-Zero, Gaggenau, Dornbracht, and Duravit. Included in the offering price is a private air-conditioned garage, air-conditioned storage, and customized golf cart. All can be yours for $20,194,950. Dream Big, Live Big!

Midtown Construction Update: Walmart’s a’ Comin’

Hyde Midtown. All photos by Lucas Lechuga.

Construction at Midtown Miami is heating up, with one tower already topped off, another looking close, and a third well off the ground. Midtown 36, a residential tower with a considerable amount of ground floor retail and gallery space has topped off, while Midtown 5, which is planned to be a rental apartment tower (and thus not much info has been released) looks like it’s nearing or at top off. Finally, fresh off of having sold the hotel portion of Hyde Midtown, construction is zipping along. We thought we saw a recent announcement about the sales center closing in 90 days, but a search came up empty, so that may or may not be happening. Oh well. And then of course there’s the Midtown Walmart, a source of so much drama. Having broken ground back in January, after five months it’s still not looking like much.

La Petite Maison Construction Signage Goes Up at BrickellHouse, Way Behind Schedule

La Petite Maison Construction Signage. Photo by Lucas Lechuga.

Last April Arjun Waney, the co-owner of crazy popular Zuma and Coya, announced that he was bringing another restaurant, La Petite Maison, to the ground floor space at BrickellHouse that, if we remember correctly, was originally going to be a Meat Market. The very, very successful restaurateur already has outposts of the French Provençal place in London, Dubai, and Istanbul. And it would open in Brickell by the end of the year. Now that April has rolled past, again, and we’re in the middle of May, construction fencing/signage has gone up and it looks like they have finally begun to move in.

Quantum on the Bay Celebrates Settlement with Terra Group for Faulty Construction, Throws a Party

Quantum on the Bay

According to a notice posted in their elevator, the Margaret Pace Park-fronting condominium tower Quantum on the Bay has reached a settlement with developer Terra Group over faulty construction, and to celebrate is throwing a party. Meanwhile, 900 Biscayne Bay, also built by Terra, has entered into similar litigation against the developer, and is still working their way through that. Both buildings were completed in 2008, as the Great Recession was setting in and the last real estate boom was crashing hard.

According to a nice chap in the management office at Quantum who identified himself as ‘David,’ the litigation was in regards to faulty construction on the building’s facade. When asked “So, what about the facade David? Balconies, windows?” David’s reply was “both of those.” Well, that’s scary. Anywho David wasn’t willing to spill the size of the elevator sign settlement, but it could be quite large considering the building is throwing a party for all of its residents, this Friday at 6:30 pm, with a champagne toast, to celebrate (open to building residents and any broker who RSVPs, which means it’s totally crashable). That’s developer money.

Quantum on the Bay Party

Closings at Brickell City Centre Reach Tower: How are They Faring and What Percentage are Hitting the Market For Rent?

According to public records, closings for condos in the Reach tower at Brickell City Centre began on April 11, 2016. Since then, as of this past Friday, 82 of its 390 total units (21 percent) have been recorded as closed. The 82 closed units amount to $64M in closed sales, averaging $619 per square foot, and ranging from $532 to $674 per square foot. Of greater significance, to many at least, is not the percentage of units that have closed, but, rather, the percentage of closed units that are being converted to rentals. In other words, what percentage of the units at Brickell City Centre were purchased by investors versus end-users? That’s a question that has crossed my mind a number of times in recent months, so I decided to do some investigative research. According to the MLS, 28 of the 82 recorded closed units (34 percent) have already been listed for rent (25 units available for rent + 3 units pending). If that percentage ends up holding true across both towers at Brickell City Centre (Reach and Rise), that will mean that roughly 265 units will end up hitting the market for rent soon after closing. However, it should be noted that Swire (the developer) appears to be closing lower floor units first. Of the 82 closed units, the majority of them are located below the 20th floor; the highest floor that a closed unit is located is the 30th. The Reach tower at Brickell City Centre is 43 stories high, as is the Rise tower. In my experience, investors tend to snatch up the lower floor units because they tend to bring the highest rate of return from an investment standpoint. As such, if we were to divide the tower in half, I would expect the bottom half to have more units owned by investors than the top half. With that being said, I do not expect the 34 percent rental-to-closing rate to hold true as closings continue. If I were to venture a guess, I would say that the rental-to-closing rate across both towers will end up being closer to 28 percent once everything is said and done. But we shall see, because I plan to report each month an update on closings, not only for Brickell City Reach and Rise, but for all recently completed condo developments. Back in 2007, 2008, and 2009 (during the last condo boom), I reported closings rates a lot. Consider this a reboot.

Jean Nouvel’s Monad Terrace Will be a Beautiful ‘Reflection Machine’ of Miami’s Watery Future

Rendering of Monad Terrace by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel.

There’s a certain incredible seductiveness to a sunken Miami, a combination Venice and Atlantis bobbing away in the ocean, out beyond the Florida coastline of the future. “The image is post-apocalyptical, foreshadowing an uncertain future yet, somehow, utopian and hopeful. It appears to be the end of the day, the end of a season, the end of an era, with the sun setting wildly over the skyline of downtown Miami.” says renowned architecture critic and Miamian Alastair Gordon of Jean Nouvel’s design for the luxurious boutique Monad Terrace condominium being developed by JDS Development in Miami Beach that both interprets and sharpens that vision.

It’s a future that almost unites with the past: “The architect appears to be seeking a kind of unity of purpose and compromise between future and past, an imaginary realm of wild sunsets, mating manatees and tangled mangrove roots before the coming of Flagler, Fisher or the Kardashians. A 70,720-square-foot slice of Eden, rebooted.”

The design was enthusiastically approved by Miami Beach’s Design Review Board last week. They say Miami is drowning and doomed, but after reading Gordon’s review in the Miami Herald you might not think so anymore. Perhaps Miami is just changing yet again, and maybe even for the better.

Check Out the Amenities at Fisher Island’s Very Plush Palazzo Del Sol

Residents are already moving in to Fisher Island’s completed Palazzo Del Sol, where the luxurious 47 unit building is the first new residential building to be completed on the ultra-private island in ten years. Designed by Kobi Karp, with interiors by Antrobus & Ramirez, and landscaping by Enzo Enea,  Del Sol takes Fisher Island’s traditional Mediterranean Revival architecture and modernizes it as much as possible. Lines are straighter, walls are glassier, and many of the interior spaces are just massive.

In a trend reflected in many of its amenities, like the spa facilities and the residents’ lounge and aperitivo bar, Del Sol is offering in-building services that residents previously had to travel to the island’s club to take advantage of. Whereas Fisher Island has always been very secure, Del Sol is the first building on Fisher with interior lobbies and door men. You can now chose to have your workout in the fitness center downstairs from your unit, or take your golf cart to do it at the Fisher Island Club. You can have your morning coffee at the aperitivo bar, or again, take that golf cart to the club. Other amenities include private massage rooms, a beauty salon, a children’s playroom, poolside cabanas for purchase, a business center, and a movie theater.

Largely completed, Del Sol is currently fitting out two model units which are expected to be completed by August. Next door, the building’s twin, construction of Palazzo Del Luna is underway. The foundation, with an underground garage like Del Sol’s, is complete, and vertical construction is beginning. The first crane to be put in place is easily visible from the MacArthur Causeway.

Palazzo Del Sol is being exclusively sold by broker Dora Puig’s Luxe Living Realty, which Miami Condo Investments is affiliated with.

On the Eve of Opening, Brickell City Centre Gets Bicycles And Gives Money to the Underline

Brickell City Centre-branded bicycles.

There’s lots of action happening at the $1.05 billion Brickell City Centre, as the East Miami Hotel gears up for its May 31st opening and sales close at Reach, the megaproject’s first residential tower.

Swire Properties, BCC’s developer, announced today that residents of Reach and Rise Brickell City Centre, the project’s two residential towers, will have complementary access to a fleet of Brickell City Centre-branded house bicycles for jaunts around town. Each building will initially have ten bikes, which will be kept in a designated area near the parking garage. Residents will be able to rent them for unlimited lengths of time, but will be responsible for the bikes while in use. There’s no word yet on whether hotel guests will be provided with bicycle privileges too, but that would make sense.

Swire has also just announced a $600,000 donation to the Underline, Miami’s planned 10-mile linear park underneath the Metrorail, and a perfect place to ride those bikes once completed. As the press release says “The Underline will focus on transforming the space around Miami’s urban infrastructure and is set to be one of the city’s most ambitious projects. ”

“Swire’s donation will be earmarked for the construction of the Brickell portion of The Underline and will seamlessly connect with Swire’s renovation of the Eighth Street Metromover station and surrounding green space, which is located adjacent to the 5.4-million-square foot Brickell City Centre.”

Now Genting is Resorting to a Confusing Lawsuit to Get Gambling at Resorts World Miami

Resorts World Miami

Malaysian casino conglomerate Genting is suing Miami-Dade County as well as state prosecutors in, as the Miami Herald puts it, “what appears to be a last-ditch effort to force the state to allow card games and slots at its property in the old Omni mall.” That might even be putting this latest tactic to legalize the planned Resorts World Miami mildly because the suit, which reeks of desperation from a company used to getting its way no matter what, is based on a novel and downright confusing legal tactic.

Based on reading and re-reading the Miami Herald’s coverage, here’s what we think is going on:

1. Genting has already failed multiple times to change Florida gambling laws and get a Downtown Miami casino legalized, most recently in the 2016 legislative session. But don’t worry, they still have a team of lobbyists up in Tallahassee on payroll.
2. In 2014 Genting entered into a partnership with Gulfstream Park Racetrack to operate their planned casino in Downtown Miami under Gulfstream’s gambling license.
3. Guflstream Park’s gambling license is limited to Broward County, where the horse race track is based. However, Gulfstream Park’s property straddles the county line, and a small southern leg of the track actually extends into Miami-Dade County.
4. Gulfstream and Genting have successfully held races on or near that southern leg, in Miami-Dade County. They held two short races in 2013 and got away with it, and claimed this meant they could conduct gambling operations in Miami-Dade County.
5. Regulators responded (and we’re paraphrasing here) “Umm nope, sorry. Duh.
6. Fast forward to 2016 and Genting still says it moved Gulfstream’s gambling permit to Miami-Dade County even though regulators still say “Nope.”
7. Whether a five star casino or underground gambling racket, running an illegal gambling establishment is a criminal and not a civil charge.
8. With the current lawsuit, Genting is saying (again, paraphrasing) “We think we’ve already legally transferred the permit. Regardless of that, we don’t think regulators have the power to enforce criminal laws anyway. So, they shouldn’t be able to stop us.”

Seriously? Seriously??

Brickell City Centre’s East Hotel Opens its Doors May 31st

Brickell City Centre’s much anticipated East Hotel has completed construction and has announced they are accepting reservations for the hotel’s opening on May 31st. The hotel occupies the south east corner of the City Centre megaproject and, along with the widely discussed climate ribbon, is probably one of the marquee features of Brickell City Centre’s first phase. Photos of some interior public spaces and guest rooms were also released, showing a modern, understated decor focusing on plush fabrics, woods, materiality, simple stripes of muted colors, and the views out of expansive floor-to-ceiling windows.

EAST, Miami offers 352 guest rooms to include eight suites and 89 residence suites all owned and operated by Swire Hotels. Ranging in size from 300 to 1,800 square feet, the contemporary rooms, suites, and residence suites feature balconies with views of the Miami skyline and Biscayne Bay, floor-to-ceiling windows, walk-in rain shower, and complimentary WiFi. The one-, two- and three-bedroom residence suite options also offer fully equipped kitchen and laundry facilities along with access to all amenities and services of the hotel.