Design District Getting Gucci Flagship & its First Cuban Restaurant, With a Gloria Estefan Cherry on Top

Approximately thirty new luxury stores and restaurants are coming to the Miami Design District this year, developers Design District Partners announced today, including a new restaurant concept by Gloria and Emilio Estefan, and a 7,000 square foot flagship Gucci boutique, an achievement which has been a personal goal of District CEO Craig Robins. “Gucci is a big step forward for us in the luxury category,” he told the Miami Herald “It’s a real tipping point and a statement about our progress.”

The mega grammy-winning power couple, Mr. and Mrs. Estefan meanwhile will bring the Design District it’s first Cuban Cafe, err… high end Cuban restaurant, called Estefan Kitchen: “Estefan Kitchen will feature traditional, family recipes presented in a new, healthy way that will appeal to both locals and our international guests.” Think an upscale facsimile of a down-home hangout, with the small but distinct possibility of a celebrity drop-in to see if your Aroz con Pollo is cooked alright.

Even though foot traffic along the District’s new shops, plazas, and shaded paseos is still pretty sleepy, some stores showing strong sales from occasional big spenders with budgets the size of Birkin Bags, while others are feeling the squeeze. It’s only growing pains, says Robins, because the District “doesn’t compare to what you’ll see next year when you’ve got 10 more restaurants, yoga, coffee shops, bakeries and these powerful fashion brands opening up.”

Other new retail tenants will include Alexander Wang, Eres, Warby Parker, Cos, The Smile, Ahana Yoga Studio, Dolce & Gabbana, Diane Von Furstenberg, Van Clefe & Arpels, etc. “The next phase of development will add roughly 250,000 square feet of retail space, bringing the total to nearly one million square feet, as well as a 120-room hotel and a 900-space parking garage, all set for completion in 2017.” says the Herald.  Not to mention the ICA Miami and its sculpture garden, and the multiple surrounding projects being done by other developers.

Alfred Browning Parker’s Sublime ‘Woodsong’ House Has Hit the Market

The famed postwar architect of many of Miami’s most striking subtropical homes, Alfred Browning Parker designed and built this Coconut Grove house, which he called ‘Woodsong,’ for himself in 1968. A series of pavilions bisected by a serpentine lap pool, deep in the Coconut Grove hammock, Woodsong sings. Since being owned by Parker, the house has traded hands a number of times, and yet it is, incredibly, still in absolute mint condition. The only weak spot might just be the kitchen. Although that space appears to have been sensitively updated, very standard-looking appliances and non-custom cabinetry from Home Depot or somewhere just don’t do justice to the quality of this house. Located on 3003 Seminole Street, Woodsong was listed twelve days ago for $2.75 million.

Two Big New Miami River Projects Gearing Up to Launch Sales

Chetrit Group’s Miami Riverwalk.

The Chetrit Group and Coto family are preparing to launch residential sales for their respective projects not too far from each other on the Miami River. Real Deal heard from Chetrit’s attorney Melissa Tapanes Llahues that the ginormous megaproject, tentatively known as Miami River or Miami Riverwalk, will launch condo sales “in a couple of months.” Fortune International Group will be the brokerage. Tapanes Llahues also said a “very cool” hotel brand will soon be announced for the four-towered colossus.

Meanwhile, over on the $100 million acre, the three-level former Epic East sales center is not being demolished as everyone thought, just gutted and converted to a new sales center. The Coto family is spending a whopping $820,804 on the redo, creating what looks to be one hell of a showcase for the new tower from pictures over at The Next Miami. The future building doesn’t have an official name yet, but everyone has been informally calling it ‘Lighthouse Tower.’ Update: The tower being developed by the Coto Family has officially been named Aston Martin Residences. It will include 391 ultra-luxury condo residences.

Meanwhile Out in the Suburbs, Terra’s Modern Doral is 90% Sold

Photos courtesy Terra Group.

Even with all the action these days around urbanization and density and condo living, Miami still has suburbs and exurbs, and big single family houses are still selling mighty well out in SUV country. The Terra Group’s Modern Doral, for example, a planned community of 319 single family homes at 74th street between 94th and 107th Avenues, is now 90% sold according to the developer, with both construction and closing expected to be completed in 2017.

From the press release:

Modern Doral is comprised of three subdivisions, each featuring a different architectural style. Residences include between 4-6 bedrooms and vary in size from 3,100 square-feet to 4,500-square-feet. Each home offers open floor plans with 10-to-12-foot ceilings, 2-3 car garages, panoramic windows, balconies, and lush tropical landscaping. Prices range from $860,000 to $1.5 million.

Amenities at the gated community include 24-hour security, public green spaces, and clubhouses with fitness centers, children’s playrooms, libraries, business centers, family barbecue areas, and resort-style pools.

Pharrell Williams Finally Sells His Toy-Filled, Domed Penthouse at the Bristol Tower for $9.25 Million

After three and a half years on the market, broker Dora Puig of Luxe Living Realty has finally sold singer Pharrell Williams’ incredible Brickell Avenue penthouse, at the Bristol Tower, for $9.25 million. Full disclosure: Miami Condo Investments is under the umbrella of Luxe Living, so go boss! We’re proud of our own, yo. The Journal just broke the story. The ten thousand square foot pad takes up the entire top of the building, with an incredible triple-height living space under the building’s massive dome. Mr. Williams had it artfully decorated with toys galore, from his many projects including Minions, and things he loved, with an obviously personal touch. It includes a home theater, five bedrooms, and a rooftop pool.

The unique design of the whole condo was obviously personal too, which is undoubtedly one reason why it took so long to sell. And yes, Pharrell did take a financial hit on the place, having purchased it for $12.525 million at the height of the last real estate bubble. But Dora did it! After an original ask of $16.8 million under another broker, a price that Curbed expressed skepticism about when I was there (Dora originally listed it for $10.9), and multiple price cuts, she clinched the sale.

On Saturday it Rained, No it Poured, Patio Furniture in Miami

During the storms over the weekend patio furniture rained over Biscayne Boulevard and Downtown Miami. And we’re not talking one or two pieces, we’re talking entire patio sets picked up by the wind from condominium balconies along the Boulevard and strewn across the city, Museum Park, and Biscayne Bay bellow. YouTuber Eric C took two incredible videos from Marina Blue in Downtown Miami, recording furniture flying off of neighboring buildings to the street below. According to the New Times/Wunderground, the highest wind gust recorded in Miami on Saturday, the day the videos were taken, was 37 mph, but that was at Miami International Airport. Isolated wind gusts along Biscayne Boulevard may have been higher; as high as 55 or 60, which sounds plenty fast to pick up a plastic patio set.

Of course if Eric C had joined it, then it would be raining men, and that would be a sight. Hallelujah!

Thor Files Plans for Sexy Touzet-Designed Retail at Design District Post Office Site

Rendering of 70 NE 39th Street

Thor Equities has filed plans for the former 1950s/60s era post office site in the Miami Design District (not the nearby Buena Vista Post Office, also in the Design District, which is historically designated ad home to the tacky AF Billionaire Italian Couture) says Real Deal. The property is located at 70 NE 39th Street. The design for the entirely new building, by homegrown Touzet Studio, though simple and rather restrained, is quite sexy. It has two floors of retail as well as a Design District-appropriate roofdeck, with room for approximately six retail tenants based on demand. “The proposal even includes details of the landscaping” says Real Deal “which will be adorned with silver buttonwood trees, gumbo limbo trees and ‘graceful bamboo.'”

The Future of Parking in Miami

The New World Tower mechanical parking garage. Photo via Flickr/ dms_archi_mia_nwt_15.

Miami is taking baby steps away from being a city of cars, to a city of mass transit, density, walkability, and pedestrians. A key element of that is parking. The Real Deal explores the topic in an intriguing piece:

Behind the scenes a seismic shift among some developers and public officials is underway as they try to distance themselves from Miami’s notorious car-dependency in favor of a more urban and walkable city.

A Bay Walk Could Finally Extend Behind the AA Arena

According to The Next Miami the City of Miami is designing a bay walk to extend behind the AmericanAirlines Arena in Park West, perhaps even finally opening up Parcel B, which for years has been closed to the public even though it was set aside years ago as a city park. Commissioner Ken Russell supposedly told The Next Miami:

The details/layout of the proposed design will complement what was already constructed at Museum Park. Scope of work will include lighting, benches, trash receptacles and bike racks, installation of pavers, landscaping, irrigation, and drainage improvements along the seawall. The City just received 90% design plans for review and approval.

Although this definitely looks like a project the commissioner would undertake (one of his chief aids, Eleazar David Melendez, was even substantially involved in the effort to realize Parcel B to as a public park) it is a little strange that the first official announcement of it would come with a quick quote and highly incomplete set of plans published on The Next Miami. A request has been submitted to Russell/Melendez for comment.