The sale listing for this classic old Coconut Grove casbah describes it as ‘Coconut Grove in all its glory,’ which is just about right. Listed for $2.35 million, the historic Mediterranean Revival castillo comes with a half acre of jungly grove land, 3,750 square feet of living space, and really tastefully updated interiors throughout. Do checkout the tub in the master bath.
Monarc at Met 3, a luxury apartment tower above the newish Whole Foods Market downtown, was just completed last month and opened to renters. According to property manager Michael Bailey-Tonini, the building is 35% leased so far, with an average of 35-40 move-ins a month. With 462 units, that means there is definitely demand, but they won’t be full tomorrow. One bedroom units are averaging $2300/month and two bedrooms go for about $3294. Meanwhile, as these photos from the management company show, the building came out pretty nicely. Scroll on through for the grand tour.
Photos by Sean McCaughan.
These are uncertain times for one of Miami’s most historic dining establishments, the art deco S & S Diner on North Miami Avenue and 17th Street, across from the old Miami City Cemetery. Due to a lease dispute with the property’s new owners the diner, which has been open constantly since 1938, was almost evicted, and the diner’s owner, Simon Elbaz, is fighting the hard fight in court. Although at one point last week, the S & S could have really been evicted at any time, the diner was granted a small reprieve, and its case is currently pending. Of course that means they may only have a few more months to go, but that’s enough time to check out the good ol’ S & S for breakfast or lunch while it’s still around. Fingers crossed it stays. We went for lunch on Friday.
A condo tower called Spark, by a developer called Spider (where do they get these names?) is gearing up for a fall groundbreaking at 533 NE 34th Street, with 40 percent of its 56 condos already sold. This is according to the Real Deal, which also says “construction would begin by the end of the year.” So, that’s like a window of, what, four months? Anywho, the tower is being designed by the Miami architecture firm of Behar, Font & Partners. From the renderings it looks like they might be going for a contemporary Little Mermaid-meets-MiMo motif, which, well, according to some people beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So, if you agree with that, behold! Units at the tower start at $500,000, and range between 955 square feet and 3,925 square feet for the largest penthouse. Oh, and there’s a big, beautiful empty lot right between this thing and the bay that’s primo development land, so if you’re buying in for those gorgeous bay views, you might want to reconsider. Or just don’t.
One Thousand Museum, designed by the recently deceased grande dame of architecture herself Zaha Hadid, has already reached the fifteenth floor, as multiple news sources have announced. These photos are from the project’s Facebook page, which also links to plenty of those articles. That rather rudimentary floor plate count is no biggie however, because you can now finally see the structural exoskeleton coursing up around that parametric facade, supporting it from just a few key points on the exterior. In other words, every passer can finally take in the architecture. We can all now see some of what Zaha envisioned all along, in solid concrete, and that’s pretty great.
Whatever other buildings they’ve done, whether good or bad, Domo Architecture is a little notorious on Miami’s architecture scene for designing some absolutely ridiculous homes on Star Island for Lennar development mogul Stuart Miller. This includes the latest and biggest, a 70,000 square foot (yes 70,000) pile of sinuous concrete forms wrapping around a private jungle. Another Domo design, however, at 6411 Allison Road on Allison Island, coming in at a ‘mere’ 8,500 square feet, is a much more subtle and even an intellectual building.
From the front all that’s visible is a louvered box with levels of indoor-outdoor living, both permeable by and protected from the outside world. Facing he water, the light airy box has been mirrored by its opposite, a glass box set in a deep, heavy concrete frame in blistering white. It’s the old ying yang, an architectural trope used extensively since time immemorial. Funny thing though, after 191 days on the market the Allison Island home hasn’t sold yet, and is currently asking $12,490,000.
Photo via Flickr/ Phillip Pessar
Paco Martinez, short for Francisco “Paco” Martinez, the owner of the little red building on Brickell Bay Drive called the Babylon Apartments, is not happy about what’s happened to his plans to demolish. On July 5th the City of Miami Historic Preservation Board officially designated the Babylon in acknowledgement of its pioneering postmodernist design. Demolition was averted, almost. With only 15 days to appeal the decision before it became official, Martinez finally appealed yesterday, the day before the deadline, according to the Miami’s historic preservation office. Back in limbo, the appeal brings the Babylon in front of city commissioners, who will decide its destiny a few months from now.
Photo by Phillip Pessar.
Miami has never been much of a player in the manufacturing industry, but all of a sudden, due to a number of factors like the Panama Canal expansion and newish food safety regulations, the metropolitan area is looking very viable for a big influx in the coming years. According to the Daily Business Review, South Florida has become a very inexpensive place for food and beverage processors to set up shop, not to mention our location right on the cusp of Latin America, and fabulous air and sea transportation. Industrial developers are already building bigger and better facilities, and are about to build even more.
Photo via Flickr/Phillip Pessar.
In their wacky-tobackie dysfunctional ways, South Florida’s politicians are getting serious about looking for answers to our worsening traffic issues in Miami. The latest ideas being floated (floated!) are aquatic, per yesterday’s county commission meeting, when commissioners got a preview of their probe into possible water transportation solutions. As Miami Today reports, it’s an idea that people have yacked about for years, but finally the county is getting serious, with various types of water taxis, and even ‘water buses’ being considered. They are pouring over old water transport studies for ideas, and looking for possible locations for docks and connectivity to other transit, as well as ideal sized vessels, and whether the solution would be a city or county-run service.
On Tuesday Miami-Dade County Commissioners officially signed off on Adler Group and 13th Floor Investments’ mixed use, 7-acre megaproject The Link at Douglas at the Douglas Road Metrorail Station. The two developers beat out the Related Group in a competition awarding them a 30-year ground lease, with two 30-year options to extend it, to develop the transit-oriented site. Renderings show two big-ol towers, pedestrian-oriented street facades, and smaller scaled accessory buildings. The project will have 970 residences, a 150 room hotel, and 70,000 square feet of retail space. The Real Deal has more details on the deal. Bonus: $600k for the Underline.
