Aston Martin Residences Prepares For Groundbreaking
Aston Martin Residences is preparing for groundbreaking, according to The Next Miami. On August 10th, they filed a Notice of Commencement with the county, which is the first step toward actual dirt moving. The developer had previously said that they would begin construction of the site in the fall of 2017, although they just opened their $10 million sales center on the same site two months ago and they are still waiting for their application with the FAA to be approved at the proposed 816-foot building height.
Unit prices at Aston Martin Residences now range from $600,000 for a one bedroom condo to $50,000,000 for the penthouse.
Hyde Midtown Adds MORE Incentives, Opens In 4 Months
It seems that Related Group is very interested in opening another building in sold-out status. In May, they introduced a two-year leaseback program that guarantees income to rental investors at Hyde Midtown, and now they have stacked on more incentives. Not only are they offering the apartments finished, they are also offering furnished options. Buyers can also opt for credits that pre-pay their HOA and take advantage of seller financing.
Since the project is just 4 months from completion, the deposit structure has also been relaxed. Buyers can purchase with a 30% deposit rather than the previously required 50% deposit. Prices of 1 bedroom apartments, which include the leaseback program start at $405,900. The 2 bedroom apartments that include finishings and furnishings start at $597,900 and penthouses with 20 foot ceilings start at $754,900.
Why Panorama Tower And Solitair Will Affect The Brickell Real Estate Market… And Why They Won’t
It is hard to ignore the fact that Panorama Tower and Solitair Brickell are going to throw a wrench into Brickell’s typically lucrative condo market. Panorama Tower is adorned with a huge banner, boasting its status as the tallest tower in the South and Solitair unapologetically sprung out of nowhere, blocking the north-facing views of all of the unsuspecting buyers at Brickell Heights West. But these qualities actually have very little to do with the reason they will disrupt the rental market, at least for awhile.
Miami’s Fascination With “New”
From a marketing perspective, Panorama Tower and Solitaire Brickell have the upper hand since they’re the newest buildings in town… even if they are only a few weeks newer. The process happens quickly in Miami. We are already receiving significantly fewer information requests for buildings like SLS Brickell and The Bond, even though both buildings are effectively brand-new. In their place are people requesting information on 1010 Brickell, ECHO Brickell and SLS Lux… all of which are still preparing to be Brickell’s new newest new building.
Supply vs Demand
It’s the oldest rule in the investor’s handbook… supply vs demand, and we are about to see it in action. Between Solitair Brickell and Panorama Tower, we are going to see over 1,200 new options come available for the same number of new tenants who move to the area each month. That’s a flood.
Pair the flood of new inventory with Miami’s fascination with new things and you’ll start to see the writing on the wall.
Apartment Buildings Hate Vacancy
It is the #1 enemy of any rental investor… VACANCY. Ack! And could you imagine the pain of having an entire vacant building? To be clear, this is not the time to waltz into the rental buildings offering pennies on the dollar for a lease. The rental buildings price their inventory very carefully and offer attractive move-in incentives in lieu of lower rent.
Why This Is Not Horrible News For Rental Investors
Will there be an inventory glut? Yes. Will it pass? Yes.
The beauty of rental buildings is that they seek a rapid initial lease-up, so their investment is operating to the best of its ability. But once they achieve the sought-after initial lease-up, the buildings integrate into the normal neighborhood market, serving the procrastinating crowd (who needs to move in this week and doesn’t mind paying a little extra on a monthly basis in exchange for lower move-in funds). The condo market goes back to normal.
It is my advice that condo owners whose units are coming available should choose a new tenant before these buildings open, else you will have several months of a dry spell. Next year will be more balanced though.
Prices And Deposit Amounts For Panorama Tower And Solitair Brickell
Brickell’s rental market is about to get a lot more interesting. Just as the inventory at the new towers that have opened this year begins to be absorbed, two new rental towers are preparing to open, bringing over 1,200 new apartments to the market. We have fielded questions about Panorama Tower and Solitair Brickell for months, and finally have some solid details about what will be offered…
Panorama Tower
Panorama Tower, the tallest tower in Florida, is slated to open in January, but pre-leasing is already underway. The prices of the 868 foot tower are a bit higher than comparable towers nearby, but the move-in terms are far less expensive.
Deposits are only a half month’s rent, a sharp contrast to the full month that is expected when renting a condo. Approval is also granted within 2 business days rather than the 10-30 days that we commonly see in condo developments.
Prices start at $2,500/month for a one bedroom plus den with 1,100-1,200 square feet. Two bedrooms range from $2,800-$3,000/month and three bedrooms are 2,100 square feet and start at $6,000/month. The developer has been heavily marketing the project already for months with their “Brickellista” campaign, and 80 of the apartments have already been pre-leased.
Solitair Brickell
Seemingly popping up out of nowhere between Brickell Heights West and Brickell City Centre, ZOM’s 50-story/438-unit Solitair Brickell is preparing to open in November. Initially, the monthly prices will be discounted since the building will still be under construction, and the prices are very reasonable!
Studios will range from $1,600/month up to $1,900/month, one bedrooms from $1,850/month to $2,755/month, and two bedrooms from $2,500/month to $3,000/month. This project is also offering a 48 hour approval, and their security deposits are $350 for studios, $500 for one bedrooms and $700 for two bedrooms. They have just released their inventory, so don’t yet have enough pre-leases to give a percentage, but we expect to see the building fill quickly with prices and terms like these.
If you would like more information or a tour of the buildings, just let us know.
The “Crown Jewel” Penthouse At Regalia Hits The Market… With A Very Romantic Bonus
It is located 46 stories above the Atlantic Ocean with a sprawling 16,805 square feet of life’s finest living designed by Architectural Digest’s Charles Allem. The developer has withheld it from the market for the last 3 years, perfecting every detail, and here it is. The “Crown Jewel” of Regalia, a super-luxury boutique high rise in Sunny Isles Beach, is available now for $39 million… the most expensive condo in Sunny Isles and the second most expensive in all of Miami Beach.
“The time invested to perfect the design of this residence is evident in the finite details, of which a buyer of this caliber not only requires, but desires for their dream home. It is the final masterpiece of Regalia,” said Kevin Venger, a co-developer of the tower.”
The triplex apartment offers 360 degree views of the skyline, white sand and blue ocean. There are 6 bedrooms, 6 full baths, 2 powder rooms and a rooftop pool bath. Bronze accents and millwork found throughout turn the residence into a golden oasis, while top-of-the-line technology, including smart home keypads and drop-down televisions, are concealed to maintain design integrity.
To give you an idea of the scope of this sky-palace, the master bath alone is over 1,500 square feet with a private spa. The spa is fully clad in Calcutta Gold stone with a steam room, massage beds, and hydrotherapy area. With the average 2 bedroom condo being between 1,000-1,200 square feet, that’s really something!
When you walk into the double-height entrance, you will be greeted by a cantilevered stone staircase with frameless glass, 1,000-bottle wine cellar of millwork, metal, and glass, and a backlit smoky quartz bar with all the accessories. The room’s centerpiece is a one-off antique-bronze metal chandelier with layers of more than 225 floating tubular glass pendants by Ilanel, designed to emulate rain during the day and the constellations at night. Complimenting the sprawling, open layout is an adjacent formal dining room, featuring a custom chandelier of rock crystal baguettes and a nine-foot, 12-person table made of two single stone slabs that was especially made for this room.
As the ultimate entertainer’s space, the residence boasts a movie theater complete with 10 European-upholstered and fully-reclining chairs, with an adjacent 1,100-square-foot game room that offers a lounge setting, bar and designer billiard table with a vintage light fixture. The versatility of the kitchen can also be adapted for the likes of a private chef-catered intimate dinner or hosting large gatherings for more than 50 guests.
Each level of the unit can be privately accessed by a newly-designed pneumatic vacuum glass elevator that peaks at the home’s pinnacle of opulence – a 360-degree rooftop sun terrace. An outdoor summer kitchen is equipped with a retractable roof, stone-clad sky bar with lounge seating, and a pool bathroom with outdoor rain shower. The rooftop’s trophy piece is its expansive waterfall that cascades directly into a private pool amid a backdrop of unobstructed views of Miami, from Coconut Grove, over the iconic Downtown Miami skyline and up to the Fort Lauderdale cityscape.
As if that weren’t enough to give you a wow-factor, the Crown Jewel of Regalia also comes with a jewel of its’ own… a rare $500,000 pink diamond. How romantic!
Another Record-Breaking Sale By The Miami Condo Investments Team!
The Miami Condo Investments Team strikes again! In a condo market that offers years’ worth of inventory for the increasingly scarce number of buyers, our very own Lucas Lechuga closed on Villa Regina‘s T105 today with only 23 days on the market. There have been only 5 closed sales in the building this year with an average marketing time of 49 days, and he was able to get his job done in less than half of that.
On top of the short marketing time, he was able to find four buyers within the week that the final bid was agreed upon. The seller selected an all-cash offer of $810,000, or $427/square foot. This is another shining example that with the right team behind you, properties do sell quickly and for the right price even in a difficult market. We are very happy today to have a very happy client and also a very happy new neighbor in Villa Regina. Congratulations to all!
First Resales At ECHO Brickell Hit The Market
The project is not slated to open until Spring of 2018 (a delay from the previous estimate we were given), but the first resales have begun to sprinkle the market at ECHO Brickell. It is unclear at this point whether the sellers are unwilling/unable to close on their units, or if they had intended to be resales all along. More than likely, they had always intended to be resales as I had heard whispers of similar deals being offered as pocket listings back in 2014… but here we are.
The project is slated to be among the most luxurious addresses in the neighborhood, joining the ranks of the Jade Residences at Brickell Bay, Santa Maria and the Four Seasons, only with the latest security technology including robotic parking and biometric recognition access in the elevators and amenities. There will also be a 50,000 gallon fish tank to greet guests in the lobby (thankfully not the James Bond Villain-esque shark tank initially proposed). Here are the details of the first three available resales…
Lower Penthouse 4902
On level 49, the floor plates have slimmed down considerably with the architectural curve toward the top of the building and there are only two residences per floor. These are also considered lower penthouses. They each have 3 bedrooms plus a den, 3.5 baths and a gorgeous view of South Brickell, the Biscayne Bay and the sunset over Coral Gables. The view is quite spectacular, I wish that my photos had turned out better when I previewed this plan back in January, but the building was still too much of a construction site on this level.
What I find to be very interesting is that LPH 4902 is being offered as a resale for $4.95 million, yet the developer is offering LPH 5002 for $6.5 million. They have the same layout aside from 5002 being slightly smaller and higher. I have reached out to the developer’s office to see what sorts of customizations they have added to 5002 and will report back once they respond.
Residence 3802
In the middle section of the building, there are four residences per floor and the 02 line in this section is actually my favorite layout of all the units in the building. It is a 2 bedroom, 3 bath layout with a large den near the third bedroom that is large enough to serve as a convertible guest room. The plan has 1,802 interior square feet, a great use of space (in my personal opinion) and is on the southeast corner, offering bay and South Brickell skyline views.
This one is being offered for $3.2 million. The developer is no longer carrying any of these floor plans, but this pricing is not far off from where it was when they were.
Residence 1004
The one bedroom plans at ECHO Brickell sold out almost immediately when they came to the market in late 2013/early 2014. On these floors, there are six units per floor and 1004 is located on the southeast corner. From the 10th floor, the view will be overlooking the treetops and buildings of South Brickell, which gives a park-like feel. It will be especially nice in the summertime, when the Royal Poinciana trees are in full bloom, lighting the street up with a canopy of red flowers. It is being offered for $892,000 and has 804 interior square feet.
Remaining Developer Inventory
As I mentioned before, the developer is still carrying a handful of residences, mainly highly customized plans including duplex lofts, panoramic residences that are combinations of several units and penthouses. The remaining developer inventory ranges in price from $1.9 million for a 2 bedroom on a high floor with sunset views, to $42 million for the opulent Carlos Ott Penthouse.
Market Stat Monday: How Is The Rental Market At Brickell Heights?
It has now been almost 3 months since this photo was taken, just as Brickell Heights was preparing to open. The closings have gone down at a harried pace, Equinox is open and buzzing with activity and moving trucks are filling the loading docks daily. The project was a resounding success for The Related Group, and it is too soon to tell how the resale market will fare, but we have had enough time and activity to check the pulse of the rental market.
Between the active/available rental options, the ones whose tenants have already moved in and the ones whose tenants are awaiting association approval, it appears that 99 of the tower’s 358 units are operating as rentals. That amounts to 28% of the building as of today, not bad! I’ve come to expect to see an investor ratio of 60%-75% in most of the Brickell condo towers, after seeing the condo questionnaires that banks use to determine financing availability.
In the last 3 months, 26 landlords have moved their tenants in and have accepted $2.73 per square foot on average. One bedrooms range from $2,000 per month up to $2,750 per month, and two bedrooms are renting for $3,000 per month up to $3,900 per month. Nine units are currently pending, but I expect to see the final pricing stay in line with the previous numbers.
With 64 active/available listings, it looks like we’re operating with right about 2 months of inventory (great news!). The pricing of the available options is also more or less in line with the rented units. One bedrooms are available for between $2,000 per month up to $3,000 per month, two bedrooms range from $2,700 to $3,700 per month and three bedrooms are between $5,500 to $5,950 per month (there are only two of these currently available).
Just as we have seen in past buildings, the landlords are not budging much on their pricing. The ones who already rented their units did so for an average of 97% of their asking price.
Originally slated to be a rental-only tower that turned back into a condo tower when the pre-construction market took off, the West tower is still shaping up to be mainly rentals. There are currently 90 available units for lease, ranging in price from $1,950-$3,000 for one bedrooms, $2,800-$4,500 for two bedrooms and $4,950-$5,250 for three bedrooms.
Aside from those 90 available listings, 16 have rented and 26 more are awaiting association approval. With that many pending leases, I imagine there is quite a bit of backlog in the management office. For the next couple of months, it is probably a good idea to lease here only if you have a flexible move-in date or 3+weeks to wait for approval. Otherwise, you could find yourself in a hotel while you wait for approval.
The 16 units that did rent garnered 96% of their asking price and range from $1,950-$2,200 per month for one bedrooms and $2,700-$3,250/month for two bedrooms. The tenants are paying $2.66/square foot on average.
Looking Ahead
It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few months at Brickell Heights with the new competition from Solitaire and Panorama Tower, both of which are slated to open soon. Do you think the prices will dip a bit during the wave of inventory of the first lease-up and then level off at a higher value due to continued demand and less inventory like SLS Brickell, or do you think Panorama Tower and Solitaire’s wave of inventory will hold the prices lower?
Mast Capital’s Louver House Closings Have Begun In South of Fifth
Mast Capital’s first Miami Beach condo project has successfully opened, with closings beginning this past week. Louver House brings 12 luxury apartments to Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood, while paying homage to the history of Meridian Avenue.
The project was designed by award-winning Miami architect, Rene Gonzalez, who sought to incorporate the residents’ desire for privacy with their love of the outdoors. The building’s signature architectural detail, the louvers, serve to offer beauty, privacy, shade and fresh air.
“We’re excited to finally present Louver House because it has all the key elements buyers are looking for in today’s luxury residential real estate market,” says Camilo Miguel Jr., CEO of Mast Capital. “To us, luxury is about amazing finishes, expansive spaces and the ability to enjoy a sense of privacy. This building offers a unique lifestyle that places residents in one of Miami Beach’s most exciting neighborhoods, but because of its small scale, also serves as an exclusive, family-friendly enclave.”
Although the closings began this past week, the official opening celebration will be held on August 24th, highlighting the rooftop deck overlooking South of Fifth and the Art Deco District. Three purchase opportunities remain, each one a three bedroom priced between $2.575 million to $3.4 million. We are excited to tour this week and be able to compare renderings to real life!
La Casa Reposada To Villa Leone: The Story Behind 2100 South Miami Avenue
Along South Miami Avenue at 21st Street is a vacant lot the size of the entire block that is surrounded by a coral rock wall and majestic statues of lions covered by foliage. It is evident that there is an interesting story behind the land, although after thirty years of sitting vacant, new construction has commenced. For today’s Throwback Thursday, I want to share the story and then admire what is coming next.
According to the Miami History archives, the lot was originally purchased by a businessman for use as his family’s summer home in the 1935. The design was meant to emphasize the sun and fresh air of the area, and it was a grand home! The grounds included a rock garden with a fish pond, an island with a cypress bridge for access, a rose garden, reflection pool and a marble statue. The swimming pool was able to be electrically filled with either salt water or fresh water. Of course, the interior of the home was just as grandiose and designed for entertaining. The owner named it “La Casa Reposada,” since the family intended for it to be a haven of rest and tranquility.
La Casa Reposada Around 1955 From Miami History Archives
Shortly after his retirement in 1940, the owner died suddenly and his wife sold the property at an enormous loss, for just $50,000. The son of the owner recalls finding a listening device under one of the staircases, and presumed that the original owner had used it to eavesdrop on his guests in order to obtain the upper hand in business dealings. Savage!
After a few years, the family received an unsolicited offer for purchase from then Cuban President Carlos Prio Socarras, the last democratically elected president of Cuba. The son again recollects that the closing took forever. Prio’s representatives arrived at the house with suitcases filled with cash and it took from first thing in the morning until after lunchtime to count as armed guards stood by. Prio ended up spending much of the time he was exiled at La Casa Reposada before returning to Cuba in attempt to influence change.
From that point, the house changed hands several more times before being razed in the late 70’s or early 80’s. Aside from a cement-filled pool (that I had always assumed was the foundation of the previous structure) and the signature stone wall with lions, the property sat vacant for more than 30 years… until now.
Vertical construction has recently begun on a collection of 5 homes called “Villa Leone,” I imagine paying homage to the stone lions that looked over the property for the last 80 years. The homes have a contemporary design by Borges & Associates, who have been responsible for the designs of other popular buildings including Infinity at Brickell, The Carillon on Miami Beach and even the American Airlines Arena.
The designs maximize the buildable space, including underground garages and rooftop terraces with summer kitchens and pools. Sadly, it does not appear there is room on the lot to preserve the lions. Prices are available by request.
