After being taken off the market for three months, the Echo Brickell penthouse is back…once again listed for a cool $42M. The sprawling, two-story penthouse encompasses the entire 56th and 57th floors of Echo Brickell. It was custom designed by world-famous architect Carlos Ott and features over 9,000 interior square feet, 4 bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms, a den, service suite, and indoor lap pool and spa overlooking Biscayne Bay.
Below is a video of the Carlos Ott penthouse at Echo Brickell: https://www.miamicondoinvestments.com/property/1451-brickell-av-ph1-miami-fl-33131-a10521016.
Google Maps API Pricing Change: What It Means for Real Estate Websites
They say, “Nothing lasts forever”…and I guess that even applies to Google products, specifically Google Maps which, up until recently, had been free for website owners to use as they wished. This past May, Google announced the launch of their new Google Maps Platform along with a new pay-as-you-go pricing structure targeting businesses which deliver to their website users Maps, Routes, and/or Places. As a real estate website owner, I’ve learned the hard way the negative impact that this new pricing change has on highly trafficked real estate websites. Under the new pricing plan, my Google Maps API bill went from $0 to $1,500+ per month.
Previously, Google allowed users of its Maps API 25,000 free page loads per day. As of July 16th, the day on which Google’s new pricing plan went into effect for its Maps API, highly trafficked websites, such as this one, began being billed $5.60 per thousand Map loads. While that price may not seem high at first glance, it quickly adds up. This year, the Miami Condo Investments website has been averaging 402,000 pageviews per month, with roughly 70 percent of those pageviews loading a map via Google Maps API. With those figures in mind, a simple calculation would show my Google Maps Platform bill to average $1,576 per month…and that cost is certain to climb as this website continues on its high-growth trajectory. This time last year, the Miami Condo Investments website was averaging 335,000 pageviews per month, a 20% year-over-year increase.
The good news is that Google credits its API users $200 to begin each month. That amount is certain to cover the majority of API users delivering Dynamic Maps to their website users. However, for highly trafficked websites, $200 doesn’t go very far. For example, earlier this month, from August 1st through August 10th, I blew through $500…$500 for maps that had been completely free up until recently. Fortunately, Google does allow API users to set daily cap limits on the number of Map loads per day. I have since incorporated such a limit, capping map loads at 1,150 per day. Once my website hits that limit, the following error message appears in a box above the map: This page can’t load Google Maps correctly. Additionally, in the background, the map is watermarked with: For development purposes only. Not an ideal scenario but a good temporary solution until our next website update rolls out towards the end of this year. We’re currently exploring alternatives to Google Maps API such as TomTom, MapTiler, and OpenStreetMap. Another option would be to load the Google Map on-demand via a “view property map” link.
A First Look at Paraiso Bayviews Designed by Karim Rashid
Three weeks ago, I was given an exclusive tour of the recently completed Paraiso Bayviews by Related Group’s very own Carlos Rosso. Closings for the building started last month. According to Rosso, Related Group was able to close over 100 units in the first week alone…an outstanding start considering that Paraiso Bayviews has just 386 total units.
The interiors at Paraiso Bayviews were designed by prolific designer Karim Rashid. If the name sounds familiar, you may recognize it because he also designed the interiors at MyBrickell. Known for using bright shades of pink, yellow, orange, green, and purple, his designs are difficult to miss. From the lobby to the fitness center to the hallway wallpaper and everything in between, Rashid’s signature look is apparent throughout the building.
Paraiso Bayviews has 386 condo residences comprised of one-, two-, and three-bedroom floor plans plus penthouses. The building’s amenities include a rooftop terrace with pool, hot tub, and BBQ area along with a 5th-floor amenities level with sunset pool, tennis court, handball court, BBQ area, children’s playroom, billiard’s room, state-of-the-art fitness center, theater, spa, clubroom, valet, and full-service concierge. In addition, residents of Paraiso Bayviews have access to the Paraiso Beach Club. Of the four towers comprising Paraiso District (Paraiso Bay, Paraiso Bayviews, One Paraiso, and Gran Paraiso), Paraiso Bayviews is the only one that has a rooftop pool deck.
entrance to rooftop pool deck
rooftop pool deck[/caption]
views from rooftop pool deck
theater
theater
fitness center
fitness center
children’s playroom
sunset pool deck
spa
tennis court
handball court
clubroom
clubroom
clubroom
clubroom
mailroom
Given that Paraiso Bayviews is located behind the other three towers comprising Paraiso District, I was expecting the views from it to be terrible. However, to my delight, the views were quite good; you have views of the water in between the towers and there’s enough of a setback where you don’t feel like you’re living in a fishbowl.
At the time of this writing, there are 13 units listed for resale ranging in price from $530 to $852 per square foot and 38 units listed for rent ranging in price from $2.32 to $3.67 per square foot. Most of the units at Paraiso Bayviews come with carpeted floors, but I was told that a good percentage of the owners purchased the flooring upgrade (as seen in the photos below).
entrance to rooftop pool deck
rooftop pool deck[/caption]
views from rooftop pool deck
theater
theater
fitness center
fitness center
children’s playroom
sunset pool deck
spa
tennis court
handball court
clubroom
clubroom
clubroom
clubroom
mailroom
view from kitchen
Paraiso Bayviews kitchen
views from Paraiso Bayviews
Paraiso Bayviews bedroom