The Urbanization of Brickell

Looks good to me, I like Brickell as well, the only problem is that going out to the restaurants and bars there are expensive. The person in that video is a young and attractive women, I’m sure she’s not paying for most of her drinks haha. Brickell is great but seriously I don’t know how many times a week I could afford to go out there.

Brickell is the only place that offers the work, live & play environment that is supported with ample, accessible public transportation.

Now if only they could finish all the construction….

i’m calling shenanigans. i look out every night from my office into brickell. at best, 1/3 of the lights are on in these buildings. AT BEST. let’s face facts – brickell will turn into a good spot in the long run. it’s inevitable and that’s good (sadly, by the time it turns, i will have a mrs. jcrimes and a jcrimes jr or two). however, the article is way off base, or more matter of factly, any person is misguided to think, that brickell is some sort of urban enclave these days. it’s not and won’t be for several more… Read more »

That article was a reaction to all the heat The Herald has received lately from the local real estate industry on the negative press about Brickell, i.e. “the foreclosure district” moniker. They needed a positive story to counter all the “doom n gloom” press, even if the story is a bit untimely.

Spin article by a paper that has seen it’s real estate advertising shrink in half. Stock ticker for MCCLATCHY CO HLD (MNI).

i’m counting a total of five lights on at brickell on the river south for the units facing north. north building, units facing east, is about 40% lit. latitude on the river is showing no more than ten lights for the units facing north. neo vertika is showing a flurry of activity – i’d say over 50% of the units facing east and north appear to be lit.

“raffi makes an extremely good point – the girl is hot.”

She seems to talk in complete sentences and use proper grammar. +1 Brickell, 0 South Beach.

I’ll keep an open mind, and I’m certainly willing to keep giving it a shot, but I got to tell you about the last time I went to Brickell’s urban enclave on a Sunday morning. We were in no-frills shorts and t-shirts in the Mary Brickell Village area and looking for a hearty basic breakfast, not a Starbucks’ pastry. The only thing we found was an elaborate breakfast buffet at $25 per person; For me to send $50+ for breakfast there better be some damn special occassion attached to that breakfast, like winning the lotto the prior Saturday night. We… Read more »

Perez,

Welcome to the service capital in North America!!!! LOL!

Hi Lucas,do we have any true and realistic number’s on last month’s sale’s and closing’s?that would be nice to see if possible.The other question I have is how close to the BOTTOM are we or are we???I’m sure that the salespeople can answer that one for us.Thank’s and keep up the GOOD WORK.

What lies… This little number knows you cant walk everywhere in brickell and that you have to take this slow as boring one way people mover (which shuts down at 12 or so) or overpriced expensive cabs… sure it beats the hell of living from west kendale where you NEED a car but this is not yet a walk-able place, you may find 2 or 3 venues close to each other but other than that you have to cab it the rest to get to another place sometimes walking may not even be safe. With all these condos going up… Read more »

I was shocked to see the article in Sunday’s Herald. For a second, I thought perhaps I was wrong about my speculation regarding the Brickell area – it was a quick second. I’ve read several blog posts on this site over the last few weeks and the posts so far are right-on. I’m glad to see not everybody bit on to the Herald’s plea to escape the crap they got for their accurate reports on the Brickell “disaster area”. But it is right in at least one respect – Brickell’s potential is incredible. It always has been. I lived there… Read more »

Miss Mary Brickell “exorbitant costs that are affiliated with South Beach – the idea of velvet ropes entering a bar in Brickell somewhat disgusts me.” Very True

I don’t think that “hot girl” gets as much free drinks as you guys think. Come on, let’s face it, more than half of the people have to be conservative on their bar bills.

Lucas,
This post humors me. How could you post something positive? How could you.

Now if you posted a Miami Herald article that was heinous, everyone in this room would agree.

Chelsea Handler doesn’t call a big rack “meal ticket(s)” for nothing!

Hi Kevin, When I first heard about your blog (through Lucas’s Site!) I was actually excited. Lucas’s blog is more of a general blog for all of Miami’s Condos and yours is exclusively for the South Beach which I love to follow. I visited your blog and Oh boy, what an utter disappointment it was. It was like someone threw a bucket of cold water on my face, especially after enjoying a nice steamy conversation on Lucas’s site. Your site is sleek, colorful, pretty and then……….absolutely boring. All you have to talk is mostly about million $ condos (Ok that… Read more »

“The funds are going to rent stuff out at a price that will poach residents from Aventura, South Beach, Kendall,” Zalewski says. “You’ll be able to get a sleek, new, 1,000-square-foot unit on Brickell for $1,200″ The guy is an absolute tard. “The Funds” “The Smart Money” yadda yadda. The smart money is looking at Brazil, not a foreclosure in Brickell. So now you are left with the B team that may come in and be the first to get their hands chopped off. Good luck to them. These purported funds should know you can’t buy up the unwanted condos… Read more »

AJ Hello. First off let me clarify that Lucas and I have two completely different blogs. Lucas is a friend of mine and we speak almost daily. My blog is not aimed nor desired to have the dialogue of my friend Lucas’ blog. Yes, It is true that I “prune” my comments. If someone makes an off-topic comment, that comment doesn’t make it out of moderation. If I have a post about a specific topic and a comment comes in about the sushi restaurant in the lobby of another building—zappo. Lucas and I have two completely different readers AND reasons… Read more »

ps bloggers know that the annonymous and unidentifiable always are the most critical.

I rarely only respect or engage annoymous commentors.

This is a bubble blog. My blog is a South Beach luxury condos blog.

Brickell is a nice place to play, but still a horrible place to live. When I first moved to Miami, I lived with a friend at the Club at Brickell before moving to One Miami. At first I was entranced by the ability to walk to work, the nifty views from a high floor and the variety of nice restaurants. Notwithstanding the maintenance/common area issues that these buildings have, the biggest day-to-day issues were: 1) parking; 2) getting a quick bite (vice a sit-down meal; and 3) grocery shopping. Basically the three issues are intertwined. To drive out of my… Read more »

The southern stretch of Brickell is not deserted at all, established buildings interspersed with a couple newer ones. I live 3 blocks from the Rickenbacker on Brickell on the water and it’s magnificent. There’s breakfast at Deli Lane Cafe on Sundays, so no need to spend $25. River Oyster Bar is one of the best restaurants in the city and it’s in the mid price range for really good food. Just start taking walks (in your sneakers so you can go far) and you will find lots of places that are more locals than overpriced overpacked venues.

I’ve never been a big fan of the Brickell area, personally. To me, it’s not so much urban as it is a vertical suburb. There’s no life at street level, at least not on Brickell Avenue itself. This is due to the fact that the buildings (particularly, the condos) were all built with large set-backs from the street and without any ground-floor retail. So there’s really no urban feel to it in that regard. It’s a lovely, tree-lined thoroughfare with VERY TALL houses. The City of Miami had done a better job with the zoning along Biscayne Boulevard, where condominiums… Read more »

Brickell is primarliy a business venue and always will be. Consequently, as many have noted, basic living services like a corner grocery are not viable. Here’s some food for thought: once all those condos are completed and filled, what do you think traffic is going to be like? On one end you have the stupidly rebuilt Miami river bridge that is open half the day and on the other the backups from the key biscayne bridge and US1. East west traffic is limited to Coral Way and SW 8th/7th Streets. It’s going to be a real nightmare. Shame on the… Read more »

Hi Kevin, This is not a bubble blog. There is so much positive information here, you just refuse to see it. This blog does not sink to the low of some RE agents I have dealt with whose only aim is to close a sale with a thousand lies if necessary. Think of used car salesmen. Responsible, balanced blogs like this tend to precipitate the bottom faster instead of prolonging the pain so that the completely stagnant sales will start their motion again and people like you will benefit too. Meanwhile, your blogs and the likes are desperately trying to… Read more »

Kim:

I am moving to Miami soon and I was considering renting a unit at One Miami. Could you tell me a little about your experience there? What are the pros and cons…..any information would be very helpful. The alternative for me would be South Beach. I keep going back and forth and can’t really decide especially being an outsider. Thanks

Looks as if the hot woman in the video represents a PR firm, Zakarin Public Relations, which represents condo developers such as Related. IMHO, she probably pitched the story to the Herald and that’s why she was “featured” in the video…

From the zakarinpr.com site:
“When Jorge Perez started developing low-income housing, he hardly thought he’d end up on the cover of Forbes’ Rich List, rubbing elbows with Bill Clinton, or jetting to LA as a motion picture executive. The accidental billionaire blended street smarts with artistic passion to make a lasting impact on cities, skylines, culture and politics.”

Just reading through some of the comment’s on this blog.AJ has the right Idea of what is really going on.We are in a DOWN market and it is not getting any better … any time soon.I too have dealt with a couple of realestate people that have ONE THING on there mind.SELL SELL SELL with no consideration to the purchaser.ONLY themselves.I’m downright sick of some of these people.GET DOWN TO REALITY.THIS IS 2008….not boom time’s it’s a BUST.LET’S GET ON WITH THE PROGRAM

“to make a lasting impact on cities, skylines, culture and politics.”

2 out of 4 ain’t bad.

JL i think you could say all four apply. the only question is whether you would add the word “positive” between “lasting” and “impact.” Kevin why do you care if people post anonymously? i think it would matter if people were acting like tough guys or blowhards but i don’t perceive that to be a major issue here. sure, anonimity provides you the ability to perhaps be a little more bragadocious, but, even if you knew the real name, what difference does it make? really, what incentive does anyone have here to blow smoke up other’s proverbial asses? are you… Read more »

Good work SoBe Buyer, she’s Vice President of Zakarin Public Relations (Sorry guys, no photos) They have an impressive client list some with ties to the Brickell area, such as Fortune International, Brickell Financial Center, and as you mentioned, The Related Group.

I don’t fault her or her firm; it’s great PR for the company and their clients, but I wonder whether from a journalism ethics perspective the Herald should have disclosed the firm’s potential motives.

I wonder if the Herald will do a similar piece about Park West, and interview the homeless that love their neighborhood.

Regarding the PR firm. Aren’t PR firms hired to create hype around products / services/ people/ events / etc. They are in the business of stirring up demand? Quite frankly, I have found the Miami Herald coverage of the bubble overwhelmingly tinged to the bullish side if not bordering on irresponsible (when did they stop being a watchdog?) Did anyone notice a couple of weeks ago when the case-schiller index had miami #1 in prices declines clocking in at 19% yoy. That is absolutely unprecedented in history. Needless to say, it did not even warrant a headline in the herald.… Read more »

Hi Hugo, Thanks for the appreciating words and Jcrimes too. I am an investor. I have a condo in SOBE, a co-op in NYC and 2 more investment condos abroad. I get particularly mad when someone suggests that I am a bubblehead. How the hell would I be a bubblehead, if I am wishing for a crash, it would be equal to shooting my own foot? I am a pragmatist. This runaway prices actually hurt me than help me even though it created a lot of paper wealth for me. My investing has come to a standstill because of this… Read more »

As much as everyone likes to spin the news to make it seem better, until Miami Dade reduces its tax burden on homeowners the residential real estate market will remain in the toilet.

I still tremble with anger when I think of the $4,000 I wasted in taxes last year on my 569 s.f. condo in South Beach that is appraised at $220k.

The nerve!

SoBe Buyer?, Your reference is interesting: From the zakarinpr.com site: “When Jorge Perez started developing low-income housing, he hardly thought he’d end up on the cover of Forbes’ Rich List, rubbing elbows with Bill Clinton, or jetting to LA as a motion picture executive. The accidental billionaire blended street smarts with artistic passion to make a lasting impact on cities, skylines, culture and politics.” However, this from the Miami Herald “Business Monday”, dated April 18, 2005. Gourge Perez without his Zanax: “Perez might find himself vulnerable to the perils of the South Florida condo market. Perhaps mindful of that, Perez… Read more »

R_Marie, In general the One Miami scene was more veneer than substance, more sizzle than steak. Once the novelty value lapsed (around 3 months or so), the pragmatic realities of day-to-day living and working between there and Brickell started to really grind on me. I’ll leave it at that to keep this blog line on topic, but if you want to know more, I’d be happy to let you know offline — [email protected]. BTW, I can’t compare One Miami to SoBe, since I live on the north end of the beach (60th-ish and Collins), but I can definitely give you… Read more »

Hi Candela, I cannot agree with you more. Read the related post on Taxes I posted under “New Miami Condos Closing rate”. Yes the taxes here are disgusting. Florida says it is a no income tax state but then they absolutely screw you with property taxes, which I think are some of the highest in the country. It is a shame on Floridas collective soul. I would rather have then a consumption tax or state income tax rather than fleecing the home owners like this. They have also created a kind of apartheid with two classes of citizens. Ones who… Read more »

What do you guys think of a forclosure at the Cosmopolitan 2/2 for just around $400K, that’s about $400 per square foot. Is that a good deal?

$400 /sf for a lowrise with no views is not a good deal at all. For $400 /sf you should have a fabulous water view. I also dont know why everyone says “south of 5th ” with such reverence. It is such a non issue. Cosmo also has no setback and surrounded by main streets all sides. The lobby is pathetic. Just wait 6 months and pay $300/sf. or maybe even less. Personally I would not pay a penny to live there. But to each his own.

One Miami: I lived there for about six months — from March until August 2007. I rented in the __23 line of the western building (3/2 approx 1700 S/F) for $2700/month, unfurnished. This is a nice line with an eastern view of the river and bay. The apartment is very large with a nice balcony. Standard med-end appliances (GE Profile, nice cabinets, granite, etc.). The industrial grade carpet was a bit of an anomoly given the appliances and line, but it didn’t bother me too much. The Cons (in no particular order): this building was populated a combination of local… Read more »

@perez, thanks. The Herald interviewing the homeless? Only when they start buying advertising in the Herald or start buying condos from Related.

@Un-Related, if you see Jorge Perez under a bridge, he’s selling it. Or evaluating it for his $1 billion vulture fund. Or both.

Kim: Thanks so much for your insight about One Miami, that helps a lot. My job is going to be located in the downtown/brickell area so at first I was looking to rent at condos close by but now I am also expanding further out. I am also interested in your opinions/views of North Beach, I was looking in the area of the La Gorce Condo….the 63’s. I am curious of how the drive is to and from work for you and whats the pros and cons of living in that area and working downtown. Since I don’t want to… Read more »

Kim, excellent run down on the area and scene, thanks. R_Marie I have owned a place in the 60th and Collins area for the last 20 years. The area is shaping up more now than ever, but it’s still got a ways to go, and I suspect that things will get somewhat more upscale when Canyon Ranch opens. In the meantime, there’s not much in the way of food or entertainment in walking distance of the building you mentioned, La Gorce. NY Bagel and Deli is an expensive yet dumpy coffee shop. There are a few more hole-in-the-wall restaurants between… Read more »

Haha, I like your comment on Cabana on Collins. I think that building has the worst location of any building i’ve ever seen. Doesn’t make any sense.

BC – It took the developers of MEI less time to put up a 20+ story building than it did for the shleppers building Cabana on Collins to build that two story mini monstrosity. If you want to live in a fishbowl tightly surrounded by buildings and cars, then Cabana on Collins is perfect for you. But I suspect that every single unit in COC was purchased by investors, not end users, and I am really curious to see if anyone ever closes on any of the units there. I’m also curious to see if any of the eventual owners… Read more »

“it will be a voyeur’s wet-dream just to walk up Collins”
I love these little snippets. LOL

Thanks Kim for that very insightful info on One Miami. I was fascinated with that building before but I can see exactly what you mean. My head would spin everytime I had to go in circles to get on or off a 9 floor parking area. Valet tipping does add up over the course of a month. Assessments already on a brand new building!? And HOA is $1200 a month!! Woah!

“Contrary to what anyone says, the valets do expect at least a dollar every time they retrieve a car — they have a collective memory of who consistently tips and retrieve cars accordingly.” I am renting in a condo and the have to deal with the valet parking. The realtor and owner said that there is no need for me to tip since it is included in the monthly condo due and there is an end of month bonus. Obviously if I have the valet bring stuff up to my unit I would tip, but just to get my car… Read more »

Thank ‘s AJ and Willy..as far as tipping is concerened.I like my nice car looked after…I usually give 2-5 $ .that might sound a bit high to some and a bit low to other’s.However I tip accordingly to how nice the driver is.AJ I can’t agree with you more.There are AGENT’S that (won’t mention any name’s ) that are destroying the market with there B.S.I will write a little story on a very BAD experience I just had with an agent on here soon.I am waiting my Lawyer’s advice …before I tell a very discusting experience I just had with… Read more »

Candela: Thank you for your information it is very helpful. I am just so confused about Miami as far as where to live. As I said previously I will be moving down in May and working downtown so I want to live somewhere convenient and nice but at the same time not crazy hectic. However that may be an unrealistic expectation. Any suggestions on nice buildings to live in…I will be renting at least for the first year. The only buildings I have been inside of is One Miami and 50 Biscayne. On my next visit I hope to set… Read more »