Okan Tower Reaches $39 Million in Sales in 1 Month-Groundbreaking Planned for June

Okan Tower Miami Rendering
Okan Tower Miami Rendering

Sales have not slowed down for many pre-construction towers in Miami and that list also includes Okan Tower Residences. In a recent press release, developers saw just over $39 million in sales for the month of March.

Originally launched in May 2018, Okan Tower was put on hold in early 2020 due to the pandemic. Now the developer, Okan Group, is moving full force ahead. Okan Tower is expected to rise 70 stories tall with 163 condos and 263 condo-hotel units.

The tower will be located at 555 North Miami Avenue in Downtown Miami and will include luxury resort-style amenities, office spaces, entertainment areas, and a 316-key Hilton Hotel.

Prices for units at Okan Tower will begin at $387,000 for the condo-hotel units and $587,000 for the condos and will go up to $2 million. The hotel units will start on the 36th floor with studio to 2 bedroom floor plan options. These floor plans range from 445 to 1,250 square feet.

The condos will then begin on the 51st floor and will feature 1 to 3 bedroom floor plans. These units will have 695to 2,075 square feet of living space.

The tower will also feature a 2-floor penthouse with 1,875 to 2,040 square feet of living space. Okan will also include luxury resort-style amenities.

Amenities

  • 70th-floor rooftop pool
  • Sky deck with cabanas
  • 12th-floor lap pool
  • Clubroom and lounges
  • Health and fitness center
  • Spa
  • Children’s room
  • Theater
  • Wine cellar
  • Owner’s lounge
  • Amenity deck on floors 27-30
  • Cafe
  • Bars
  • Conference and meeting space
  • Ballroom
  • Spa with a marble Hamman

The groundbreaking is scheduled for June 2022. This will be the developer’s first real estate project ever.

If you or someone you know have an interest in purchasing at Okan Tower, please contact Lucas Lechuga via email at [email protected] or by phone at (786)247-6332.

Groundbreaking Officially Scheduled for District 225

District 225 in Downtown Miami
District 225 in Downtown Miami

Developers for one of the newest pre-construction towers in downtown Miami, District 225, have officially scheduled the groundbreaking for the third quarter of this year.

The Related Group along with ROVR Development and BH Group have been working tirelessly on the sales ever since the launch of the tower in 2021. Since then the development has 100% sold out.

District 225 will rise 37 stories tall and be built without a parking garage and will also be one of the first tower with direct listings on Airbnb.

The buyers for the tower included domestic transplants, remote workers, and domestic transplants as well as 50% of the buyers coming from South America.

According to Jon Paul Pérez, President of Related, “We launched District 225 as an experiment of sorts. And while we knew this unique product would resonate with buyers, the demand has surpassed even our most optimistic projections. Related has long been at the forefront of trends, and we are proud to once again be at the cutting-edge of the market.”

What makes this project unique is its home-sharing capabilities as well as its resort-style amenities. Siegler Suarez Architects partnered with Meshberg Group will be responsible for the design.

District 225 will total 343 unit spanning over 288,400 square feet with studios to 2 bedroom floor plans. Studio pricing will begin around $350,000 up to $700,000 for the 2-bedroom floor plans. There will also be 2,297 square feet of commercial space located on the main floor. 

District 225 Amenities

  • Rooftop pool
  • Fitness center
  • Indoor/outdoor basketball court
  • Racquetball court
  • Rock-climbing wall
  • Yoga/spinning studio
  • Coworking spaces
  • Lounge with billiard tables
  • Summer kitchen

Residence Amenities

  • Views of Biscayne Bay and Miami skyline
  • Fully finished and furnished studios, one-, and two-bedroom residences
  • 9.8-foot-high ceilings
  • Smart-home technology experience for seamless personalization with the touch of a button
  • Interiors designed by award-winning interior design firm Meshberg Design
  • Fully built-out closets in all residences curated by Meshberg Design
  • Includes integrated audio, video, window treatment, and lighting systems
  • Equipped with a contemporary lighting package, including recessed lighting, dimmers, and lighting control
  • Built-in, top-of-the-line washer and dryer
  • Flooring selections included with specifications recommended by Meshberg Design
  • Pre-wired for high-speed communications and data connection
  • Kitchens featuring custom Italian cabinetry curated by Meshberg Design
  • Smeg appliance package including an integrated, paneled microwave; dishwasher; built-in convection oven; and refrigerator/freezer
  • Master baths featuring rainfall showerhead and custom Italian vanities
  • Dornbracht and Duravit bathroom fixtures, features, and accessories

The building will be professionally managed by Atlantic & Pacific, which will have staff educated in all elements of Airbnb hosting, including listing, marketing, maintenance, and cleaning.

Aston Martin Residences Miami Exceeds 90% in Sales Breaking Records in January and February 2022

Aston Martin Residences Miami Rendering
Aston Martin Residences Miami Rendering

Developers for Aston Martin Residences Miami recently announced that sales continue to climb and there seems to be no stopping the upward direction of unit prices. Sales for this new tower have surpassed 90%, beating its own records for both January and February 2022.

According to Alejandro Aljanati, CMO of G&G Business Developments, the business behind the project in partnership with premium brand Aston Martin, January and February 2022 combined completed over $100 million in sales. There are more under contract leaving less than 40 units available for much anticipated luxury tower.

According to Aljanati with the tower 90% sold, “This is called scarcity and rarity. There’s no inventory. The whole building is increasing prices. So even if you bought an apartment six months ago, you will make a very good profit.”

The tower’s penthouse, which is the only triplex penthouse in an Aston Martin structure, has boosted its asking price from $50 million to $59 million as a result of the increasing demand. The purchase still includes the extremely rare Aston Martin Vulcan.

Units range from studio to 4 bedroom floor plans with square footage beginning at 698. River and Panoramic units start at $750,000 and rise to $8+ million depending on the floor plan and unit location. As for the Sky and Penthouse residences, units begin at $14 million reaching well over $50 million.

Development Information

  • Developer: G&G Business Developments
  • General Construction: Coastal Construction
  • Architect and Design Team: Luis Revuelta of Miami and Bodas-Miani-Anger of Argentina

Residence Features

  • Private service entrance at basement level for all move-ins and personnel
  • Bulthaup custom cabinetry in kitchens
  • White marble floors throughout the entire unit and porcelain in all balconies
  • Quartz countertops in the kitchen. Piatra Grey (Ceasarstone) or similar
  • Gagganeau appliances in all residences: (sizes depends on units)
  • Duravit wall-mounted toilets in all units throughout the building and bidets in select units
  • All bathrooms feature marble floorings and walls (Thassos or similar
  • Hansgrohe faucets in secondary bathrooms and exclusive Axor model in master and powder bathrooms
  • Italian Bertolotto doors with AGB hardware in all units
  • Wood-paneled front doors to residence with programmable smartphone technologies such as NFC and Bluetooth
  • Floor soundproofing system installed throughout all units including all bathrooms
  • Walls dividing units with corridors will be 10″ wide with layers of Quiet Rock improving soundproofing
  • German Schuco hardware on sliding glass doors
  • ThyssenKrupp “Destination Dispatch” elevator system from main lobbies getting passengers to their destination in the shortest travel time and enabling access only to their own floor for enhanced security
  • High-speed elevators going up to 1200 feet per minute
  • High-speed internet and Wi-Fi hotspots in all common areas
  • Cast iron pipes and risers avoiding Waterflow noises

Amenities

  • Full-service building with concierge and hospitality-inspired services
  • Super Yacht Marina facilities
  • “The Aston Martin Club” membership
  • Rooftop infinity pool located on 55th floor
  • Fitness Spa and Fitness Center with Meditation
    Room and Treatments Suites
  • Private Steam, Sauna, and Locker Facilities
  • Pet-friendly building
  • Building designed with a helipad on the rooftop
  • 24-hour valet and covered garage self-parking
  • Valet charging stations for electric cars
  • Valet Butler
  • Additional bicycle and private storage spaces
  • 10 destination controlled super hi-speed elevators
    and separate dedicated service elevators
  • Digital connection to concierge and all building
    amenities from every residence
  • State-of-the-art Business Center and Conference Rooms
  • Art Gallery and Art Lobby on 53rd floor
  • Private Residence Movie Theatre, Event Space,
    Kids Playroom, Teen Center, and Game Rooms
  • Virtual Golf
  • Beauty Salon with blow-dry station, pedicure chair,
    manicure table, and wash stations

Construction for Aston Martin Residences Miami is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.  If you or someone you know have any interest in purchasing at Aston Martin Residences, please contact Lucas Lechuga via email at [email protected] or by phone at 786-247-6332.

Ultra Music Festival is Back After Two Years Off and We Have All the Details

Ultra Music Festival in Miami 2022
Ultra Music Festival in Miami 2022

The Ultra Music Festival is returning to Miami after a two-year hiatus and it is anticipated to be bigger than ever. Ultra will run from March 25 through the 27th at Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami.

Ultra in Miami is a must-stop on the international circuit for EDM aficionados all around the world. While the rest of the country is bundled up in parkas in anticipation of the summer festival season, Ultra fans are partying it up in sunny Miami. The performance is always full of surprises, both in terms of the musical performers and the people that attend.

As of 2018, the festival brought 165,000 guests to Ultra, and in 2019, 170,000. In the same year, Ultra moved from downtown to Virginia Key with the intent to shuttle more than 50,000 people on and off the island to downtown. The organizers for the showed banned taxis and ride-shares, leaving thousands stranded for hours on end. With this year in downtown Miami, there is more organization and no limits on the transportation situation.

The Ultra Music Festival will span over 3 days and nights and will include performances by Tiesto and Martin Garrix, Armin Van Burren, DJ Snake, and David Guetta. The festival will begin on March 25th at 4 pm. Ultra is currently sold out but you can get a ticket through 3rd party vendors but the price will likely be high.

 

Traffic will also be an issue this weekend because of the number of other events occurring downtown. Miami Heat will be playing the Brooklyn Nets at FTX Arena as well as performances by Anastasia at the Ziff Opera House.

 
 

Traffic will also be an issue this weekend because of the number of other events occurring downtown. Miami Heat will be playing the Brooklyn Nets at FTX Arena as well as performances by Anastasia at the Ziff Opera House.

 

Traffic will also be an issue this weekend because of the number of other events occurring downtown. Miami Heat will be playing the Brooklyn Nets at FTX Arena as well as performances by Anastasia at the Ziff Opera House.

 
 

Traffic will also be an issue this weekend because of the number of other events occurring downtown. Miami Heat will be playing the Brooklyn Nets at FTX Arena as well as performances by Anastasia at the Ziff Opera House.

 

Official Plans Submitted for Riverside Wharf

Renderings for The Wharf Miami
The Wharf in Downtown Miami

In December 2021, it was announced that a Miami Developer along with Driftwood Capital announced plans the rebuild The Wharf alongside the Miami River. Now, those plans have officially been submitted to Miami’s Urban Development Review Board.

The plans for this project include a hotel and an entertainment complex with retail, food, and beverage. The cost for the project is estimated at $185 million. The plans submitted include 174 hotel units operated by Dream Hotels and 91,733 square feet of commercial space.

A 16,000-square-foot restaurant, a 12,000-square-foot event hall, a 30,000-square-foot nightclub/rooftop day club, and 600 feet of river frontage are all planned for the 200,000-square-foot project. Garcia’s Fish Market may also set up shop on the property as a pop-up market. Its commercial fishing activity used to be located on the property.

The zoning requirements for this type of proposal would include 417 parking spaces but the developers are requesting a 50% reduction in parking by the entertainment and hotel spaces sharing parking. Once approved, the parking spaces will be offsite.

A part of the proposed development includes public used land, which will require a special election. That election is currently scheduled for August 23 and it will involve a potential lease of the public property to the developer.

The 1.5-acre Miami River property at 114 Southwest North River Drive will be developed by MV Real Estate Holdings and its partner, Coral Gables-based Driftwood Capital. Nitin Motwani, the managing partner of Merrimac Ventures and the developer of the Miami Worldcenter, is also a general partner in the project, according to Mantecon.

The Miami Urban Development Review Board is scheduled to review the development proposal on March 16, 2022.

Renderings for The Wharf Miami

Announced: Bitcoin Conference Miami Beach April 6-9 2022

Bitcoin Conference 2022 Miami
Bitcoin Conference 2022 Miami

For the 2nd year, the International Bitcoin Conference is coming back to Miami Beach and it will be bigger than the last day. Stretching over 4 day, this event will introduce cryptocurrency experts, investors, and industry leaders through panel discussions, Q&As, lectures and much more. On the last day, a music festival, the “Sound Money Fest” will take place with some major headliners.

This year the Bitcoin Conference will be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center form April 6-9, 2022. This week long event is dedication to the education of the Bitcoin ‘ecosystem’ through companies as well as upcoming project at the conference.

According to the numbers from the previous Bitcoin 2021 Conference, there were 12,000 in attendance making it a sold out event. This was considered the largest Bitcoin event in history. This year, they conference is expected to bring over 35,000 people from all over the world.

Some of the main headliners include Michael Saylor, Nick Szabo, Jack Dorsey and Tony Hawk. Jack Dorsey is the former CEO of Twitter and is also the founder of Block, Inc., a digital payment company based in San Francisco. Michael Saylor is a big name investor in Bitcoin with a stockpile of 21,454 Bitcoin = $876.5 million.

Tony Hawk also made an appearance during last year’s conference and discussed the parallels of cryptocurrency and skateboarding. His charity foundation just recently started accepting bitcoin as well.

The event is open to all ages at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Ticket prices begin at $862. For more information on the conference or to purchase tickets, click here.

NFTs, Velvet Ropes, and Miami

Club E11EVEN Introduces New NFT Division
Club E11EVEN Introduces New NFT Division

In partnership with Horizen Labs (a blockchain firm), club E11EVEN is teaming up to create a crypto-dedicated division referred to as ‘E11EVEN Crypto.’ This new division was announced last week and is planning to introduce NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to the Miami club scene.

NFTs have made huge headway in the US and especially in Miami. Private clubs, Art Basel, and real estate have all traded NFTs in the recent year and we can only expect that this blockchain market will continue to grow.

In order to understand the big news of E11EVEN, you must first understand what an NFT is. An NFT is a non-fungible token meaning that it’s unique and cannot be replaced with something else. If you look at bitcoin, you can trade one for another and you will have exactly the same thing with a set price. With an NFT card, if you were to trade it with another card, it will be valued at something completely different.

The collection of E11EVEN’s NFTs will be referred to as “11 Captain’s Club.” The artwork itself is inspired by the Miami club scene and will include the club’s iconic hat designs. Just one ETF will be priced at around $2,700.

Club E11EVEN has always been known for keeping up with trends and creating innovative revenue streams. The brand has its own vodka label, an apparel company, and even a real estate LLC that partners with FTX for its crypto operations. With this new NFT division, E11EVEN will pave the way for other brands to be involved in the crypto culture and club scene in the US.

According to the owner of E11EVEN, Michael Simkins, “We were the first major club to accept crypto as payment, and now we’ve processed over $5 million of it at the nightclub.”

Horizen Labs stated that they raised $7 million in August for the funding of this NFT division. E11EVEN is set to release the NFTs during the upcoming Bitcoin 2022 conference in April.

MSC Cruises USA Breaks Ground on PortMiami Terminal

MSC Cruise Miami at PortMiami
MSC Cruise USA Breaks Ground at PortMiami

MSC Cruises USA has recently broken work on an extensive cruise terminal at PortMiami as it expands operations at the congested port. The cruise line is based in Switzerland but the US locations are currently in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, and now Miami.

The terminal building itself rises 4 stories and will spread over 490,000 square feet. The building itself will cost $350 million. Once the project is complete in 2023, the capacity of the terminal can hold 36,000 passengers daily. The terminal can hold 3 cruise chips at once and it will include the MSC Seascape (a 2,270 cabin).

The project will also have a 2,400 space parking garage and lot. MSC Cruises utilizes LNG (liquified natural gas) powered ships. The ships can also connect to shore power while docking which creates a more fuel-efficient ship.

According to the President of MSC Cruises USA, Rubén Rodriguez, “Our new terminal at PortMiami represents MSC Cruises’ commitment to growing in North America and will help drive our expansion in South Florida and beyond.”

Arquitectonica is the designer of the building while Italy-based Fincantieri Infrastructure is listed as the developer for the project. The old renderings for the terminal included a separate building for the USA headquarters for the cruise line but the plans transitioned into more space for customers. There are talks of leasing office space in other areas of Miami.

PortMiami has seen a lot of construction over the past year. Larger cruise lines are expanding their fleets like Royal Caribbean Group, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, and Virgin Voyages.

MSC Cruise Miami at PortMiami

Gordon Ramsay’s Infamous Hell’s Kitchen to Open in Miami

Hells Kitchen to Open in Miami
Hells Kitchen to Open in Miami

In a statement recently released from Gordon Ramsay’s company, Ramsay will establish a Hell’s Kitchen branch in downtown Miami in late 2022. It will be the third Hell’s Kitchen establishment, after those in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. Two more locations, in Chicago and Washington, D.C., are also on the way.

The Miami location will be just as big and just as iconic as its other locations. The site itself will be located at the Metropolitan Miami Development which lies just north of the river in Brickell.

The space spreads out 16,000+ square feet over two floors, there will be a ground-floor patio and a second-floor dining terrace. Like its counterparts, there will be an open kitchen, bar, and signature fire depictions throughout the restaurant.

The menu will include the show favorites but with a Miami twist. Think oysters, shrimp cocktails, and seared scallops featuring Cuban and South American spices and classics. Other foods like beef Wellington, chicken scallopini, meatballs, and foie gras will also be on the menu.

You will know what you pay for with the fixed-price options that range from $75 to $85.

Ramsay himself stated, “I’m so excited to bring [the restaurant] to Miami. With its impressive food scene, Art Deco architecture, and amazing people, they really know how to bring on the heat, and I know Hell’s Kitchen will feel right at home.”

Gordon Ramsay is a British chef, tv personality, and restaurateur. He founded Gordon Ramsay Restaurants in 1997 and has been awarded 16 Michelin stars overall and currently holding 7. He began Hell’s Kitchen in 2004 and it received national recognition in 2005. Ramsay is known for his incredible skills, fiery attitude, bluntness, and his excessive use of profanity.

Hell’s Kitchen Miami will open in the fall of 2022. Aria Group and Architecture will be in charge of the design of this location.