Art Basel Special: Top Miami Trophy Properties Day 1
Welcome to Art Basel week! This year, we are going to celebrate Miami’s own holiday week with a special series. Rather than our normal lineup of market statistics, development news and neighborhood information, we are going to highlight the best and brightest of Miami’s trophy properties all week long!
Each post this week will feature at least one special property so that you can preview the art that is Miami real estate. All of the properties will be available for purchase for at least $1 million and will stand out in some way, shape or form.
We are going to start the series off in the Miami Riverfront enclave with Ivy at Riverfront’s Upper Penthouse. For those who are unfamiliar, the Miami Riverfront enclave is a guarded and gated community along the north bank of the Miami River, just across from Brickell City Centre. It offers close proximity to Brickell but also the added security of the guard gates. Each of the buildings also has 24-hour doorman as well as valet.
Upper Penthouse 5 is a city-chic palace with three total levels, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths and a rooftop terrace that rivals most local hotel terraces. The interior has 2,418 square feet and with the balconies and rooftop terrace, you wind up with almost 4,600 total square feet of space!
The corner penthouse for sale offers 270 degree views of Downtown Miami, the Biscayne Bay, Coral Gables and South Beach. Also, since it is on the corner you get amazing sunrise and sunset views. The rooftop terrace has several seating areas, wood porcelain flooring, a stainless steel summer kitchen and a jacuzzi with a view.
Inside, the seller has heavily upgraded every corner. The kitchen has Viking and Bosch appliances and quartz countertops. Custom lighting and sheer draperies were added throughout, with blackouts in the bedrooms.
This property is offered for $1.75 million unfurnished, or $1.85 million with all of the furnishings, a second parking space and separate storage area. For a private tour, call/text 305-428-3860 or email [email protected].
Miami Riverfront Market Update
As promised, we’re back with another market update of one of the submarkets in Miami’s Greater Downtown area! Today, we’re going to check in at the Miami Riverfront. This is a gated enclave of 3 condo towers, Mint at Riverfront, Ivy at Riverfront and Wind by Neo. Some people also consider Neo Vertika and Latitude on the River as a part of the Riverfront since they are technically on the river, but since they are outside of the gated enclave, I’m considering them a part of West Brickell for today. The gated enclave currently has 1,517 condo units. Mint has 530 units, Ivy has 498 and Wind has 489.
Let’s start with the scary part of the update and get that out of the way. This year has brought 18 closed sales between the three buildings. While some may think that is ok for the first quarter, there are also 189 active sales listings. That is a whopping 31 month supply!
Now that we have that cat out of the bag, let’s talk about some more positive aspects of my findings. The average list price of those 189 available units was $380/square foot. The average sold price of the 18 that did find buyers was $323/square foot. Also, there are 15 units that have found buyers but are awaiting closing. The average asking price of the pending sales was $365/square foot, and we’ll learn the sold price as soon as the closings are logged.
The highest price listing in the area was Ivy’s Penthouse 5, listed for $1.8 million. While I love to look at photos of this 3 bedroom triplex with an amazing rooftop terrace, we can’t really consider it in our statistics since it is such an outlier. Aside from the penthouse, the most expensive offering in the area was Ivy at Riverfront #4009. This one is a furnished 3 bedroom that is offered for $785,000, or $472/square foot. The seller is offering seller financing and the furniture is beautiful but I imagine we’ll see this one on the market for awhile still.
The lowest priced listing is also at the Ivy. Unit 1812 is am 816 square foot 1 bedroom corner unit. It is priced at $240,000, or $295/square foot. Looking at the history of the listing, it seems the seller is playing pricing see-saw. The price has been going up and down and the listing has been on and off the market several times in the last year. I feel like that if the seller can be reasonable, this one will not stay on the market for too long (I’m not sure what’s going on with that little pricing dance they’re doing though).
For buyers looking for two bedroom plans, the lowest prices are found at Wind. Unit 2114 is listed for $305,000 ($326/square foot), but despite being officially a two bedroom, I really consider this a one bedroom plus den. The second bedroom is very small and many times is open to the living area. For a full-on two bedroom with two enclosed bedrooms, the prices start at $325,000 for Wind #2606.
Is there better news in the rental market?
Yes! Despite the press that Miami has recently received, I’m finding that the rental market is still relatively healthy. Case in point: There are currently 84 rental listings in the Miami Riverfront and the last 3 months have brought us 71 closed rentals. That gives us a very healthy rental market.
Also, I have noticed that while the prices have fallen in the area, the landlords have less need to negotiate below their asking price in order to secure a tenant. The average asking price of the 71 rented condos last quarter was $2.36/square foot. They closed at an average of $2.30/square foot. That’s not a lot of wiggle room for an opportunistic tenant who wants to take advantage of a desperate landlord. The rentals are moving and they’re moving close to the listing price.
The highest price rental was that same Ivy penthouse with the amazing terrace. They have secured a tenant for $9,000/month after listing the property for $10,000/month. Outside of penthouses and townhouses (which I also consider outliers), studios are starting at $1,650/month at Wind, one bedrooms are starting at $1,750 at Ivy and you could get a three bedroom for as much as $4,300/month at Mint. Two bedrooms start at $2,400-$2,500 in all three buildings currently. To be fair, the $1,650 studio I mentioned is listed as a one bedroom, but has no separation between the bedroom and the common area so lives more like a studio.
Overall, I am pleasantly surprised to see how the market is holding up in the Riverfront area, just as I was pleasantly surprised by how well IconBrickell is doing during their massive renovation. How do you think the trend will continue? Are there any additional metrics that you would like to see?
Downtown Miami Rental Market
Below, is a spreadsheet I compiled earlier this afternoon that shows various statistics regarding the Downtown Miami condos rental market. Click on the link below the spreadsheet to view it in its entirety. I calculated the months of inventory figure by dividing total units available by the average units rented over a three month period from December 1, 2010 to February 28, 2011. You will see that Downtown Miami currently has 2.55 months of rental inventory.
Downtown Miami Rental Market as of March 15, 2011
Fannie Mae Special Approval Designation – Updated
The following are six well known condo buildings in Miami that were given the Fannie Mae Special Approval Designation since my last update on January 18, 2010. The special designation makes it now possible to obtain financing for condos in these buildings using a conventional loan.
Brickell & Brickell Key Closed Condo Sales – November 2009
Click on the links below to view the condo sales in Brickell and Brickell Key closed in November 2009:
Brickell Closed Condo Sales – November 2009 – There were 30 closed condo sales in Brickell last month. The average sales price of these condos was $243 per square foot. I was surprised to see that a one bedroom condo at Skyline on Brickell sold for $334 per square foot.
Brickell Key Closed Condo Sales – November 2009 – 10 condos in Brickell Key closed last month. These sold at an average sales price per square foot of $258. Here I was shocked to see that someone would be willing to pay $294 per square foot for a unit at Isola, especially one with carpeting.
Fannie Mae Approved Condo Buildings in Florida
As of June 1, 2009, Fannie Mae updated their website to reflect the condo developments in Florida that are now approved for financing.
The following is a list of recent condo developments in South Florida that are now Fannie Mae approved:
View the full list of Fannie Mae approved condo developments in Florida.
Day & Night – Miami River Condos
Just wanted to share some day and night photos that I shot earlier today of various newly constructed condo buildings along the Miami River while showing some units at Brickell on the River North.
Daytime shot of Epic. Closings at Epic began in November 2008.
Nighttime shot of Epic:
Daytime shot of Wind. Closings at Wind began in February 2008 and has residents living there.
Daytime shot of The Ivy at Riverfront. Closing at The Ivy at Riverfront began in June 2008 and also has residents inhabiting the condo building.
Daytime shot of The Mint at Riverfront. As far as I know, The Mint at Riverfront has not obtained its certificate of occupancy yet. From the looks of the picture below, it appears that the pool deck has not been completed. Expect closings to begin within the next 2-4 months.
Daytime shot of The Mint at Riverfront, The Ivy at Riverfront and Wind.
Nighttime shot of The Mint at Riverfront, The Ivy at Riverfront and Wind.
The following is not a building located on the Miami River but I wanted to share this great shot that I took of the Bank of America building from the pool deck of Brickell on the River North.
New Miami Condos – Closing Rates for February 2009
It’s been a few months since my last Miami condo closing rate update. The percentage of closed units for 25 major condo developments are provided below, starting with the first development to begin closings. Four condo developments have been added: Icon Brickell, Everglades on the Bay, Infinity at Brickell and Epic. You’ll find these towards the bottom of this post.
Below, you will find the date that each condo development began closings followed by the number of closed units in each condo development:
With the exception of Onyx on the Bay and 50 Biscayne, the first group above has remained unchanged. Onyx on the Bay was able to close one additional condo while 50 Biscayne was able to close two.
Quantum on the Bay and Plaza on Brickell once again were able to show a decent improvement in their closing rate. Quantum on the Bay closed an additional 14 condos while Plaza on Brickell was able to close 21. 1800 Club did not have any new closings but I did find another deed that had been recorded twice. This is the reason why the total number of closed condos in this update is one less than the total stated in the December 2008 post for 1800 Club. It needs just 7 more closed condos to hit the all-important 70 percent mark.
As a result of the 60-unit bulk sale, Marina Blue showed the most improvement of the above five condo developments since the last update. I did, however, find re-recorded deeds for Marina Blue that I had previously missed. The developer of Marina Blue has now closed around 82% of the total number of units.
In my opinion, the five condo developments above are all likely candidates for some sort of bulk deal taking place in the future. Met 1 was able to close 7 additional units, Asia 2, 900 Biscayne Bay 13, 500 Brickell 17 and Axis 8. As a result of the new Fannie Mae guidelines, it is not likely that we’ll see significant improvement in any of the condo developments that haven’t thus far reached the 70 percent mark.
Above, you’ll find the four newly added condo developments which began closings within the past 3 months. Timing could not have been worse for these four. They’re going to need to find a plethora of cash buyers who are willing to pay dated prices. Ivy at Riverfront, which began closings back in June 2008, was able to close 14 additional condos since the December 2008 update.
The bright side is that the condo construction cranes of Miami are gone. The cranes that remain are for commercial developments. Marquis and Paramount Bay, which should begin closings within the next 3 months, will be the last of the newly constructed condos to hit the market in Miami. It does appear, however, that Met 3 has begun to lay its foundation. Hopefully, the condo market will reach some sort of equilibrium by the time that development has been completed.
Disclaimer: The above closing rate information was derived from public County records. There can be a 2-3 week delay from the time that a closing occurs and the time that the closing is recorded. The information above is not deemed 100 percent accurate as a result of delays in the recording of deeds and deeds being re-recorded.
New Miami Condos – Closing Rates for December 2008
It’s been almost three months since my last Miami condo closing rate update. The last one was published on September 22, 2008. Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of progress in closings for most of the condo developments below since that time.
Below, you will find the date that each condo development began closings followed by the number of closed units in each condo development:
Latitude on the River had three new closings since the last update, Onyx on the Bay had three new closed condos and 50 Biscayne had two. Ten Museum Park and Loft Downtown 2 were both unchanged since the last update.
Quantum on the Bay and Plaza on Brickell each had an impressive number of closings, since the last update, considering how long ago closings began. Quantum on the Bay had 28 new condo closings while Plaza on Brickell was able to close 46.
On Friday, the Miami Herald reported that the developer of 1060 Brickell is looking to sell around 60 percent of its condos in bulk. Closings at 1060 Brickell recently reached the 40 percent mark meaning that this represents the developer’s remaining inventory.
900 Biscayne Bay and Ivy have now each reached the 40 percent mark. I’m actually quite surprised that not one of the condo developments in this last group has been able to hit the 50 percent mark. Enough time has certainly gone by. To rev up sales, 500 Brickell recently held a 4-day promotion offering a free Mini Cooper with any condo purchase from the developer’s inventory.
The next update will include Icon Brickell, Everglades on the Bay (now known as Vizcayne) and Infinity at Brickell which recently began closings.
Disclaimer: The above closing rate information was derived from public County records. There can be a 2-3 week delay from the time that a closing occurs and the time that the closing is recorded.
New Miami Condos – Closing Rates for September 2008
It’s been a little over two months since my last condo closing rate update. The last one was published on July 8, 2008.
Below, you will find the date that each condo development began closings followed by the number of closed units in each condo development:
You’ll notice with this first batch that I dropped Star Lofts from the list. I noticed a lot of double entries which made it difficult to gauge the true number of closed condos. Additionally, Star Lofts on the Bay hasn’t shown much progress in a very long time. Ten Museum Park closed 11 units since the last update while 50 Biscayne’s vast improvement reflects the bulk sale that took place. The rest of the condo developments showed very little progress.
Plaza on Brickell once again showed the most improvement within this group. Its closing rate jumped about 14 points since the July update revealing a total of 660 closed condos of the overall 1,000 in the two towers. Apogee South Beach once again inched closer to hitting the 100 percent mark, with only 2 additional condos to close before reaching it. Quantum on the Bay moves into second place in this group and has now closed around 75 percent of its condos.
The big story in this group is Midtown 4. It jumped from a 19.10 percent closing rate to an 84.92 percent closing rate. A large bulk sale of over 250 condos seems to have taken place to a buyer with a second party name of “D M MIDTOWN MIA OWNER LLC”. The same buyer also closed on slightly over 50 condos at Midtown 2 on the same day. Was this simply the developer transferring units to one of its other entities or was this an outside buyer with no association to the developer? Marina Blue jumped about 10 points, settling at around 70 percent of its condos closed. Wind and Asia showed nice improvements this update with Wind increasing around 17 points and Asia about 18 points.
These last four condo developments all showed good progress since the July update. The biggest surprise to me was Ivy which closed 125 new condos since that time. I would have guessed that 500 Brickell and Axis would each have more closed sales than Ivy.
Disclaimer: The above closing rate information was derived from public County records. There can be a 2-3 week delay from the time that a closing occurs and the time that the closing is recorded.
