Brickell City Centre’s Rise Penthouse Has Sold For $5.75 Million

Even before the offering was able to be made to the public, an undisclosed buyer has snatched up the upper penthouse at Brickell City Centre’s Rise tower. This is an amazing sign, in a time when the news media continually injects fear and dread into our real estate market. Although the number of buyers are undeniably less plentiful, the buyers who are looking into Miami purchases are very serious about getting what they want and after you see the floor plan, it won’t be a surprise that this gem sold before it hit the market.

The duplex penthouse boasts approximately 4,500 square feet of interior space plus roughly 4,500 square feet of outdoor space. There are 4 bedrooms including a junior master suite plus service quarters and a den. There are 3 balconies, two on the first level and one on the second level off of the master suite. Each level has a terrace overlooking Brickell and the Biscayne Bay. On the first floor, the terrace includes a summer kitchen and a private swimming pool. A private jacuzzi overlooking the city is located on the terrace off of the master suite.

This comes on the heels of another recent noteworthy sale, when a South African buyer purchased a waterfront teardown for $10 million. We have learned that the buyer of the Brickell City Centre Penthouse is not a foreign investor, just a very private American with very good taste. The final sale price was $5.75 million.

Allison Ortiz from Fortune International’s in-house sales team was the one to put the deal together. She is someone who has worked with the Miami Condo Investments team for many years, even back when Brickell City Centre was just a spark in Stephen Owens’ eye. We have been fortunate to have her as an asset for our clients at Brickell City Centre, Infinity at Brickell and also Met1 in Downtown. The earlier projects have since sold out fully, but she always goes the extra mile for our buyers and the clients we have worked in those buildings have all been extremely pleased with their purchases. Congratulations to Allison on a job well done and congratulations to the buyer on a beautiful property!

Brickell City Centre Rise Tower Penthouse by Sarah Elles Boggs on Scribd

Gorgeous Spec Home at 6440 North Bay Road Reduces Price to $26,950,000

After a brief hiatus, the newly constructed spec home at 6440 North Bay Road has returned to the market with a $2 million price chop, asking $26,950,000. The home has 15,519 interior square feet with 7 bedrooms and 9 baths.

The tropical-zen inspired home blends contemporary interiors with the outdoors and features sliding glass walls throughout much of the space. There is an office, gym with outdoor yoga area, a theater and a separate 2 bedroom guest wing with a private staircase and dedicated terrace and living area.

Outdoors, there is a separate cabana with retractable canvas awning surrounded by tall, mature landscaping and infinity-edge pool. The lot features 100 feet of bay frontage with a wooden dock.

The North Bay Road home was developed by Peter Fine’s To Better Days Development, that is based in New York. Have a look at the MLS photos below..

Check Out The Virtual Reality Tour Of Chateau Beach’s $18.5 Million Sky Villa

Perched near the top of the 33 floor glistening beachfront tower, Chateau Beach in Sunny Isles, is a duplex sky villa that will blow your mind. The sky villa is located on the 24th and 25th levels and features 8,272 interior square feet with 2,402 square feet of terrace space that includes a private pool. Properties like this are too beautiful to get the message across with only photos, so we have tracked down a virtual reality tour, essentially putting you in the villa from the comfort of your home.

The villa is being sold fully furnished for $18.5 million and features 5 bedrooms, 7.5 baths with gorgeous ocean views. Here is a floor plan of the property, so you don’t get lost.

The virtual reality tour works best with VR glasses, but is also very beautiful with just your screen.

GlassHaus in the Grove Releases Introductory Prices & Renderings

Coconut Grove is getting a new boutique condo development. It isn’t waterfront, it isn’t a high rise, and it isn’t located on South Bayshore with the other luxury developments, but it is giving me a serious throwback to the Jardins neighborhood of São Paulo, and I like it.

For those who don’t know, Jardins is an upper-class neighborhood within São Paulo. It is located just blocks from countless restaurants, lounges and bars. There are museums and high-end shopping steps away, yet the homes are nestled in peaceful seclusion amongst the lush greenery and mature hardwood trees.

GlassHaus may not have been aiming to be the Miami embodiment of São Paolo’s natural elegance, but they’re delivering it anyway. The modern minimalist design juxtaposed with the tropical hardwood hammock located just blocks away from the city hustle and bustle just works.

GlassHaus will have just 5 floors, the first level has three residences with the ambiance of garden living. There are shade trees and large outdoor terraces. The 4 floors above each have five residences per floor ranging from 1-3 bedrooms. On the roof, Glasshaus residents will enjoy a fully-equipped summer kitchen and dining area, with a pool, sundeck and lush landscaping to match the environment below.

The floor plans for Glasshaus range from 1,080 to 2,380 square feet with between 1 to 3 bedrooms. Each residence has 11 foot ceilings with floor to ceiling glass. The current prices at Glasshaus start at just under $600,000 for a 1 bedroom up to $1.3 million for a southeast corner residence with 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths.

Below are some Glasshaus renderings. What do you think?

Jennifer Lopez & Alex Rodriguez an Item; Could a Miami Beach Waterfront Home be in Their Near Future?

According to E! Online, Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez are romantically involved and “heating up big time”, having recently been spotted at Casa Tua for a dinner date in Miami Beach as well as spending time together at an ultra-exclusive club community in the Bahamas.

And last Friday, A-Rod’s sister, Susy Dunand, a luxury real estate agent in Miami, posted a selfie on Instagram taken with J-Lo. In 2011, Dunand was spotted showing properties to her brother and his then girlfriend Cameron Diaz. At the time, rumors circulated that a marriage proposal was imminent and that the two were in search of their future home together. Alas, Rodriguez and Diaz did not end up marrying, but Rodriguez went on to flip a waterfront home located at 4358 North Bay Road a few years later for a cool $15M profit.

If A-Rod and J-Lo are heating up as much as they say, the pair may soon be on the hunt for a future love nest. With Rodriguez’s real estate background, my guess is that the couple “eases” into their relationship by purchasing a vacant, waterfront lot and then developing upon it their ultimate dream home…and if they’re still together by the time the home is completed, then it’s meant to be.

If my predictions are correct, A-Rod and J-Lo will soon be on the lookout for a vacant waterfront lot on North Bay Road – the go-to choice for Miami Beach’s rich and famous. My bet is that they’d pursue 5840 North Bay Road (pictured above) – the largest available lot with the most water frontage on North Bay Road. 5840 North Bay Road is a 38,000 square foot lot with 191 linear feet of water frontage and comes with an asking price of $16.9M.

If Lopez really is still Jenny from the block, she should have no reservations about moving to a waterfront estate on North Bay Road since she once owned a home there two lots down at 5800 North Bay Road.  That home eventually sold a few years ago to Grammy Award-winning artist Phil Collins.

Who Is Going To Buy Alan Potamkin’s Coral Gables Estate For $47.5 Million?

It’s the house that has everything for the person who has everything. Yes, Car King Alan Potamkin has relisted his sprawling Gables Estates waterfront mansion for a whopping $47.5 million.

Before you drop your jaw on the price tag, let it be known that this is actually a $20 million reduction from the $67 million they were seeking last year. After nobody raised their hand and said, “Me!” the price was slashed to $49 million for the house and half of the land.

The lot is actually two separate lots that are combined to make up a 3.6 acre estate with 937 feet of ocean frontage. Talk about a compound! They ended up at $39 million before regrouping and coming back to the market this week. Today’s asking price of $47.5 million includes the house and all of the land.

The house has over 20,000 square feet of interior living space with 9 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and 5 powder rooms. There is also an 8 car garage, with enough driveway space for everyone except Gil Dezer. There are several kitchens as well, in case you want to switch things up from time to time. There’s enough space that you could essentially move your family to another area of the house and it would feel like an entirely new home, except you never left your house.

Some of the bells and whistles that come along with the estate are 2 built-in saltwater aquariums, an aviary, his and hers libraries, a billiard room, boxing room, gym, massage room, nanny’s quarters, nursery/play room, guest house and a property tax bill of almost $400,000.

Last year, Forbes made a slideshow of the estate’s pictures, seeming very impressed by the decorative ceilings. They forgot to mention the ceiling in the billiard room, which is hideous. A drop ceiling with florescent lighting has no place in a $47 million estate. Not even in the garage. Just, no. Take it down and make it stop. The drop ceiling looks like a suburban McMansion that is aspiring to be a notable piece of Miami real estate. In my opinion, the animal murals need to go too, but I guess we all have our own taste.

Outside, the lot has a resort-like feel with a pool and Jacuzzi overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, a private beach, fire pit, tennis court, a lagoon, and a boat dock. There are several patios and terraces on the house, perfect for luxurious soirees or a quiet evening with a candlelit dinner and a view.

I’m wondering who could be the next owner of the property. It is rumored that Lebron was considering it when he took his talents to South Beach, but he’s gone now. Wade is gone too and Bosh is hurt, so I doubt a Miami Heat player will step in. We already said that there’s not enough parking for Gil Dezer, so he’s out. It has been reported that Lil Wayne is looking to take his talents off of South Beach after being repeatedly swatted (when someone calls 911 on you and sends the entire police force to your house, only to find out you’re still in bed). Maybe a Miami season of the Bachelor? There are certainly enough bedrooms for the suitors & scene locations on the estate. Or maybe the person who invented The Bachelor. We’ll see. In the meantime, check out the pictures below.

Al Capone’s Miami Beach Compound Has Sold to European Soccer Agent Mino Riaola for $9M

Previous listing photo.

The Miami Beach compound mobster and Mr. #1 on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, Alphonse Capone lived, and died in, when not in Chicago, has sold to European soccer agent Mino Riaola for an estimated $9 million. The actual amount has apparently not been made public. The house is located at 93 Palm Avenue, on Miami Beach’s Palm Island. Although the Miami Herald broke the news, the story appears to have been taken down from the paper’s website, which is a little odd. Curbed Miami reblogged it in time, however.

The Palm Island waterfront home was saved from a desperate state and likely destruction and restored to something closer its original appearance by its former owner, who listed the restored house in 2012 for $10 million, had trouble selling it for years, took it off the market to use as some kind of event/film venue, and by now is probably glad to be rid of it. That’s pretty unfortunate because, even though it is kind of an odd house, with a scandalous reputation, it’s still fantastically historical, and still classy. I covered the house frequently while Curbed, so check out their archives. Hopefully Riaola will take care of the house as it deserves to be taken care of, and correct a few of  the mistakes in the renovation. As I noticed during a tour of the house a few years ago with my friend Dana Herndon, who wrote this excellent piece for Curbed on the house, although the renovation undoubtedly saved the house, it appeared at the time to have been done on the cheap.

Calvin Klein’s $16 Million North Bay Road House is Still on The Market

What’s going on Calvin? News broke over a year ago that fashion mogul Calvin Klein’s North Bay Road home in Miami Beach was hitting the market for $16 million because Mr. Klein was up and leaving Miami and going to L.A. That was May of 2015. Fast forward to now, over 400 days later, and the historic Mediterranean Revival house is still owned by Klein, still on the market, and still listed at $16 million. What gives?

Nicely Updated Deco Delight on Sunset Island III Wants $3.9 Million

This Art Deco hacienda on Sunset Island III is listed for $3.9 million, and pretty darn gorgeous. Originally designed by the noted deco architect Martin Hampton in 1939, the house maintains most of its deco integrity, including a fireplace, terrazzo floors, and seductive curves (although it has admittedly lost a few things over the years, like the bathrooms). Overall a good show.

Week in Review: How to Avoid the Federal Disclosure Law for Cash Purchases and Other News…

Rendering from Paramount Miami Worldcenter

Week of January 17-23, 2016.

The US Treasury announced this week that starting in March, title companies will be required to disclose the identities of buyers to government regulators for all cash purchases above $1 million in Miami’s residential real estate market. They are hoping to put a stop to illicit funds being laundered through the cash purchases, but effectively are also spooking legitimate buyers who simply do not wish to have their buying habits publicly disclosed.

Fear not, fancy condo shoppers. The ink is not even dry on the new order and The Real Deal has already compiled a list of 7 ways that the rule can be circumvented. [The Real Deal]

Last week, the developer of Miami Worldcenter announced that it is scrapping the plans for an enclosed mall just days after Macy’s announced multiple store closings due to slow sales. After this announcement Taubman and Forbes cancelled their contract with Worldcenter, causing a flurry of rumors and news stories stating that the project would be scrapped. It turns out that everyone jumped the gun. According to the developer and this Taubman release, the project is not scrapped. The contract just needs to be renegotiated to reflect the new building plans. [Zacks]

While everyone was up in arms about the potential drama at Miami Worldcenter, Brickell CityCentre released their updated list of all retailers, shops and restaurants that will be opening with the mall. The shops will begin individual build-out soon and is scheduled to open later in the year. [The Next Miami]

In possibly the least surprising news of the week, Car2Go finally announced that they are suspending service effective March 1. They say that the reason for the service-shuttering is low ridership and high state taxes, locals have not wasted time or minced words with their own theories. It seems they have been in trouble with their client base for some time due to poor handling of a PR incident involving a drunk driving accident, not offering service in many important areas of the community, poor customer service and unreliable service. We think it can be easily explained by simple economics… why pay more to drive yourself in a shared smart car with a complicated service when you can pay less and have an Uber car pick you up at your doorstep and drop you off wherever you want to go? The choice is simple. [Curbed]