New Record: Buyer Pays $34M for Side-By-Side Penthouses in Miami Beach

Looks like this will be an amazing year for the Miami luxury real estate market.  Yesterday afternoon, Forbes reported that an undisclosed American buyer purchased side-by-side penthouses at The Residences at the Miami Beach Edition for $34M, breaking the previous sales record for condominiums in Miami-Dade County set just two months ago.  The Edition, a luxury beachfront hotel-condo variation, is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion in April 2014.  Hotelier, Ian Schrager, and world-renowned architect, John Pawson, have teamed up on The Editions project to deliver 26 of the most amazing condos in Miami Beach.  The Editions sales office opened less than four weeks ago and half of the development, yet to be completed, has already sold.

The Residences at The Miami Beach Edition condos for sale

Brand New, 25-unit Waterfront Development on Bay Harbor Islands

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to tour a brand new, 25-unit waterfront development in Bay Harbor Islands called Riva Bay Harbor.  It is so brand new that sales will not launch until later this month.  The common areas are being designed by esteemed interior designer Sam Robin.  Yes, the same Sam Robin who designed the common areas at 900 Biscayne Bay.  Anyone who has toured 900 Biscayne Bay can tell you that her work is brilliant.  She will be in charge of outfitting the lobby, fitness center and rooftop pool deck of Riva Bay Harbor. Those areas have yet to be completed but below you will find renderings for the lobby and pool deck.

Riva Bay Harbor will have a total of 25 units comprised of three and four bedroom condos ranging in size from 2,347 to 3,425 interior square feet. Four units, which have been designed and furnished by distinguished interior designers Steven G, Artefacto and SoJo Design, will serve as model units.  The rest of the units will be delivered decorator-ready.  Prices start at $1,060,000, or $452 per square foot.  Each of the two penthouses have 3,425 interior square feet plus an amazing 2,800 square foot rooftop terrace with direct access to the pool. 2 parking spaces come with each unit.  The development also has seven boat slips but prices have not yet been determined for those.

Riva Bay Harbor is within walking distance to the beach and the luxury Bal Harbour Shops.  Directly across the street is Ruth K. Broad K-8 Center which is one of the best elementary schools in the state.

Below are some pictures that I took while on my tour.  Contact me if you have an interest in learning more about this beautiful waterfront development before it opens to the public later this month.

A Look at the Life of Zaha Hadid

Bi-Level Oceanfront Penthouse with His & Hers Rooftop Terraces in Sunny Isles Beach

In my time selling real estate, I have seen plenty of his & hers bathrooms.  I have also seen a plethora of his & hers walk-in closets.  Before last Saturday, however, I had never seen his & hers rooftop terraces off the master bedroom.  That was a first for me. That day, I picked up an amazing listing for a bi-level penthouse in an oceanfront building called Ocean Two in Sunny Isles Beach.

The minute you get off the private elevator and enter through your double doors, you are greeted by the sight of the serene Atlantic Ocean.  The entire residence has been tastefully designed and furnished by designer extraordinaire Steven G and is being sold as-is with all the furnishings included.  The walls throughout the condominium have been beautifully done in Venetian plaster and the long, flowing curtains in the great room call attention to the towering floor-to-ceilings windows.

As you will see in the pictures throughout this post, everything about this luxury penthouse is magnificent.  Besides the foyer and great room, the first level also contains three of the four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, two balconies and the kitchen.  Things start to get unique and spectacular up on the second level, however.  The entire upper floor is one humungous master suite.  After ascending the grand staircase, it is there that you will find a beautifully appointed master bedroom with hard wood floors.  To the left and right you will find a separate 700 square foot terrace.  The one on the southeast side of the master bedroom has a hot tub on it while the one on the southeast side sits empty.  The walk-in closet off the master bedroom is incredibly spacious and the master bathroom features a Jacuzzi tub, glass-enclosed shower, bidet and his and hers sinks.

This 4 bedroom penthouse spans across 3,265 interior square feet and a total of about 1,800 exterior square feet.  The asking price is $2,999,999.  This is a pocket listing, however, so you will not find this property listed on the MLS or anywhere else for that matter.   Contact me if you have any questions or a genuine interest in purchasing this unique and palatial penthouse residence.  You can reach me on my cell at 786-247-6332 or via email at [email protected].

Rony Seikaly’s Stunning South Beach Condo at Murano Grande

Over the past week, I have had the opportunity to tour a number of stunning condominiums throughout South Florida.  Tuesday afternoon, was business as usual.  That day I was fortunate enough to tour the 4,000 square foot residence of former NBA star turned international DJ Rony Seikaly.  The luxury, 3 bedroom plus den/4.5 bath residence located at Murano Grande in South Beach did not disappoint.  The entire condo has a zen-like feel to it with an array of natural elements incorporated into its design.  The floor plan features a number of favorable changes and upgrades as well.  Most importantly, the kitchen has been rearranged to allow for a much more expansive view from within the kitchen than what was called for in its original floor plan.  The wooden, sliding track doors, however, still allow one the option to enclose the kitchen from either or both sides.  The condo comes fully furnished with designer furnishings by Ralph Lauren, Holly Hunt, Minotti, Tucker Robbins and others in rich Earth hues.  The design of the entire condo is the work of prolific, New York City interior designer Clodagh.  The unit comes equipped with a Crestron System which, with the help of an iPad, one can control lighting, surround sound, electric window treatments, air conditioning and more.  The asking price is $5,995,000.

One Thousand Museum: Additional Information Unveiled

Additional information regarding One Thousand Museum has recently come to light.  My hunch was correct.  The co-developers, Gregg Covin and Louis Birdman, are out to target the uber-rich with this development.  Prices will range from $4M to $12M for half-floor and full-floor residences.  The pricing for the duplex penthouse has not yet been revealed but will likely crush the record for a non-oceanfront condominium residence in South Florida which, if I’m not mistaken, was set in March 2007 when the 9,000 square foot penthouse at Bristol Tower was purchased by Pharrell Williams for $13.95M.  That same penthouse, by the way, is currently on the market for $13,999,000.  I will not be surprised in the least bit if the duplex penthouse at 1000 Museum gets priced at $20M or even $25M.  Things are about to get exciting for the Downtown Miami condo market!

1000 Museum will be erected at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard, the current the site of a BP gas station.  It will reside just south of Ten Museum Park which was developed by Gregg Covin and completed in 2007.  The footprint of the site is not much different than Ten Museum Park so I expect to see half-floor residences start at around 4,000-4,500 square feet.  One would assume that full-floor residences would be double that but I can’t be too sure.  Zaha Hadid is known for using elegant curves in her work so who knows what we will see.  Actually, I take that back.  Who knows what I will see.  The South Florida Business Journal mentioned in an article yesterday that “the first images of Zaha Hadid’s architectural design for the newly named One Thousand Museum are expected in late March”.  That tells me one thing: that the public will have to wait about a month after VIP real estate brokers and agents, like myself, are expected to see the long-awaited designs.  Sorry folks!  Move along, move along.  There will be no show here today, or this week for that matter.  The general public is likely going to have to wait.  I, along with the other brokers and agents in the room, will likely be asked not to disclose publicly any renderings of the development.  They won’t be the first to do so and this is not uncommon when dealing with high-profile developments in this price range.  In fact, I was asked two days ago by two other development sales offices to refrain from posting any renderings on my website for the time being.  Perfectly understandable in my book.

Obviously, not everyone will have to wait to see the new designs.  Certain brokers and agents are given a sneak peek for a reason.  Our job is to spread the word to our high-profile clients and others who might have the means to afford an ultra-luxury residence in this price range.  If you have a sincere and legitimate interest in learning more about 1000 Museum, contact me Friday afternoon.  Be prepared to prove it though.  Buyers will likely be asked to fork over a quarter of a million dollars just to reserve the smallest unit at 1000 Museum.  I’m expecting to see a design that is truly spectacular – the likes of which South Florida has never seen.

One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid to be Formally Announced Next Week

The wait is almost over.  The new Zaha Hadid development to be located at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard will be formally announced next week.  It had been expected to be called 1000 Biscayne Tower but that is no longer the case.  The developers have instead decided to call the luxury residential high-rise One Thousand Museum.

Over the past two months, there has been a lot of buzz and excitement surrounding this upcoming development.  The internationally acclaimed architect, Zaha Hadid, has a huge cult-like following all around the world, and for good reason.  Her resume is impeccable with a laundry list of achievements and award-winning past projects.  As a result, I expect there to be a lot of interest for condos at 1000 Museum.  This development, however, will not be for the average buyer.  My sources tell me that this development will target the uber-rich who are looking to not only invest in a luxury residence in Miami but also buy into a work of art that will be known all around the world.  It is expected to set a new bar for condo prices in Downtown Miami.  I would not be surprised to see prices for condos at 1000 Mueum hit $1,000 per square foot out of the gate.

By the way, I did a little research to see if I could substantiate the news which was provided to me yesterday.  I discovered that Louis Birdman, one of 1000 Museum’s two developers, registered the domain 1000museum.com on January 9, 2013.  If that’s not enough proof then I don’t know what is.  Stay tuned because I will have a lot to report on this exciting project in the weeks ahead.

Coming Soon: A New and Improved Miami Condo Investments Website

Coming Soon: A New and Improved Miami Condo Investments Website

Behind the scenes, my business has seen a lot of big changes take place over the past couple of months.  It has been an extremely hectic time for me with most days me getting only three to four hours of sleep.  I’ll get into some of the other big changes at a later date.  For now, I want to discuss a project that has been a little over three months in the making and something for which I am extremely proud of and excited.  My website developers and I have been working diligently to put together all the pieces of the puzzle to create a masterpiece real estate website that will truly wow people.  Our end goal when undertaking this project was to create a real estate website for consumers which is pleasing to the eye but also quick and easy to use.  In a nutshell, we wanted to simplify my existing website and eliminate all of the clutter.  The screenshot above shows what we came up with for the homepage.

It should immediately be clear that the Miami luxury real estate market will now be at the forefront of my business.  That does not mean, however, that the mid-level market, which has been at the core of my business for years, will be abandoned.  The new iteration of my website will continue to include the mid-level market but present it in a more sophisticated manner.

Below, you will see what we came up with for the building profile page.  I like to think of this page as having a left and right panel.  At all times, the left panel will display the picture slideshow for the condo development along with its description underneath.  The right panel is where the magic and innovation happens.  Clicking on the tiles in the right panel will cause content related to that tile’s description to suddenly slide into view.  No new page to load and, most importantly, no need to scroll.  All of the information is hidden off the screen ready to jump into view upon request by the user.  When creating the design for this new website, we kept desktop, tablet and mobile users in mind.  As a result, we went with a responsive website design.  For those not familiar with responsive website design (RWD), the simplest way to explain it is that the design of the website transforms to respond to the size of the user’s display.  See the third screenshot below to see what the second screen would look like on a tablet or smartphone with a vertical orientation.  It is important to note that this is not a mobile-only version of the website.  This is the exact same page but it has “responded” to the user’s display and has transformed itself automatically.

We plan to have the new website launched by the end of this month…so stay tuned.

Best Luxury 3 Bedroom Condo Deal in Brickell

“Luxury” is a word that is oftentimes used carelessly without any regard for its true, intended meaning.  When it comes to Brickell, only a handful of condo developments deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as that descriptor.  In my opinion, Santa Maria is at the top of that list followed closely by Four Seasons Residences.  Despite being built in 1993, Bristol Tower is a second Ugo Colombo development that would make the short list of luxury residential buildings in Brickell.  It has stood the test of time and remains one of Brickell’s most distinguished condo developments.  Colombo’s work is synonymous with the word “quality”.  Along with Bristol Tower, he has developed such masterpieces as Santa Maria, Epic Residences and Hotel and Grovenor House.  All four buildings today look just as flawless as they did the day they were completed.

That being said, luxury three bedroom condos in Brickell are in very short supply.  Very few are available at the aforementioned Brickell condo developments and most are priced above $2M.  There is one listing, however, that is stunning and has stuck out in my mind as being an incredible deal.  It is a spacious 3 bedroom plus den, 4.5 bath residence which has 2,825 interior square feet, a large wrap-around balcony offering majestic bay and city views, a laundry room with Miele appliances, white Porcelanato floors in the living areas, wide-plank hardwood floors in the bedrooms and a white Italian kitchen with rare Quartzite green countertops as well as kitchen appliances by Miele and Sub-Zero.  The condo, unit 3302, is located on the 33rd floor, just two floors below the penthouse.

The best part of this elegantly appointed three bedroom condo at Bristol Tower is its price.  The sellers are asking just $1,749,000, or $619 per square foot.  For comparison sake, unit 2702 at Bristol Tower sold for $1.61M, or $570 per square foot, this past December.  That was a complete gut-job though and requires at least $100 per square foot to make it comparable.  Obviously, unit 3302 also has a better view being that it is located six floors higher  than unit 2702.  Additional evidence to support my assertion that unit 3302 is a great value can be found in a second recent sale at Bristol Tower which closed on October 29, 2012.  Unit 3005, a smaller three bedroom floor plan, sold for $606 per square foot.  It is important to note, however, that the 05 line at Bristol Tower faces southwest and has only a slight water view.  It is predominantly a city view with a sliver of water.  Also, all of the bathrooms in that unit are original whereas all of the bathrooms in unit 3302 have been upgraded.  After adjusting for water view and upgrades, it becomes obvious that unit 3302 is a great deal even at full asking price.  My prediction is that this one will be under contract by month’s end.