Faena Versailles Contemporary Renamed Faena Mar

Unknown-1 So this happened, and almost nobody in the media noticed. On March 22nd, the Faena people updated the website oft their Faena Versailles Contemporary condo property to reflect a new name, Faena Mar. This separates the building from what originally was going to be its companion property, the Faena Versailles Classic, the restored Versailles Hotel, an art deco gem. That’s interesting because architect Brandon Haw originally designed Faena Mar’s oceanfront facade to be a mirror image of that on Faena Versailles Classic.

Faena Selling the Twelve Penthouses of the Faena Hotel, Where a Nightclub Used to Be

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In the middle of the 20th Century, when the Faena Hotel was the Saxony Hotel, a penthouse floor was added that contained a rooftop nightclub, with an exterior non-stop elevator for access from the lobby. When Alan Faena redeveloped the hotel, the decision was made to turn that level, as well as the level below, into luxury residences, and to sell them as The Residences at Faena Hotel Miami Beach.

Fully furnished in sort of an Art Deco/Miami Modern flair, with lots of white and gold, penthouses begin at $2.5 million for a one-bedroom unit at just over 800 square feet, with the largest being over 3,300 square feet. Even though the hotel itself has been open for about six months, the Faena organization just recently started selling the thirteen units. The first went to “New Yorkers” for $5.5 million in June, which is probably why the sales site, which just went up a little over a week ago with these gorgeous interior photographs, only mentions twelve units.

Anybody Want to Buy The $20M Penthouse Jorge Perez Said He Was Going to Retire In?

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When the Related Group’s One Ocean was under development, company President Jorge Perez declared he would be moving out of his large family home (in Coconut Grove, if I remember correctly) into the premier penthouse of this building. The kids were all grown up, so he and the wife  were doing what empty nesters do, looking forward to retirement, and moving into a $20 million condo by the beach.

Then he changed plans. The building was completed, and fully sold out, and for some reason Mr. Perez decided to swap the unit for a place one tenth of the price at another project he’s developing, Auberge, in Fort Lauderdale. Or at least that’s the official story, because as anybody who knows anything about anything knows, it could all be marketing, baby. And $20 million is $20 million, even for a billionaire workaholic who has built half the condo buildings in Miami, like Perez.

The unit, which has been officially on the market for about a month comes with 3,500 square feet of indoor living space, four bedrooms, five and a half baths, wrap around balconies, and a rooftop terrace with hot tub. Gorgeous views of South Beach, the ocean, and some of Perez’s  South Pointe developments from past real estate booms are complimented by white marble in the kitchen and baths, and Dutch wood floors.

Touring the Fasano Hotel & Residences Model Unit & Sales Center

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The historic Shore Club has had a few major incarnations since it was built over 50 years ago. Having been managed by Morgans Hotels in recent years, the hotel is officially closing later this year to be converted into the first Fasano-branded hotel in the United States, the Fasano Hotel & Residences Miami Beach.

The renovation, although very extensive, will preserve the exterior facades of the original art deco and midcentury structures on the site, as well as the Shore Club’s lobby. Practically everything else, including the 1990s main tower, is being transformed by architect Issy Winfield, to a contemporary style with a subtle Brazilian modernist aesthetic. The sales center and model unit both show off that modern look, with a design that’s bathed in whites and creams. As the sales center shows, the 17 remaining units (prices and details below) come with kitchens and bathrooms dripping with two kinds of Italian marble, and blonde wooden floors. Prices begin at $940,000.

Faena Arts Center Starts Teasing Us Early as It Nears Completion

Mid-beach’s Faena Hotel and Faena House residential tower may be done already, and making a big impression on Miamians and out-of-towners for their glamour, their theatricality, and their designs, but it’s easy to forget that those two statement-making buildings are just the first section of the larger Faena District to debut.

Two more luxury condo towers called Versailles Classic and Faena Mar, retail, and a high-design parking iceberg are all cranes-up and underway, whizzing around a cylindrical arts center and forum, which is probably the closest of all to completion.  Meanwhile, Allan Faena and his crew are wasting no time in teasing the forum’s arts potential, with a savvy Faena Art Facebook Page covering both Faena’s existing Buenos Aires arts center, the future Miami Beach arts center, and the $75,000 Faena arts prize. The new Faena Forum Miami Beach, in a building designed by starchitect Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture will debut this fall. Check out a video experimenting with its potential, inside the unfinished space, here:

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

Previous listing photo.

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.

Ritz Carlton Residences Miami Beach Drops New Renderings of Its Lobby & Where That Staircase Goes

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The Ritz Carlton Residences Miami Beach, designed by Piero Lissoni, has dropped a series of new renderings of its lobby and library to accompany the already released money shot with that fabulously suspended staircase. (see the last image, below) “Its library will be comprised of collectibles, artifacts, modern design pieces, art and design books, and a canoe artifact paying tribute to Seminole Tribe of Florida.” says Curbed Miami. The renderings look gorgeous, and the canoe is admittedly very cool. It’s a beautiful piece of (authentic?) Native American craftsmanship on display, but a tribute? Well, first maybe someone can explain why there are two of them in the renderings..

The development’s 111 condos and 15 villas make up one of Miami’s most unique and interesting projects, although at times it’s probably a rather tough sell. (it was an old hospital, after all) The Ritz Carlton Residences Miami Beach is currently about 65% sold out.

Ross, Marshall’s, Nike, Oh My: A Lincoln Road Construction Update

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Nike Store. Photos by Sean McCaughan.

Lincoln Road always seems to be a hive of construction activity, considering its sky-high retail rents and eternal popularity with tourists and locals. (even those locals who proclaim Lincoln Road is dead. Come on.) Lately, construction continues to bring large new flagship stores to the road, as well as two new, dare we say, discount big-box stores. Luckily, due to the influence of the City of Miami Beach government as well as local activists, the architecture has stayed at a fairly high bar.

First off (above) the new, three-level Nike Store at Lincoln and Lenox designed by Touzet Studio is coming along nicely. It will two tall indoor levels of retail as well as a rooftop sports court, where presumably one can try on those new kicks.

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Anthropologie.

Two blocks down, just to the north of the intersection of Lincoln and Meridian, two new multilevel retail buildings have been designed by Shulman + Associates, fronting Lincoln Lane North, the increasingly commercialized alley behind Lincoln Road. The first, at the former location of David’s Cuban Cafe, will be an Anthropologie.

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The second, on the north east side of the intersection, is a three level structure that will house a Marshall’s (big box discount fashion store #1) as well as what looks like some kind of food court.

Continuing our stroll down Lincoln Road to Euclid Avenue, the dead end has been closed off by construction fencing for a while now for work that appears to be almost finished. This is a small expansion of Lincoln Road’s pedestrian area, with new seating elements and greenery. Although this project is unrelated to the much more extensive renovations planned for Lincoln in the coming years, think of it as a taste of what’s to come.

Trundling further eastward on Lincoln, we come upon the old churchyard, which was the center of a hard fought battle between open space preservationists and developers. Ultimately the developer, TriStar Capital, won this one, and is expected to build another multilevel retail establishment here with rooftop garden. The rumor at one point was it would hold a flagship Abercrombie & Fitch. As you can see, the developer has since ripped out the courtyard, and has yet to start development.

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Our final destination is between Washington and Collins Avenues, where the superstructure for the rather grand entrance of a new Ross Dress for Less (big box discount fashion store #2) has been almost fully constructed. The store itself will occupy the former site of the historic Carib Theatre, which was sadly wiped off the map years ago.

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Adorable South-of-Fifth Condo Does a Lot With 588 Square Feet

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“Manhattan meets Miami” is how the broker describes this gorgeous little condo in a postwar (built 1969, summer of love) condo building South-of-Fifth. Okay, yes, it’s kind of Manhattan-ish in its petite size and the fact it’s not covered in palm tree prints, but it’s also just very tastefully done, and resourcefully done too. The NE facing unit at 360 Meridian Avenue, with expansive views just over the tree line, is listed for $330,000. In 588 square feet, this apartment is very nicely kitted out, with a separate sleeping area partitioned by concrete block, a kitchen hidden behind an extensive bookcase, a large dining room table, and a couch near the balcony.