Lobby Makeover Planned at The Club at Brickell Bay
Late last week, I showed a few condos at The Club at Brickell Bay to a client. On our way out, I noticed a pair of poster boards alongside a voting box in the lobby. The voting box urged condo owners to vote for one of two plans to renovate the building lobby with the following descriptions below each option:
Option 1: A royal blue scheme, referencing existing color tones, but done in a much more opulent and sophisticated manner, with new porcelain tile flooring, area rugs below new seating areas, wall covering, drapery feature wall treatment (while keeping the window wall unobstructed), reception/concierge desk, central feature table, ceiling treatments, light fixtures and artwork/accessories/greenery
Option 2: A neutral champagne scheme that is a more distinct color departure from the existing blue, but nearly identical to Option 1 in terms of architectural design treatment with the exception of a mirror installed in place of artwork, and circular rugs in lieu of square at the seating areas
The best news of all is that I heard that there’s enough money in the budget to undertake such a project. Maintenance fees will not increase as a result of the renovation project nor will a special assessment be levied. Looks like the building has come a long way since management was replaced a few years ago. I remember the days when The Club at Brickell Bay had difficulties paying its own operating expenses.
Short Sales 101
We get a lot of calls from people who are interested in buying a short sale condo but aren’t exactly sure what a short sale is or what the short sale process entails. On yesterday’s show we answer several frequently asked questions regarding short sales and also discuss how a short sale differs from a foreclosure, also known as an REO or real estate owned. At the beginning of the show, we discuss three Miami foreclosure condos that came on the market recently: One Miami #1426, Courvoisier Courts #203 and Solaris at Brickell #1601. This is our longest video to date but a lot of good information is provided.
Introducing Our Marquis Condos Website
We put the finishing touches on our Marquis Miami condos website earlier this afternoon. Once again, we’re delighted with the end result and are proud to officially launch it. The site is dedicated to condo news, listings and information specific to Marquis. There you will find Marquis available condo sales, available rentals, recent sales, recent rentals, floor plans, charts, videos, resident reviews and a blog dedicated to all news relevant to Marquis. Listings for Marquis condo sales and rentals are updated every 24 hours.
This is the third website that we’ve launched within the past month. We are very pleased with the success of our Marina Blue condos website. Within a month of launch Google has already ranked it number 12 for the keywords “Marina Blue condos”. I’m confident that it will continue to move up the rankings in the months to come. We’re currently working on a building specific website for 900 Biscayne Bay condos. That website should be finished within the next two weeks. Our plan is to then launch a website dedicated to Paramount Bay condos in preparation for when the building begins closings.
Trump Towers 3 condos in Sunny Isles Beach are now available for sale
1800 Club announces a developer blow-out sale of their last 30 remaining condos
Media towers passes final vote
The developer of Artecity, a South Beach condo development, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Four Great Condo Foreclosure Deals on the Market Now
In this video segment, we highlight four condo foreclosure deals that are available at this time. These condos reside at 900 Biscayne Bay, Blue Condominium, The Club at Brickell Bay and Icon South Beach. Give us a call at 305-428-3860 if you would like to learn more about these opportunities or other foreclosure deals now on the market.
Miami Welcomes Times Square – City Approves Electronic Billboards With 5-0 Vote
Looks like Miami will continue to be the “Bright Lights, Big City” of the South. The Miami City Commission, earlier today, approved a change in a zoning ordinance which would allow developer Marc Siffin to erect a pair of electronic billboards atop an eight-story parking garage next to the Adrienne Arsht Center which is located in the Arts + Entertainment District of Miami. According to the Miami Herald’s report, Siffin will pay an annual permitting fee of $2.2M to the city and has agreed to contribute $8M toward the construction of Museum Park as part of a concession package.
Shrinking Rental Inventory in Brickell and Downtown
In this episode, we discuss the shrinking rental inventory of condos in Brickell and Downtown Miami. In recent months, it has become increasingly more difficult to find a rental in these neighborhoods than it has since the peak of the market. For example, at this time The Plaza on Brickell, which has 1,000 total units, only has two unfurnished one bedrooms available while 1060 Brickell has zero. We highlight eight other well known condo buildings in these areas and provide an overview of the rental availability within them.
It’s Not About the Money…It’s About the Sun, the Fun and the Rings!!!
They say Rome was not built in a day. I tell you tonight that the Three Wise Men of Miami have built Downtown Miami within a night. The Three Wise Men offer not gold, frankincense and myrrh but instead development, commerce and beer. The drinks will flow in Downtown Miami. The crowds will cheer, the people will spend and those who might be fortunate enough to witness NBA’s greatest team will be merry. This is an era of Miami basketball that will be long remembered, but never forgotten.
As I sit in Downtown Miami listening to the sounds of car horns filling the sky, I can only think of one thing. This is the single greatest moment for the City of Miami. Bigger than the movie Scarface, which put Miami on the map. Bigger than Miami Vice. Bigger than all of the rock stars, models and paparazzi who followed the celebrities in the 1980s to their paradise enclave. That was their Miami. Today, I present to you the new Miami. This is the beginning of something bigger and better than any developer or city official had ever envisioned for the city. This is Miami Bitch! And Miami’s Three Wise Men will proliferate an era within Downtown Miami within two years that could never be achieved within two decades.
Miami was the hotbed of the recent national real estate crisis. The epicenter of investor speculation. The Godfather of mortgage fraud. Prices tumbled here 50-70 percent from the peak. It was ripe for the picking. Miami was where real estate investment dreams were made. This was it. This was the moment where five years from now everyone who was fortunate enough to be connected to the City of Miami could say, “Damn…I coulda, shoulda, woulda”. Tonight was the moment where In one fell swoop, that was all washed away. Long forgotten.
LeBron and his crew, made up of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, made the statement that it’s not about the money…it’s about the sun, the fun, the glitz, the glamour, the neon lights and the championships. The three perennial athletes proved tonight that it’s more about their legacy than it is about the benjamins. It has been written that Benjamin Franklin once started off his day by asking the question, “What good shall I do this day?” and ending it with “What good have I done this day?”. There’s no question that the newly crowned Kings of Miami have done very much good for the City of Miami and ohhhh so much good for Downtown Miami. It’s not about the money. It’s about the good of the city and, as I’ve said for weeks, LeBron James joining the Miami Heat, will do more good for the city than ten condo developers building ten glitzy high-rises could ever do for the city.
Prices Slashed at Icon Brickell
Late last Friday afternoon prices were slashed at Icon Brickell. In the video below, we provide an overview of the Icon Brickell price reduction and end the show with the morning-breaking news that Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will sign with the Miami Heat tomorrow.
