Construction to Begin on Sky Palace at Mary Brickell Village Next Month
Construction is scheduled to begin on the condominium high-rise that was once known as Skyline at Mary Brickell Village in December 2009. The 369-unit Mediterranean-style condo building is now known as Sky Palace at Mary Brickell Village. It will sit atop the parking garage at Mary Brickell Village located on the west end of the commercial development. Completion of Sky Palace at Mary Brickell Village is projected to occur in the last quarter of 2011.
The long awaited Paramount Bay is now available for purchase. I had a chance to tour the building last week and take a look at some spectacular penthouse condos. Paramount Bay is the most technologically advanced residential building in the city of Miami. It is completely wired with fiber optics for Internet, telephone and cable which are included in the monthly maintenance fees. Additionally, channels from over 30 countries are available through the digital cable provider. Each and every unit comes with a P:Link tablet system which allows you to control and monitor lighting, music, window treatments, etc. from anywhere in the world. Each unit also comes with one assigned parking space plus one complimentary valet space. Additional spaces are available for purchase. There are three floors of parking with a total of 600 (correction: 595) spaces available. All of the condo residences have a private elevator and 10-foot ceilings. Monthly HOA fees are 55 cents (correction: 65 cents) per square foot which are fixed for the first two years. The building is expected to be Fannie Mae approved by the end of the month. I also know a lender who can do stated income/stated asset loans at 60 percent LTV for foreign national clients.
Paramount Bay has a total of 46 floors but the penthouse condos are staggered across the building. There are a total of 11 penthouse units. The most appealing aspect about the penthouses at Paramount Bay is the size of the terraces. They are enormous! These were made for people who love to entertain outdoors for a large group of people. Another interesting feature of the penthouses is that they each come with a maid’s quarters that is located outside the unit.
The penthouse in the pictures below has 3,455 square feet of interior and an amazing 3,089 square feet of terrace.
All of the appliances hadn’t yet been installed in the penthouse I saw. The unit will have 2 Sub-Zero refrigerators, 2 Wolf ovens, 2 microwaves and 1 full height Sub-Zero wine bottle refrigerator.
Every unit in the building has a direct view of Biscayne Bay and the Miami Beach skyline.
The master bedroom
Master bathroom
Air jet Jacuzzi tub
The penthouse master bathroom has a glass-enclosed shower with a rain shower head, handheld shower wand and body jets.
All units in the building have a dual flush toilet. This is a great eco-friendly feature and will end up saving the HOA money.
Second bedroom also has a direct water view.
Second bathroom
Third bedroom faces west
Full-sized side-by-side washer and dryer
Three shots of the maid’s quarters which is located across the hall from the unit. It comes equipped with a full bathroom.
The terraces are an entertainer’s dream
The condo docs do not contain covenants against the placement of a hot tub, pool or outdoor kitchen. In fact, the terraces were poured with 12 inches of reinforced concrete with the purposes of supporting the weight of a pool or hot tub.
New Screen Shots of the iPhone Real Estate App
We’re wrapping up the finishing touches on the Miami Condo Investments iPhone application. We should be done by the end of this week. We then need to submit it to Apple for approval. The submission process usually takes 2-4 weeks. I’m hoping that it’ll be available to download at the iTunes store by December 1st. Not sure if I mentioned this before but I’m not going to charge for the application; it’s going to be a free download. Below, you’ll find some screen shots of the Miami Condo Investments iPhone application. This is going to be a serious app!
Espirito Santo Penthouse Foreclosure – Condo Deal of the Month
While searching the MLS Friday afternoon I came across a bi-level 3 bedroom/3 bath penthouse foreclosure at Espirito Santo that was extremely well priced. Not surprisingly, the listing agent only found the time in his busy schedule to upload two interior shots. Compelled to check it out for myself, I quickly made it over to Espirito Santo.
Unit 3405, the 3 bedroom penthouse foreclosure, has 1,934 square feet across two levels and a balcony located on the first floor. The condo foreclosure faces south and resides on the 34th and 35th floors. Condos with balconies are found only on the south, east and north sides of Espirito Santo.
Below is a video I shot of the first level which is where the living room, kitchen, third bedroom, third bathroom and balcony are found:
The following video contains footage of the second level which is where the laundry room, second bedroom, second bathroom, master bedroom and master bathroom reside:
As always, I also shot an array of pictures of the 3 bedroom condo and wanted to share them with everyone.
The MLS states that the maintenance fees are $1,000 per month but my guess is that they’re closer to $1,300 per month. (Once again, the listing agent was probably too busy to pick up the phone to find out the correct HOA fee.) This penthouse condo at Espirito Santo has a lot of potential. At this price, the buyer will likely do a complete renovation and create a spectacular penthouse. The asking price of this condo is $799,900, or $414 per square foot. Unit 3405 previously sold for $1.46M in March 2007. There’s no doubt in mind that this penthouse will go for at least full asking price.
Call me at 786-247-6332 if you’d like to make an offer on this Espirito Santo penthouse condo.
Jade Ocean Condos Photo Tour – Designer Ready Condos
The vast majority of luxury condos in South Florida are delivered designer ready by the various developers. The condos at Jade Ocean are no different. Below, you will find two designer ready corner units.
Residence A
This is a 3 bedroom/3.5 bath condo with 2,843 total square feet, including three separate balconies. The condo occupies the entire southern end of Jade Ocean with views to the east, south and west. These flow through corner units have intracoastal and direct ocean views. The residence A floor plan that you see below is the mirror image of the residence A unit that is shown in the photos below.
Residence E
This is a 4 bedroom/4.5 bath condo with 3,416 total square feet, including three separate balconies. This condo also occupies the entire southern end of Jade Ocean with views to the east, south and west. It too is a corner unit and has intracoastal and direct ocean views. Once again, the floor plan below is a mirror image of the residence A unit that is shown in the pictures below. The 4 bedroom corner units start on the 27th floor while the 3 bedroom corners are found up to the 26th floor.
Contact me now to learn about the great opportunities now available at Jade Ocean. 786-247-6332
Penthouse at 1800 Club Sells for $170 Per Square Foot
The best condo deal that closed in the month of September actually wasn’t a short sale or foreclosure. Unit 3715 at 1800 Club was a developer unit that sold for $700,000, or $170 per square foot, on September 3, 2009. The 4 bedroom/4.5 bath penthouse condo has 4,120 square feet of interior and a 2,327 square foot bi-level rooftop terrace with a private Jacuzzi. Grant it, the penthouse faces southwest and only has partial views of Biscayne Bay, but I think the developer gave this sweet pad away at $170 per square foot.
Top 5 Distressed Condo Sales Closed in September 2009
Below, you will find what I believe to be the five best condo deals of the 53 distressed sales that closed in the month of September in the MLS located in Brickell, Brickell Key, Downtown Miami and the Arts District. It was tough to decide between the first two for the number one spot but The Mark on Brickell #1608 took it based on location and view.
The Mark on Brickell #1608 – 2 bedroom/2 bath (1,140 square feet) – This unit sold for $210,000, or $184 per square foot, on September 18, 2009. Short Sale
Blue Condominium #1701 – 2 bedroom/2.5 bath (1,449 square feet) – This unit sold for $210,000, or $145 per square foot, on September 10, 2009. Foreclosure
Brickell on the River North #3715 – 3 bedroom/2.5 bath (1,512 square feet) – This unit sold for $287,000, or $190 per square foot, on September 4, 2009. Short Sale
Jade Brickell #1201 – 2 bedroom/2.5 bath (1,878 square feet) – This unit sold for $675,000, or $359 per square foot, on September 30, 2009. Foreclosure
Marina Blue #2302 – 1 bedroom/1.5 bath (843 square feet) – This unit sold for $190,000 or $225 per square foot, on September 30, 2009. Short Sale
As a side note, bidding on foreclosures has become extremely competitive. I noticed that the majority of the condo REOs that closed in September closed at a price that was above the asking price. This was the case in 19 of the 26 REO listings that closed last month located in the aforementioned neighborhoods of Miami. It has become more important than ever to know the comparable sales in the neighborhood. The mentality of automatically going in with a bid 10-15 percent below asking price doesn’t fly anymore. With season right around the corner, I’m confident that the worst is well behind us.
Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony To Acquire 10 Units at Icon Brickell
I confirmed that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony placed 10 units under contract at Icon Brickell earlier this afternoon. People magazine reported last month that they had acquired a penthouse condo in the same development as well. It looks like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are very bullish on the future of Brickell Miami. I heard last week from a separate source that prices at Icon Brickell were recently reduced to around $350 to $400 per square foot.
Update: Marc Anthony ended up losing two of the ten condos at Icon Brickell as part of a divorce settlement with wife-number-four Shannon De Lima. The two Miami luxury condos were valued at over $2 million.
The Future of Real Estate
A few months ago, I referred to a secret project that I was working on that would crush my competition. We’ve had a few delays, but after a little over 3 months of work we are now very close to completing it. Today, I provide you a sneak peek of that project. It’s an iPhone application that will revolutionize the industry. I’ve done a ton of research on the capabilities and flaws of the iPhone and have thought of everything. I won’t go into the features of the application at this point for obvious reasons but I must say that I’m very proud of this little pocket rocket. In the picture above, you see the start up screen. I didn’t want to reveal too much at this time but I will unveil other screen shots within the next two weeks and go into all of the features of the Miami Condo Investments iPhone application. I’m also preparing to launch the same application on the Android platform early next year.
Early next month, I’m also planning to launch a new website. It’s coming along very well and it has exceeded all of my expectations. I recently brought in an assistant and showing agent to help me during these months of expansion. I’m looking to bring in 1-2 additional agents within the next couple of months. My plan is to solely concentrate on this website and the iPhone application and crank out 5-6 posts per week. Unfortunately, that means that I won’t be able to do anymore showings. However, you can be rest assured that you will always meet with a quality agent who knows the South Florida condo markets as well as I do (well maybe not that well).
