A First Look at Paraiso Bayviews Designed by Karim Rashid

Three weeks ago, I was given an exclusive tour of the recently completed Paraiso Bayviews by Related Group’s very own Carlos Rosso. Closings for the building started last month. According to Rosso, Related Group was able to close over 100 units in the first week alone…an outstanding start considering that Paraiso Bayviews has just 386 total units.

The interiors at Paraiso Bayviews were designed by prolific designer Karim Rashid. If the name sounds familiar, you may recognize it because he also designed the interiors at MyBrickell. Known for using bright shades of pink, yellow, orange, green, and purple, his designs are difficult to miss. From the lobby to the fitness center to the hallway wallpaper and everything in between, Rashid’s signature look is apparent throughout the building.

Paraiso Bayviews has 386 condo residences comprised of one-, two-, and three-bedroom floor plans plus penthouses. The building’s amenities include a rooftop terrace with pool, hot tub, and BBQ area along with a 5th-floor amenities level with sunset pool, tennis court, handball court, BBQ area, children’s playroom, billiard’s room, state-of-the-art fitness center, theater, spa, clubroom, valet, and full-service concierge. In addition, residents of Paraiso Bayviews have access to the Paraiso Beach Club. Of the four towers comprising Paraiso District (Paraiso Bay, Paraiso Bayviews, One Paraiso, and Gran Paraiso), Paraiso Bayviews is the only one that has a rooftop pool deck.

entrance to rooftop pool deck

rooftop pool deck[/caption]

views from rooftop pool deck

theater

theater

fitness center

fitness center

children’s playroom

sunset pool deck

spa

tennis court

handball court

clubroom

clubroom

clubroom

clubroom

mailroom

Given that Paraiso Bayviews is located behind the other three towers comprising Paraiso District, I was expecting the views from it to be terrible. However, to my delight, the views were quite good; you have views of the water in between the towers and there’s enough of a setback where you don’t feel like you’re living in a fishbowl.

At the time of this writing, there are 13 units listed for resale ranging in price from $530 to $852 per square foot and 38 units listed for rent ranging in price from $2.32 to $3.67 per square foot. Most of the units at Paraiso Bayviews come with carpeted floors, but I was told that a good percentage of the owners purchased the flooring upgrade (as seen in the photos below).

view from kitchen

Paraiso Bayviews kitchen

views from Paraiso Bayviews

Paraiso Bayviews bedroom

A First Look at Aria on the Bay in Miami’s Edgewater Neighborhood

Last week, the Miami Condo Investments Team was invited to tour Edgewater Miami‘s recently completed, 53-story condo tower Aria on the Bay. You may recall mention of Aria on the Bay from past articles of ours covering preconstruction purchases made by MLB star Giancarlo Stanton, who selected a 5-bedroom penthouse unit with rooftop pool and summer kitchen, and recording artist/music producer Timbaland, who purchased two East-facing 3-bedroom units for a combined indoor and outdoor total area of 6,000 square feet. Aria on the Bay was developed by The Melo Group and designed by Arquitectonica. Closings for the project began just a few weeks ago.

Aria on the Bay is located at 488 NE 18th Street. The location is no doubt one of the building’s most notable features, situated across the street from the 8-acre Margaret Pace Park, which provides public access to greenery, walking trails, a gated dog park, tennis courts, and outdoor fitness equipment. Such a wide-open grassy expanse is a rarity in greater downtown Miami, and most certainly is a highlight for dog owners and families.  It also makes for nice Eastern views even on the lower floors of Aria, overlooking the park and then onward to Biscayne Bay.

I’m a girl who loves to make a dramatic entrance, so the Aria grand lobby and entryway staircase were some of my favorite design features in the building.  Ascending the staircase, I was greeted by a beautiful chandelier, reminiscent of twinkling string lights attached to a nest of delicate tree branches.  Upon joining the rest of the MCI Team, the upper-lobby 24-hour concierge pointed us in the direction of the elevators, which whisked us away to several floors of amenities.  Nature was very clearly the central theme connecting all the common areas of the building, as we noticed an earthiness in both textures and hues, a grassy moss-like carpeting, and even chairs resembling open flower blossoms.  The delicate tree-branch light fixtures were repeated in the great room and social areas, which were surprisingly spacious and bright.  We walked the pool deck, which featured sunrise and sunset pools, a Jacuzzi, and sundeck, all with spectacular views of the marina and Venetian Causeway to the right, open bay to the left, and Miami Beach skyline in the distance.

Along with its expansive sun deck and lounge area, Aria on the Bay amenities include an enormous great room with social areas, pool table, and flatscreens, children’s pool, hot tub overlooking Biscayne Bay, state-of-the-art gym and yoga studio, outdoor fire pit, BBQ, private spa and treatment rooms, game room and library, theatre room, teen lounge, kids’ playroom, and business center.

The 648 residences at Aria on the Bay are comprised of one-, two, and three bedroom floor plans ranging in size from 777 to over 2,364 square feet of living space plus balcony.  Approximately half of the units in the building feature private elevator access, and all units feature 9-foot ceilings, water and city views, Italkraft kitchens and bathrooms, and Bosch appliances.  We were amazed to see that some units have 11-foot deep balconies!

As for remaining inventory, the building is 90 percent sold, leaving 50 developer units still available.  One-bedroom condo pricing starts at $437,900.  Two-bedroom condos start at $590,900 (including a penthouse for $891,900), and three-bedroom condos start at $689,900.  My personal favorite floor plan was the Model A 3-bedroom + den / 4 bath unit on the southeast corner, featuring private elevator entrance, 2,365 square feet of interior, and 516-610 square feet of balcony, of which there are only 3 options remaining: Unit 1512 asking $1,591,900, Unit 2312 asking $1,631,900, and Unit 3012 asking $1,667,900.  All units come finished with 32-inch porcelain tile floors.  Along with offering surprisingly affordable prices for brand new construction in greater downtown Miami, Aria on the Bay is also a Fannie Mae approved building, meaning that well-qualified buyers can obtain financing with as little as 5% down up to $453,000.

For more information on available units at Aria on the Bay for sale or for rent, contact [email protected] or 305-428-3860.

UNA Residences: A Short Film w/ Architects Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill and Developer Vladislav Doronin

Get your popcorn ready! The developer of UNA Residences, OKO Group, has released a short film starring architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill along with Chairman and CEO of OKO Group, Vladislav Doronin. The duo architects share their inspiration for the building’s design while Doronin describes the amenities and lifestyle that future residents of UNA will get to enjoy, from its bayfront pool and marina to its world-class spa…and everything in between.

UNA Residences prices, floor plans, and renderings

1000 Museum Drone Footage from Helipad (Video)

The developer of One Thousand Museum has released a series of drone videos, each taken from the building’s rooftop helipad. The videos tease the jaw-dropping views future residents of 1000 Museum will enjoy as their chopper arrives and departs from the 62-story tower.

Once completed, One Thousand Museum will boast the ONLY residential helipad on the East Coast. The ultra-luxury development will include an on-site travel concierge service from which residents will be able to reserve the helipad and book transport to and from a number of destinations such as the Miami International Airport, nearby Islands, and more. Good riddance to Miami traffic!

One Thousand Museum was designed by legendary architect Zaha Hadid, whose untimely death two years ago caught us all by surprise. With an architectural marvel like 1000 Museum gracing our Miami skyline, the heavens will be left wondering if the “H” atop the building was left to denote “helipad” or Hadid’s last mark on our city.

Brickell Flatiron Construction Update (Video)

Brickell Flatiron is really getting up there these days! As of today, construction of the 64-story, ultra-luxury tower has reached the 42nd floor. To put that height into perspective, the height of Brickell Flatiron has now eclipsed that of nearby 1100 Millecento. The video below was taken last month and construction of Brickell Flatiron has been moving at a pace of one floor per week.

The developer still has a number of great options still remaining, so if you’re interested in purchasing a condo at Brickell Flatiron, you shouldn’t feel like you’ve missed the boat. Brickell Flatiron is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019, which I believe will be a brilliant time to deliver a development of this magnitude. I’m predicting that the next upswing for the Miami luxury condo market will begin in October of next year. Brickell Flatiron’s construction crane is the last crane remaining from Brickell’s recent construction cycle.

I took the photo below of Brickell Flatiron on May 22nd from the rooftop of 1100 Millecento.

Icon Brickell Pool Delays Continue (Now they’re saying August)

As you may recall, Miami Condo Investments was the first to report of the impending pool closing at Icon Brickell in November 2015. Due to attorney and condominium association review, the process to approve and ultimately finalize the pool closure did not come until a year later.

On November 23, 2016, we reported that the Icon Brickell condominium association had sent a letter that week to residents stating that the pool deck would be inaccessible for approximately 12 months beginning December 5, 2016.

About a year later after that, on November 27, 2017, we had heard that the management office was still aiming for a December 15th completion.

Well, December 15th came and went, and the pool remained a construction zone.

In early February 2018, the Icon Brickell Master Association Board of Directors sent a new notice to residents to update them about the large delay to reopen the pool, blaming the delay on “the hurricane and unforeseen construction items”. They also provided a new anticipated opening date of April 1, 2018, barring any significant delays due to weather.

Well, here we are in June. Once again, the reopening date came and went and still no finished pool deck. Earlier today, an agent on the Miami Condo Investments showed a few units at Icon Brickell and was able to snap a few shots of the pool deck along with a short video clip. By the looks of it, there’s quite a ways to go until one can expect the Icon Brickell pool to reopen.

I had been hearing rumblings that the anticipated reopening date had been pushed back to July or August; however, an owner at Icon Brickell notified me today that he has received word from management that the pool isn’t anticipated to reopen until August. I guess we shall see!

If you ask me, they’re planting them Christmas trees around the pool in anticipation of a December 2018 reopening…LOL!

Drone Footage of the SLS Lux Rooftop Pool (Video)

While Related puts the finishing touches on the uber-amenities at SLS Lux, I wanted to share with everyone a new aerial drone video showcasing its 57th floor rooftop pool deck and 9th floor garden level amenities deck. Although Related received its temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) for the upper floors last month, the sky lounge and rooftop pool deck have yet to officially open in order to allow the developer adequate time to properly furnish those spaces. In the video below, you will notice that the rooftop pool has been filled with water and has five poolside umbrellas around it but is missing lounge chairs. On the 9th floor amenities level, it’s good to see that the multi-purpose court is nearly finished.

For those curious about how the inside of this beautiful development looks, be sure to check out my photo tour of SLS Lux, which is filled with hi-res photos of the SLS Lux Brickell Hotel, on-site restaurant and bar, and building amenities. And if you’re curious to see the finishes of an actual condo residence at SLS Lux, be sure to check out my photo tour of unit 2009, which I listed for sale on April 26th and got under contract in just six days!

New Renderings Unveiled for Una Residences

Spa

Earlier this week, the Miami Condo Investments Team was invited to the Una Residences sales center to receive a special presentation for Brickell’s only waterfront preconstruction development. Not only did we have an opportunity to see first-hand the kitchen and bathroom finishes, we also had an opportunity to view the newly released renderings and see for ourselves some of the views that the development will offer.

Pre-sales for Una Residences launched a few months ago and the development has been very well received. The 47-story tower was designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill (AS+GG) and is being developed by OKO Group. Completion of Una Residences is slated for summer 2021.

private boat slips

lobby

Kids’ splash-pad area

terrace

level 3 lounge

Kids’ playroom

New Renderings Released for Canvas Miami

With completion just months away, new renderings were released earlier this week for Canvas Miami, the 37-story condo tower developed by NR Investments and located in the emerging Arts + Entertainment District of Miami at 1630 Northeast 1st Avenue. I must say, these newest renderings look much more exciting than their earlier ones. Besides showcasing their amenities, these renderings seem to emphasize the streetscape and pedestrian-friendly roads immediately surrounding Canvas, something which will be a welcome addition to that neighborhood.

On the 9th floor, Canvas will include 30,000 square feet of amenities:

• Sunrise Pool
• Sunset Pool
• 3,000-square-foot Fitness Center
• Zen spa/sauna and treatment rooms
• Indoor/Outdoor Yoga Garden
• Racquetball Court
• Social Room
• Children’s Playroom

The rooftop level will include the following additional amenities:

• Rooftop Lounge
• Sky Plunge Pool
• Signature Dining
• Business Center
• Theater

Canvas Miami is scheduled to be completed in summer of this year. The developer still has inventory remaining with prices starting in the mid-$300Ks.