Market Stat Monday: Almost $50 Million In Contracts Signed Post-Irma
It has been a few weeks now since the skies have cleared in Greater Downtown Miami after Hurricane Irma’s brush, and despite a little bit of flooding and debris, we were very lucky. Now that cleanup is under way, how have the condo sales fared?
Not too bad, if I must say. Despite having only two functional weeks in September, nearly $50 million in resale contracts were signed on 79 total units.
The least expensive listing to find a buyer was at the Loft II Downtown, where a 770 square foot one bedroom was listed for $175,000. Of the 79 units that went to contract, 50 of them were listed for under $500,000. We will find out the final sales prices once they close.
In the luxury segment, there were a total of 6 properties listed over $1 million that found buyers. Among them was the crown jewel penthouse #1 at Asia on Brickell Key. With nearly 5,000 interior square feet through three levels including a dramatic rooftop terrace with a private pool, the sellers had asked $8.5 million, or $1,715/square foot.
Comparing September of 2017 to September of 2016, you will see that 2016 brought both a higher number of transactions as well as a higher volume of listings sold, but not enough to make it an overall better month considering that September 2017 was short due to people being distracted by the hurricane and Hurricane Matthew didn’t brush South Florida until October of last year. September of 2016 brought just over $60 million of listings sold, with 119 total transactions.
To celebrate the end of a successful yet stressful September, let’s check out some photos of that Asia Penthouse!
La Casa Reposada To Villa Leone: The Story Behind 2100 South Miami Avenue
Along South Miami Avenue at 21st Street is a vacant lot the size of the entire block that is surrounded by a coral rock wall and majestic statues of lions covered by foliage. It is evident that there is an interesting story behind the land, although after thirty years of sitting vacant, new construction has commenced. For today’s Throwback Thursday, I want to share the story and then admire what is coming next.
According to the Miami History archives, the lot was originally purchased by a businessman for use as his family’s summer home in the 1935. The design was meant to emphasize the sun and fresh air of the area, and it was a grand home! The grounds included a rock garden with a fish pond, an island with a cypress bridge for access, a rose garden, reflection pool and a marble statue. The swimming pool was able to be electrically filled with either salt water or fresh water. Of course, the interior of the home was just as grandiose and designed for entertaining. The owner named it “La Casa Reposada,” since the family intended for it to be a haven of rest and tranquility.
La Casa Reposada Around 1955 From Miami History Archives
Shortly after his retirement in 1940, the owner died suddenly and his wife sold the property at an enormous loss, for just $50,000. The son of the owner recalls finding a listening device under one of the staircases, and presumed that the original owner had used it to eavesdrop on his guests in order to obtain the upper hand in business dealings. Savage!
After a few years, the family received an unsolicited offer for purchase from then Cuban President Carlos Prio Socarras, the last democratically elected president of Cuba. The son again recollects that the closing took forever. Prio’s representatives arrived at the house with suitcases filled with cash and it took from first thing in the morning until after lunchtime to count as armed guards stood by. Prio ended up spending much of the time he was exiled at La Casa Reposada before returning to Cuba in attempt to influence change.
From that point, the house changed hands several more times before being razed in the late 70’s or early 80’s. Aside from a cement-filled pool (that I had always assumed was the foundation of the previous structure) and the signature stone wall with lions, the property sat vacant for more than 30 years… until now.
Vertical construction has recently begun on a collection of 5 homes called “Villa Leone,” I imagine paying homage to the stone lions that looked over the property for the last 80 years. The homes have a contemporary design by Borges & Associates, who have been responsible for the designs of other popular buildings including Infinity at Brickell, The Carillon on Miami Beach and even the American Airlines Arena.
The designs maximize the buildable space, including underground garages and rooftop terraces with summer kitchens and pools. Sadly, it does not appear there is room on the lot to preserve the lions. Prices are available by request.
While OJ Simpson waits to find out whether he will get a fresh start, the house he bought in 2000 in order to get a previous fresh start, is getting a fresh start. After his famous 1995 murder acquittal, he moved to Miami to live “a quieter life,” purchasing the home at 9450 SW 112th Street in 2000. As everyone knows, the quiet life didn’t work out for Mr. Simpson and he went to prison in 2008, later losing his quiet Kendall home to foreclosure. Tomorrow, he will find out whether he gets another fresh start via parole hearing, but his former home is already well on its way to a new life.
The home is actually quite lovely, although lacking character today. The house flippers who bought it out of foreclosure have done well to remove any hint of the home’s famous former owner, leaving a blank slate for the new owner. It was originally built in 1953 and renovated in 2014-2015, so has very good bones with contemporary finishes and fixtures.
Despite being located on busy Killian Parkway, the home sits on a large 1.65 acre lot, which allows a feeling of privacy. The lot also has many mature palm trees, a half basketball court and a poolside guest cottage. It was purchased via foreclosure auction for $513,200 in 2014 and was listed in November of 2016 for $1,475,000 but has been reduced to $1,299,900. The jury is still out on what the investors spent to remove every trace of OJ from the place… what do you think?
Will Chris Bosh Stay In Miami After His Career-Ending Diagnosis?
It is a sad day for Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat. The NBA doctors have officially ruled that his blood clotting disorder is a career-ending ailment. The 11-time all star maintains that he is in good health to play, but the ruling has been made and it looks like the Heat will waive him from the roster so that they can make room for a new player to take his place.
So, if he is indeed forced off of the roster, will he stay in Miami? What will happen to the $12 million luxury home he purchased in 2010 on North Bay Road? He still has $52 million left on his contract, which he will reportedly get to keep, so he doesn’t really have to work again although he maintains a desire to continue playing. He is only 33 years old, after all. What would you do?
Here are some additional photos of the Miami Beach waterfront mansion that he calls home. It has 7 bedrooms, 8 baths, 2 powder rooms and 12,000 square feet of interior space. The North Bay Road lot has over 100 feet of bay frontage.
Jennifer Lopez & Alex Rodriguez an Item; Could a Miami Beach Waterfront Home be in Their Near Future?
If A-Rod and J-Lo are heating up as much as they say, the pair may soon be on the hunt for a future love nest. With Rodriguez’s real estate background, my guess is that the couple “eases” into their relationship by purchasing a vacant, waterfront lot and then developing upon it their ultimate dream home…and if they’re still together by the time the home is completed, then it’s meant to be.
If my predictions are correct, A-Rod and J-Lo will soon be on the lookout for a vacant waterfront lot on North Bay Road – the go-to choice for Miami Beach’s rich and famous. My bet is that they’d pursue 5840 North Bay Road (pictured above) – the largest available lot with the most water frontage on North Bay Road. 5840 North Bay Road is a 38,000 square foot lot with 191 linear feet of water frontage and comes with an asking price of $16.9M.
If Lopez really is still Jenny from the block, she should have no reservations about moving to a waterfront estate on North Bay Road since she once owned a home there two lots down at 5800 North Bay Road. That home eventually sold a few years ago to Grammy Award-winning artist Phil Collins.
Photo Tour: $34 Million Miami Beach Home With Rooftop Water Slide Finds A Buyer
It is fun for the whole family! Last week, we took a photo tour of one of my favorite old Miami Beach homes, and this week we get to go on a photo tour of one of my favorite new Miami Beach homes!
This newly built home at 4555 Pine Tree Drive has 16,000 square feet of living space and an additional 3,000 square feet of outdoor living space. Even indoors though, you are able to open the sliding glass walls to give an indoor/outdoor feel and maximize your enjoyment of Miami’s fabulous climate. In total, the home has 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms plus 2 powder rooms. Elements of the home include stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean from the master bedroom, a water slide concealed by an elegant glass staircase, a pool with open views and a boat dock that will be built to suit the buyers’ preferences.
We won’t have word until after the closing of who the buyer is or how much the property ultimately sells for, but you can rest assured we will be watching and waiting.
Art Basel, a time for attention-grabbing excess… and for the family that is known for attention-grabbing excess, we would expect no less than this $8,000/night rental mansion for 19-year old Kylie Jenner.
During the week-long internationally acclaimed art fair, Ms Jenner took to social media, showing off its many features. According to TMZ, the home was actually an Airbnb rental. Tsk tsk. Airbnb has been a hot topic in Miami Beach lately, the city is issuing $20,000 fines to homeowners who get caught letting out their places on the website, since it skips the city’s hotel tax. At $8,000/night though, that fine can be made up relatively quickly and who knows, maybe the owners did pay their hotel tax.
Anyway, the home is a newly constructed waterfront estate on Miami Beach’s Hibiscus Island. The 1/4 acre lot was originally purchased in 2012 by a Swiss doctor for just under $5.5 million. The original house, which was built in 1994, was torn down and construction began on the current mansion. It has 6,700 square feet with 6 bedrooms, 6.5 baths, an elevator and rooftop terrace, private theater, bayfront swimming pool and summer kitchen with skyline views. The estate is asking $20 million for purchase. Here are the photos from the Airbnb listing:
DEAL ALERT: Lovely Venetian Islands Waterfront Home Has $2M Reduction
Earlier today a little birdie peeked into our email tip line and suggested that there was a house at 1370 S Venetian Way on San Marco Island that was going through a series of price reductions with an “especially eager” seller. I thought to myself, “this is going to be fun.” I jumped over to the MLS to see what could possibly be wrong with the house that would make a total of $2 million in price reductions necessary. What I found was an especially lovely house and nothing to make fun of. Heck, if I’d love to live here if I had $5.865M.
The house hit the market back in August for $8.9M and has had steady reductions ever since. It is now priced alongside the average closed sales price for similar waterfront properties on the Venetian Islands, which is $5.865M over the last 3 months. Built in 2001, the current owners have outfitted the property with tasteful updates and seemingly kept the property up well. They opted for things like hurricane impact windows throughout over the typical more flashy upgrades we typically see in Miami. Good call.
Situated on a southern-exposure waterfront lot with 60 feet of frontage to the Biscayne Bay, the views from the pool, patio, balcony and rooftop sundeck are beautiful day and night. You would be able to see the Port of Miami, Downtown Miami lights and skyline and the underlit MacArthur Causeway at night. The interior is 4,033 square feet with 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths and a guest house. As of today, the listing price is $5,865,000 and from the tip we received, I imagine there is more room to negotiate. I’m at a loss. I don’t know why this house has no buyer. Do you have suggestions? Have a look at the MLS photos and drone video below and let us know. You can also compare it to other luxury houses in the neighborhood by viewing our collection of luxury homes for sale in Miami, Florida.
Venetian Islands Waterfront Lot Fetches $6.5 Million
Just this morning, escrow was closed on a 15,750 square foot lot at 412 West Dilido Drive on the Venetian Islands to an unnamed businessman from Brazil. The sale included plans for an amazing 7 bedroom home with almost 8,500 square feet of living space designed by Max Strang.
According to those involved in the sale, the buyer does intend to build his personal residence on the property. The plans are already approved and permitted from the grandfathered code regulations that allow a larger home, 1,100 square foot rooftop terrace and a private elevator. The same home would not be approved today.
Other aspects of the planned residence include an Ipe wood summer kitchen and Fleetwood telescopic floor to ceiling sliding doors. The buyer will have the opportunity to customize the interior to his taste. Aside from the 3rd floor rooftop terrace, there will be a series of three 2nd floor covered decks, two first floor patios, a cabana and an atrium. The lot offers 90 feet of waterfront with a dock and amazing sunset views.
The property and plans sold for $6.5 million. Dora Puig from our very own Luxe Living Realty represented the seller and David Pobiak from Beachfront Realty brought the buyer. See below for renderings of the project:
Nicely Updated Deco Delight on Sunset Island III Wants $3.9 Million
This Art Deco hacienda on Sunset Island III is listed for $3.9 million, and pretty darn gorgeous. Originally designed by the noted deco architect Martin Hampton in 1939, the house maintains most of its deco integrity, including a fireplace, terrazzo floors, and seductive curves (although it has admittedly lost a few things over the years, like the bathrooms). Overall a good show.
