Aria on the Bay Construction Reaches 11th Floor Pedestal, is Apparently 70% Sold

Photo courtesy Aria on the Bay.

Construction at Melo Group’s Aria on the Bay has reached the top of the building’s 11-floor pedestal, and will increase in speed to approximately one new floor a week, according to the developer. The gargantuan 648–unit building will continue at that pace for the next 48 weeks to reach its full 53 floors in height. That means in about a year the hole which Aria is filling in the row of condo towers known as the ‘Margaret Pace Park wall’ will be gone. Niente. Nein. Meanwhile the building itself is over 70% sold “with units under hard contract,” at prices averaging $550 a square foot, according to the developer. Designed by Arquitectonica, the tower is basically the nicest thing Melo has ever built. (I once called it “Melo’s least hideous tower yet.”) Top off is expected in April 2017, with completion before the end of next year.

The Underline is Beginning Construction in Brickell Next Year

The ‘Brickell Backyard’ section of the Underline.

The Underline, Miami’s planned ten mile linear park running underneath the Metrorail, has enough money to build the Brickell section, and expects to begin construction next year. The park has about $8 million in secured funding so far from a variety of public and private sources, with the latest chunk, a $600,000 grant, coming from Swire Properties and Brickell City Centre. Construction documents are underway with design firm James Corner Field Operations reports Miami Today. Meanwhile Meg Daly, CEO of Friends of the Underline, told us “Our target is to start building in the fall of 2017 in Brickell.” Exciting news people, exciting news.

Terra’s David Martin Debuts his New Real Estate Column in Forbes

David Martin

A warrior and a poet? Meh. Maybe not, but David Martin, head of Terra Group and developer of Grove at Grand Bay, Park Grove, and GLASS, is now a developer and an author. He’s writing a twice-monthly column over at Forbes on ‘real estate development, design, and sustainability,’ beginning with a discussion on why more buyers in South Florida are end users these days as opposed to speculators. To summarize his point in just a few words: Miami’s a bit more grown up, and that makes a big difference.

A New Chinatown in North Miami?

Chinatown? Photo via Google Street View.

At a conference last year on the potential for Chinese investment in Miami, one of the takeaways was that Miami needed a Chinatown. To encourage the kinds of investment we want, Miami needs a neighborhood where Chinese have already congregated to some extent that can foster additional growth.  It sounds like North Miami is trying to do that, sort of, on a stretch of six-lane asphalt west of I-95. The bounds of this new ‘Chinatown’ are along NE Seventh Avenue from 119th Street to 135th Street. There are currently few (if any) Chinese businesses in the area, although there are a few strip malls, and a smattering of this and that, and the City of North Miami is probably hoping an influx of Chinese capital just might bring some life to this seriously lackluster area. Interestingly, there is already a significant number of Chinese-owned businesses on a stretch of 163rd Street just west of Biscayne Boulevard, but that’s in North Miami Beach, not North Miami. ‘Officially’ designating an ethnic or culturally-specific neighborhood can be a messy situation (just look at Little Haiti). Let’s hope they can do it right.

New Video Released for Paramount Miami Worldcenter Showcasing the High Street Retail

A new video was released today for Paramount Miami Worldcenter and includes footage of what the high street retail will look like once finished. Well, the video isn’t exactly new. It’s an edited video with all references of the mall removed and, in its place, new footage showcasing the high street retail. Spoiler alert: It looks amazing!

Super Bowl in the Bag, the Dolphins Are Hustling on That Stadium

Miami Dolphins Stadium Construction. Photos via Miami Dolphins.

The Super Bowl is officially returning to Miami in 2020. However, the shade canopy at Dolphins Stadium, a massive structure now under construction, has to be done in about three months. The Dolphins play the Falcons August 25, meaning the awning has to be done by then. The rush to upgrade the Miami Dolphins Stadium is tight, and now comes with Super Bowl-sized stakes too.

Downtown’s Iconic Miami Tower Has Sold for $220 Million

The Miami Tower, an icon of the Downtown Miami skyline since its construction in 1987 to designs by starchitect I.M. Pei, has been sold to the Simitomo Corporation of America, for $220 million. The tall, slender wedge of a building is sheathed in glossy white and mirrored stripes, and puts on elaborate lighting displays nightly with a system of LEDs. (they recently replaced the original floodlights) Always a big visual statement on Downtown’s ambitions to be an au courante urban core, the Miami Tower had a series of owners over the years, and a series of names. It originally was home to to the il-fated Centrust Savings & Loan, and to some will probably always be remembered by its original name, the Centrust Tower.

Inside Jacob Brillhart’s Subtropical Modern Miami River Home

Inspired by a synthesis of the most iconic and minimal of ‘High Modernist’ houses (think of Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson’s Glass House) and the subtropical vernacular of a hot and humid climate, Miami architect Jacob Brillhart designed and built his dream home in Spring Garden, one of Miami’s oldest neighborhoods. The neighborhood and the house are both tucked in a tiny peninsula poking out into the Miami River.

Having completed the house a year or two ago (for much more on the Brillhart House and its design, check out his portfolio) and settled in with the family, the Brillharts opened it to the public over the weekend for Our House, “unique design and retail initiative,” as the invitation put it, with furniture, art, and design pieces all for sale, accompanied by a lecture and workshops.

Inside the warm-but-restrained, modernist vessel for living was a colorful smorgasbord of design, with just the perfect amount of well-selected clutter to make it feel cozy. Outside again, Jacob had another surprise: a half-built movable wooden vacation home, which he’s building in his back yard. It’s designed to be disassembled into a flat-pack and shipped to Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, where a gorgeous beach-front lot is waiting for it.

Aventura Mall’s New Wing Designed by Carlos Zapata is Going Vertical

Aventura Mall New Wing, designed by Carlos Zapata.

Since news first broke a few years ago of Turnberry Associates‘ plans to undertake yet another massive expansion of Aventura Mall, officially making it the second largest shopping mall in the country, the new wing has been redesigned, and construction has begun to emerge from the ground. The Next Miami has some site photographs, and points out the building has ‘gone vertical’ (meaning construction is now above ground level), typically a more significant milestone for much taller buildings which need deeper foundations to be laid underground first.

The design of the new wing has been completely transformed compared to earlier schematics, which were of a much simpler enclosed mall layout, with skylights and an exterior oriented toward a new garage and various driveways. The new plan, by architect Carlos Zapata, is sleek, steely, and futuristic, with flying cantilevered awnings shooting out at jaunty angles, tons of glass, high ceilings, and a completely outward orientation. Shoppers stroll on bridges spanning a lower shopping area with a driveway artfully cut through. An exterior court ringed with shops and restaurants is the futuristic counterweight to Aventura Mall’s more traditional piazza area. That outdoor space, near Cheesecake Factory and the movie theater, has sunny pink stucco, Spanish tiles everywhere, terra-cotta barrel tiles on the roof, and an aqua blue statue of seahorses holding up some kind of orb.

A press release goes into more detail:

Aventura Mall has launched construction on a major expansion that will include a new three-level, 315,000 square-foot retail wing and multi-level parking garage.

The new wing, which is expected to open in late 2017, will include several destination restaurants, more than three dozen retail stores, a new food court with indoor/outdoor seating and a rooftop garden, and VIP concierge area perfect for private dinners and events.

Designed by renowned architect Carlos Zapata and JPRA Architects, the new wing will be built on the east side of the property, near Macy’s. The structure will blend seamlessly with Aventura Mall’s existing architecture but also provide a completely unique experience for visitors. The contemporary space will blur the lines between inside and outside with an immense glass façade and a skylight that extends the entire length of the concourse. The design will provide an abundance of natural light and panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. Outdoor courtyards will be ideal for dining and people watching, and select pieces from local and international artists such as Wendell Castle and Mark Handforth will spark conversation.