Lofty Brickell Begins Demolition with Tower Construction Beginning 4th Quarter of 2022
Lofty Brickell launched sales in 2021 and officially reached 50% sold in February 2022. Now, site demolition is now underway with the tower construction scheduled for the end of 2022.
Approval for the demolition was received on April 28th. This demolition would be for the entire building site where 20,000 square feet of space would be demolished. The estimated cost of the demolition is $105,400.
TBRC Group is listed as the demolition contractor and there is not a current construction permit pending or filed.
Similar to its sister tower, NATIIVO (which sold out less in less than a year) Lofty will feature 380 units of fully finished and furnished interiors that will be available for rent nightly, daily, and/or monthly. Residents will have the option of self-managing their units (VRBO or Airbnb) or using Lofty’s onsite management.
Rising 44 stories, Lofty will feature studio, 1, and 2 bedroom floor plans with 485 to 930 square feet options. Pricing starts at $493k for a studio. There will also be available penthouses but the information hasn’t been released as of now.
Designed by internationally acclaimed, Arquitectonica, interiors will be designed by a New York-based interior design company INC New York. Developer Harvey Hernandez is also responsible for Brickell House and Centro towers. Hernandez purchased Lofty lot for $50 million
Lofty will feature a number of wonderful amenities including a butler service, rooftop pool, car service, and a 5-star restaurant that hasn’t been disclosed. This tower will also include a private marina with available docks for boating.
Building Features
The 40-story landmark building designed by internationally acclaimed architecture firm, Arquitectonica
Prime Brickell location is steps from Brickell City Center
Short-term rentals permitted as-of-right
Spectacular panoramic Miami River, Brickell, and Miami skyline views
2 Story lobby with floor to ceiling windows 24-hour welcome desk with concierge 24-hour valet parking 24-hour secure access Advanced technology smart-building with high-speed fiber-optic wireless internet access throughout common areas
Exclusive LOFTY app
Cutting-edge green building technology
6 high-speed passenger elevators with access control
On-site hospitality management Curated River-front restaurant with outdoor dining terrace
Building Amenities
Exotic resort pool with pool-side cabanas
Bar and grill on pool deck 24/7
Co-working lounge Private meeting rooms
Event room with exclusive terrace
A fully-equipped, state-of-the-art fitness center with HD TVs and wireless audio Private Peloton studios Yoga lounge and terrace
LOFTY Rooftop Experience
Residence Features
Urban luxury residences with modern open layouts from 485SF—930SF Studio, one and two-bedroom units
All residences are delivered fully finished and furnished specially curated by INC
Panoramic Miami River, and Miami skyline views
Private balconies for every residence
Corner units offer wrap-around balconies
High ceilings ranging from 9’ to 11’
Owner closets in every residence
Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors and sound attenuating impact-resistant laminated glass throughout
Advanced technology Smart Building wiring for HD TV,
Multiple telephone /data lines and ultra-high-speed internet access
Individually controlled energy-efficient central air conditioning and heating system
Kitchen
Imported European cabinets with premium hardware and drawer pulls
Top of the line appliance package including stainless steel refrigerator, oven, cook-top, microwave, dishwasher and sink disposal
Elegant imported stone countertops and backsplashes
Contemporary stainless steel under-mounted sink
High-arc gourmet faucet with integral sprayer
Master Bathroom
Imported European cabinets with premium hardware and drawer pulls
Elegant imported stone countertops and backsplashes
Construction completion date is anticipated for 2024. If you or someone you know have an interest in purchasing at Lofty Brickell, please contact Lucas Lechuga via email at [email protected] or by phone at 786-247-6332.
Casa Bella by B&B Italia Reaches 60% Sold
Casa Bella by B&B Italia located in Downtown Miami on Biscayne Boulevard has just reached 60% sold within the first 5 months of launching sales.
Casa Bella will feature 3 towers and 2 will rise 57 stories while 1 will rise 50. The first tower will feature 300 luxury units although 1,430 residential units have been approved for the site. The towers will have 1,629 parking spaces and will be connected by a podium.
The newest tower will feature 1 to 5-bedroom floor plans with only 6 units per floor. Interiors will be designed by Pierro Lissoni with landscape architecture by Enzo Ena. The double-height lobby will also be designed by Lissoni and will feature a mixture of sophistication and modern designs with a permanent collection of museum-quality art located throughout.
The location of this tower places residences near the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and the Miami International University of Art and Design. The Omni Station Bus Loop is also 1 block away.
With the reopening of borders and the lifting of the pandemic restrictions as of November 8, 2021, we will likely see an increase in international buyers, especially for the new construction towers. Currently, international buyers are representing around 50% of new construction developments while earlier in the year, they were only representing 20%.
Construction for the development is estimated for winter 2022 with an anticipated completion date of 2025. If you or someone you know have an interest in purchasing at Casa Bella, please contact Lucas Lechuga via email at [email protected] or by phone at (786)247-6332.
Tampa Bay Rays Co-Owner Just Sold Miami Beach Waterfront Estate for $31.5 Million
Randy Frankel, co-owner of the Tampa Bay Rays, has sold his oceanfront Miami Beach home for $31.5 million in an off-market deal and this mansion is too stunning not to share!
Not only is this waterfront mansion absolutely gorgeous, it is now considered one of the most expensive homes to sell in Sunset Islands. The property itself rests along Biscayne Bay expanding nearly 0.45 acres located at 1635 West 22nd Street. It features 7 expansive bedrooms, 8.5 bathrooms that include 4 bedrooms in the main house, 2 guest suites and a staff room.
This contemporary and gated home is Miami living at the finest, with its ultra-modern design, grand living room with 14 foot ceilings, chef’s kitchen, formal dining, and wall to wall sliding doors leading to an elite outdoor entertaining space.
This home also offers a number of luxury amenities including, an elevator, resort-style pool, deck with summer kitchen, rooftop deck, new seawall, and a large dock.
The property was developed by Todd N. Glaser and designed by Domo Design.
The Frankels originally purchasing the home in August 2020 for $14.4 million and then sold it at a 120% markup. Property records for the home show the buyer as Ares Management CEO Michael Arougheti. Ares Management is listed as an investor for the Inter Miami CF for the Major League Soccer team with David Beckham.
Although Randy Frankel is the co-owner of the Tampa Bay Rays, he has also been apart of some big ventures. He is the former managing director at Goldman Sachs, real estate investor, owns vineyards on Long Island, gyms, country clubs, and has stake in a few European sports teams. The Frankels also recently sold a Miami penthouse for $6.45 million in January 2021 and another penthouse in December 2021 for $9.491 million.
About Sunset Islands
Sunset Islands are a set of four small islands located just to the West of Miami Beach. As the name implies, the islands are known for their captivating sunset views that offer both dry and waterfront lot homes. This luxury neighborhood is one of the most highly coveted in all South Florida.
Residents enjoy 24 hours a day gated entry, private docks for waterfront homes, and a central location to hot spots such as Sunset Harbour and Lincoln Road. Serving stunning water views, a prime locale, and elegant bayfront estates, the Sunset Islands community is undeniably one of Miami Beach’s finest.
There are currently 7 homes listed for sale on Sunset Islands with a starting price of $5 million.
Closings Begin at YotelPad Miami
YotelPad Miami is one of the newest condo-hotel developments in downtown Miami. Sales began in late 2020 and the entire tower sold out just 15 months after breaking ground. Now, closings are beginning for the 31-story tower.
Developed in a joint venture between Aria Development Group and AQARAT, YotelPad Miami is located at 227 NE Second Street in downtown Miami.
The tower features 231 residential condo units that range from 417 SF studios to 708 SF two-bedrooms. These units are located on floors 15 through 30. There are also 222 hotel units branded by the Yotel Britsh chain that occupy the lower levels of the tower.
Prices for the condo units range from 4300,000 to $499,000 and the developers have confirmed that more than half of the buyers are from China, Mexico, and Columbia.
Stantec is the architect behind Yotelpad. Each unit offers carefully cultivated floorplans with integrated living and dining areas. The fully-finished interiors feature contemporary flooring with floor-to-ceiling glass windows with a European kitchen and baths showcase custom cabinetry with stone finishes as well as Smeg Designer Italian appliances.
The units will also feature high-end appliances including an Electrolux washer and dryer, Grohe and Toto bath fixtures, Smart thermostats, Smart Lock System, and custom furniture packages.
Tower Amenities:
Elevated deck with pool, hot tub, and bar
Full-service restaurant and bar with outdoor paseo
Organic matcha bar
State-of-the-art fitness center
Private meeting rooms with co-working space
Valet parking
TransitScreen displays all your mobility options, in real-time
Private residential lobby with destination dispatch elevators
24-hour security and concierge
Secure storage unit for each residence
Enclosed bicycle storage
Skytop Lounge featuring a game area and chef’s kitchen
Digital package concierge
According to the sales team, “YotelPad Miami brought the market what it demanded, and to be successful in sales we really had to embrace the local community.”
The hotel side of YotelPad is scheduled to open on June 1, 2022.
Miami Real Estate Sales Soar for the 16th Consecutive Month
According to the MIAMI Association of Realtors and the Multiple Listing Service, Miami-Dade County real estate extended its record run of house sales with its best-ever January sales month, as existing condo transactions climbed for the 16th consecutive month.
The record-breaking 2021 included the greatest annual total dollar volume, all-time year total house sales, most single-family home sales, most condo transactions, and the highest number of cash transactions. Now, 2022 brings its best January sales month in history.
Homes sales rose 19.6% in January from 2,211 to 2,645. Single-family home transactions increased from 968 to 1,008 transactions at about 4.1%. Condo sales saw a higher increase at 31.7% from 1,243 to 1,637 transactions. This marks the 16th month of double-digit condo gains.
Compared to last January, home sales are up 42.4% from 1,857 to 2,645 with single-family homes at 13.6% and condos at 68.8%
Luxury condo sales also surged at 69.9% compared to last January at 192 transactions. Single-family luxury homes rose 20.4% at 201 sales.
Median-priced Single-family homes between $400-$600k rose 31.3% to 386 transactions for January. Condo sales in that same price range rose 98% with 303 sales in January.
Inventory decreased for both single-family homes and condos. Single-family homes decreased by 9.1% while condos decreased by 3.6%.
Median family homes sale prices increased 10.8% in January. Single-family home prices rose for the 122 consecutive months while condo prices increased for 124 consecutive months.
Total dollar volume hit $2.1 billion in January with single-family home volume increased 16.7% while condo volume increased 56.2% for January.
The sales percentage of Miami out preforms the Nation while in state, single-family home sales increased 1.4% in January 2022. Condo sales increased 6.7% in January 2020.
Single-family median sales percentages reached 98.1% for January 2022. The median sales percentage for condos increased by 3.2% compared to last year’s median sales percentage.
Cash sales in Miami make up 40.1% of real estate transactions, which is 48.5% more than the national average for January 2022. Cash sales made up of 49.4% of condo transactions while 25% of the single-family transactions were in cash.
According to the Miami Chairman of the Board, Fernando Arencibia Jr. stated, “The demand for Miami real estate has never been higher from both domestic and global homebuyers. Major U.S. companies opening HQs in Miami, surging domestic and global migration to South Florida, a larger percentage of Florida residents in their prime home-buying years, the expansion of remote work, low mortgage rates, Florida’s low taxes, relaxed Covid restrictions, South Florida’s healthy lifestyle and more have each played roles in Miami’s booming sales.”
Developer Sells Waterfront Estate to Cosmetic Company CEO
Photo Credit: Dora Puig
Pascal Nicolai, a Miami house developer, sold his waterfront Hibiscus Island spec home to a cosmetic company CEO for $2 million over asking price landing at a steep $15 million.
The waterfront estate located at 165 North Hibiscus Drive in Miami Beach features 5 bedrooms, 5.1 bathrooms all on 0.17 acres of water frontage. The MLS listing shows a rendering of the spec home with a modern finish with floor-to-ceiling windows covering the exterior.
The interior of the home showcases 4,791 square feet of living space with high-end finishes.
Tropical foliage surrounds the property creating privacy that is unmatched on Hibiscus Island. The pool overlooks the dock, Biscayne Bay, and faces the Venetian Islands.
The seller Pascal Nicolai is the owner of Nicolai’s Sabal Development and this is one of his many spec homes currently being developed in Miami. The buyer for the property is the CEO of Farmasi North America, Sinan Tuna.
Tuna’s company is not only a cosmetic company but it’s also a marketing company that was originally located in Istanbul. Farmasi plans to build a headquarters and distribution center for the company in Doral, Florida.
The property was originally listed in July 2020 for $13 million during its completion of construction. It was then taken off the market then resisted in late 2021 for $15.5 million. The property was last sold to the developer for $5.8 million in 2016.
Dora Puig, owner and broker of Luxe Living Realty represented the seller/developer of the property.
Plans Submitted for 48 Story Tower: Brickell Gateway
Israeli-developer, Gazit Horizons, is on track to bring a 48 story tower to Miami’s Brickell. Located at 90 SW 8th Street next to Brickell City Centre, will be the Brickell Gateway Tower. The 377,000 square foot project will bring residential units, office spaces, a hotel concept, and retail to the neighborhood.
Gazit Horizons acquired the land in July 2017 for $29.5 million and March 1, 2021, was the date that the developers submitted plans for demolition. The tower is proposed to include 500 condo units.
The demolition approval is still pending. According to the plans, the site only permits plans for a building up to 48-stories and they are taking full advantage.
The demolition costs for the property would total $139,698 with an estimated cost for completion at $150 million. BG Group is listed as the demolition contractor for the project. Once approved, the developers are aiming for a completion date in quarter 2 of 2023.
The developers met with the City of Miami on February 15, 2022, for review. The current status of the project is still in redesign.
You may be familiar with the current site of the proposed tower. It is a black building with magnificent artwork portraying soccer-based graffiti. The soccer club, Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, that houses the building has been renting the space since 2018. David Beckham is the Miami MLS Owner and President of Football Operations.
Sixty Sixty Condo Hotel Sold to Miami-Based Investment Group for $24 Million
In a previous foreclosure fight among owners and developers, the Sixty Sixty condo-hotel in Miami Beach has been sold for $23.5 million to a buyer who intends to repair as well as add to the waterfront development.
The 82-key condo-hotel is located at 6060 Indian Creek Drive along an inlet off of Biscayne Bay but also features views of the ocean. Integra Investments along with Sagar Desai’s Activate Hospitality sold the property to Bloom Hotels, under the umbrella of Bloom Ventures. The founder and CEO of Bloom is David Harari, who is located in Miami.
The CEO of Integra Victor Ballestas stated, “ripe market conditions created an opportunistic circumstance for the sale,” after stating he had no intention of selling the development.
The Schecher Group originally sold a majority of the units in 2020 to Integra and Activate for $15 million, then later bought the rest of the units in 2021. The company was then accused of a takeover although Schecher stated that the unit owners owed $9.4 million in homeowner association fees.
Bloom Hotels utilized Sheridan Capital to finance the property for a loan of $17.3 million. There have been talks of Bloom increasing the room count and bringing Canopy or Tapestry (Hilton brands) to assists with operations. Some plans include modernizing the property as well as adding a marina to the development.
December 2021 Posts Best Sales Month in Miami-Dade Real Estate History
This year has been a record-breaking year for Miami-Dade County real estate. Quarter one, we saw median sales prices reach record numbers as well as the number of homes sold. In the second quarter for 2021, a new record was set for the most home ever sold in that quarter.
In the third quarter, records for highest condo prices sold. And now, Miami has had its best December sales month in history with total homes sales, highest annual total dollar volume, most condo transactions, and most single-family home sales.
According to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for quarter 4, there has been 49% more sales and 103% more dollar volume in 2021. Year 2021 ended with 39,394 existing total property sales, up 49.5 percent from the 26,345 transactions in 2020 and 31.1 percent from the previous annual high of 30,041 transactions in 2013. Miami’s sales in dollars totalled $30.3 billion in 2021, an increase of 103.4 percent year over year.
The total sales record actually broke in October 2021 (10 months) which is a record in itself. In just nine months in 2021, Miami broke its all-time yearly condo sales record, selling 23,689 units, an increase of 80.9 percent over the previous year. Miami set a new record for annual single-family home sales in 11 months, with 15,705 units sold, up 18.5 percent from 2020.
Total home sales in Miami-Dade County increased 14.8% year over year in December 2021, from 2,990 to 3,433. While single-family house sales in Miami fell 1.2 percent, from 1,372 to 1,356, existing condo sales in Miami rose 28.4%, from 1,618 to 2,077. It’s the 15th month in a row that condo prices have risen by double digits year over year.
Nine of the top ten best house sales months in Miami history occurred in the year 2021. The month of June 2021 (with 4,057 total transactions) is still the most active in Miami’s history. Since MIAMI began keeping statistics in 1993, December 2021 (with 3,433 sales) has been the sixth-best sales month overall.
Home sales in Miami are also up considerably from December 2019. Total home sales in Miami increased by 41.6 percent in December 2021 compared to December 2019, from 2,424 to 3,433. Single-family house sales in Miami are up 15.5 percent, while condo transactions are up 66.2 percent, compared to December 2019.
In December 2021, single-family luxury ($1 million and more) transactions in Miami increased 18.6% year over year to 262. Existing condo luxury ($1 million and over) sales in Miami increased by 100% year over year to 264 transactions.
Luxury single-family homes have a 3.2-month supply, while luxury condos have a 7.5-month supply. Month-over-month and year-over-year, luxury months of supply continues to decline for all property categories.
In December 2021, 535 single-family houses priced between $400K and $600K sold in Miami, up 25.6 percent year over year. Existing condo sales in Miami increased by 101.7 percent to 359 deals, with prices ranging from $400K to $600K.
Single-family median prices in Miami-Dade County grew 15.4% year over year in December 2021, rising from $454,900 to $525,000. The median price of a single-family home in Miami has grown for 121 months in a row, a stretch of 10.1 years. The typical price of an existing unit grew 29.3% year over year, from $274,500 to $355,000. In 123 of the last 127 months, condo median prices have risen.
In December 2021, Miami’s total monetary volume was $3.1 billion. The dollar volume of single-family homes climbed 27.7% year over year, from $1.31 billion to $1.67 billion. Year over year, condo dollar volume increased 68.5 percent, from $853 million to $1.4 billion.
In December 2021, cash transactions accounted for 40.4 percent of Miami closed sales, up from 32.2 percent in December 2020. According to the most recent NAR statistics, cash sales account for about 23% of all house sales in the United States. Cash sales made up 49.1% of all existing condo sales in Miami and 27.1 percent of single-family home sales.
