Why Panorama Tower And Solitair Will Affect The Brickell Real Estate Market… And Why They Won’t
It is hard to ignore the fact that Panorama Tower and Solitair Brickell are going to throw a wrench into Brickell’s typically lucrative condo market. Panorama Tower is adorned with a huge banner, boasting its status as the tallest tower in the South and Solitair unapologetically sprung out of nowhere, blocking the north-facing views of all of the unsuspecting buyers at Brickell Heights West. But these qualities actually have very little to do with the reason they will disrupt the rental market, at least for awhile.
Miami’s Fascination With “New”
From a marketing perspective, Panorama Tower and Solitaire Brickell have the upper hand since they’re the newest buildings in town… even if they are only a few weeks newer. The process happens quickly in Miami. We are already receiving significantly fewer information requests for buildings like SLS Brickell and The Bond, even though both buildings are effectively brand-new. In their place are people requesting information on 1010 Brickell, ECHO Brickell and SLS Lux… all of which are still preparing to be Brickell’s new newest new building.
Supply vs Demand
It’s the oldest rule in the investor’s handbook… supply vs demand, and we are about to see it in action. Between Solitair Brickell and Panorama Tower, we are going to see over 1,200 new options come available for the same number of new tenants who move to the area each month. That’s a flood.
Pair the flood of new inventory with Miami’s fascination with new things and you’ll start to see the writing on the wall.
Apartment Buildings Hate Vacancy
It is the #1 enemy of any rental investor… VACANCY. Ack! And could you imagine the pain of having an entire vacant building? To be clear, this is not the time to waltz into the rental buildings offering pennies on the dollar for a lease. The rental buildings price their inventory very carefully and offer attractive move-in incentives in lieu of lower rent.
Why This Is Not Horrible News For Rental Investors
Will there be an inventory glut? Yes. Will it pass? Yes.
The beauty of rental buildings is that they seek a rapid initial lease-up, so their investment is operating to the best of its ability. But once they achieve the sought-after initial lease-up, the buildings integrate into the normal neighborhood market, serving the procrastinating crowd (who needs to move in this week and doesn’t mind paying a little extra on a monthly basis in exchange for lower move-in funds). The condo market goes back to normal.
It is my advice that condo owners whose units are coming available should choose a new tenant before these buildings open, else you will have several months of a dry spell. Next year will be more balanced though.
Panorama Begins Marketing For Their 821 Rental Units That Are Coming To Brickell
Panorama Pool Deck
Construction is well underway and Panorama Tower is rising quickly into the skyline, soon to surpass the Four Seasons as the tallest building in Miami. Although the building is not scheduled for completion until the end of the next year, the developer has begun marketing the rental units.
When it is finished, Panorama will reach 83 stories tall with 821 rental apartments. That’s an awful lot of inventory when we are also looking at the new condo developments coming to market in the area with their rental offerings.
One thing that I really love about the building is the size of the plans. The one-bedroom units are 1,150 square feet and there are 3 bedroom plans that are over 2,000 square feet. In a neighborhood where one-bedroom units are typically 700-800 square feet and two bedrooms are typically 1,100-1,200 square feet, the layouts at Panorama are very generous.
The building will have a pool deck with dining and bars on the 22nd level along with 3 private theaters, a pet boarding facility/doggie daycare and even a recording studio. For some reason, they’re also bringing in a cyber cafe. The cyber cafe seemed odd to me. I haven’t seen a cybercafe since the early 2000’s when people actually had to go dock up to a computer to surf the internet. Now we just surf the internet on our phones as we’re walking down the street. Hopefully, that will be switched to a kids’ playroom before opening day. I’ve heard a ton of people requesting playrooms lately, but not a cyber-cafe.
It is still far too early to be able to predict what the pricing will be for these apartments. A lot can happen over the course of a year and there is also a lot of inventory coming to market in the next few months. We’ll keep our eye on things and report back once we know more. Until then, renderings:
Lobby
Panorama Interiors
Panorama Interiors and Views
Panorama Doggie Daycare
Panorama Private Theater
Private Recording Studio
Club Room
Dining Room and Wine Lounge
Staffed Fitness Center With Classes
Cyber Cafe From Y2K That Should Be a Kids’ Playroom
Panorama Tower Offers Their Retail Space For Lease
The tower is still rising into our skyline, but Tibor Hollo’s retail space in Panorama Tower is now available for lease. The spaces are located on Brickell Bay Drive, not quite a main thoroughfare through Brickell, but a popular workaround for people who are looking to avoid the traffic on Brickell Avenue and South Miami Avenue.
There are currently four spaces available, asking $65/square foot with a $17/square foot common charge. Here is the breakdown of each space:
Ground Floor – 9,520 square feet. This space will be made available in late 2017 and works out to $51,500/month at asking price. Since it is such a huge space, I see a restaurant as being the best fit.
Second Floor – 9,561 square feet. This one is currently available according to the marketing material. It includes a lobby-level entrance, so would likely be a good fit for some sort of exclusive club. Remember the Miami City Club from a few years back? This space won’t offer the same views that the Miami City Club once boasted from the top of the Wachovia Tower, but whoever the ultimate tenant is could do something interesting with the buildout to make it enticing. The asking price here is $51,750/month.
Second Floor – 1,048 square feet. For $5,675/month, I see this as being a good fit for a salon or boutique of sorts. We represented a client a few years back who took a similar amount of space for a boutique and has made a very nice name for themselves since. Perfect size for a boutique. It could also be a smaller cigar bar that is a nice place for businessmen who work in the nearby buildings to talk shop over a glass of scotch before heading home for the day.
Second Floor – 2,767 square feet. At $15,000/month, this will likely end up as a restaurant, real estate office or a new gym concept.
We have seen leases in similar locations over the recent months in the range of $45/square foot. It will be interesting to see how Brickell City Centre’s opening affects the retail prices over the coming months. While Brickell City Centre was under construction, we experienced very few available spaces for retail clients that were not restaurants or lounges. Now that the buildings are opening up, we’re seeing many new signs go up, which is refreshing. What do you think would be a good fit for this space? Do you think the prices are on point, or do they need to be negotiated a bit?
Bye Bye Panorama Tower, Hello Panorama
Monday afternoon, while stopping in at the post office located at 1101 Brickell Avenue, I noticed the vehicle shown above parked within a stone’s throw away from the Panorama Tower site. What I immediately found odd is the absence of the word “tower” from the vehicular advertisement. On the driver side, it states, “Brickell’s Loftiest Address is Coming Soon – Panorama” while on the backside of the vehicle it reads, “Look What’s Coming – Panorama”. Perhaps Tibor has decided to make a last-minute change to the development name. Either that or he couldn’t find a big enough vehicle to fit the name in its entirety. If completed, Panorama is expected to be the tallest building in Miami.
