Paramount Bay Condos
In anticipation of Paramount Bay launching sales in the coming months, I decided to launch my very own Paramount Bay website complete with floor plans. Obviously, more content such as videos and additional pictures will be added to the website once Paramount Bay officially opens to the public. Paramount Bay is a highly anticipated building and we’re confident that it will come to be regarded as one of Miami’s finest condo developments. I will be sure to let everyone know as soon as I hear anything new regarding Paramount Bay. Feel free to send me an email if you would like to be informed via email of the Paramount Bay sales launch date once it becomes available.
Over the past year, we’ve also launched the following building specific websites:
Paramount Bay Granted Fannie Mae Approval
Sales haven’t quite yet begun at Paramount Bay but the development was granted Fannie Mae approval last week. The conditional approval expires on September 25, 2011 which leads me to believe that we should expect sales to launch very soon. Paramount Bay, located in the Arts District of Miami at 2066 North Bayshore Drive, was developed by Royal Palm Communities and completed in 2009. The construction loan was originally held by Corus Bank which was later seized by the FDIC on September 11, 2009. Starwood Capital Group then acquired Corus’ real estate assets on October 2, 2009 by beating seven groups with a winning bid of $554 million. Paramount Bay was one of three condo developments residing in Miami that were part of the real estate portfolio acquired in that auction. Personally, I’m very excited about Paramount Bay and can’t wait to tour it again. I toured Paramount Bay in 2009 but the building wasn’t quite ready and I hear that Starwood has invested lots of additional money into the building over the past three months to really blow everyone away. No word yet on what pricing will be like but I’m expecting it to be close to that of 900 Biscayne Bay.
Starwood Capital Group Hungry for More Distressed Condos
Acquiring $4.5B in property 15 months ago wasn’t enough. Starwood Capital Group is back for more, and this time, according to the Wall Street Journal, they are targeting individual properties and portfolios offered by banks and the FDIC. Recently, as the article points out, Starwood Capital Group bid on Everglades on the Bay (now known as Vizcayne South and Vizcayne North) but lost out to Rockwood Capital LLC.
Through the acquisition of Corus Bank’s portfolio in October 2009, Starwood controls roughly 6,700 units throughout the country, with a good chunk of them residing in South Florida. Paramount Bay and Mint at Riverfront are two luxury condominium developments under Starwood’s control. Both Miami developments are scheduled to begin sales in the first quarter of this year.
Introducing Our Marquis Condos Website
We put the finishing touches on our Marquis Miami condos website earlier this afternoon. Once again, we’re delighted with the end result and are proud to officially launch it. The site is dedicated to condo news, listings and information specific to Marquis. There you will find Marquis available condo sales, available rentals, recent sales, recent rentals, floor plans, charts, videos, resident reviews and a blog dedicated to all news relevant to Marquis. Listings for Marquis condo sales and rentals are updated every 24 hours.
This is the third website that we’ve launched within the past month. We are very pleased with the success of our Marina Blue condos website. Within a month of launch Google has already ranked it number 12 for the keywords “Marina Blue condos”. I’m confident that it will continue to move up the rankings in the months to come. We’re currently working on a building specific website for 900 Biscayne Bay condos. That website should be finished within the next two weeks. Our plan is to then launch a website dedicated to Paramount Bay condos in preparation for when the building begins closings.
Paramount Bay Penthouse
The long awaited Paramount Bay is now available for purchase. I had a chance to tour the building last week and take a look at some spectacular penthouse condos. Paramount Bay is the most technologically advanced residential building in the city of Miami. It is completely wired with fiber optics for Internet, telephone and cable which are included in the monthly maintenance fees. Additionally, channels from over 30 countries are available through the digital cable provider. Each and every unit comes with a P:Link tablet system which allows you to control and monitor lighting, music, window treatments, etc. from anywhere in the world. Each unit also comes with one assigned parking space plus one complimentary valet space. Additional spaces are available for purchase. There are three floors of parking with a total of 600 (correction: 595) spaces available. All of the condo residences have a private elevator and 10-foot ceilings. Monthly HOA fees are 55 cents (correction: 65 cents) per square foot which are fixed for the first two years. The building is expected to be Fannie Mae approved by the end of the month. I also know a lender who can do stated income/stated asset loans at 60 percent LTV for foreign national clients.
Paramount Bay has a total of 46 floors but the penthouse condos are staggered across the building. There are a total of 11 penthouse units. The most appealing aspect about the penthouses at Paramount Bay is the size of the terraces. They are enormous! These were made for people who love to entertain outdoors for a large group of people. Another interesting feature of the penthouses is that they each come with a maid’s quarters that is located outside the unit.
The penthouse in the pictures below has 3,455 square feet of interior and an amazing 3,089 square feet of terrace.
All of the appliances hadn’t yet been installed in the penthouse I saw. The unit will have 2 Sub-Zero refrigerators, 2 Wolf ovens, 2 microwaves and 1 full height Sub-Zero wine bottle refrigerator.
Every unit in the building has a direct view of Biscayne Bay and the Miami Beach skyline.
The master bedroom
Master bathroom
Air jet Jacuzzi tub
The penthouse master bathroom has a glass-enclosed shower with a rain shower head, handheld shower wand and body jets.
All units in the building have a dual flush toilet. This is a great eco-friendly feature and will end up saving the HOA money.
Second bedroom also has a direct water view.
Second bathroom
Third bedroom faces west
Full-sized side-by-side washer and dryer
Three shots of the maid’s quarters which is located across the hall from the unit. It comes equipped with a full bathroom.
The terraces are an entertainer’s dream
The condo docs do not contain covenants against the placement of a hot tub, pool or outdoor kitchen. In fact, the terraces were poured with 12 inches of reinforced concrete with the purposes of supporting the weight of a pool or hot tub.
A Look at Margaret Pace Park in the Arts District of Miami
I had some time to kill in between showing appointments Sunday afternoon so I decided to take a walk around Margaret Pace Park. It was a warm afternoon and the park was bustling with activity. For those of you who don’t know, Margaret Pace Park is located in Edgewater Miami along North Bayshore Drive from NE 17 Street to NE 20 Street.
A few volleyball games, tennis matches and a pick-up game of basketball took place while I was there. People were also out walking their dogs or jogging around the path that surrounds the park. I noticed several parents having fun with their young children at the playground as well.
1800 Club, Quantum on the Bay, Cite on the Bay and Paramount Bay are a few condo developments across the street from Margaret Pace Park. (Below, from left to right)
Here’s an aerial view of Margaret Pace Park that I took a few years ago from one of the condo buildings nearby:
Miami Green Spaces
Living within close proximity to a public green space is usually a pretty important factor, especially for dog owners, when considering places to live in a large metropolitan area. Miami is no different, which is why I’ve decided to discuss various public green spaces within walking distance to many of Miami’s new condo buildings. This post will probably be more informative to nonlocals but it actually still amazes me how many people living in Miami haven’t heard of nice parks such as Margaret Pace Park.
- Margaret Pace Park – Of the public green spaces mentioned in this post, Margaret Pace is my favorite. It is located in the Edgewater Miami within walking distance to Quantum on the Bay, 1800 Club, Cite on the Bay and the future Paramount Bay. Margaret Pace Park offers a number of activities such as tennis, volleyball, basketball and soccer. It’s typical to see volleyball and basketball games continue well until the sun goes down. You’ll also see runners dashing around the parameter of the park and dog owners playing with their pets and mingling with other dog owners. Those with small children will also appreciate the children’s park at Margaret Pace park.
- Museum Park (formerly Bicentennial Park) – This public green space was recently renamed Museum Park. It will be a collaborative effort by the Miami Museum of Science and the Miami Art Museum. Museum Park is located just south of the I-395 expressway and just north of the American Airlines Arena. It is walking distance to Ten Museum Park, 900 Biscayne Bay, Marina Blue and the future Marquis in the Downtown Miami neighborhood of Park West. Currently, this is probably the most underutilized public green space by locals throughout Miami. You’ll occasionally see soccer games taking place, as you do in the picture above, but that’s about it. Museum Park is home to a variety of music events, with the largest being Ultra Music Festival held in March. It’ll be nice to see the transformation of Museum Park within the next 1-2 years.
- Bayfront Park – This public green space has a children’s park, an amphitheater (not seen in the picture above) and a helium balloon ride, called Miami SkyLift, that unfortunately hasn’t taken off in quite a while. Bayfront Park is also home to the Flying Trapeze School and offers yoga classes three times per week. Bayfront Park is located in Downtown Miami just south of Bayfront Marketplace and just north of the Intercontinental Hotel. It is walking distance to condominium buildings such as 50 Biscayne, the Loft Downtown, Loft 2, One Miami, Met 1 and the future Everglades on the Bay (now known as Vizcayne).
There are a variety of other public green spaces throughout Miami not mentioned in this post. However, these are the ones located near many of the new condo buildings in Miami. Unfortunately, there currently aren’t any public green spaces in Brickell.
