100 Condos Under Contract at Quantum on the Bay to Israeli Investment Group
Yesterday, a rumor was circulating that 100 condos recently went under contract at Quantum on the Bay to an investment group from Israel in a bulk sale transaction. I was able to confirm today, from multiple sources, that the rumor is true. However, everyone is keeping quiet in regards to the details involved in the bulk sale transaction. It will be interesting to learn the price per square foot that the 100 condos sell for at Quantum on the Bay once the details are revealed.
(hat tip to Kevin at South Beach Real Estate Blog for the lead on the story)
Distressed Condos Report – New Condo Developments
The spreadsheet below reveals 13 distressed condos currently listed in the MLS which reside in developments in Miami completed within the past two years. I expect this list to grow in coming months. I plan to provide future updates with new listings as well as track the outcome of condos previously listed. 12 of the 13 condos listed below are short-sales. The foreclosure process can be quite lengthy so I don’t expect to see many distressed condos in new developments become bank owned until at least the second half of the year.
View Full Spreadsheet
New Miami Condos – Closing Rates for December 2008
It’s been almost three months since my last Miami condo closing rate update. The last one was published on September 22, 2008. Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of progress in closings for most of the condo developments below since that time.
Below, you will find the date that each condo development began closings followed by the number of closed units in each condo development:
Latitude on the River had three new closings since the last update, Onyx on the Bay had three new closed condos and 50 Biscayne had two. Ten Museum Park and Loft Downtown 2 were both unchanged since the last update.
Quantum on the Bay and Plaza on Brickell each had an impressive number of closings, since the last update, considering how long ago closings began. Quantum on the Bay had 28 new condo closings while Plaza on Brickell was able to close 46.
On Friday, the Miami Herald reported that the developer of 1060 Brickell is looking to sell around 60 percent of its condos in bulk. Closings at 1060 Brickell recently reached the 40 percent mark meaning that this represents the developer’s remaining inventory.
900 Biscayne Bay and Ivy have now each reached the 40 percent mark. I’m actually quite surprised that not one of the condo developments in this last group has been able to hit the 50 percent mark. Enough time has certainly gone by. To rev up sales, 500 Brickell recently held a 4-day promotion offering a free Mini Cooper with any condo purchase from the developer’s inventory.
The next update will include Icon Brickell, Everglades on the Bay (now known as Vizcayne) and Infinity at Brickell which recently began closings.
Disclaimer: The above closing rate information was derived from public County records. There can be a 2-3 week delay from the time that a closing occurs and the time that the closing is recorded.
New Miami Condos – Closing Rates for September 2008
It’s been a little over two months since my last condo closing rate update. The last one was published on July 8, 2008.
Below, you will find the date that each condo development began closings followed by the number of closed units in each condo development:
You’ll notice with this first batch that I dropped Star Lofts from the list. I noticed a lot of double entries which made it difficult to gauge the true number of closed condos. Additionally, Star Lofts on the Bay hasn’t shown much progress in a very long time. Ten Museum Park closed 11 units since the last update while 50 Biscayne’s vast improvement reflects the bulk sale that took place. The rest of the condo developments showed very little progress.
Plaza on Brickell once again showed the most improvement within this group. Its closing rate jumped about 14 points since the July update revealing a total of 660 closed condos of the overall 1,000 in the two towers. Apogee South Beach once again inched closer to hitting the 100 percent mark, with only 2 additional condos to close before reaching it. Quantum on the Bay moves into second place in this group and has now closed around 75 percent of its condos.
The big story in this group is Midtown 4. It jumped from a 19.10 percent closing rate to an 84.92 percent closing rate. A large bulk sale of over 250 condos seems to have taken place to a buyer with a second party name of “D M MIDTOWN MIA OWNER LLC”. The same buyer also closed on slightly over 50 condos at Midtown 2 on the same day. Was this simply the developer transferring units to one of its other entities or was this an outside buyer with no association to the developer? Marina Blue jumped about 10 points, settling at around 70 percent of its condos closed. Wind and Asia showed nice improvements this update with Wind increasing around 17 points and Asia about 18 points.
These last four condo developments all showed good progress since the July update. The biggest surprise to me was Ivy which closed 125 new condos since that time. I would have guessed that 500 Brickell and Axis would each have more closed sales than Ivy.
Disclaimer: The above closing rate information was derived from public County records. There can be a 2-3 week delay from the time that a closing occurs and the time that the closing is recorded.
New Miami Condos – Closings Rates for July 2008
The last closing rate update was published on May 28, 2008. I collected the data for this month’s update this past Sunday, July 6, 2008. This month, I also included the number of closed units below each graph in parentheses.
Below you will find the date that each condo development began closings followed by the number of closed units in each condo development:
Not much has changed with this first group of condo developments since the May update except with 50 Biscayne. It went from having around a 67% closing rate to about a 75% closing rate since the last update. However, I took a close look at the numbers and noticed that 26 of the 43 newly closed condos were deeded to TRG 50 Bisc Suites LLC. All 26 units were suite units. It appears as though The Related Group transferred these 26 units to another one of its own entities. I’m not exactly sure though. Even without these 26 units, 50 Biscayne would have had 17 newly closed units. Onyx on the Bay had 5 newly closed units.
Plaza on Brickell saw the most improvement in the group of condo developments above since the last update with a 13 point increase in closings. It now shows that 52% of the overall 1,000 units have closed. You’ll also find slight to moderate improvements in the other condo developments in this group. According to public records, Apogee South Beach now only needs 6 more condo units to close in order to reach 100%.
Marina Blue continued to show good improvement in this update with around a 14 point increase in closings. Marina Blue now has nearly 60 percent of its condos closed. Wind had an increase of around 11 points, Asia around 10 points and Avenue at Brickell slightly over 7 points.
Above is the newest batch of condo developments that recently began closings. I must say that I’m pretty impressed with 900 Biscayne Bay having 79 closed units within the past 2 months. It probably actually has 100 or more closed units by now since there can be a 2-3 week delay in the time that a condo closes and the time that the deed is recorded. It’s still too early to judge the other three condo developments in this group. The next update should shed a little more light. I did have a chance to tour Axis today for the first time. I’ll try to share some pictures with everyone towards the end of the week. By the way, I wasn’t able to find Met 1 which is why it wasn’t included in this update.
Disclaimer: The above closing rate information was derived from public County records. There can be a 2-3 week delay from the time that a closing occurs and the time that the closing is recorded.
Great Artwork in Miami Condo Buildings
Walking through the common areas of some of the new condo buildings in Miami feels almost like walking through an art gallery. It’s great to see that some of these developers have decided to add an artistic touch to their buildings. You’ll find a lot of artwork in buildings such as Quantum on the Bay, 900 Biscayne Bay and 500 Brickell. Below I’ll share with you a few pieces that I really like. I had the chance to take a picture of these yesterday afternoon.
The one above is my favorite. It looks so much better in person though. This piece can be found at 900 Biscayne Bay on the 15th floor between the club room and spa. The building is full of art and the developer has chosen the pieces from local art galleries. I’ve visited 900 Biscayne Bay over the previous 5 days in a row showing units to various clients. The more I visit this building the more I LOVE it. Of all the new condo buildings completed within the past 2 years, this is hands down the BEST. The quality of the building and units is impeccable. The views are fabulous as well. When I show clients units in various buildings, I usually leave 900 Biscayne Bay last on the agenda. It’s on a completely different level.
I found the piece above to be quite interesting as well. It can be found on the rooftop lounge room at 500 Brickell. The building has lots of artwork throughout the common areas. You’ll definitely find more artwork at 500 Brickell than other Related Group condo developments in Miami. I wonder if Icon Brickell will have as much eye candy when it is completed.
I heard that there’s going to be an art show at Quantum on the Bay next week. I saw various art pieces throughout the lobby on Monday or Tuesday that I found appealing. Does anyone know the date and time that this art exhibit will occur?
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.
Panoramic Views from 3 Bedroom Penthouse at Quantum on the Bay
This morning, I showed a 3 bedroom Penthouse unit on the 51st floor at Quantum on the Bay to some foreign buyers. The views were pretty amazing! Take a look for yourself below.
To the south, you can see Brickell Key and Key Biscayne from the Penthouse at Quantum on the Bay.
You can also see the Venetian Islands, Fisher Island, South Beach and Star, Hibiscus and Palm Islands.
Here you see the rest of Miami Beach from the Penthouse at Quantum on the Bay.
To the north, you can see Surfside, Bal Harbour and Sunny Isles Beach in the distance.
New Miami Condos – Closing Rates for May 2008
It’s been almost 2 months since my last post regarding the closing rates of various Miami condo developments. That post was published on April 4, 2008. Referring back to that post and comparing it to the figures in the graph below, you may quickly realize that I must have made a mistake last month when pulling the data for Loft Downtown 2. I’m not sure how that happened. I double and tripled checked the figures this month, however, for all of the condo developments.
Below you will find the date that each condo development began closings:
Even with the overstatement of closed units corrected, Loft Downtown 2 still has the best closing rate of any condo development located in Miami included in this post, and the second best overall. Loft Downtown 2 isn’t as close to hitting the 100 percent mark as I had previously thought, but it’s doing comparatively quite well. The overall closing rate at 50 Biscayne increased slightly over 6 points while the rest, in the group above, increased 2.52 points or less, since the last update.
As over half of this group approaches the one year mark since their closings began, a few interesting questions come to mind. What is happening to the defaulted condos? Are developer’s leasing them and holding until the market gets better or are they hoping for onesy and twosy buyers to come along to slowly deplete their inventory? Are any of these developers feeling the pain yet? I’ve heard that at least one of these condo developers has been for a few months. If that’s true, then when, if ever, are we going to see some bulk sales?
I’m sure glad he’s proving me wrong. Those were my first thoughts when looking at the chart above. My second thoughts are that Apogee South Beach has continued to make great strides in closing its condos. Apogee has improved almost 15 points since my last update. Quantum on the Bay and 1800 Club, the only other two condo developments in the group above the 50 percent mark, each continued to show nice progress as well.
Below you will find the date that each condo development began closings:
Marina Blue is off to a very good start. Pretty impressive from a condo development that started closings so late in the game. Asia is doing relatively well given that it had its first closing less than two months ago. However, Asia has only 123 total units. I’m expecting that we’ll some good progress in Asia’s closing rate next month. I guess we’ll have to wait for the next update, however, to find out.
Disclaimer: The above closing rate information was derived from public County records. There can be a 2-3 week delay from the time that a closing occurs and the time that the closing is recorded.
