Miami River Dream Hotel Officially Approved by Voters
Voters in Miami approved a new 100-year lease for the builders of a proposed mixed-use project on the Miami River with the Dream Hotel as its anchor in a low turnout election.
The restaurant and entertainment complex Wharf Miami is currently located on a 1.5-acre city-owned site at 114 Southwest North River Drive. MV Real Estate Holdings, led by Alex Mantecon and Guillermo Vadell, and its partner Driftwood Capital, led by Carlos Rodriguez Jr., can now move forward with their plans to transform the location.
A majority of 34,745 voters approved the referendum, allowing the Miami City Commission to forgo competitive bidding and negotiate the lease with MV and Driftwood.
Voters had approved a deal in 2016 providing Riverside Wharf a 30-year lease with the possibility of two additional 10-year lease terms. MV agreed to construct a 30,000-square-foot entertainment center in exchange for paying the city a minimum of $195,000 in rent each year and spending at least $7 million to rehabilitate public space, including a new riverwalk in front of the construction.
Under the Dream brand, the joint venture plans to construct a $185 million mixed-use development anchored by a 165-key hotel. The 200,000 square-foot Riverside Wharf project, designed by John Cardello of Cube3 architects, would also have 16,000 square feet of eateries, a 12,000 square-foot event hall, a 30,000 square-foot nightclub, a rooftop day club, and 600 feet of river frontage. The new building would house Wharf Miami as a tenant.
MV and Driftwood agreed to pay 50 percent more rent than the city was expected to receive in a previous development proposal that was approved by Miami voters in 2016 in exchange for the new lease and development rights. They also agreed to raise the minimum amount of private investment from $7 million to $30 million.
According to campaign finance disclosures, the developers invested $311,000 in advertising, phone banks, and other voter turnout initiatives. The Riverside Wharf political action committee inundated voters’ mailboxes with pamphlets touting the project in the weeks running up to Tuesday’s primary election.
According to the mailers, Riverside Wharf will generate 600 new jobs and is a “state-of-the-art sea level rise program for future generations.” Before election day, there was not much opposition to the idea.
Because MV and Driftwood drastically altered the scope and size of the development that voters initially approved six years ago, the project—which never got off the ground—needed another referendum.
Art Basel Special: Top Miami Trophy Properties Day 1
Welcome to Art Basel week! This year, we are going to celebrate Miami’s own holiday week with a special series. Rather than our normal lineup of market statistics, development news and neighborhood information, we are going to highlight the best and brightest of Miami’s trophy properties all week long!
Each post this week will feature at least one special property so that you can preview the art that is Miami real estate. All of the properties will be available for purchase for at least $1 million and will stand out in some way, shape or form.
We are going to start the series off in the Miami Riverfront enclave with Ivy at Riverfront’s Upper Penthouse. For those who are unfamiliar, the Miami Riverfront enclave is a guarded and gated community along the north bank of the Miami River, just across from Brickell City Centre. It offers close proximity to Brickell but also the added security of the guard gates. Each of the buildings also has 24-hour doorman as well as valet.
Upper Penthouse 5 is a city-chic palace with three total levels, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths and a rooftop terrace that rivals most local hotel terraces. The interior has 2,418 square feet and with the balconies and rooftop terrace, you wind up with almost 4,600 total square feet of space!
The corner penthouse for sale offers 270 degree views of Downtown Miami, the Biscayne Bay, Coral Gables and South Beach. Also, since it is on the corner you get amazing sunrise and sunset views. The rooftop terrace has several seating areas, wood porcelain flooring, a stainless steel summer kitchen and a jacuzzi with a view.
Inside, the seller has heavily upgraded every corner. The kitchen has Viking and Bosch appliances and quartz countertops. Custom lighting and sheer draperies were added throughout, with blackouts in the bedrooms.
This property is offered for $1.75 million unfurnished, or $1.85 million with all of the furnishings, a second parking space and separate storage area. For a private tour, call/text 305-428-3860 or email [email protected].
Girlboss: Miami Buildings Developed By Female Developers
In honor of #WCW (Woman Crush Wednesday), let’s take a look at the buildings in our area that were brought to us by women. Many people know the story of how Miami was founded by two women (Julia Tuttle and Mary Brickell), and everyone knows about the magic that Zaha Hadid is bringing to Downtown Miami with One Thousand Museum, which she designed but did not develop. What about the women who are behind the reins? Real estate development is an especially male-dominated field, so bravo to these trailblazers! Girlboss!
Lissette Calderon
Ms Calderon was born into a real estate family. Her father was a developer of small projects while she was growing up and piqued her interest after his passing when she was a teenager. While in college at the Wharton School of Business, she took a few real estate classes for fun, but didn’t plan on entering the field until later. When she ultimately returned to Miami, she landed a job under the Condo King himself, Jorge Perez.
After two years of learning the development ropes, she branched off on her own in 1999 and formed NEO. Her first building was Neo Lofts, which we don’t have featured on our website because it is west of our core service area, but is a great start to a great career. It was completed in 2004 and has 20 stories with 200 units. It is still a popular choice for those who enjoy high-rise living but don’t necessarily want to be in the densest part of the city.
Following the success of Neo Lofts, she expanded into Brickell to bring us Neo Vertika in 2006. This was an interesting addition to the neighborhood as it is the only choice for residents who enjoy living in New York style lofts. I consider New York style lofts to be those with exposed ductwork and concrete floors/ceilings. Neo Vertika has 36 floors and 443 lofts that are studios up to three bedrooms. The prices today range from $225,000 for a studio-sized one bedroom up to $375,000 for a 2 bedroom penthouse. The average sales price of closed sales this year is $317/square foot. For rentals, you could find a studio-sized one bedroom for just under $1,700/month, a duplex one bedroom for $1,850, and two bedrooms starting at $2,250/month. Another draw to this development is the popular restaurant/lounge in the waterfront retail space, American Social.
Next, Ms Calderon moved to the north side of the river and brought us Wind by Neo in 2008. Due to the unfortunate timing of the building’s opening in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis, there were financial hardships and many foreclosures associated with Wind, but it has rebounded nicely and remains a popular building today. Wind has 41 stories and 481 Miami-style lofts with a dramatic all-white-everything lobby. There are currently 57 units for sale in the building with one bedrooms starting at $245,000 and two bedrooms starting at $305,000. The average sale price per square foot is $317/square foot for sales that occurred in the first quarter of 2017. Rental prices start at $1,650 for a studio-sized one bedroom, $1,800 for a full sized one bedroom, and $2,300month for a two bedroom.
For her fourth project, Lissette had intended to build a 52 story tower with 507 units on the lot directly in between Wind and the river. The tower was named Cima, but with the market conditions the way they were, she moved on from the project. The lot was later sold to KAR Properties and will soon be developed into the ultra-luxury One River Point, which held the grand opening of their lavish sales center last month.
Lissette was also known for being a working mom. After preschool, he children would usually be found in her office, so that she could interact with them while she was working and also to teach them work ethic. A woman after my own heart! Today, she has taken her talents back to the Related Group, where she has been named the first ever female President at the company.
Evangeline Gouletas
A former First Lady of New York State, Evangeline Gouletas is just as much grand dame as she is girl boss. Hailing from Athens, Greece, she studied mathematics at Johns Hopkins and vector analysis at the Illinois Institute of Technology. While most of her development success has been in Chicago, she has made a lasting mark in Brickell as well.
In 2004, Evangeline brought us Skyline on Brickell, a 35 story waterfront tower with 360 condo units. The one bedrooms today start at $309,900, two bedrooms start at $500,000 and three bedrooms are just under $1 million. The closed sales have averaged $395/square foot over the last 4 months. For the renters out there, one bedroom units are starting at $1,900/month, two bedrooms at $2,650/month and there is one three bedroom available for $4,100/month.
While she did not follow through with developing it, I still consider her the mother of NINE at Mary Brickell Village, which was completed in 2015. She was the visionary who had the idea to purchase the air rights of Mary Brickell Village and build a tower over the shopping center. Initially, the project was to be named “Skyline at Mary Brickell Village”, but the construction lenders were having a hard time differentiating the two Skyline buildings, so she renamed it “Sky Palace at Mary Brickell Village.” Sky Palace was initially going to be a condo development and she did all of the presales before the 2008 market change. She then planned to turn the building into a rental community, but ultimately sold the air rights to the developers, who constructed the building and renamed it Nine at Mary Brickell Village due to the address being 999 SW 1st Avenue.
Today, Evangeline is in the acquisition phase of several new projects, working on the board of several nonprofits and traveling. She also participates in horseback riding, dressage, loves to go skiing and dance the tango. I have always admired her ability to combine glamorous Elizabeth Taylor-esque drama with real estate development grit.
When asked about what it is like to be a female developer in a male-dominated market, Evangeline said, “Gender does not matter in the Condominium Industry. In fact, it helps to be a female.” She continued to add that, “Men of Quality do not feel intimidated by women of equality.”
That is a wonderful outlook! We are very proud of both Lissette and Evangeline! Thank you for your contribution to our skyline!
Miami Riverfront Market Update
As promised, we’re back with another market update of one of the submarkets in Miami’s Greater Downtown area! Today, we’re going to check in at the Miami Riverfront. This is a gated enclave of 3 condo towers, Mint at Riverfront, Ivy at Riverfront and Wind by Neo. Some people also consider Neo Vertika and Latitude on the River as a part of the Riverfront since they are technically on the river, but since they are outside of the gated enclave, I’m considering them a part of West Brickell for today. The gated enclave currently has 1,517 condo units. Mint has 530 units, Ivy has 498 and Wind has 489.
Let’s start with the scary part of the update and get that out of the way. This year has brought 18 closed sales between the three buildings. While some may think that is ok for the first quarter, there are also 189 active sales listings. That is a whopping 31 month supply!
Now that we have that cat out of the bag, let’s talk about some more positive aspects of my findings. The average list price of those 189 available units was $380/square foot. The average sold price of the 18 that did find buyers was $323/square foot. Also, there are 15 units that have found buyers but are awaiting closing. The average asking price of the pending sales was $365/square foot, and we’ll learn the sold price as soon as the closings are logged.
The highest price listing in the area was Ivy’s Penthouse 5, listed for $1.8 million. While I love to look at photos of this 3 bedroom triplex with an amazing rooftop terrace, we can’t really consider it in our statistics since it is such an outlier. Aside from the penthouse, the most expensive offering in the area was Ivy at Riverfront #4009. This one is a furnished 3 bedroom that is offered for $785,000, or $472/square foot. The seller is offering seller financing and the furniture is beautiful but I imagine we’ll see this one on the market for awhile still.
The lowest priced listing is also at the Ivy. Unit 1812 is am 816 square foot 1 bedroom corner unit. It is priced at $240,000, or $295/square foot. Looking at the history of the listing, it seems the seller is playing pricing see-saw. The price has been going up and down and the listing has been on and off the market several times in the last year. I feel like that if the seller can be reasonable, this one will not stay on the market for too long (I’m not sure what’s going on with that little pricing dance they’re doing though).
For buyers looking for two bedroom plans, the lowest prices are found at Wind. Unit 2114 is listed for $305,000 ($326/square foot), but despite being officially a two bedroom, I really consider this a one bedroom plus den. The second bedroom is very small and many times is open to the living area. For a full-on two bedroom with two enclosed bedrooms, the prices start at $325,000 for Wind #2606.
Is there better news in the rental market?
Yes! Despite the press that Miami has recently received, I’m finding that the rental market is still relatively healthy. Case in point: There are currently 84 rental listings in the Miami Riverfront and the last 3 months have brought us 71 closed rentals. That gives us a very healthy rental market.
Also, I have noticed that while the prices have fallen in the area, the landlords have less need to negotiate below their asking price in order to secure a tenant. The average asking price of the 71 rented condos last quarter was $2.36/square foot. They closed at an average of $2.30/square foot. That’s not a lot of wiggle room for an opportunistic tenant who wants to take advantage of a desperate landlord. The rentals are moving and they’re moving close to the listing price.
The highest price rental was that same Ivy penthouse with the amazing terrace. They have secured a tenant for $9,000/month after listing the property for $10,000/month. Outside of penthouses and townhouses (which I also consider outliers), studios are starting at $1,650/month at Wind, one bedrooms are starting at $1,750 at Ivy and you could get a three bedroom for as much as $4,300/month at Mint. Two bedrooms start at $2,400-$2,500 in all three buildings currently. To be fair, the $1,650 studio I mentioned is listed as a one bedroom, but has no separation between the bedroom and the common area so lives more like a studio.
Overall, I am pleasantly surprised to see how the market is holding up in the Riverfront area, just as I was pleasantly surprised by how well IconBrickell is doing during their massive renovation. How do you think the trend will continue? Are there any additional metrics that you would like to see?
Mint at Riverfront Is Getting A New Lobby
Nine years after being built, Mint at Riverfront is getting a lobby face-lift. The project began on January 30, and includes new terrazzo flooring and accents. The work should be complete by the end of March.
After a rocky start in 2008 when Corus Bank (the bank that financed Mint’s construction) went out of business, Starwood Capital stepped in and completed the building. When they re-released the sales of the residences just in time for the market rebound in 2010, the building was a big success.
Since then, the building has remained a success. It is a popular choice for tenants and buyers alike, and has been very well kept. I imagine that the refreshed lobby will only enhance the value of the apartments there, once completed.
Units are trading in the high $300’s per square foot right now, and rental prices start at $1,950 for one bedrooms, $2,350 for two bedrooms, $3,600 for three bedrooms. There is also one three bedroom duplex penthouse on the market for $5,200/month.
