Zaha Hadid’s Personal Beachfront Residence To Come Back To Market
After nearly a year on the market, Zaha Hadid’s customized home in South Beach’s W Hotel is going to be re-listed with an enormous price reduction. It had been listed after her sudden and untimely death in the Spring of 2016 for $10 million, but there were no takers.
It hasn’t officially been re-listed yet, but the Wall Street Journal has reported that it will be coming back on the market at $6.5 million, a 35% reduction from the original price. Neither price included the furnishings, but most pieces could be negotiated separately through her estate trustee. There are a few pieces of artwork/exceptionally unique pieces that the estate prefers to hold on to.
The Pritzker Prize-winning starchitect purchased two beachfront units at the W, which is located between The Setai and Faena House at 22nd Street on Miami Beach, in 2010 for $2,785,000. She then combined them and added her unmistakable personal touch.
While I imagine there will be a new set of photos unveiled any day now, let’s have a peek at the listing photos from last year..
Jeremy Shockey Reduces Price Of South Beach Bachelor Pad
Retired NFL star and local football legend Jeremy Shockey is eager to take his talents off of South Beach. After trying unsuccessfully to sell his art deco nightclub-inspired penthouse at The Waverly on South Beach for $3 million in 2015, he decided to give it another go this summer. In July, it was listed for sale at $3.25 million and for rent at $10,000/month.
Fast forward to today and Shockey has already undergone three price revisions on the rental offering, slashing the price down to $8,500/month. It had rented last summer for $9,000/month. He has also reduced the price of the sale offering down to $2.85 million.
It makes sense that Shockey should be so eager to fill the vacancy or unload the penthouse because he currently has under construction a large house on a golf course in South Miami and really seems excited to embrace the retired golf lifestyle over the South Beach party lifestyle. Here is a photo of the progress at Jeremy Shockey’s new place along with the listing photos of the South Beach bachelor pad.
Mast Capital’s Louver House Closings Have Begun In South of Fifth
Mast Capital’s first Miami Beach condo project has successfully opened, with closings beginning this past week. Louver House brings 12 luxury apartments to Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood, while paying homage to the history of Meridian Avenue.
The project was designed by award-winning Miami architect, Rene Gonzalez, who sought to incorporate the residents’ desire for privacy with their love of the outdoors. The building’s signature architectural detail, the louvers, serve to offer beauty, privacy, shade and fresh air.
“We’re excited to finally present Louver House because it has all the key elements buyers are looking for in today’s luxury residential real estate market,” says Camilo Miguel Jr., CEO of Mast Capital. “To us, luxury is about amazing finishes, expansive spaces and the ability to enjoy a sense of privacy. This building offers a unique lifestyle that places residents in one of Miami Beach’s most exciting neighborhoods, but because of its small scale, also serves as an exclusive, family-friendly enclave.”
Although the closings began this past week, the official opening celebration will be held on August 24th, highlighting the rooftop deck overlooking South of Fifth and the Art Deco District. Three purchase opportunities remain, each one a three bedroom priced between $2.575 million to $3.4 million. We are excited to tour this week and be able to compare renderings to real life!
Louver House Gets Its Louvers
Architect Rene Gonzalez With Louvers
South of Fifth’s newest boutique development, Louver House, is headed for the finish line of completion, with closings expected next month. In honor of the architecturally significant building, let’s have a look at their signature features… LOUVERS.
Louvers are architectural details, sometimes window blinds or shutters, that have horizontal slats that are angled to admit air and light, but to block rain and direct sunshine. They date back to the middle ages, when they were used to ventilate large kitchens without allowing rain and snow inside. Today, they have a more luxurious application and are typically used for those who love to enjoy the fresh air of a patio, but prefer to stay dry and save the tourist-level sunburn for the beach.
Louver House’s aluminum louvers tout over 15,000 linear feet of louver blade, which is almost 3 miles. That’s enough material to form a radius stretching across the Intracoastal, reaching both the Julia Tuttle and MacArthur Causeways, encompassing most of Virginia Key and all of the islands in between the causeways.
Combined, they weigh well over 50,000 lbs and have over 30,000 screws and bolts holding them together. All of the materials of these particular louvers are sourced from American-made products from American suppliers and are proudly made here in the US.
Now that they are installed, you can see that they beautifully create privacy and intimacy, while still allowing for views of the lush neighborhood and architectural detail to the building.
Louver House Construction Progress
Louver House is developed by Mast Capital and is located at 311 Meridian Avenue in the South of Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach. They have only 12 residences in 5 floors. The grounds feature a host of various gardens and relaxation areas, with a rooftop swimming pool overlooking Miami Beach. Each of the residences at Louver House has expansive outdoor living areas and large interior layouts. The smallest layout is over 2,000 square feet of interior space and all layouts have 3 bedrooms with 3 bathrooms and a powder room.
Prices for the remaining four condo residences at Louver House average $1,250 per square foot.
Louver House Brochure by Sarah Elles Boggs on Scribd
FHA Proposes New Approval Process That Helps People Get Condo Loans
Condo shoppers rejoice! The FHA (Federal Housing Administration) is proposing changes to their condo approval process that could really benefit South Florida shoppers.
Up until now, if a person wanted to buy a condo in the Downtown Miami, Brickell, Midtown, or Miami Beach areas with an FHA loan, their choices would be to buy at Brickell on the River’s south tower, Brickell on the River’s south tower, or Brickell on the River’s south tower. That is not a typo, the only approved condo project in our area is Brickell on the River. The entire project isn’t even approved, just the south tower. 1800 Club was approved in 2012, but that expired in 2014 and wasn’t renewed. In my experience, whenever I have a buyer who is looking to use an FHA loan, I always tell them that they need to purchase a house, not a condo. Condo FHA loans are almost impossible.
The problem is that in order to offer FHA loans on the properties in the various condos, the entire building has to undergo an application process with FHA. This isn’t cost effective for developers because they have typically already sold their units prior to the building’s opening. Established condos would have to undergo the expense of the application, which is another expense for the condo association to pay. Those buildings that do go for the application typically get rejected because of the number of owner-occupants in the building. Let’s face it, a lot of the residents in our towers are vacation homes, rental units, or a combination of the two.
Well today is a new day. The FHA has realized that it is extremely difficult to use their loans in condos and are proposing to change their ways. They are proposing to lower the minimum owner-occupancy requirements to 25%-75% and allow single-unit spot approvals.
What this means is that instead of having to qualify the entire building, you could get an FHA loan on a single condo as long as their building information matches the requirements of FHA (which would now be far more lenient). Since FHA loans are designed for people who are responsible homebuyers but may not have a huge down payment or fully-established credit, these buyers have been left out of the Downtown Miami market, which is in need of new buyers now. Let’s hope and pray that this goes through! It would be amazing to see more homeowners in the downtown area!
If you would like to read the entire proposed rule, you can find it here.
‘Your Million Dollar Houses Will Soon Be Under Water’ Wake Up Call Confronted Icon SoBe People as They Woke Up
Photo by Stephen Conlan.
Somebody had a lot to say to the sandbar dwellers of Miami Beach, although most of the message went squarely to the residents of the ritzy condos at Icon South Beach, the first building facing it, right across a temporary parking lot and causeway overpass. “YOUR MILLION DOLLAR HOUSES WILL SOON BE UNDERWATER” was painted (we assume) sometime overnight in simple, black capital letters, on the rooftop parapet of the gutted South Shore Hospital’s bones.
The meaning is obvious to anyone in Miami Beach not asleep under a rock. This resort town of extravagant real estate prices is under unusual and immediate threat from sea level rise. As experts and hard-hitting longform magazine article writers keep reminding us (Remember when Rolling Stone blared “Goodbye Miami” across a two-page spread?), Miami Beach is reckoning with its very real fate. Oh, and whoever wrote that thing way up there should either work on their English or their geography. Plenty of houses will be underwater yes, but the condos it’s facing aren’t houses, they’re homes. There are a few actual houses, but they are to the east. At least the posh people at Icon won’t have to constantly see it anymore though, in addition to having more time until inundation at umpteenth floors up. Developer Russell Galbut, who has been trying to build on the old hospital site for years, quickly had it painted over.
Three Hundred Collins, Designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen, is 80% Sold
After breaking ground this past February, the boutique luxury residential building Three Hundred Collins is 80% sold, according to a rep from the developer. That leaves only four units remaining in the building: a townhouse, a 4-bedroom unit, a 2-bedroom unit, and the last penthouse. It is scheduled to be completed by September 2017. All of the units have been sold to end users, including first, second, or third (yes, third) home buyers, including restaurateur Myles Chefetz who has like two or three restaurants within blocks of the building including Prime 112, which is supposed to be fantastic, and the Big Pink, which, well, never mind.
Designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen, who interestingly enough is a socialist that is known for his work for the very rich, the building will have a “handcrafted” feel to it, with a minimalist color palette and interesting Amenities include a 75-foot long saltwater pool and hot tub, doorman, fitness center, valet parking, and interesting use of materiality. The landscape design by Urban Robot Associates “embraces local climates, ecologies, and is distinguished by the innovative deployment of native plants and sustainable materials.” Finally, developer JMH Development is donating $20,000 of each contract signed to global nonprofit charity: water to fund water projects in Ethiopia and Nepal.
Week in Review: How to Avoid the Federal Disclosure Law for Cash Purchases and Other News…
Rendering from Paramount Miami Worldcenter
Week of January 17-23, 2016.
The US Treasury announced this week that starting in March, title companies will be required to disclose the identities of buyers to government regulators for all cash purchases above $1 million in Miami’s residential real estate market. They are hoping to put a stop to illicit funds being laundered through the cash purchases, but effectively are also spooking legitimate buyers who simply do not wish to have their buying habits publicly disclosed.
Fear not, fancy condo shoppers. The ink is not even dry on the new order and The Real Deal has already compiled a list of 7 ways that the rule can be circumvented. [The Real Deal]
Last week, the developer of Miami Worldcenter announced that it is scrapping the plans for an enclosed mall just days after Macy’s announced multiple store closings due to slow sales. After this announcement Taubman and Forbes cancelled their contract with Worldcenter, causing a flurry of rumors and news stories stating that the project would be scrapped. It turns out that everyone jumped the gun. According to the developer and this Taubman release, the project is not scrapped. The contract just needs to be renegotiated to reflect the new building plans. [Zacks]
While everyone was up in arms about the potential drama at Miami Worldcenter, Brickell CityCentre released their updated list of all retailers, shops and restaurants that will be opening with the mall. The shops will begin individual build-out soon and is scheduled to open later in the year. [The Next Miami]
In possibly the least surprising news of the week, Car2Go finally announced that they are suspending service effective March 1. They say that the reason for the service-shuttering is low ridership and high state taxes, locals have not wasted time or minced words with their own theories. It seems they have been in trouble with their client base for some time due to poor handling of a PR incident involving a drunk driving accident, not offering service in many important areas of the community, poor customer service and unreliable service. We think it can be easily explained by simple economics… why pay more to drive yourself in a shared smart car with a complicated service when you can pay less and have an Uber car pick you up at your doorstep and drop you off wherever you want to go? The choice is simple. [Curbed]
A First Look at Residence 900 at GLASS in Miami Beach
In case you haven’t heard, GLASS is the newest addition to Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood. Closings began in October. The 18-story tower – designed by renowned architect Rene Gonzalez – has just ten total units (yes, just 10), each encompassing at least one full floor. Due to its all-glass structure, the building’s natural surroundings are brilliantly integrated into its design, mirroring the sky, sea, and city in all directions.
Last month, my broker, Dora Puig, listed for sale a full-floor residence on the 9th floor (residence 900). The 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath condo has 3,400 interior square feet plus another 2,000 square feet of terrace. Earlier this week, I finally got an opportunity to take a look at it and brought my trusty camera along.
I must say, the quality of the finishes at GLASS are second to none. I was blown away. I have never seen a developer deliver such high-end finishes. The kitchens are wrapped in Calcutta marble, the master bath in Arabescato marble, and the floors covered in walnut wood. Truly impressive finishes throughout! And the sweeping city and water views are jaw-dropping! I also got a chance to photograph the beautiful pool deck which was designed by famed landscape architect Raymond Jungles. See for yourself…
GLASS condos in Miami Beach
Jeremy Shockey Lists South Beach Penthouse for $3M
Miami legend and ex-NFL stud Jeremy Shockey has listed for sale his South Beach penthouse. The residence, located on the 36th floor of The Waverly South Beach, has 3 bedrooms, 3 baths with 2,582 interior square feet and offers sweeping views of Biscayne Bay and the Downtown Miami skyline. According to property records, Shockey paid $1.45M for the penthouse in July 2005; he now has the property listed for sale for $3M ($1,162 per square foot).
As an instrumental member of the Miami Hurricanes in 2001, Jeremy Shockey was a national champion and All-American. He then went on to have a remarkable NFL career earning two Super Bowl rings, one with the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII and a second with the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV.
Earlier this morning, Shockey posted the image below on his Instagram account along with the following caption: Never gets old taking a shower in here going to miss the Penthouse!
Below are photos of Shockey’s penthouse from a previous MLS listing:
Below are additional property photos that were recently posted to Shockey’s Instagram account:
