After Historic 2008 Crash, Downtown Miami Among Nation's Most Active Residential Markets in 2012

(Miami, FL) -- Based on a new report, Downtown Miami now stands strong as one of the most active residential real estate markets following what was considered to be among the worst real estate market crashes in U.S. history.

An independent Residential Closings & Occupancy study commissioned by the Miami Downtown Development Authority shows that 93% of the 22,785 condo units constructed since 2003 are now occupied with primarily full-time residents, signaling a tightening of the market as a result of limited remaining inventory.

The report, conducted by Lewis Goodkin and Craig Werley of Goodkin Consulting/Focus Real Estate Advisors, finds a strong demand for urban living in Miami. According to the study, 84% of the condo units built during the building boom in the downtown Miami area have been sold, up six percentage points from only one year ago.

"Downtown Miami continues to defy national trends in real estate economics," said Craig Werley of Focus Real Estate Advisors. "Foreign demand for residential product characterized by mostly cash buyers is driving a market rebound not seen anywhere else. This is particularly remarkable considering the foreclosure crisis that continues to grip much of the rest of the region and state."

Other key findings from the Miami DDA's Residential Closings & Occupancy Study include:

• Sales activity decelerates as inventory shrinks: Diminished inventory saw total condo sales in Downtown Miami down approximately 5% from 2010. Monthly residential sales averaged 307 units per month in 2011 compared to 315 per month in 2010.

• Prices continue to rise for sales: Average sales prices in 2011 were up in Q4 and on a year-over-year basis. The average unit sales price (new and resales) in 2011 was $370,003, representing a 6.4% increase from the average price of $347,729 in 2010, and a total 22.4% increase from 2009. Average price per square foot in new inventory rose by 12.6% to $365. The average rent per square foot also rose 10% year-over-year to $1.78.

• Condo surplus all but eliminated: The unsold inventory of new condo units in the downtown Miami area declined more than 25% in the past 12 months. Additionally, 1,559 condo units are currently unoccupied, representing less than four months of supply given current leasing trends.

Taking a look at where some of the projects hardest hit during the real estate crash stand today further demonstrates a tightening in the market. For example, with 342 units, the Epic was 17% occupied in 2009. Today, occupancy stands at 89 percent. Once classified by the New York Times as a "monument to excess," the Icon Brickell had an occupancy rate of only 4.9 percent in 2009. Today, this 714-unit complex is also 89% occupied. And the Infinity at Brickell, which had an occupancy rate of 12% in 2009, is today almost fully absorbed with an occupancy rate of 98 percent.

"Downtown Miami continues to prove itself to be one of the country's most resilient markets," said Alyce Robertson, executive director of the Miami Downtown Development Authority. "Demand is quickly outpacing supply and as a result, developers are once again coming off the sidelines to build new projects- and nearly a decade earlier than even the most bullish economists predicted."

Werley adds that the renter demand is playing a major role in stimulating commercial activity within Miami's urban core. The majority of renters are full-time residents, many of whom have disposable income that translates to heightened demand for goods and services

A Miami DDA report from September 2011 found that downtown Miami is attracting a younger, more affluent residential base. Since 2000, the number of households in the downtown Miami area has increased by 93%, with the highest percentage (57%) of residents falling within the 24-44 age range. Additionally, the area's per capita income has grown by 39%, far exceeding that of the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County. All told, the area's population stands at approximately 72,000 people as of mid-2011, representing a 9% year-over-year increase from 2010 and outpacing the 6.8% growth rate experienced during the previous decade.

Posted by Michael Gerrity 03/13/12 12:01 PM EST - http://www.worldpropertychannel.com/
DQEKYTWHGQT4

http://www.alexmiarealtor.blogspot.com

Water Taxis offer Commuters a New Form of Transportation

Something new is afloat in Miami: water taxis.

Different from the narrated floating tiki bars, pirate ships and other tour boats that bring sightseers to the homes of Miami’s rich and somewhat famous, these vessels have a practical purpose: Get from points A to B with as little fuss as possible.

Before January, that wasn’t an option — and Max Vlessing, an entrepreneur who was born in Holland and moved to Miami about a year ago, thought it was time to resurrect the idea.

“The reason why I started it is because there are no water taxis in Miami,” said Max Vlessing, owner of Water Taxi Miami.

Make that were no water taxis.

After more than a decade without, Biscayne Bay now has two vessels ferrying passengers between downtown and Miami Beach.

Biscayne Xpress Water Taxi, based on the north end of Miamarina at Bayside, started service Jan. 15. It has room for 42 passengers. The 38-passenger Water Taxi Miami had its first sailing Jan. 26, departing Miamarina’s south side near Hard Rock Cafe. Each go to the Miami Beach Marina and downtown’s Riverwalk station; Water Taxi Miami also stops at Sea Isle Marina in downtown just north of the Venetian Causeway.

While neither company sounds all that happy about the other’s existence, they have similar goals: Give people an alternative other than sitting in traffic. Appeal to locals as well as tourists. Make people aware that they are open for business.

“Competition’s good,” said Kevin Pagan, who owns Biscayne Xpress along with a charter fishing boat also based at Bayside. “I’m not knocking anyone. I think there’s enough for everybody.”

Monday afternoon was fairly slow for both, each departing Bayside between 2 and 3 p.m. with just three passengers, all tourists.

At 2:15 p.m., three women vacationing from New York hopped aboard Biscayne Xpress with fruity drinks and plans to take in the views — but not disembark at any stops.

Water Taxi Miami, 35 minutes later, departed for Miami Beach with a 24-year-old Brazilian killing time before her flight and a couple of Australian tourists who wanted an easy route to South Beach.

For Sue Nikolovski, of Melbourne, previous bus trips to Miami Beach proved complicated and long. The water taxi route promised a quicker, easier transit. She learned of Water Taxi Miami from her daughter, who lives in South Florida and spotted a Groupon for the service last week.

“It just is another experience,” Nikolovski said. “The bus took forever.”

The Groupon is one of Vlessing’s efforts to get publicity. He’s also partnered with Bayside sightseeing giant Island Queen Cruises. Pagan is working with Half Price Tour Tickets and DecoBikes, among other local partners.

Bob Christoph, manager of Miami Beach Marina, said he was surprised when two water taxi companies emerged — but thinks there is enough demand for both. He said event-specific scheduling and familiarity with the market over time should help.

“I think we’ve seen a much more vibrant whole urban area here and hopefully their time has come,” Christoph said. Previous water taxi services in Miami-Dade failed more than a decade ago.

With a downtown that now boasts more than 65,000 residents, Miami has more built-in customers than ever before, said Alyce Robertson, executive director of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority.

“Certainly it’s a different downtown that they’re being tried in,” she said. “I think there is a different environment today that will give them a good chance of success.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/27/2664487/water-taxi-transportation.html#storylink=

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/27/2664487/water-taxi-transportation.html#storylink=cpy

Water taxis offer commuters a new form of transportation - Business - MiamiHerald.com

http://www.alexmiarealtor.blogspot.com

New Science Museum to Break Ground Friday

A groundbreaking ceremony marks the onset of construction for the bayfront science museum in Miami that’s to open in 2015.

By Hannah Sampson

hsampson@MiamiHerald.com

By Hannah Sampson The Miami Herald

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/23/2658056/new-science-museum-to-break-ground.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/23/2658056/new-science-museum-to-break-ground.html#storylink=cpy

Miami’s new science museum will let visitors dance on a floor that captures their energy, eat food grown in the on-site hydroponic gardens, gaze at stars in a 3-D planetarium and gape at a tank full of sharks overhead.

In short, the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in downtown Miami’s Museum Park will feature much of what it offers today in its decades-old location near Coconut Grove, but on a much larger scale in a much larger, grander, more interesting building.

Except for the sharks. Those will be brand-new.
“People might be frightened of physics, but they’re not frightened of fish,” said Gillian Thomas, the museum’s president and CEO.
She and supporters of the museum designed by the firm of British architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw will celebrate the official groundbreaking at the site, 1075 Biscayne Blvd., Friday morning. Work on the foundation is set to start within a week or so, and construction and installation of exhibits will continue through late 2014. The project is expected to generate 400 construction jobs.

If all goes as planned, the museum will open in 2015, more than a year after the Stiltsville-inspired Miami Art Museum that shares the bayfront campus. An estimated 750,000 people are expected to visit in the first year — a number that far exceeds the 233,000 or so that went to the current location in 2011. “It will be another destination to take people to, especially young people, that will leave a lasting impression,” said Alyce Robertson, director of the Miami Downtown Development Authority.

Visitors will find a five-story building that resembles, on one side, the bow of a sleek cruise ship. The structure is being positioned to catch the prevailing winds off Biscayne Bay with the goal of making outdoor areas comfortable even in the summer. At 250,000 square feet, the museum will be several times larger than its current location, which takes up about 75,000 square feet between the building and grounds.

A 600,000-gallon aquarium hosting thousands of creatures that exist in the Gulf Stream is expected to be the showstopper, although the 3-D planetarium with stacked seating, the energy playground and the aviary will likely earn their own fans.
While sustainability — including rainwater collection and photovoltaic cells on the roof — is key to the museum, Thomas said the goal is to appeal to a wide swath of interests.
“One thing doesn’t suit everybody, so we’re offering a very rich mix of learning opportunities,” she said.
That’s been the strategy for science museums for some time, said consultant Alan Friedman, former director of the New York Hall of Science.
He said museums tend to find success when they offer a large exhibit that hundreds of people can enjoy at a time — such as the aquarium and planetarium — as well as individual activities.
“Basically all of the science centers in the last 30 years have tried to have both: the large dramatic multi-user experience along with the very individual, find-your-own thing,” he said.

Science museums all over the country and overseas, especially in India, China or Latin America, are expanding or opening anew. That’s likely due to the increasingly important role that science and technology play in our everyday lives, Friedman said.

“Science centers have proven to be probably the single most effective way of getting people to learn a little in an enjoyable manner — and that, in turn, gives them the confidence to learn a whole lot more, maybe in less fun-filled way,” he said.Friedman is familiar with the new Miami project through Thomas, with whom he once worked in Paris. While he said the Miami Science Museum is already well-regarded, he expects the downtown location to increase its appeal to tourists as well as its visibility in the world of museums.
“It’s a dramatic facility and, of course, the location is pretty spectacular too,” he said.
The waterfront property carries a steep price tag, the bulk of it funded by the public. Of the $275 million total for the building, $165 million will be funded by a Miami-Dade County bond issue.

Private fundraising efforts have raised $70 million of the $110 million goal so far, including the $35 million naming gift from entrepreneur Phillip Frost and his wife Patricia and a $10 million matching grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. As much as $25 million is needed for transitional costs beyond construction.

Naming opportunities are still plentiful, said Trish and Dan Bell, co-chairs of the museum’s board of trustees.
Said Dan Bell: “As Trish likes to say, no gift is too large.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/23/2658056/new-science-museum-to-break-ground.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.miamiherald.com/ - "new science museum to break ground"

http://www.alexmiarealtor.blogspot.com

Renderings of MyBrickell & Future Developments

MyBrickell is a bold, new statement about contemporary culture and city living. Designed by the internationally acclaimed Karim Rashid, it is a destination that combines the driving energy of Miami with the intelligence of global business and the excitement of cosmopolitan downtown leisure.

Located in the heart of urban Brickell, alongside the Miami River, MyBrickell opens the door to all that is possible in a connected, innovative and artistic environment. The global business gateway of the Americas lives here. Dozens of cultures from all over the world flock to this unique Miami neighborhood known for style, substance and sophistication. A dramatic city skyline rests right against the turquoise waters of Biscayne Bay. All that Miami is, and all it ever will be, begins here in Brickell. Work, play, relax or engage with ease from a sleek modern residence that reflects your individuality and your vision for iconic city living.
Mybrickell marks the beginning of incredibly exciting things to come for Miami urbanites. Just blocks from your front door is the site for the business-meets-pleasure atmosphere of Brickell CitiCentre and less than 2 miles to the north, plans are already underway for Resorts World Miami, a first- of-its-kind waterfront resort, condominium, entertainment complex located between Biscayne Bay and the stunning new Performing At Center. At mybrickell, the future isn't just here and now, it is completely and totally yours.

As one of Miami's most prestigious addresses, Brickell is made up of many upscale, luxury condominium and apartment towers. Often referred to as the "Manhattan of the South," Brickell is home to the largest concentration of international banks in the U.S. It also enjoys a reputation as Miami's top destination for five-star hotels and restaurants. At its center, Mary Brickell Village is a social hub defined by restaurants, nightlife and boutiques. The planned Brickell CitiCentre, our next door neighbor, alongside the river promises more of the same with high-end retail shopping, hotels, conference facilities and more.

http://www.isgmiami.com/miami/mybrickell/

http://www.alexmiarealtor.blogspot.com

New Yorkers abandon Big Apple to buy in the Sunshine State

 

February 03, 2012 02:15PM
By Alexander Britell

Downtown Miami

Sao Paulo. Caracas. Mexico City. Toronto. Buyers from cities like those have been driving Miami’s residential market since the worst of the condominium bust. And although it was largely overshadowed in the foreign buyer shuffle, New York City residents are heading back to Florida with money in hand.
“[New York buyers] are very, very real and very active,” said Phil Spiegelman, principal of brokerage ISG. “It’s tangible, and it’s happening at properties across the board.”
Spiegelman said part of the drive was coming from the fact that buyers in New York and the northeast are beginning to change their perception of Miami’s real estate market and acknowledge its rapidly shrinking inventory.
“I think it started halfway through 2011,” said Coldwell Banker Realtor Danny Hertzberg. “I saw a pickup from New York, and particularly in the last two or three months.”
Hertzberg said the return has been due to several factors: one, many New York buyers are beginning to realize they may have missed the bottom of the market, and even more are fleeing New York for Florida’s favorable tax environment.
“When things were booming a bit, maybe they were able to stomach the city and state income tax [in New York], but now it seems like more and more people are establishing residency, moving their business to Florida and taking advantage of no income tax and the homestead protection.”
The weather, too, continues to draw New York snowbirds down to Miami, despite an unusually balmy winter up north, Spiegelman said.
They’re also looking to Miami for the same reasons as many of the now-famous foreign buyers: investment.
Nelson Gonzalez, a senior vice president with EWM, said he was working with one New York investor who was interested in Miami Beach.
“He’s seeing a lot of upside in the very near future, in the next year to three years. Originally, the thinking was that it was going to be three to seven years,” he said. “His timeline has now shortened because he’s seeing much greater appreciation.”
It’s not to say that New York buyers haven’t had a presence in Miami during the downturn, however.
“They never went away entirely,” said Beth Butler, president of One Sotheby’s International Realty. “There was a little bit of a slowdown, but certainly in areas like Miami Beach we still had some New York buyers. But it’s certainly picked up this year.”
Indeed, as the Miami market recovered, some New York buyers began to rent homes and condominiums in Miami Beach, with some looking to begin establishing residency.
The foreign contingent remains Miami’s strongest source of buyers, though, and a number of other South American demographics, like Mexicans and Venezuelans, are beginning to picking up steam, Butler said.
“[New Yorkers] are definitely here — especially this time of year,” Gonzalez said. “It’s not necessarily just from New York, they’re really from everywhere.”

http://therealdeal.com/miami/blog/2012/02/03/new-york-homebuyers-abandoning-big-apple-for-sunshine-state/

http://www.alexmiarealtor.blogspot.com

Grand Entryways Approved for New Port of Miami Tunnel

Imposing, classically inspired new designs for the Port of Miami tunnel portals, unveiled Friday, won praise and a key endorsement from a Miami-Dade County transportation committee.

This architectural rendering shows the newly unveiled design for the Port of Miami tunnel gateway and accompanying landscaping on Dodge Island.



Image 1 of 5 An architectural rendering shows the design by Miami's Arquitectonica for the Port of Miami tunnel portal on Watson Island. Arquitectonica/Miami Access Tunnel


Image 2 of 5 This architectural rendering shows the location of the Port of Miami tunnel entryway, glowing orange at the top, on Watson Island. Across the road is the Miami Children's Museum. Arquitectonica/Miami Access Tunnel




Image 3 of 5 In this architectural rendering, eastbound evening traffic on the MacArthur Causeway zooms by the Port of Miami tunnel gateway on Watson Island. Arquitectonica/Miami Access Tunnel



Image 4 of 5 This architectural rendering shows the landscaping plan surrounding the Port of Miami tunnel entry on Watson Island. Arquitectonica/Miami Access Tunnel

Image 5 of 5 PhotosGrand entryways approved for Port of Miami tunnel







BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI
aviglucci@MiamiHerald.com

An evocative and distinctly modern design for the Port of Miami tunnel entryways —reminiscent of an Egyptian temple front — on Friday won the enthusiastic endorsement of a Miami-Dade County review committee that had rejected two previous proposals by the project’s contractors. Praised by committee members as simple yet elegant, the twin, raw-concrete portals unveiled by Miami Access Tunnel, the concessionaire building the project, would each rise as a pair of slender, offset monoliths over Watson and Dodge islands to mark the tunnel entry and exit points. The portals, which would glow at night from internal lighting emerging from crevices at their centers, sides and tops, would have Latin variations of the word “navigate’’ inscribed in patterns on their concrete faces in a classic Century Gothic font. On the MacArthur Causeway approach, the design also calls for vertical strips on the lateral highway retaining walls that would reflect cars headlights in orange and blue, the colors of the city of Miami and the port, respectively.

The portals, by the homegrown multinational design firm Arquitectonica, also include extensive landscaping consisting of clumps of palms and other low-maintenance, hardy native plantings on both the MacArthur Causeway and Port Boulevard. On Watson Island, the project also comprises a low-slung “village’’ of above-ground structures behind the portal to house tunnel administrative offices, maintenance facilities and generator and equipment rooms. The buildings’ roofs would be covered with grass.At its rear, where it rises over the village, the Watson portal monolith would have a sharp fold “like origami,’’ said Arquitectonica principal Bernardo Fort-Brescia.“He has transformed an elephant into something beautiful,’’ said Florida Department of Transportation district chief Gus Pego. Port director Bill Johnson was also effusive. MAT brought in Arquitectonica — the firm responsible for the American Airlines Arena, numerous Miami towers and the Miami Children’s Museum located by the tunnel entrance on Watson Island — to completely redraw the portals after the county Transportation Aesthetics Review Committee twice rejected previous designs as drab and unimaginative. MAT vice president Christopher Hodgkins said contractors have not yet come up with cost figures, but said the concessionaire’s deal obligates it to build the portals as part of its roughly $1 billion project budget. The portals are not merely decorative, Fort-Brescia noted. They also enclose massive flood gates that would drop down to seal off the tunnel as a hurricane approaches.

Fort-Brescia said his design team also faced additional constraints: MAT and FDOT wanted an imposing design, but nothing so dramatic as to distract motorists approaching the tunnel entryways. “There was a concern about the building calling too much attention to itself,’’ he told the committee. “We tried to do something with some artistry without being explosive. It’s not a structure where you want people stopping to take pictures.’’The navigation theme ties together not just the “universe of ports’’ to which the Miami port is connected around the world, but also the cars approaching the tunnel and the jets flying over the bay, Fort-Brescia said, and he chose Latin as a sort of international lingua franca.Committee member James Kanter also praised the portals for managing to at once evoke the classically inspired 1920s architecture of Miami, the Art Deco of the 1930s, and the mid-century Miami Modern flair of Fointainebleau Hotel architect Morris Lapidus, in a contemporary design.The controversial tunnel, now being drilled by a massive boring machine, is designed principally to ease truck access to the port. It will consist of two separate tubes running side by side from Watson Island under Government Cut to the port. Each tunnel will have two lanes of one-way traffic. FDOT is now building two new lanes in the middle of the MacArthur Causeway bridge to connect the tunnel entry and exit portals on Watson island to Interstate 395.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/10/2635451/grand-entryways-approved-for-new.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.alexmiarealtor.blogspot.com

The FIFTH Oceanfront Condo Tower Proposed for Sunny Isles Beach, FL

Saturday, February 4, 2012

MIAMI, FL --A veteran developer with a track record in South America and a growing land portfolio in South Florida plans to build an ultra-luxury condominium tower on an oceanfront site in the barrier island city of Sunny Isles Beach (top left photo) in Northeast Miami-Dade County, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

The proposed 35-story Chateau Beach tower - with 84 units and 271,500 square feet on a one-acre site on Collins Avenue - would be the fifth project slated for construction in Sunny Isles Beach in the last six months, according to the CondoVultures.com Preconstruction Condo Projects list.  

Overall, more than 20 new condo tower with 4,300 units are proposed for the coastal area of the tricounty South Florida region despite an estimated 4,200 developer units remaining unsold as of Dec. 31, 2011, according to a preliminary estimate based on the CondoVultures.com Official Condo Buyers Guide™ series.

 The next step for the proposed Chateau Beach condo project is on Feb. 16, 2012 when the project’s developer – a Florida entity controlled by the Grosskopf Group of Argentina - is scheduled to appear before the Sunny Isles Beach City Commission for a public hearing on the proposed tower, according to a City of Sunny Isles Beach Notice of Zoning Hearing.

The Grosskopf Group develops and invests in residential towers and shopping centers in Argentina and Uruguay. The group has reportedly developed several condo towers including the Chateau Libertador Residence and Chateau Puerto Madero Residence.

In South Florida, the Grosskopf Group has acquired five developments sites - and counting - around South Florida ranging from the existing Ocean Palm Motel site on Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach to the former Paramount Park condo tower site at 728 Biscayne Blvd. in Greater Downtown Miami, according to Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser Office records.

The property was put up for auction on Jan. 9, 2012 whereby the lender of record, Chateau Beach LLC with Manuel Grosskopf, won the bidding, clearing the way to obtain title on Jan. 27, 2012, according to Miami-Dade County records.

Prices are slated to range from $650 to $800 per square foot with a total deposit of 50 percent of the contracted purchase amount.

The proposed Chateau Beach tower is to offer units that range in size from less than 1,500 square feet to more than 9,000 square feet.

Sunny Isles Beach is a 40-block stretch from the town of Golden Beach boundary south to Haulover Beach Park, Biscayne Bay east to the Atlantic Ocean. Sunny Isles Beach is divided up into three neighborhoods separated by causeways: North, Central, and South.

Condo Vultures® LLC is a real estate consultancy and marketing company based at 1005 Kane Concourse, Suite 205, Bal Harbour, Florida, 33154.

http://www.alexmiarealtor.blogspot.com

New World Symphony - Combining Classical Music with Electronica

Event Info: Friday March 23rd, 9:30 PM
Where: New World Center

Featuring Mercury Soul and the New World Symphon

Let’s get the party started! The New World Center will transform into a hip, nightclub-style setting, where theatrically enhanced classical music is mixed into an evening-long set of DJ-spun electronica. Featuring the artistry of Mercury Soul - conductor Benjamin Shwartz, DJ/composer Mason Bates and designer Anne Patterson - together with that of the New World Symphony.

New World Symphony Post

http://www.alexmiarealtor.blogspot.com

Miami Real Estate Developers' Plans Getting More Creative

If the real estate bust was good for anything, it might be that it's forcing developers to get more creative.
   How creative?
   Try high-rise condos with elevators for cars that allow you to park next to your living room — even if it's on the 20th floor.
   Or a shopping center adorned with artwork, and a parking garage that lets you pull up to the retailer of your choice.
   Or try turning a former landfill into a mixed-use development.
   Those were among the plans discussed Friday during a developer roundtable organized by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. 
   Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also stopped by.
   To have developers gearing up for projects, "it means there's light at the end of the tunnel," Mayor Gimenez told about 100 people at the lunch hosted by law firm Bilzin Sumberg at 1450 Brickell Ave.
   "It's good to have these workshops because it means there's work," the mayor said, adding that his administration will streamline the permitting process. "We'll do everything in our power to make it easier for you to build and create, and to continue to create this beautiful city."
   Developers on the panel talked about how much of today's tight post-crash real estate market is about finding a niche, whether that's offering unconventional luxuries to stand out to wealthy foreign buyers or simply scouting for previously overlooked sites to get the most land for the money.
   Local developer Gil Dezer is getting creative with help from Germany-based Porsche Design Group in a project catering to wealthy buyers, particularly from abroad.
   "We've come up with the car elevator," Mr. Dezer said.
   Dezer Development and Porsche are partnering on the Porsche Design Tower, where elevators are to lift cars into the sky to high-rise condos, each with its own parking space in a glass-walled showroom.
   The 57-foor, 132-unit tower is planned for Sunny Isles Beach. Mr. Dezer said the building would have the world's first elevators with their own fire-suppression system. The units are expected to be priced up to several million dollars each.
   "We'll be charging for the parking space as part of the units, instead of giving it away free in a garage," Mr. Dezer said. The high-rise parking "offers more security, which is important to a lot of our South American customers."
   Another project catering to well-heeled foreign buyers is the 49-unit Apogee Beach in Hollywood Beach. Developer Carlos Rosso, president of Related Condominium Division, said units are selling for about $1 million on average, with the company requiring buyers to pay at least 80% of the price before completion.
   Mr. Rosso said about 95% of buyers at Apogee Beach come from Latin America.
   "The more we go to feeder markets" outside the US, "the more we find that the cash is in South America," he said, adding that Miami has the potential to become "the New York of Latin America."
   Brett Dill, president of the Swerdlow Group, described a somewhat different approach. Instead of buying relatively little land and building vertically, his group is planning a mixed-use development on a 180-acre site off Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami that was once a landfill.
   Named Biscayne Landing, the project will feature about 800,000 square feet of retail and plenty of open space, and eventually could include up to 3,500 housing units, Mr. Dill said.
   "We're actually underutilizing the land, but there's such an abundance of it," he added. "There's almost an unlimited capacity for development [there] in the next 10 years."
   Jeff Berkowitz, president of Berkowitz Development Group, said his firm has been waiting for several months for permits from the City of Coral Gables for the proposed Gables Station. The project would feature four levels of upscale retail — about 333,000 square feet in total — divided by a 1,450-space parking garage. The project also will feature nearly $1 million worth of art on public display, Mr. Berkowitz said.
   "The garage will be done so cars can go to the front doors of retailers they like to visit," he added. "This will be a trophy project. We hope to get the permits in the next two months. Then we hope to get enough leasing done that lenders will give us enough money to go forward."


Miami Today. http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/120202/story5.shtml

http://www.alexmiarealtor.blogspot.com

The Immaculate Porsche Design Tower

The latest twist on designer parking garages: a Jetsonesque elevator that whisks residents to their condos while they are still in the driver’s seat.

Rendering of the 57-story, $650 million Porsche Design Tower condo planned for Sunny Isles Beach by developer Gil Dezer. The building features glass elevators that whisk drivers with the cars directly to their homes. 

Courtesy of Porsche Design Group

Pull over into the designated space. Turn off the engine. And enjoy the oceanfront view as you escalate in a glass elevator that takes you, while you are sitting in your car, to the front door of your apartment.

No, this is not the latest Disney ride.

The $560 million Jetsonesque tower will rise in Sunny Isles Beach as part of a collaboration between Germany-based Porsche Design Group and a local developer, Gil Dezer. It likely will be  the world’s first condominium complex with elevators that will take residents directly to their units while they are sitting in their cars.

“You don’t have to leave your car until you are in front of your apartment,” said Juergen Gessler, CEO of Porsche Design Group.

Here is how it will work: After the resident pulls over and switches off the engine, a robotic arm that works much like an automatic plank will scoop up the car and put it into the elevator. Once at the desired floor, the same robotic arm will park the car, leaving the resident nearly in front of his front door. Voila, home!

The glass elevators will give residents and their guests unparalleled views of the city or of the ocean during their high-speed ride, expected to last 45 to 90 seconds.

“What this is really doing is taking two technologies that have existed for centuries and putting them together,” said Gil Dezer, president of Dezer Properties. “It’s taking the robotic arm and it’s putting it in an elevator.”

The building, to named Porsche Design Tower, was approved unanimously Thursday night by the Sunny Isles Beach City Commission. Before the meeting, Mayor Norman S. Edelcup said he had not heard any opposition to the plan.

The cylindrical building will be erected on 2.2 acres of land at 18555 Collins Avenue. The 57-story luxury tower will have 132 units. Smaller units will be allocated two parking spaces and larger ones will have four, with 284 robotic parking spaces in total. There will be three elevators.

Residents will be able to see their cars from their living rooms.

“So people with fancy cars and antiques, they will actually have a really nice view of them,’’  Dezer said.
Units will range from 3,800 to 9,500 square feet and could cost up to $9 million.

The car elevators are the latest twist on Miami Beach’s burgeoning passion for designer parking garages. The highly acclaimed 1111 Lincoln Road designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron opened in 2009; also planned are garages by London architect Zaha Hadid, Mexico’s Enrique Norten and Miami’s own Arquitechonica.

Dezer said his hopes are that many other buildings in the United States and the rest of the world will be constructed following the Porsche Design Tower model.

But this will be the first and last one in South Florida, he said.

“We want to keep this really exclusive and not have this become a McDonald’s kind of style. The tower is going to change the skyline of Miami Beach,” Dezer said. “This is something Floridians should be proud to have in their state.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/17/2507333/at-planned-miami-beach-condo-cars.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.alexmiarealtor.blogspot.com