There’s a rebirth underway in Miami’s Omni neighborhood, and it’s being fueled not by condo open houses but by craft fairs, film nights, group yoga and live art.

A pair of real estate developers — hoping to sell condos — have drummed up these events to support their vision of an Arts and Entertainment District. Playing to their audience of the young and hip, the developers branded their concept A+E, and their free parties all feature millennial-friendly brands like Whole Foods and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

“Concept isn’t enough. You need people to execute. That’s where we have no added value,” said Nir Shoshani, who runs NR Investments with partner Ron Gottesmann. “We’re not cool, we’re not young, so I needed to find the right people.”

One of those people is Isabella Acker, former marketing director of mega concert promoter Live Nation. Shoshani and Gottesman have tasked her with finding emerging local musicians and bringing in popular acts to perform at A+E events.

The Omni, or A+E, neighborhood is centrally positioned between three highways and near the Metromover, connects to downtown, Wynwood and Edgewater, and is only a short drive from South Beach.

Seeing opportunity in the area, NR Investments bought the distressed Filling Station Lofts at 1657 N. Miami Ave. three years ago and began renting its 81 units at the end of 2013. They also have a 513-unit, 37-story tower called Canvas at 1630 NE First Ave. with pre-construction prices going for about $480 a square foot. “We said, ‘Let’s use the area in order to have people get to know it,” Shoshani said, standing on a lot he and Gottesman own at 14th Street and North Miami Avenue.

It’s the site of a monthly “14th Festival” that A+E started hosting in November, where vendors sell jars of raw local honey, bunches of heirloom tomatoes and pieces of handmade jewelry. Singers belt out songs on a small stage, and visitors grip cans of cold PBR.

Still, the developers realize they have a long way to go to make the sparsely populated Omni area feel cutting-edge, safe and attractive as an Arts and Entertainment district. “It’s very important to see how centralized we are on the one hand,” Shoshani said. “And on the other, how blighted and how there’s nothing here.”

A+E’s growing number of monthly events happen at the Filling Station Lofts, the Canvas space or the grassy lot at 14th and North Miami Avenue.

The Miami International Film Festival offers free screenings of foreign films during a series called Movies Under the Stars, projected monthly onto a screen at the Canvas lot. “Café de Flore,” a film from the director of “Dallas Buyers Club,” played last month to a packed audience who happily sat on lawn chairs and munched on free popcorn.

Yoga sessions and social media workshops for small businesses are also part of A+E’s programs. New events like “art battles” between local street artists are slated for this month.

At “Rooftop Unplugged,” an acoustic music series that showcases Acker’s picks of local musicians, indie-funk groups like The Robby Hunter Band and Elastic Bond perform poolside atop the Filling Station Lofts’ roof.

Bonfire Under the Moonlight” gives people a chance to toast s’mores in the Canvas lot while listening to sets from groups like Suenalo and Grammy-nominated, Afro-Cuban funk band PALO! Small lines form around three food trucks while a larger line waits for mixed drinks and beer.

“It’s got life,” Steve Roitstein, PALO!’s keyboard player and a founding member, said of the A+E concept. While touring country, he said, he noticed that other cities “don’t have what Miami does.” “We have such an incredible music scene, arts scene, theater… so what Arts and Entertainment is doing is shining a light on what’s already here,” Roitstein said. “We need everybody to come out and take part, because without the incredible crowd, we couldn’t do this. We need the energy of the crowd.”

 

Source: Miami Herald

PanoramaTower2Foundation construction at developer Tibor Hollo’s Panorama Tower in Brickell, the future tallest tower in Miami, has reached ground level, and appears poised to go vertical any moment now.

About five months ago, they had just begun driving piles down for the foundations, when construction of the 822 foot tower had finally picked up after an agonizingly slow beginning.

 

Source: Curbed Miami

With all the condo development going on east of I-95 in Miami-Dade County, what is happening in Doral?

Doral, a city of 50,200 residents, which was incorporated in 2003, is one of the strongest economic engines — and base for employers — in Miami-Dade County. This suburban city, located on reclaimed swampland located west of Miami International Airport, is known internationally for being home to numerous multinational operations, federal offices, a major golf tournament and most recently, the Miss Universe pageant.

Doral also has a reputation for offering reasonably priced housing options in Miami-Dade, aimed at primary users who are looking to live in a suburban setting near their jobs, in hopes of avoiding the area’s heavy traffic congestion.

In response to the projected demand for nearby housing, more than 9,000 new residential units  with 3,000 units currently under construction  have already been approved for this suburb, according to the city of Doral’s website. Currently, nearly 250 condo units are on the resale market in Doral at an average asking price of $214 per square foot as of Thursday, according to the Southeast Florida MLXchange.

In 2014, buyers purchased more than 320 condos at an average transaction price of $171 per square foot. A year earlier in 2013, buyers acquired more than 400 condos at an average asking price of $153 per square foot, according to the data.

Based on the 2014 sales pace of about 27 condo resales monthly, Doral currently has about 9.3 months of supply available for purchase. A balanced market is thought to have about six months of supply. More months of supply indicates a buyer’s market, and less months suggests a seller’s market.

The Doral market has an additional 191 townhouses available for purchase, at an average asking price of about $207 per square foot. Buyers purchased more than 235 townhouses, at an average price of $175 per square foot in 2014, compared to 285 townhouses at an average price of $161 per square foot in 2013. Currently, Doral has about 9.6 months of supply of townhouses available for purchase, based on the 2014 resale activity.

On the rental front, nearly 290 properties are currently available for lease at a median asking price of $1.43 per square foot monthly. Tenants leased more than 1,820 properties, at a median price of $1.36 per square foot monthly in 2014, compared to less than 1,500 properties at a median price of $1.32 per square foot in 2013. Doral currently has about 1.9 months of rental properties available for lease based on the 2014 leasing activity.

The unanswered question going forward is whether Doral has enough primary users to fill up all of the existing and new residential units that are currently available and planned for this suburban economic powerhouse.

 

Source: The Real Deal

According to the Miami Association of Realtors, the Miami real estate market continued to perform robustly in the fourth quarter of 2014 due to increasing demand from both domestic and international buyers.

Median and Average Sales Prices Continue to Rise

The median sales price for single-family homes in Miami-Dade County increased to $246,140 in the fourth quarter, a 4.7 percent jump compared to the same period last year. The median sale price for condominiums increased 8.6 percent to $190,000 in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier. Miami-Dade County has now seen 12 consecutive quarters of growth for both single-family homes and condominiums.

“We expect Miami home prices to continue to increase in 2015 but at a more moderate rate,” said Christopher Zoller, a 27-year Miami-based realtor and the 2015 Residential President of the Miami Association of Realtors. “Limited supply and strong demand for single-family homes is still reflective of a seller’s market. There is also strong demand for both new construction and existing condominiums, so we will continue to see price growth for residential properties in Miami-Dade.”

Nationally, the median sales price of existing single-family homes was $208,700 in the fourth quarter, up 6.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors.  The national median sales price for condominiums was $203,300, a 3.3 percent increase over the previous year.

The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in the fourth quarter was $180,000, up 5.9 percent from the same quarter a year ago, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors. The median sales price for condominiums in Florida was up 7.9 percent compared to the same quarter last year at $143,000.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2013, the average sales prices for condominiums in Miami-Dade County increased 18.5 percent to $375,269. The average sales price for single-family homes decreased 2 percent to $394,095.

Sales Continue to Rise for Single-Family Homes

Sales of single-family homes, which set an all-time record for all of 2014, increased 7.7 percent to 3,426, while condominiums decreased 3.3 percent to 3,981 compared with the same period in 2013.

There were 7,407 homes and condos sold in Miami-Dade County during the fourth quarter of 2014, an increase of 1.5 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2013.

“Much of the increase in single-family home sales activity is due to consumer confidence,” said Carlos Gutierrez, the principal Realtor of Gutierrez Group Miami Real Estate and the 2015 president-elect of Miami Association of Realtors. “Many buyers who were staying on the sidelines are now buying. Huge gains in job growth and more solid economic indicators are resulting in more consumers returning to the housing market.”

Nationally, total existing-home sales, including single family and condo, declined 1.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.07 million in the fourth quarter from 5.12 million in the third quarter, but are 2.6 percent higher than the 4.94 million pace during the fourth quarter 2013.

Statewide closed sales of existing single-family homes totaled 62,080 in the fourth quarter 2014, up 14.9 percent over the fourth quarter 2013 figure. Statewide closed sales totaled 26,070 during the fourth quarter 2014, up 4.8 percent compared to the same period last year.

Residential Inventory Moving Rapidly Despite More New Listings

Home and condominium listings also increased in the fourth quarter of 2014. There were 5,716 new single-family home listings during the fourth quarter, a growth of 3 percent relative to the same period last year. New condominium listings increased by 4.2 percent from 7,585 in the fourth quarter of 2013 to 7,907 in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Fourth quarter active listings in Miami-Dade County totaled 17,695, representing an increase of 10.8 percent.

At the current sales pace, the number of active listings represents 5.6 months of inventory for single-family homes and 8.4 for condominiums. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2013, the months’ supply of inventory for condominiums increased 19.7 percent. The inventory for single-family homes decreased 0.2 percent compared to the same period from last year. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six and nine months of supply inventory.

The median days on the market of single-family home listings during the fourth quarter was 45 days compared to 40 days during the same period last year, an increase of 12.5 percent. Similarly, the median days on the market for condominium listings were 58 days compared to 47 last year, an increase of 23.4 percent.

Percentage of Cash Sales Declines

In the fourth quarter of 2014, 55 percent of closed sales were all cash compared to 60 percent a year ago. All cash sales were 41.4 percent of single-family home closings and 66.9 percent of all condominium sales. Since nearly 90 percent of foreign buyers pay cash, this reflects Miami’s top position as a prime market for foreign buyers. Miami has a significant percentage of international buyers, generating more than double the cash transactions than the national average.

December 2014 New Construction Market Update

Strong sales in the coastal new construction condominium Miami market (east of I-95) continue to reflect significant demand for new properties, according to the latest New Construction Market Status Report released today by Cranespotters.com and the Miami Association of Realtors.

As of December 29, there were nine (9) towers with 981 units that had been completed through 2014 in Miami-Dade County east of I-95, 66 towers with 9,598 units under construction, and 73 towers with 10,554 units that are planned but have not begun development.  There are also 54 towers with 7,905 units that have been announced but not approved.

Overall in Miami-Dade County, developers had announced 202 towers with 29,038 units since 2011 through December 29.

 

Source: World Property Journal

Edge, Sushi Samba, River Oyster Bar and Fox Hole Marketplace and Deli —  are just some of the planned new eateries banking on the Miami River.

 New restaurants, retail and increased public access along the Miami River were among the highlights of a development boat tour of the five-mile-long waterfront district on Thursday.

Renderings of River Landing Project

Renderings of River Landing Project

Developers and real estate professionals toured the river as part of an Urban Land Institute and NAIOP partnership. Brett Bibeau, managing director of the Miami River Commission, said that popular restaurants Seaspice (formerly Sea Salt and Pepper), Garcia’s Seafood and Casablanca have brought business to the area.

Among the restaurants awaiting permits or under construction are Sushi Samba, at 40 Southwest North River Drive; Edge at 39 to 55 Southwest Miami Avenue Road; a new location for the River Oyster Bar at 350 Flagler Street, and Fox Hole Marketplace and Deli at Latitude on the River, 615 Southwest Second Avenue.

River Landing rendering and Andrew Hellinger

River Landing rendering and Andrew Hellinger

The Miami River has increasingly drawn interest from developers who are embracing the river lifestyle. “It’s a place that people don’t have to see as up and coming. It exists,” said Andy Hellinger, developer of the River Landing project, a massive nine-acre development that will include apartments, retail and a linear park along the riverwalk.

River Landing’s retail component will include a five-story vertical shopping center, with a different theme for each floor. Among them: restaurants and supermarkets, sporting goods and entertainment. Two acres of the project are dedicated to parks and pathways. Hellinger compared the linear park, with a 50-foot setback, to the Highline in New York.

River Landing recently applied for a seawall permit, and digging for the foundation will be complete in a few weeks, Hellinger told The Real Deal.

Cleaning up the water and building the riverwalk are both key to the area’s success. Bibeau said his organization, the Miami River Commission, sends clean-up crews to pick up trash, pressure clean and paint over graffiti. “If the riverwalk is not maintained,” Bibeau said, “it will not live up to its potential.”

 

Source: The Real Deal

Architect ADD Inc has prepared a creative plan to preserve the historic church at 1836 Biscayne Boulevard, while adding 352 residential units and a parking garage.

1836 Biscayne Boulevard - 2Under a proposal scheduled to be reviewed by Miami’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board, the church would be restored and retrofitted to become hurricane-resistant. Instead of a place of worship, a grocer would occupy the space.

A 34-story residential tower would be built next to the church. ‘Floating’ above the former church would be a parking garage. In total, up to 480 parking spaces are planned.

Developer Fifteen Group paid $14.25 million for the property last year. R.J. Heisenbottle Architects is working alongside ADD Inc for the developer as a historic preservation consultant.

The church is directly across the street from Atlas Capital Group’s newly proposed 429-unit residential tower at 1900 Biscayne.

 

Source: The Next Miami

A retail development site in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood traded for $64 million, or $200 per square foot, to a well-known businessman.

The 7.35-acre site at the northwest corner of Northeast 17th Street and Northeast Second Ave. was previously approved as Bayview Market with 653,659 square feet of retail, a 2,047-square-foot gym/spa and 24 apartments. The seller obtained approval in 2009 but didn’t start construction.

EdgewaterMiamiBayviewMarketBDB Miami LLC and 110 Avon, a partnership between Atlanta-based BDB Realty and Redwood Capital Investments, sold the property to Rebuild Miami-Edgewater, which is headed by Richard Meruelo. The deal included $34 million of seller financing.

Meruelo was the co-founder and chairman of EVOQ Properties, which was sold in 2014 to Atlas Capital Group and Square Mile Capital Management. EVOQ was one of the largest property owners in downtown Los Angeles. He’s also part of the Cuban American Meruelo family, which has owned the Deauville Beach Resort in Miami Beach for many years.

The deal was brokered by CBRE’s Gerard Yetming, Robert Given, Zachary Sackley, Casey Rosen, Dennis Carson and Tim Gifford.

CBRE said the site could be zoned for up to 3 million square feet of development. Edgewater has a host of new condo towers rising along Biscayne Bay.

“BDB Miami is the perfect canvas for a visionary developer,” Yetming said in a news release. “Population growth for the one-mile radius around this site is forecast at nearly 10 percent over the next five years. With this acquisition, the buyer has an opportunity to capitalize on all of the new energy associated with Miami’s most transformative commercial real estate development projects.”

 

Source: SFBJ

Will the recent free fall of the Euro hurt sales of new and existing condominium units in Miami?

Miami right now probably feels quite expensive compared to last year for returning international visitors who are armed with euros, the official currency of 19 countries in the European Union.

The current exchange rate to convert euros into U.S. dollars stood at about $1.178 on Thursday, following a steep drop in value resulting from a surprise monetary move this week by the Swiss Central Bank, according to the foreign exchange trading website OANDA.com.

Some currency watchers say Switzerland’s sudden maneuver to protect its currency, the franc, could send Western Europe’s primary currency plummeting against the dollar in the weeks and months ahead.

The current exchange rate is the weakest the euro has been against the dollar on the date of Jan. 15 since back in 2003 when the currency was worth about $1.055. In the more than a decade since the 2003 level, the euro has had a value ranging from between $1.265 and $1.485. A year ago on Jan. 15, 2014, a euro was worth $1.367, according to OANDA.com.

The dramatic drop in the euro means that everything in Miami, from hotel rooms to bottle service at nightclubs, and rental cars to condo purchases, now cost about 14 percent more than a year ago, according to OANDA.com. A deeper weakening of the euro could diminish Miami’s reputation as a cheap, must-see global destination for vacations, shopping sprees and real estate investments with Western European visitors.

For their part, Western Europeans are a key part of the crucial pool of international buyers purchasing real estate in South Florida, according to the 2014 Profile Of International Home Buyers In Florida report released in September by the Florida Realtors.

Buyers from Western Europe purchasing in South Florida accounted for 8 percent of all international sales in the Latin American-dominated Miami area, 18 percent in Fort Lauderdale and 24 percent in the Palm Beach area.

Statewide, the report concludes that buyers from Western Europe paid a mean price of $321,500 per transaction for Florida real estate with some 85 percent of the deals transacting in cash. Price statistics for Western Europeans who purchase in the South Florida region are unknown as the Florida Realtors report does not address that topic.

What is known is that South Florida’s condo market east of Interstate 95 has a growing pool of available inventory that needs buyers, whether they originate from Western Europe, Latin America or the Northeast. An estimated 6,400 new condo units are scheduled to be completed this year east of Interstate 95 in South Florida with an additional 6,700 units slated to be delivered in 2016 and 5,000 more units in 2017, according to the preconstruction condo projects website CraneSpotters.com.(For disclosure, my firm operates the website.)

An additional 12,750 condo units are currently on the resale market east of Interstate 95 in the tri-county South Florida region. The number of condo units currently on the resale market represents nearly nine months of available inventory. Ideally, a healthy market has about six months of supply available for resale. More months of supply suggests a buyer’s market and less months a seller’s market.

The unanswered question going forward is whether South Florida’s current condo boom will be able to maintain its momentum of recent years, if buyers from Western Europe find it more expensive to buy units in the tri-county region.

Thought Of The Week: South Florida Condos “Not Priority” For Russian Investors

At a time when the U.S. currency’s run-up in value is prompting some Wall Street experts to predict the beginning of the next King Dollar era, Russian condo buyers – who have seen their home country’s currency tumble by nearly half in the last year – are reportedly rethinking their necessity to own multiple beachfront condo units in the tri-county region.

“An apartment in Miami, even the most glorious beachfront apartment, is not a priority right now,” New York Attorney Marlen Kruzhkov reportedly said in a recent press report.

This sentiment from Russian investors – a key buying pool in the tri-county region for at least the last two decades – cannot be good news for sellers of new and existing condos in South Florida who are seeking top dollar for their luxury units.

 

Source: The Real Deal

Miami billionaire Jorge Perez says an end to a U.S. economic embargo on Cuba could help turn Havana into a mecca for real estate investment.

Jorge Perez oversees a global condo empire with $20 billion in assets as chairman of Related Group

Jorge Perez oversees a global condo empire with $20 billion in assets as chairman of Related Group

Perez, who was born in Argentina to Cuban parents, oversees a global condo empire with $20 billion in assets as chairman of Related Group.

The U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba, with more than 25 companies and farm trade associations, was created yesterday in Washington to urge repeal of a 1996 law that placed permanent sanctions on Cuba after Fidel Castro seized power in a communist revolution.

In an interview at his Miami office, Perez said he favors a lifting of the embargo even after Cuban exile groups organized protests in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood last month to oppose President Barack Obama’s easing of restrictions in place for more than 50 years. “We should’ve opened our eyes a long time ago,” the 65- year-old said. “Opening up trade and the exchange of ideas would further the democratization of Cuba. Demand for second homes will be much bigger than the Bahamas, Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic.”

Obama’s move to end a half century-long estrangement with Cuba raises the prospect that American developers and hotel operators such as Marriott International Inc. and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. may be able to enter the tourism-rich market only 90 miles (145 kilometers) from Florida’s coast. They face a long road of navigating a region with unclear property laws and government control, making it probable they will proceed with caution, Perez said.

Joint Ventures

Tourist arrivals to Cuba rose almost 12 percent year-over- year in October to 187,311 visitors, according to the Cuban National Statistics Office. About 2.9 million tourists visited the island in 2013, almost a third of them from Canada. The second-most visited Caribbean country behind the Dominican Republic, Cuba has about 200 hotels with at least 35,000 hotel rooms, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.’s hotel group.

Perez said he visited the island two years ago, taking a charter flight after he wasn’t able to obtain a U.S. permit to fly his private plane. If an opening occurs, Perez said he’d be interested in creating joint ventures with Cuban companies to help cultivate an entrepreneurial class, teach people how to operate in a free market economy, and encourage them to keep income from the projects in Cuba to help the country grow. He’s also interested in getting involved in the restoration of historic Havana.

‘Condo King’

Perez crashed with the rest of real estate market in 2008. He regained his crown as Florida’s “Condo King” by building new projects with 50 percent deposits from foreign buyers. The Miami Art Museum was recast as the Perez Art Museum Miami before its opening last year after he pledged $35 million in cash and art.

Inside his office, Perez has a coffee mug stamped with Bill Clinton’s name and a photo of him standing next to Obama. Most of the campaign donations Perez and Related Group made in 2012 and 2014 elections went to campaigns of Democratic party members, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Obama last month used the limited flexibility allowed by the law to ease travel, trade and finance with Cuba. Still, the economic embargo, in place since the early 1960s, needs congressional action to remove the restraints. “I don’t think that Raul Castro is going to wake up tomorrow and call free, general elections,” he said. “The lifting of the embargo is going to be a fight, though not impossible. A lot of the farm states are clamoring to lift this thing so we can sell products to Cuba. You’re going to get a lot of economic pressure.”

 

Source: Financial Advisor Magazine

Rodolfo Ishak, developer of Krystal Tower  PHOTO: Mark Freerks

Rodolfo Ishak, developer of Krystal Tower
PHOTO: Mark Freerks

Rodolfo Ishak has had plenty of opportunities to launch his first condo project in Miami during boom cycles of years past, but he feels now is the perfect time.

Having completed more than 40 projects in his native Brazil, Ishak is making his Miami debut with Krystal Tower, a 35-story, 153-unit project at 530 N.W. First Court. It launched sales in November, starting at $342 a square foot, with an average price of $450 a square foot. It will also include 5,500 square feet of commercial space.

The property currently has a five-story shell of a project that stalled during the recession. Ishak’s company will build atop that structure. He plans to launch construction once presales reach 50 percent, he said.

A rendering of Krystal Tower, planned for 530 N.W. First Court in Miami.

A rendering of Krystal Tower, planned for 530 N.W. First Court in Miami.

Ishak and sales director Roderyck Reiter said his company and his experience has reached a level where he feels comfortable to come to Miami, a market that’s more conductive than in Brazil. His reservations are evenly divided between Brazilians and Venezuelans. Both countries are suffering from economic problems and the weakening of their currencies against the U.S. dollar.

“It has helped us in Miami because of the instability and insecurity of the economy in both countries,” Ishak said. “People who have the capital want to take their capital to a safe market like this. … It’s like a savings account to them. If they keep it in their country, they will lose value on inflation.”

Ishak said his goal with Krystal Tower is to offer the amenities residents would expect at a luxury building at a lower price point. It helps that he paid only $3.5 million for the property, compared to the tens of millions of dollars that other developers paid to obtain land near downtown Miami.

BY THE NUMBERS
  • $108 million – Price paid by Stiles and Prudential Real Estate Investors for New River Center. The 281,713-square-foot office tower is at 200 E. Las Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale.
  • $279 – Price per square foot for KAR Properties’ $12.5 million purchase of a 1.03-acre site in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.
  • 57,012 – Square footage of C-G of South Florida’s warehouse at 6865 N.W. 36th Ave. in Miami as it faces a $2.5 million foreclosure lawsuit from Ocean Bank.
  • $11.5 million – Price Origin Behavioral HealthCare paid for the 90-bed Hanley Center, a substance abuse facility in West Palm Beach.

 

Source: SFBJ