Developer Switches To Condos From Rentals

The Elser Hotel & Residences

A new downtown Miami rental tower will be sold as condos due to continued demand from buyers.

Property Markets Group, led by Ryan Shear, Kevin Maloney and Dan Kaplan, and its partner Greybrook, plan to launch sales soon of The Elser Hotel & Residences at 398 Northeast Fifth Street, Shear said. The 49-story building, previously planned as Society Biscayne, a mixed-use rental tower, is about to receive its temporary certificate of occupancy.

“We tested the market with reservations. We had pretty good success,” Shear said. “It was enough of an indicator to go for it.”

The Elser, named after a former pier that was completed in downtown Miami in 1917, has 646 residential units, more than 19,000 square feet of amenities, 32,000 square feet of office space and about 5,000 square feet of retail space.

Units at the Elser will start in the $600,000s and are short-term rental friendly. PMG is handling sales and marketing in-house. Highgate will manage the short-term rentals, Shear said.

The lack of existing inventory that’s short-term rental friendly, and at that price point, prompted PMG and Greybrook to switch gears to condos.

“It’s a good product to have in Miami, and frankly I don’t think there’s enough,” Shear said.

Closings at The Elser are expected to begin in the fall.

Source: The Real Deal