Most Luxurious Condo Buildings in Brickell

I think it’s safe to say that many people that move to Miami envision lots of time spent on the beach or viewing it from their oceanfront condo. Long-time locals, however, understand that urban living can be just as scenic and one of the most desirable spots is Brickell. Home to the country’s largest concentration of international banks, Brickell naturally attracts those that desire to live close to work and to Miami’s finest eateries, shops and entertainment venues.

Brickell real estate offers no shortage of luxurious residential buildings. Let’s look at some of the most popular.

Asia Brickell Key

Asia boasts 36 floors, in a tower that stands 483 feet in height. Completed in 2008, it quickly became one of the most desirable luxury residences in the Brickell district of downtown Miami.

Asia Brickell Key boasts 123 luxury condo units, in two, three and four bedroom floor plans that start at 1,600 square feet. With only three to five units per floor, Asia offers maximum privacy to its residents.

Since amenities typically define a luxury building, Asia epitomizes the concept. Here are just a handful of amenities you’ll find at Asia:

·      Multiple swimming pools

·      Fitness center

·      Private storage facilities

·      Tennis courts

·      Private elevators that open into units’ foyers

·      Touch-screen lifestyle management technology

·      Built-in cappuccino maker in some units

·      Valet

·      Concierge

Additionally, Asia is located within walking distance to restaurants and shops. Current offerings at Asia are priced from $950,000 to $8,830,000.

Santa Maria

Located on the waterfront on Biscayne Bay, Santa Maria condos top out at a lofty 51 stories. No corners were cut in the development of this stunning complex, built in 1997. Units range in size from two to five bedrooms with from 2,100 square feet to 6,300 square feet of living space. All units boast floor-to-ceiling windows from which to take in the amazing views.

Amenities at Santa Maria include:

·      Jacuzzi

·      Fitness Center

·      Tennis Courts

·      Racquetball

·      Spa

·      Lap pool

·      Marina

·      Library

·      Business center

·      Conference room

·      24-hour security personnel

Current luxury Santa Maria condo offerings are priced from $1,200,000 to $6,750,000.

Four Seasons Residences and Hotel

The Four Seasons is a name known worldwide for luxurious hospitality and the property in Brickell is no exception. For those leery of purchasing a residence in a mixed residential/hospitality complex:

·      The residents have a separate entrance from hotel guests

·      There are private elevators to the units

·      Swim in the pool set aside for the exclusive use of residents

The Four Seasons Miami was completed in 2003 and boasts 73 floors. There are 186 luxury condominium units, occupying the 40^th to the 70^th floor. These residences range in size from 1,114 to 6,499 square feet.

Aside from the condos and hotel facilities, the Four Seasons tower holds 10,600 square feet of retail space, Sports Club/LA Miami, Bahia Bar, Acqua Restaurant (seafood) and the Four Seasons Pool Terrace.

The Four Seasons offers one, two, three and four-bedroom units, up to 7,458 square feet, and priced from $399,000 to $15 million. 

ICON BAY - New downtown construction by The Related Group

The Related Group is getting ready to start selling a new waterfront condominium building in Downtown Miami called Icon Bay. It will be a bayfront building located east of Biscayne Blvd and NE 28 Street. 

You can see the renderings and location in the following Icon Bay video.

All units in Icon Bay will have bay views and they will also feature private elevators. The building will have approximately 300 units in total. 80% of the units are going to be 2bed/2bath and 2bed/2bath+DEN and 20% will be 1bed/1bath+DEN. You can get an idea of the views on the image shown below.

The price per square foot will start at $405 when they start sales. The 1bed/1bath+DEN units will start at $360,000. The 2bed/2bath units will start at $440,000. And the 2bed/2bath+DEN units will start at $500,000.

The payment schedule is in the process of being defined but most probably it will be similar to the payment structure of Millecento, another pre-construction project sold recently by The Related Group. In Millecento the payment structure was:

1) 10% of the price at reservation

2) 10% of the price at contract

3) 15% of the price when construction starts

4) 15% of the price when construction ends

5) 50% due at closing

There are three other bayfront buildings close to Icon Bay that were built 5 years ago. These buildings are Star Lofts, Onyx and Platinum. In addition, there is also Paramount Bay, where units are currently selling north of $500/foot.

In Star Lofts there are currently 7 units for sale from $269,000 to $1,650,000. The price per square foot ranges from $332 to $659. 

In Onyx on The Bay there are currently 6 units for sale from $242,000 to $480,000. The price per square foot ranges from $243 to $388.

In Platinum Condominium there are currently 10 units for sale from $180,000 to $496,650. The price per square foot ranges from $217 to $360.

Most Popular Luxury Oceanfront Condo Buildings in Miami

Although it may seem that Miami Beach was invented as a vacation playground for the wealthy, over 87,000 residents call it home. The beach is the main draw, of course, for those that choose from among the amazing array of Miami’s luxury oceanfront condo offerings, but the convenience of being in close proximity to world-class dining and shopping is close behind. If you’re interested in purchasing a luxury waterfront condo in Miami, we are happy to help you become better acquainted with some of the more popular properties.

Mei

Pronounced May-e, Mei is a Mandarin word for beauty. Located on Collins Avenue in the North Miami Beach area, the Asian-accented Mei stands 22 stories tall. The 136 units range in size from 900 to 1,900 square feet with an average list price of $1.3 million. You’ll also find 36 two-story townhomes on site, with 2,000 to 4,000 square feet of living space. Amenities include condo cabanas on the beach, an oversized private spa, a fully-equipped fitness center, valet, concierge and a doorman and front desk, staffed 24 hours a day. Current offerings at Mei are priced between $499,900 and $1,950,000.

Setai

Built in 2004 in South Beach, Setai is a 40 story tower with unparalleled ocean, bay and city views. The residences range in size from one to four bedrooms, and Setai offers penthouses and two-story townhomes, as well. The penthouses feature infinity-edge swimming pools and all units boast top-of-the-line kitchen appliances and with whirpool tubs and separate, glass-doored showers in the bathrooms. High-end touches such as teak cabinetry is evidenced throughout the units.

Setai’s developers realized that the lure of the beach would be strong among its residents and met that by providing beach amenities to rival the finest resort:

·      Beach daybeds

·      Towel service

·      Food and beverage service

Additionally, Setai offers residents three swimming pools, a boutique, an on-site 5-star restaurant, a seafood bar, 24-hour concierge, valet, laundry, maid and room service. Setai has no rental or pet restrictions. Current offerings at Setai are priced from $599,000 to $9,950,000.

Il Villaggio

Il Villaggio is another South Beach luxury condominium complex, built in 1999.

The complex stands 17 stories high, situated atop a charming high-end retail complex. Il Villaggio offers 127 one, two and three bedroom units.

Residents typically choose Il Villaggio for the amenities offered. These include:

·      Health club

·      Jacuzzi

·      Pool-deck bar

·      Beach cabanas

·      Towel service

·      Complimentary bottle water and magazines on the beach

·      Food and beverage service

·      Concierge service

·      Beach concierge

·      Valet service

·      Round-the-clock, fully-staffed security service

Current prices for Il Villaggio condos range from $1 million to $6,950,000.

Next week, we’ll take a look at another handful of the best-of-the-best in Miami oceanfront luxury condo buildings.

July Miami Hurricane Weather Update

With hurricane Emilia losing steam right now in the Pacific Ocean, it is bringing light now to the fact that the real hurricane season is about to begin. Historically the largest hurricanes in Florida history generally come between the third week in August, to the last week in September.

At the end of last year in December 2011, a public consortium consisting of experts on insurance, risk management and seasonal climate forecasting at the University College London projected that this summer we would have an above average hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. Their predictions believe that there will be 14 tropical storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. If this is true this means that we will go through the entire alphabet. The last time we went through the entire alphabet was in the summer of 2005, which was the year Katrina hit gulf coast cities.

In May of this year the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) released their forecast saying that this will be an average hurricane season (9-15 storms). They based their forecast off of the current ocean temperatures in the Atlantic and the wind shear. The Florida State University for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies issued its annual forecast predicting that 13 storms would come from the Atlantic this season. They believe 7 of those storms will turn into hurricanes.

Now that we’re coming into the middle of July, we now have had 4 tropical storms. Realistically this pace is looking at a 13-15 named storm season. The temperatures have been a little bit of the average temperatures, but one thing to note is this will not have a huge effect on Florida Miami real estate.

Hurricanes actually increase the price of real estate. They really help bring jobs back to life. The negative effects that big hurricanes have on real estate are higher home insurance prices.  Miami does get hit yearly by hurricanes but it’s important to note that the damage is very minimal because the hurricanes are usually at a category one. When the hurricanes hit the Gulf and go towards the panhandle that’s when they do far more damage. Overall it looks like a great season and no need to worry!

Foreigners buying all real estate deals available in Miami. Can locals buy? (Part 2)

In a previous post I discussed the current reality of the Miami real estate market in which most of the best deals are being acquired by foreigners. Now we dig deeper to understand the causes of this buying frenzy. Nowadays, one of the most active buyers of Miami real estate are Brazilians. The question is, why are Brazilians so active now when they were not that active in previous occasions?

Brazil is part of the BRIC group of countries, which also includes Russia, India and China. These countries are also called the Big Four since they are countries that are expected to have more economic power than the G7 in the near future. Brazil's economy has grown very fast in the past decade and has attracted a lot of investors from all around the world. As a result, the cost of living and inflation have increased considerably. In addition, their currency, the real, has appreciated against the dollar in the last decade.

The best example I can give you is a Brazilian client who tells us that it is less expensive for him to bring his family to the US when they go on vacations than to go anywhere inside Brazil. Basically, they prefer to spend in dollars because it is cheaper here in the US. Furthermore, I have another Brazilian client who started buying properties in Miami a couple of years ago. He tells me the price per square foot in Brickell for a brand new condo is lower than the price per square foot in a good area of Sao Paulo for an older unit. 

It is important to note that inflation is high in Brazil because the economy is improving and there is a lot of capital inflows. It is not like other countries in Latin America where inflation is high because of scarcity since they do not make anything and everything has to be imported, such as Venezuela.

Miami’s Real Estate Economy is Turning the Corner

This past month Miami government leaders released the Miami real estate statistics. The overall real estate values of Miami-Dade County increased by 2 percent, coming to 190.7 billion. This is really fantastic news because it’s showing real healthy growth for a market that has been sluggish for 4 years. Since 2008 the market has seen drops of 55 billion in the overall real estate value. The 30% drop in real estate values played a major role in job creation. Recently there has been a rise in new construction, creating more construction jobs.

These numbers prove a couple things. First, the Miami real estate market is done bottoming out. This can also mean that there are more buyers than sellers. This created a little demand pull on the need for homes. When the market had a substantial amount of foreclosures and layoffs, there were clearly more homes for sale in Miami than buyers. With the high unemployment or underemployment in the Miami area the amount of buyers really decreased. This proves the second point, that the overall health of the Miami economy has increased which is helping refuel the real estate.

What this means for each resident is very important for everyone in Miami to understand. It means that this is really sincerely a perfect time to buy or sell. Probably even the healthiest time to buy. If this trend keeps up Miami real estate has a tendency to become very expensive. Realistically it will. If you want to move to Miami or out of Miami, this is the time.

In the real estate market the new banking rules will stop a bubble from creating. Therefore the market will not rage like it did in the early 2000’s. If we see an increase in the next 4 months in a row, we will officially be out of the mess. We’re not fully out yet but June 2012 was a great month for Miami real estate.

Foreigners buying all real estate deals available in Miami. Can locals buy?

We at Miami Riches work with local and international buyers and sellers. The best deals out there are usually short sales, foreclosures or REOs which typically take only cash offers. In the past couple of years, the majority of these deals have been sold to foreigners and locals are starting to complain because they are left out and have not been able to take advantage of the real estate rebound we are experiencing in Miami.


One of the biggest problems for locals is that nowadays lenders require bigger down payments. Since the savings rate is in USA is very low compared to other countries, it is very difficult for local buyers to meet this requirement of bigger down payments. Even if you meet the down payment requirement, after you have a contract to buy a property and the contract is contingent upon the buyer obtaining financing, there are factors that can preclude the buyer from getting the final loan approval. For example, nowadays most buyers meet the income criteria set by lenders but have a short sale or a foreclosure in their credit history because they strategically defaulted on their loan after they bought a property in the height of the boom.


If you are a seller who has a really good deal in your hands, are you going to be willing to sell to a buyer with financing while there are still a lot of cash buyers out there that can close right away?


Even though properties in Miami are not as cheap today as they were a couple of years ago, there is still a lot of foreigners waiting to pay cash for the best deals. There are so many foreigners buying real estate in Miami that the association of Realtors added a new field this month to the MLS to track the country of origin of buyers.


We have seen a clear trend in the past 12 months. Foreigners are buying most of the lowest priced deals, usually short sales, foreclosures and REOs; while the few locals that can get a mortgage are buying mostly resales which are usually priced higher than their distressed sales counterparts. If you are going to pay cash for a property, start looking for these best deals. We have an option in our search properties page in the Miami riches website, where you can only search for short sales and foreclosures.


It is very encouraging to hear that this year the savings rate in the US ticked higher and that lenders are starting to lend more and more. This will definitely help the local market but we need to see more of this to get to a more balanced market where locals can also take advantage of the deals available.

Miami Real Estate Market Update - Brickell Area - June 2012

In the following table you can see all closings in the brickell area for the month of June 2012. There were a total of 57 closings. The main statistics are:

• Average price per square foot: $333
• Lowest price per square foot: $134 (Four Ambassadors 1067)
• Highest price per square foot: $620 (Epic unit 4203)

There were two units that went pending in just one day. Both units in Brickell Key, one in Carbonell and another one in Isola. 

Building	Unit	Bed/Bath	Living Area	Days on Market	List Price	Sale Price	Price per sq ft
Four Embassador	1126	0/1	580	2	82,500	105,000	$181
THE CLUB AT BRICKELL BAY	3610	0/1	425	8	115,000	116,000	$273
The Four Ambassadors	1067	1/1	990	11	120,500	132,500	$134
Brickell Bay Tower	316	0/1	480	62	138,500	135,000	$281
FOUR AMBASSADORS	811	2/2	990	84	140,000	140,000	$141
CONDO	403	1/1	787	1	149,000	142,000	$180
THE CLUB AT BRICKELL	3621	1/1	825	168	159,000	184,108	$223
One Miami	1417	1/1	868	389	195,000	190,000	$219
The Club At Brickell Bay	2812	1/1	818	22	225,000	215,000	$263
THE CLUB AT BRICKELL BAY	3312	1/1	818	131	229,000	220,000	$269
one miami	902	1/1	846	56	229,000	207,000	$245
Brickell Key II	1201	1/1	700	20	229,000	205,000	$293
BRICKELL ON THE RIVER	803	1/1	775	77	235,000	218,000	$281
BRICKELL KEY ONE	A901	1/1	940	5	239,000	220,000	$234
FORTUNE HOUSE	1106	2/2	930	126	259,000	252,000	$271
The Plaza 901 Brickell	3708	1/1	639	52	285,000	290,000	$454
BRICKELL ON THE RIVER	3201	2/2	1117	49	285,000	270,000	$242
FOUR SEASONS	3502	1/1	624	487	289,000	270,000	$433
ONE TEQUESTA POINT	902	1/1	780	93	289,900	250,000	$321
THE MARK ON BRICKELL	2809	2/2	1140	11	294,900	308,000	$270
ONE MIAMI EAST CONDO	3503	1/1	868	51	299,000	322,910	$372
ISOLA CONDOMINIUM	1103	2/2	968	1	299,000	290,000	$300
500 BRICKELL EAST	3103	1/1	754	66	300,000	275,000	$365
One Miami	3414	2/2	1105	12	308,880	310,000	$281
The Club at Brickell Bay	2523	2/2	1105	123	310,000	303,000	$274
BRICKELL ON THE RIVER	508	2/2	1402	298	325,000	295,000	$210
THE IVY	2314	2/2	1172	33	329,999	285,000	$243
Skyline on Brickell Condo	2903	1/1	791	21	330,000	310,000	$392
500 BRICKELL	1503	2/2	1239	260	349,500	349,500	$282
Icon Brickell Condo	4204	1/1	726	528	365,000	362,000	$499
The Mark	2601	2/2	1200	180	365,000	360,000	$300
500 BRICKELL WEST	1810	2/2	1200	440	369,900	334,000	$278
COSTA BELLA	1801	2/2	1249	70	375,000	360,000	$288
COURVIOSIER COURTS	304	3/3	1656	15	375,400	370,000	$223
MET 1	T-2906	2/2	1005	150	399,000	385,000	$383
One Miami	323	3/2	1792	49	412,000	416,555	$232
THE PLAZA ON BRICKELL	1411	2/2	1395	31	414,900	414,900	$297
Brickel Key II	320	2/2	1500	78	425,000	395,000	$263
Carbonell	3101	1/1	1031	174	429,000	399,000	$387
Icon Brickell Viceroy	4801	1/1	898	58	439,000	425,000	$473
The Plaza	2604	2/2	1101	47	440,000	400,000	$363
THE MARK ON BRICKELL	2204	3/2	1510	23	449,000	425,000	$281
One Miami	4212	3/2	1416	11	450,000	430,000	$304
THE PLAZA ON BRICKELL	2104	2/2	1120	6	450,000	420,000	$375
EMERALD AT BRICKELL	1905	2/2	1264	93	459,000	420,000	$332
BRICKELL KEY ONE	A704	3/3	2001	129	575,000	570,000	$285
ONE MIAMI EAST	4109	3/2	1792	45	629,000	610,000	$340
ONE TEQUESTA POINT	1208	3/2	1640	29	720,000	710,000	$433
ICON BRICKELL TWO	3605	2/2	1450	20	725,000	690,000	$476
CARBONELL CONDO	3305	2/2	1505	1	870,000	860,000	$571
EPIC	4203	2/2	1372	78	875,000	850,000	$620
THE JADE	901	2/2	1878	145	889,000	832,500	$443
FOUR SEASONS RESIDENCES	49A	2/2	1808	129	1,150,000	1,000,000	$553
THREE TEQUESTA	2506	3/3	2293	94	1,189,000	1,100,000	$480
Three Tequesta Point	1801	3/2	2353	259	1,249,000	1,000,000	$425
JADE RESIDENCES	3007	3/3	2130	20	1,364,900	1,300,000	$610
JADE RESIDENCES AT BRICKE	4211	4/4	3415	78	1,997,900	1,899,000	$556

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