The house “mysteriously” burned to the ground on July 17th, 2009, under very dicey circumstances.  Well, the new owner, who now lives at luxe Il Villaggio on South Beach plans to, of course, knock down the remains and build something (hopefully) more attractive on the VERY desirable piece of land.  Calvin Klein will be his neighbor to the north.

The next obvious question is: Will Snookie party here? Too bad the house burned down; the original house was perfect for a season of “South Beach Shore.”

Spectacular Inferno Melts “The Castle”

North Bay Road is home or has been home to many high profile people like Calvin Klein, Ricky Martin, The Bee Gees, Matt Damon, and JLO.

Related Reading 

• Crytpic Miami Beach: 4462 North Bay Road Up in Flames
• Miami Beach Real Estate: Waterfront Home Sales Downa Shocking 50%

It looks as if even the mighty can fall.  Things aren’t going so well on Fisher Island; nor for Miami Beach luxury real estate.  In the last few months there has been some pretty interesting activity in the ultra, ultra high-end.  In 2007 there were a few impressive penthouse sales, but in 2008 it was the year of nada.

1455 Ocean Drive PH 6 &7, Miami Beach-Il Villaggio South Beach

Originally listed a long time ago (After a year-or-so, does it matter how long?) for $17.5 M, this penthouse finally sold in March.  The roof top/pool area is spectacular but the apartment is really a two bedroom.  The interior was ALL wood; I really mean ALL wood.  Think maple, EVERYWHERE.  I don’t really attribute this as a “low” sale–I view it more as a pricing issue coupled with a little curable functional obsolence.

The Penthouse at Murano at Portofino (see above) sold in January for $7.6M.  It has 4700+sf interior and a rooftop area in the round cylinder area that wasn’t so nice.  Think fishbowl.  Murano at Portofino is a beautifully kept condo and one of the most desirable condominiums in Miami Beach.  Oh, it was on the market for a really, really, really long time.

A penthouse at Sayan in Sunny Isles Beach sold in March 2009 for $5,250,000.  UPH (upper penthouse) 1 has  5,030 sf, and according to a press release from the interior design firm (uh huh), the penthouse was finished and furnished.

Miami Beach Penthouses Currently on the Market

Continuum South Beach- 100 S. Pointe Drive PH 1, Miami Beach, Fl 33139 $14,950,000

This 7,774 sf,  5 bed/7.5 bath direct oceanfront penthouse has east and north exposures and has been on the market for about two years now.  Original list price was $25M.

Apogee South Beach- 800 S. Pointe Drive PH A, Miami Beach, Fl 33139 $22,000,000*

Billed as one of the most spectacular and prestigious penthouses, anywhere, PH A commands the top two stories of South Florida’s most exclusive condominium.  The Apogee Penthouse boasts 11,000 sf of outdoor area and a private, rooftop “palazzo” with private pool.

Portofino Tower- 300 S. Pointe Drive #PH 4001, Miami Beach, Fl 33139 $12,500,000

Comments from the listing:
Unit being sold with antique French and Italian furniture and sculptures.  Serious cash-buyers only!”
Two things I love about this one:
…”French and Italian furniture and sculptures.”  After reading that, who needs to see the pictures!
“Serious cash-buyers only!”  Wow!  Now that’s some marketing, huh?

Fontainebleau II- 4441 Collins Avenue PH North, Miami Beach, Fl 33140 $13,500,000

New to market and riding high off of the 2008 record sale of the ”South” penthouse for $12.5M, the owner hopes to cash in on that comp from last year.  The north penthouse overlooks the newly renovated Fontainebleau Resort.  Is that good or bad?  This penthouse was home to Top Chef Miami and a few “B” and “C” list celebs have stayed here.  4,500 sf, 4 bedroom/5 baths.  Since Fontainebleau II is a condo-hotel, this PH is eligible to be placed in the rental pool.  Nightly rack room rate is $4500.

Akoya- 6365 Collins Avenue TS 02, Miami Beach, Fl 33141 $1,999,000*

Perched 47 dizzing stories above the Atlantic, TS (tower suite) 2 has some of the most jaw-dropping views on Miami Beach.  Occupying the 46 & 47 th floors of Miami Beach’s tallest building, TS 2 has 2,777 sf, 3 bedrooms, 4.5 baths and a private rooftop terrace.  Pretty impressive real estate for $720 psf.

Acqualina- 17875 Collins Avenue PH 5002, Sunny Isles Beach, Fl 33160 $12,900,000*

Though technically not in Miami Beach, this penthouse deserves recognition because it is the priciest real estate available north of Miami Beach (and my listing, too!).  Occupying the complete northern half of Sunny Isles’ most exclusive building, #5002 (fifty floors!) has over 8,000 sf, 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, and, of course, it’s own private pool.  Acqualina has exceptional spa-like amenities including an outpost of NYC’s Il Mulino restaurant.

Other Penthouses available, as if there aren’t enough already:

• W South Beach- 2201 Collins Avenue PH 2 $9.9M

Related Posts

• Miami Beach Real Estate:  Apogee South Beach Penthouse Lists for $22M
• $18.5M Penthouse at 1500 Ocean Drive Goes Under Contract
• SBCB Scoop:  Miami Beach’s $29M Setai Penthouse Under Contract
• Miami Beach Penthouse Report, May ’07

Search disgustingly expensive Miami Beach real estate

* denotes my listing

I recently had a client who purchased a large condominium in South Beach.  While doing my research on available inventory of like/kind units in the neighborhood, I came to dissect each one of the luxury buildings to find out how many units were comparable to my buyer-client’s unit.  Here are some interesting real estate tid-bits about large units (over 2500 sq. ft.) in luxury condos in South Beach:

There are a total of 173 units with over 2500 sq. ft. in a total of six buildings:

Portofino Tower-13

Now, in just a few weeks, Apogee South Beach will add 67 condos and Continuum South Beach-North Tower will add approximately 40 condos over 2500 sq. ft. to the South Beach real estate condo inventory.

Use the following links to learn more about available condos for sale at Miami Beach’s most luxurious condos

I was a bit surprised to see how many of the $5M+ condo sales this year were on Fisher Island. Five units went for more than $5M; that is one a month! And if you think that’s pricey, then consider the $250K equity membership you must purchase just to use any of the Fisher Island’s amenities!

The Setai came in with the highest $ psf for non-pre-construction at just over $2300.

And get this—W South Beach sold a 2,700 sq. ft., south-facing PH for a cool $7.3M. Impressive, considering W South Beach just commenced construction and isn’t slated for completion until mid-2009!

Fontainebleau II sold an incredible PH for $6.4M. The view from this 4,500 sq. ft. residence with rooftop Jacuzzi is amazing.

SPECTACULAR MIAMI BEACH REAL ESTATE:

NEW TO MARKET

MIAMI BEACH PENTHOUSES

Il Villaggio – Spectacular PH in one of Miami Beach’s finest and most desirable buildings, Il Villaggio. $17,500,000. This Penthouse is a stellar piece of real estate. The unit has A LOT of millwork, so you better like wood-EVERYTHING!


1500 Ocean Drive- Largest condominium residence ever to hit the Miami Beach real estate market! 11,940 sq. ft. + 9,824 sq. ft. balcony/rooftop; 10 parking spaces (that’s right, 10!). Taxes: $107,246; monthly maintenance: $10,817. $18,500,000. 1500 Ocean Drive was built in 2000 and designed by architect Michael Graves.


Continuum- Tri- level, 40th floor Penthouse in SoFi’s exclusive Continuum I. Breathtaking direct ocean, South Beach and Fisher Island views! 7,400 sq. ft. with 6,000 sq. ft. of terrace with pool. Oh yeah, a paltry $25,000,000 for this pied-a-terre.  [Update: off market]


Continuum- While this is not a TRUE Penthouse, this one rates! This unit was in the BIG hit movie Miami Vice (joke). This condo is the epitome of over the top drama. It is basically a sexy bachelor pad. I love this unit– ALL FANTASY, NO REALITY! $18,000,000…chump change!  [Update: off market]

Setai-This isn’t the TRUE Penthouse in Setai, but it has received a lot of play by throwing that PH “thing” around. PH Villa B is a single-story unit in the uber-fab Setai, which basically is a deluxe hotel room which they “say” commands $25K per night. Madonna and Mariah have slept there; out of Britney’s and Lindsay’s league! I wonder if David Hasselhoff has dined on the master bathroom floor? Hmmmm….