South Beach Condos Blog

The Union Tribune is reporting that a proposed joint venture between a local San Diego developer and New York’s Setai Group to create a west coast outpost of the prestigious, The Setai South Beach, is now uncertain.

In November, the Setai Group sued 5th Avenue Partners and its principal, Orange County developer Rebeil, alleging that the San Diego project is being falsely promoted as a Setai property under the name Setai San Diego.

5th Avenue formally announced that the Setai Group would operate the Diegan as the Setai San Diego in an Oct. 18 news release, claiming that the San Diego property would be the first “five-star luxury condominium-hotel in the city as the result of a groundbreaking east coast-west coast partnership considered to be the first of its kind in the country.”

Within hours, the Setai Group’s attorney informed 5th Avenue that talks were off and “improperly repudiated” the letter of intent, according to the 5th Avenue countersuit.

Burton said there was nothing improper about Setai pulling the plug. Final terms were never agreed on, so the proposed partnership never materialized, he said.

The Setai Group operates The Setai Resorts & Residences South Beach and the Setai NYC.

Translating the Setai to NYC [Real Deal]

This month I have started to feel that Miami Beach condo sellers are coming to terms with the reality of the “new” market. The impending wave of new condos “across the bridge” will no doubt bring down the market as a whole. Don’t worry, the best properties in the best locations are the LAST to go down and the FIRST to come up!

Three new luxury buildings will be added to the Miami Beach real estate mix: Continuum II, Apogee South Beach and Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach. It will be interesting to see how many speculators place their units on the market at Continuum II.  Since Apogee South Beach has so few units (67), I think that any inventory that comes to market will be quickly absorbed.

So….You Want to Buy a Condo in South Beach?—What to Do

Always be guided by your gut instinct. Never let anyone talk you into something that you don’t feel is quite right. Even in this wobbly market, I would have NO problem buying a unit a Continuum, NONE! Here’s why: Location and supply and demand.

Kevin’s Recommendations

Continuum I. I believe it is actually a steal. Yup, UNDER-PRICED!

Apogee South Beach. This building is very pricey but will no doubt become the most prestigious condominium in ALL of South Florida. To be delivered later this year.

Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach. One of the only projects along with Setai South Beach that is actually a destination.

One Bal Harbour. Arguably one of the two best locations in all of South Florida.

ICON South Beach. This one is all about timing. There is a lot of inventory on the market and not many condo sales. The owners that need to sell will be in reality VERY SOON.

Miami Beach Real Estate Condo Buying Tips:

• East and Southeast exposures are the most desired. If the condominium is on the bay, then the Southwest exposure would be the preferred exposure.
• Two bedroom units are better than three bedroom units (larger pool of buyers)
• If you can find a luxury condo on the ocean with one bedroom units with eastern exposure, those are rare. Continuum II has some and so does Canyon Ranch Living. They are gold. Developers typically give the larger units the preferred east exposure.
• Never buy a “flow-through” unit without seeing it or taking a tour of others. Some people like them—some people don’t.
• Corner “flow-through” units (three exposures) are rare. Apogee has them and so does Canyon Ranch Living. Great on paper, GREATER in reality.

Miami Beach Condos, Miami Beach real estate, One Bal Harbour, South Beach real estate, South Beach condos, Continuum II South Beach, Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach

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I remember when I got into the real estate business about 15 years ago that agents who primarily sold condos were considered second-class brokers. How times have changed.

Word on the street (or in my ear) is that the penthouse at Setai South Beach, located at 101 20^th Street in Miami Beach, is under contract. Penthouse Villa B encompasses the entire 40^th floor of the high rise and is 6,200 interior sq. ft. with a 4,000 sq. ft. roof terrace and private pool.

While this rumored sale would be newsworthy on its own, the magnitude of this potential sale is staggering. If the unit closes at or above $22.5M (which I heard…), here’s what it would mean:

Real Estate Records Broken in Miami-Dade & Broward Counties

It would be the second highest-priced residential property (condo or single family home/land) ever to be recorded in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.

If the closed price is at $22.5M, or above, that would mean a price of $3,624 p.s.f., which would beat the previously-reported pre-construction sale at the nearby W South Beach of a one-bedroom direct oceanfront bungalow at $3,348 p.s.f .

The Setai penthouse was purchased in May 2004 for $9.5M and is owned by Andrew and Elyse Barroway of Philadelphia. They seem to have a knack for picking winners when it comes to real estate.

Luxury Miami Beach & Fisher Island Condos Continue to Break Real Estate Records

Despite weaker market conditions for “regular” condominiums, 2007 has been a very good year for luxury condos in Miami Beach and Fisher Island.

Right now, I’m listening to Frank Sinatra sing “It was a very good year.” Indeed it has been so far.

Today I went to a presentation by the Canyon Ranch Miami developer. To give you a little background on me and my history of this project, I have been a fan of this project since BEFORE the project was launched over three years ago. The project consists of three towers on OVER 6 acres of oceanfront property which encompasses 1100 linear feet of prime Miami Beach ocean frontage. The 21 story south tower, which are condo residences only, has 143 units, the 16-story center tower, which is the historic Carillon building, has 151 condo-hotel units (floors 2-10) and 80 condo residences (floors 11-16). The north tower, which is the tallest building at 35 storys, has 207 units including 7 direct oceanfront townhomes

Canyon Ranch: More Than Just Real Estate

Since the inception of this project, my focus has been on the real estate side of the project for the obvious reasons. After today’s presentation, I am even more excited about this project and what it brings to Miami Beach because it is SO much more than just another condo or condo-hotel. Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach, which is dubbed “where the wealthy get healthy”, is more about the amenities and healthy lifestyle than the real estate.

The “Power of Possibility” is their slogan and today I learned exactly what it means. Many people come to “The Ranch” to change their lifestyle, to de-stress, get in shape and learn healthy living habits. I saw this incredibly interesting video where a 54 year-old man went to Canyon Ranch in Tucson, AZ and Lenox, MA for four months. They tested him at the beginning of his stay and determined that two of his arteries were 70% clogged, he had numerous ailments and he said he was taking about 17 Advil a day! The doctors estimated that this 54 year-old man had the body of an 84 year-old. After his four month stay at Canyon Ranch, his arteries showed NO SIGNS of blockage, lost 30 lbs. and doctors estimated that the 54 year-old NOW had the body of a 52 year-old man. Fascinating!

Update: Closings to Begin in Late July

The south tower (condo residences) is estimated to begin closings in late July. The center (Carillon) tower closings are estimated to start in September. The hotel and spa will have a soft opening by year’s end.

Back to Business

The reason why I continue to like this project so much is because throughout Miami and Miami Beach the branded projects like Setai, ICON and W South Beach continue to do well even in today’s market. Comparing other branded projects to Canyon Ranch is not fair because Canyon is so much more than just a brand it is a destination! The south and center (Carillon) towers have been SOLD OUT for about two years! There are re-sales available in south & center towers and the developer has great buys on the remaining units in the north tower. Prices in the north tower are about $1000-$1100 p.s.f. for western exposure, and $1100-$1200 p.s.f. for oceanfront units, which is a very fair buy for direct oceanfront luxury property.