I’ve always said it and now it’s in print! It all about location, baby. There’s no denying that South Beach is now so big it is a BRAND. According to Forbes:

In some cases, a premium neighborhood was an area’s most lucrative. Take Miami Beach. The city’s ritzy downtown area has appreciated exponentially since 1990, as beach-front mansions and luxury condos have drawn upper-class buyers seeking space to soak up the sun and the sizzling social scene. Parts of the city center have increased in value 1,532% since 1990; the median property there is now worth a whopping $1.64 million.

You’re probably saying to yourself, “oh gawd, here goes another crazy real estate agent telling me the market is doing great.” Nope, not doing that. Here’s my issue with this article: Forbes is reporting that Miami is the “lucrative” neighborhood when, in fact, they mean Miami Beach and more specifically South Beach. For those readers outside of the area, South Beach is not a city, it is a neighborhood, much like SoHo is a neighborhood in New York City.  I’m not trying to distance Miami Beach from Miami, but comparing Miami Beach/South Beach real estate to Miami real estate is like comparing SoHo to the Bronx.

So, while this news is nothing new to me, I’m happy to see that real estate here continues to operate on basic market fundamentals like location, location, location.

Interesting side note (please discuss amongst yourselves): Miami Herald never ran this story. I’m not implying anything here, I just find it very interesting, that’s all.

Check out South Beach real estate here.

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]

As you know, I am fascinated with 740 Park. Curbed is reporting that #4/5 A has traded at $32M to an unidentified buyer.

In the past, I have compared 740 Park to Apogee South Beach. I know from being inside Apogee South Beach that it is without peer in Miami Beach real estate, and apparently 740 Park has no peers as well. According to Curbed:

…those looking at 740 Park as a gauge of the luxury market are being quite foolish. This building plays by its own rules.

UPDATE: Ira Rennert is the buyer of #4/5 A and is rumored to have purchased another spread at 778 Park for “around $30M.”  Both apartments are said to be purchased for his daughters.  Sweet! [NYO]

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