Casa Casuarina was built in 1930 and modeled after the Alcazar de Colonin Santo Domingo, a residence built in 1510 by the son of Christopher Columbus and reputedly the oldest existing house in the western hemisphere.

Gianni Versace purchased the building in 1992 for $2.9 million. After receiving city approval, he demolished the hotel next door, and a two-story, 6,100-foot addition was built, transforming it into Versace’s Miami Beach house. [Miami Beach 411]

Photo: Me

UPDATE:  Here’s a photo of Casa Casuarina fka “Amsterdam Palace” before Versace renovated the property.  Question is: was it better now, or then?

A little warning:  since the following links are about the early days of South Beach, some of the material and goings-ons in the posts may be considered objectionable.  Ok, now click away!

Related Posts

• South Beach: Is It Really That Fabulous
• Discovering South Beach In the Beginning

The prize is described as follows:

The winning prize is a stunning 1-bedroom waterfront condominium on Miami Beach, Florida. This 850 sq. ft. condo has been exquisitely renovated and comes equipped with travertine marble floors, granite counters, stainless steel appliance and custom built-in cabinetry. Veterans Retreat will pay for all local property taxes and monthly condominium maintenance fees through December of 2009. This condo is in the heart of South Beach

I don’t know what building it is in, but for one-hundred bucks, it doesn’t really matter.

South Beach Condo Blog is so NOT responsible for anything, good or bad, that transpires from the raffle.  I’m just postin’ a link!

Blue Diamond:

4775 Collins Avenue #3106.  Best buy for a 1/2 + den on a high floor.  Bank-owned.  Have at it!

Check out all Blue and Green Diamond condos for sale here

Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach

6801 Collins Avenue #1405. $1.2M.  Incredible flow-through unit with east, south, and west exposures.  This deal is almost too good to be true.  AAA building with a great future!

6801 Collins Avenue #2006. $837K.  LPH unit on the 20th floor.  2/2 split floor plan.  Western views of Miami Beach and downtown Miami.  Huge terrace.  See for yourself.  Great price point to be in this exclusive resort.

Check out all Canyon Ranch Living Condos for sale here

The Floridian

650 West Avenue #1008. $599K.  3 bedroom/2 bath with 1191 sq. ft.  in newer bay front building in South Beach.  Haven’t seen these numbers in a while.  Bank-owned

AQUA Allison Island Condos

Gorlin Building: 6101 Aqua Avenue PH 11B.  $1.999M
Spectacular two-level penthouse in super desirable Gorlin building. Unit is drop dead! 2800 +/- interior sq. ft. with 20 ft. glass atrium and rooftop hot tub. Make offers.

Click here for all available condos for sale in AQUA Allison Island.

One Bal Harbour

10295 Collins Avenue #909. $2.25M. Incredible direct oceanfront northeast corner in the most talked about building on Miami Beach and Bal Harbour. Quality, finishes and amenities unrivaled by ANY luxury building in South Beach or Bal Harbour!

Click here for all available condos for sale at One Bal Harbour.

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]

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

It is my feeling that foreclosures in general ARE NOT the best buys for one reason:  the majority of the foreclosures that are available were originally purchased at or near the “peak” of the market—and the banks have lent too much money on these properties.  Since the banks are owed so much money on a typical foreclosed property, they don’t have the ability to sell it at today’s market price.  From WSVN’s Foreclosure Forced Out

Auctioneer: “Welcome to the mortgage foreclosure sale.”

Each week, hundreds of properties in foreclosure are auctioned off.

Auctioneer: ”Home Equity Mortgage Corp. vs. Butler.”

On this day, for the first time in 21 years, not a single property sold, the banks had to keep them all.

Luis Valdeon: “The banks lent too much money. They did first mortgage and second mortgages, and they’re completely off of what the price really are, and that’s why everything is so high; you can’t sell them.”

And the foreclosed properties are piling up.

Click Above to Play Video

Why The Miami Beach Real Estate Market Isn’t That Bad

This is a five year history for the South Beach condo market for area code 33139.  The dark green bar represents condo sales and the light green bar represents condo units on the market.

I know that some of the numbers are a bit hard to read but they really don’t matter anyway.  What matters is the incredible amout of inventory (light green bar) that started to accumulate in May 2005.  The number of sales are off from the peak, but nothing alarming.  The real story here is the amount of inventory on the market.  People have not stopped buying here and Miami Beach real estate continues to sell if it is priced right.  If you need to sell your Miami Beach condo, PRICE IT RIGHT.  If you don’t need to sell your condo, now is NOT the time to sell and you should take it off the market until some of the inventory gets absorbed.  More from Foreclosure Forced Out

Barry Habib: “There’s no simple solution.”

Barry Habib is a nationally known mortgage expert. His advice? Get out before you get in trouble.

Barry Habib: “If they have equity in it, they’ve got to find a way to protect that equity. Put the house up for sale. Don’t be greedy. Don’t try and put it up at an unrealistic number. Homes sell, and they sell very quickly if they’re priced right in every market.”

 What I decided to do, since SO many people have asked me, was to do a three year snapshot of the market, specifically for the SoFi neighborhood in South Beach, which includes Continuum South Beach, Murano at Portofino, Murano Grande, ICON South Beach, Portofino Tower, Yacht Club at Portofino, and South Pointe Tower.  When doing this type of analysis, I really like using this neighborhood because it has a high concentration of units, which provides accurate insight into the luxury condo market activity of Miami Beach condos. 

I used one time period: January 1st-October 3^rd of three years (2005, 2006, and 2007).  It is very interesting to see how the market has progressed during the last three years.  Here is a great Miami Beach neighborhood map

The graph above represents number of sales for each building in the SoFi neighborhood.  Most would think that the number of sales would be highest in 2004–2005.  Even though 2007 is down from 2006, in ALL cases the number of sales are higher than in 2005.

This graph shows the issue for condos in general—with the exception of Continuum South Beach, the average days on market have all substantially increased from 2005.

The graph above shows a three year history of average $ p.s.f.  SOLD prices for all the condos in the South of Fifth neighborhood.  Continuum South Beach continues to climb without any fluctuations.  Overall,  each building is holding its own and the neighborhood in general continues to do well.

This graph represents the list price ($ p.s.f.) to the sold price ($ p.s.f.) for each year.  It basically tracks the list price to sale price ratio for each building for all three years.  The blue bar is the list price (in $ p.s.f.) and the green bar represents the sold price (in $ p.s.f.).  Things to note from this graph:  ICON South Beach peaked in 2006 and Continuum South Beach continues to march onward and upward. 

I have to admit I was not surprised by the numbers.  Most of what I see here only re-inforces my recommendations from my South Beach Luxury Condo Outlook 2008 post.

Miami Beach real estate, Continuum South Beach, ICON South Beach, South Beach condos, South Beach real estate, Miami condo statistics, Miami luxury condos, 33139

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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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Canyon Ranch Living is a three-phase project that is located on the ocean at 6801 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. This perfect address encompasses more than 1,000 linear feet of oceanfront and is just minutes north of world-famous South Beach and minutes south of the Bal Harbour Shops.

Phase one is the South Tower (condo residences) and the Center Tower, also called the Carillon Tower (condo-hotel units and condo residences). The second phase will be the North Tower, and the third phase will be the historic Golden Sands Hotel property at 6901 Collins Avenue (no details yet on how the Golden Sands will fit into the project). The first two phases of the project will have 581 units total:

• 143 in the South Tower (phase one)
• 151 condo-hotel units in the center Carillon building (phase one) on floors 2–10; floors 10–16 in Carillon Tower are condominiums
• 80 condo units in the center Carillon building on floors 11–16
• 207 condos in the North Tower (phase two), including seven direct oceanfront beach houses

The developer is expecting the T.C.O. (temporary certificate of occupancy) for the South Tower any day. Closings will begin ten days after a T.C.O. is obtained. Closings for the Center Tower (Carillon) should begin 30 to 60 days after the South Tower, and the Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach Resort should open in the first part of 2008.

Restaurants at Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach

Cabana Grill – Offers healthy meals served in the pool area exclusively for Canyon Ranch guests and residents.

Café Vida – Casual dining and tasting room offering creative cuisine, fine wines, and to-go items.

Juice Bar – Here you can sample locally-fresh and seasonal juices and smoothies in the ocean-view Juice Bar located on the 4th floor Spa Lobby.

The Restaurant at Canyon Ranch – A fine-dining oceanfront restaurant with indoor & outdoor seating will offer award-winning and nutritionally-balanced gourmet cuisine and will be open to the public. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, the restaurant sits adjacent to the hotel lobby and borders the beach. The terrace features dining with superb ocean views. Sensual and experiential dining venues include an exhibition kitchen, tapas area and private dining for up to 40 guests – all serving signature, nutritious Canyon Ranch gourmet cuisine. Lobby level.

The food at the Canyon Ranch Restaurants will be organic, seasonal, delicious, and healthy!

Amenities for Hotel Guests & Residents of Canyon Ranch Living

• 73,000 sq. ft. spa for residents and hotel guests only
• 22 treatment rooms with nine different “experiences”
• The Health & Healing Center will have full-time physicians and health practitioners offering integrative medical consultations and will focus on a preventative approach to health
• Complimentary fitness classes
• Four pools within the Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach resort, including an adults-only pool above the spa
• Additional 7,000 sq. ft. fitness area in the North Tower
• Two-story indoor rock climbing wall with ocean view

Condos for Sale in the Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach North Tower

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of this project. Here’s why: Canyon Ranch Living will NOT be just another condominium; it will be a destination. Guests will come specifically for the Canyon Ranch experience. They want to de-stress, unwind, get healthy, meet new people, and eat beautifully prepared, organic healthy meals.

Even in today’s real estate market, Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach is doing exceedingly well. The first phase of the project, the South and Center Towers, has been sold-out for two years or more. With the introduction of the North Tower, sales continue to be brisk because Canyon Ranch is selling more than real estate-they are selling lifestyle, wellness, and well-being.

North Tower Beach House Availability

• Direct oceanfront southeast corner, two-story beach house, 3 bedroom/3.5 + den, 3,555 sq. ft., $4,950,000
• Direct oceanfront 2 bedroom/2.5 + den, two-story beach house, 2,450 sq. ft., $3,500,000

North Tower Condo Residences Availability

• Direct oceanfront, 18^th floor 2/2, 1,290 sq. ft., from $1,548,000
• Flow-through 2/2.5, 2,050 sq. ft., direct ocean and bay views, from $2,300,000
• North Tower condo units facing west, 22^nd floor 2/2, 1,280 sq. ft., from $1,400,000
• Flow-through, wraparound corner unit, 3/2.5, 2,150 sq. ft. with east, north and western exposures, from $2,750,000

The North Tower is scheduled for completion in early 2008.

These are the beach houses for the South Tower at Canyon Ranch Living.

Click here for condo residences and condo-hotel re-sales in the South and Center Towers.

Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach condos and condo-hotels and real estate

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