Pordes Residential takes over sales of Bay Harbor Islands project

Pordes Residential is taking over sales of a boutique townhouse development in Bay Harbor Islands as it nears completion.

Land Developers Group hired the brokerage to handle the remaining nine townhomes, which is about 64 percent of the 14-unit Palm Villas project at 9870-9880 East Bay Harbor Drive. It launched sales in 2016, and has only sold five townhouses since then.

Over the past year, Pordes Residential was also brought in to take over sales and marketing by the project developers of KAI Residences, 101 Bay Harbor and Bijou Bay Harbor, all in Bay Harbor Islands.

The brokerage, led by Mark Pordes and Adam Kaufman, plans to reach out to buyers in the Northeast and Canada.

“The market in general has been a little slow, but there definitely are sales here,” Kaufman said. Read more here:The Real Deal Miami

Mixed-use Wynwood office building ‘Forum’ gets a city thumbs-up

A New York based development company has teamed with a globally-recognized and award-winning architect to bring a stand-out mixed-use office building to the heart of the ever-growing Wynwood Arts District.
RedSky Capital plans to construct an eight-story mixed-use building called Forum at 2700 NW Second Ave. in Wynwood.
The developer’s team presented details July 18 to the city’s Urban Development Review Board, which recommended approval of the project with some suggestions.
RedSky Capital LLC and its affiliate RS JZ 2700 NW2 LLC own the 1.25-acre site north of Northwest 27th Street, south of Northwest 27th Terrace, and west of Northwest Second Avenue.
Forum is designed to include up to 144,781 square feet of offices, about 36,072 square feet of commercial-retail space, parking for 370 vehicles, and significant outdoor amenities and plaza spaces including pedestrian paseos connecting all frontages through the site.
Steve Wernick, an attorney representing RedSky, said the site is long and narrow; it extends more than 495 feet.
The goal in designing the building was to emphasize public space, he said, and give as much attention to the public space as the private spaces.
Forum will be an open and communal gathering space, and “visitors will be drawn into the building,” Mr. Wernick said.
“It unlocks the potential of this part of Wynwood,” he said.
Shari Neissani, senior vice president with RedSky Capital, told the board her company has a reputation of investing in emerging neighborhoods.
In a letter to the city, Mr. Wernick wrote: “With RedSky’s experience in the evolution of neighborhoods in Brooklyn, they have paid special attention to understand the surrounding context of the neighborhood and put together a top-notch design team, spearheaded by Enrique Norten, award-winning architect and principal of TEN Arquitectos. Forum is a testament to RedSky’s commitment to the long-term revitalization of Wynwood. The Project elevates the public realm through the building, while delivering class A office space that will attract creative office tenants looking at Wynwood as Miami’s emerging office district and help support the continued evolution of new retail, F&B, hotel, and residential buildings within the district.”
Since 2013, RedSky has acquired and now owns and operates roughly five acres in Wynwood, with a significant footprint along Northwest Second Avenue.
Wynwood Block is a fully renovated warehouse at 2621 NW Second Ave., and one of the first legacy structures in Wynwood under the NRD-1 Neighborhood Conservation District zoning. Read more here:Miami News Today

Miami Beach’s short-term rental fines challenged on constitutional grounds Property owner is claiming city’s fines are “excessive punishment

A Miami Beach property owner is accusing the city of engaging in discriminatory practices when it comes to cracking down on short-term rentals.

Natalie Nichols filed a civil rights lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Wednesday, alleging the city’s practice of levying five-figure fines on some residents who list their properties on Airbnb and other home-sharing websites violates the Florida Constitution.

Nichols wants a permanent injunction that would prevent the city from fining property owners like her who want to offer short-term rentals. “I feel strongly that this is a violation of my constitutional rights,” she said. “There is a silent majority in Miami Beach that want short-term rentals. But people are afraid to come forward.”

Nichols’ complaint hinges on an exception the city carved out for a section of North Beach. Specifically, properties fronting Harding Avenue from 73rd to 87th streets, including buildings east of Harding and an alley on the west side of the avenue, the lawsuit states.

In October 2016 — ten months after the city raised short-term rental fines from $1,000 a day to $20,000 for the first offense — Miami Beach made it legal for owners of historic buildings along Harding to offer short-term rentals. Preservationists and developers supported the measure, believing it would motivate property owners to renovate and maintain old buildings.

Read more here:The Real Deal

Miami Beach residents push back against plans to raise streets to combat sea level rise North Bay Road resident Ed Tobin says raising streets will bring flooding into homes

After a recent bout of heavy rains, some Mid-Miami Beach homeowners say city sea level mitigation plans could make things worse.

Two weeks ago, developer Matis Cohen was busy helping motorists push their stranded cars as waist-high water flushed through the streets of Miami Beach. Unlike many residents who were hunkered down at home or at work as more than six inches of rain flooded the city in two hours, Cohen was out in the streets, checking on tenants of his rental properties.

Cohen, who said he was lucky to have a Jeep, wants the city to speed up its plans to raise streets and install pumps. “We’ve spent somewhere around $80 million so far out of a $400 million plan, and clearly a system cannot be judged if it is only 15-percent implemented,” he added. Click Here to Read More on The Real Deal

Miami home prices rise at a slower pace in June: report Miami home prices have been increasing for more than 5.5 years

Miami home prices rose at a slower rate in June, according to a newly released report by CoreLogic.

Home prices in the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall metro area increased 4.4 percent year-over-year, marking the seventh-highest increase in the U.S. From May to June, home prices increased by 0.1 percent.

Prices rose 6.1 percent statewide and 6.7 percent nationally.

Four of the 10 biggest metros in the U.S. were overvalued in June, including Miami, according to CoreLogic. The research firm compared home prices to income levels. Markets where home prices were at least 10 percent higher than the long-term, sustainable level were considered overvalued.

Affordability is “rapidly deteriorating” in those markets and across the country, Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic, said in the report.

In Miami, prices have been increasing for more than 5.5 years.

According to a recent Miami Association of Realtors report, the median price of a single-family home in Miami-Dade increased 6.3 percent in June, year-over-year, to $335,000. Condo prices were up 6.8 percent to $235,000.

Denver, also an overvalued market, reported the biggest annual gains in home prices at 8.7 percent in June. Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., followed. Click Here to Read More on The Real Deal

Brazilian buyers show renewed interest in Miami real estate

Many Brazilians are buying at such condo developments as One Thousand Museum, Three Hundred Collins and Turnberry Ocean Club.

Many wealthy Brazilians are buying real estate in the Miami area again after a retreat during the last two years.

Fernando de Nuñez y Lugones, executive vice president of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty, told Mansion Global that Brazilians are starting to buy more U.S. properties after many of them canceled purchases last year.

De Nuñez cited a recent increase in Brazilian interest in units at Turnberry Ocean Club, a 54-story condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, where 21 percent of the international buyers have been Brazilians.

At Three Hundred Collins in Miami Beach, Brazilians have bought four of the 16 luxury condos sold so far during the construction phase of the 19-unit development, which has units priced from $1.7 million to $9 million. Three Hundred Collins is expected to be completed in October.

Louis Birdman, co-developer of One Thousand Museum, a 62-story condominium in Miami designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, said 40 percent to 45 percent of the preconstruction buyers are Latin Americans, and more than half of the Latin buyers are Brazilians.

Many wealthy Brazilians are buying real estate in the Miami area again after a retreat during the last two years. Fernando de Nuñez y Lugones, executive vice president of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty, told Mansion Global that Brazilians are starting to buy more U.S. properties after many of them canceled purchases last year. De Nuñez cited a recent increase in Brazilian interest in units at Turnberry Ocean Club, a 54-story condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, where 21 percent of the international buyers have been Brazilians. At Three Hundred Collins in Miami Beach, Brazilians have bought four of the 16 luxury condos sold so far during the construction phase of the 19-unit development, which has units priced from $1.7 million to $9 million. Three Hundred Collins is expected to be completed in October. Louis Birdman, co-developer of One Thousand Museum, a 62-story condominium in Miami designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, said 40 percent to 45 percent of the preconstruction buyers are Latin Americans, and more than half of the Latin buyers are Brazilians. Click Here to Read More on The Real Deal

The Real Deal | Check out the views from the 76th floor of Panorama Tower

When completed in October, building will pass Four Seasons Miami tower as the tallest in Florida.

At 85 stories and 830 feet tall, Florida East Coast Realty’s Panorama Tower will add new heights to Miami’s skyline when the skyscraper tops out.

Even at its current height of 735 feet, Panorama towers above most other buildings in Miami. The developer released new photos of the view from the 76th floor, which shows buildings like the Mandarin Oriental hotel on Brickell Key below the clouds, and other Miami towers peaking through.

Click here to read more on The Real Deal

 

Outdoor Movie Night at Bay Harbor Islands

Outdoor Movie Night at Bay Harbor

As we turn the leaf over into the new year with family and friends, there is so much to enjoy for those living in Bay Harbor Islands in Florida. One of the fun activities is that the Town of Bar Harbor Islands offers a free Outdoor Movie Night to residents every third Saturday of the month.

For this month of Saturday, January 21st, 2017 starting at 7pm come enjoy a night under the stars with your friends and neighbors. Bring your kids to see Finding Dory. For more information visit Town of Bay Harbor Islands website.