Real Estate & Condo News: 2014 Highlights + 2015 Forecast

Image credit: Auberge Beach Residences & Spa Fort Lauderdale

Though an anomaly in terms of buyers-attracting investors and homeowners from around the world-Miami is looked on now as an established cosmopolitan city, complete with culture, high design and services that appeal to every major market. Those factors, and its latest construction boom, makes the city a sound predictor of real estate development trends, and revealed some intriguing shifts in 2014.

2014 was…

• The year the number of new condos announced for this cycle topped 300.
• When Miami new construction condo sales (not re-sales) broke the $3,000 per square foot (psf) mark- seen at 1HH sale already, Faena, Edition; and when price psf broke the $1,000 mark at One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects.

Image credit: Auberge Beach Residences & Spa Fort Lauderdale

When art integrations into buildings became as important as starchitects:

• Related’s installations include Jaume Plensa in Park Grove, Julio Le Parc at 444 Brickell and Botero at SLS Lux .
• The Related Group also partnered with National YoungArts Foundation to fund an Artist in Residency program, brining in emerging and mid career artists to engage with the local art community and create works; Related also partnered with YoungArts for a sculpture competition, securing three winners to install pieces at IconBay in 2015.
• Costantini purchased a Jeff Koons for Oceana Bal Harbour .Faena is creating an arts center.
• The year New York (developers) re-discovered Miami, including HFZ Capital, Don Peebles and LeFrak.
• The year the condo and hotel mix announced their return, with 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach, Shore Club, SLS Lux, Hyde Midtown and SLS Brickell.
• The come back of construction on Fisher Island, which now will be a serious player in Miami’s contemporary condo world with FIRST new condo construction since 2007 on the last parcels of land

Image credit: Auberge Beach Residences & Spa Fort Lauderdale

When the limits on how much waterfront land still available in South Florida, caused a few things to happen:

• New neighborhoods were born, such as Edgewater, east of Biscayne Boulevard, near Design District with at least 14 new condos announced and nearly 4,000 units.
• Developers started heading north, creating a new boom in Ft. Lauderdale with 24 new condo towers with more than 2,550 units announced:
  • Auberge Beach Residences & Spa Fort Lauderdale, being developed by The Related Group and Fortune International
  • The 39-acre Bahia Mar Hotel Resort and Marina, stretching from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Atlantic Ocean and is home to an international mega-yacht show, was purchased in 2014 by a Miami-based consortium whose redevelopment plans have not been announced.
• Older buildings were purchased to be retrofitted into luxury condos and hotels, such as 1 Hotel & Homes and Shore Club.

Noteworthy condo sales/listings in 2014:

• The Bath Club Estates listed its three-story PH at $50M .
• Herzog & de Meuron-designed Jade Signature listed its PH, designed by PYR led by Pierre Yves Rochon, for $30M .
• Fisher Island started construction on the first new development in over seven years and expects to hit upwards of $3,000 psf .
• 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach sold at over $3,000 psf .
• One Thousand Museum broke new records for downtown condo prices, soaring over $1000 psf quickly to over $2,000 psf.

2015 will be…

• When prices per square foot break $5,000, expected at Fisher Island and 1 Hotel & Homes.
• What Related says is the “year of truth” as prices will increase and land becomes scarce.
• The year of Brazilian design – Debora Aguiar will complete her first U.S project with 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach residences, while working on Beachwalk in Hallendale; Joao Armentano completes his first Miami project with Marea South Beach, and works on The Bath Club Estates residences; and renowned architect Isay Weinfeld will start his first major Miami project at The Shore Club as he leads the transformation from a 309 room hotel to 75 residences and 100 hotel rooms.
• When even more Iconic addresses get a re-do – Roney Palace becomes 1 Hotel & Homes, Shore Club begins transformation, and Tommy Hillfiger makes plans at The Raleigh.
• The year that changes Ft. Lauderdale forever, new condo construction and major players (Related and Fortune) stepping into the market in a major way.
• When the pulse of South Beach moves north to 23rd – 29th streets as 1 Hotel South Beach opens complemented by Metropolitan by Como, The Edition South Beach, Thompson Hotel, and Aloft Miami, among others.
• The year the millennials will represent the largest group of homebuyers, taking over from Generation X.
  • A recent US News article said 2015 could “offer a respite from bidding wars and all-cash offers” and that by end of 2015, “millennial buyers will represent the largest group of homebuyers, taking over from Generation X,” according to Zillow Chief Economist.
  • Brokers are already strategizing for ways to appeal to the next generation.