Sunday Afternoon Bicycle Ride Through Brickell and Downtown Miami
October 14, 2007 by Lucas Lechuga
Closings at Plaza on Brickell will likely begin in January. This development will add 1,000 new units to the Brickell condo market.
Closings at 1060 Brickell should occur around the same time. 1060 Brickell will add 582 condo units.
Closings at Axis will likely begin around the middle of 2008. Axis will add 718 units.
Closings for 500 Brickell are scheduled for the beginning of 2008. This development will add 633 units.
Infinity at Brickell will likely be completed towards the middle of 2008. Infinity will bring 459 condo units to the market.
I forgot to get a shot of Brickell on the River South. That development will add 322 units. I also didn't get one today for Latitude on the River but I've displayed pictures of that building in the past. Closings at Latitude started about two months ago. It has 455 condo units.
Asia is located on Brickell Key. It is the only development under construction there. It will add 123 condo units when it is completed in the first half of 2008.
Closings at 50 Biscayne began about a week and a half ago. I walked in the lobby last week and it is gorgeous. I didn't have my camcorder with me at the time, however. I will try to get a video and picture tour of the building within the next week. 50 Biscayne has 529 condo units.
Closings at Loft Downtown 2 are scheduled to begin this month. In fact, they may have already begun. It will add 496 units.
Everglades on the Bay (now known as Vizcayne) likely won't be completed until the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009. It will add 866 condo units to the Miami real estate market.
I've been told that closings at Marina Blue are scheduled to begin November 1, 2007. I don't see that happening so soon but maybe I'm wrong. My guess would be sometime in December or January. Marina Blue will add 516 units.
900 Biscayne Bay will likely be completed in the first half of 2008. It will add 516 units as well.
Closings for units at Ten Museum Park began about three months ago. Closings are still underway. It has 200 units. Marquis probably won't be completed until the end of 2008 to beginning of 2009. It will bring 306 units to the Miami condo market.
Above is a shot of Marina Blue, 900 Biscayne Bay, Ten Museum Park and Marquis.
In conclusion, there might be a tiny bit of an inventory problem in Miami (that was me being sarcastic). I also didn't include Icon Brickell and Epic Miami which will be completed in 2009. Icon Brickell will add 1,816 units while Epic will add 966 units. The condo developments in the Arts District will also add a little over 2,000 new units to the market within the next six months.
Wow! You have time off for a bike ride?
You must know something I don’t.
I am a big fan of your website (as I’ve let you know in the past via e-mail.) However, is there any reason for leaving Met 1 out of all of your posts (including your bike ride)? It’s hard to miss. But, somehow, you always do.
So I’ll let you in on it. It’s a small little project next to Epic. It’s really no big deal. It’s only a small part of a bigger project designed to bring modern residences, high-end office space, a Marriot Marquis, Manny’s Steakhouse, Whole Foods Market, cinema, retail, etc… to downtown Miami. But hey… it’s no Loft Downtown 2.
Guillermo,
You are right. I did leave Met 1 out. I rode by it and wanted to get a picture of it from a different angle but forgot to do it. I was told that closings should begin in the first quarter of next year. I’m really looking forward to Met 3 with the Whole Foods. We really need a grocery store in the core of downtown.
my god, if these ever actually fill up no one will be able to move downtown…like I95 gridlock….
gas? grocerys? liquor? holy crap!
hey boss thanks for posting plaza on brickell pic.
love to see more. maybe next time you ride bike take some street level photos of a real life 🙂
Is there a street life ?
Thanks Lucas. Do you know how many have closed so far at 50 Biscayne?
Two words sum up the condo market in the Brickell area (…and Midtown, and the Design District, and Sunny Isles, and the high rises South of Fifth, and just about everywhere else in South Florida):
MORTGAGE FRAUD
All of those poor folks who bought $400k condos down here since early 2005 are going to be awfully upset to find out that they were still getting the $300K unit from 2004… Only a lot of their lovely neighbors financed the $400k and split the extra $100k with the “investor” who sold it to them.
The smiles on their faces will turn to horror when they realize that the escalating value of their condo was actually reflective of a smaller handful of those neighbors who went on to cycle those properties among themselves– taking another $100k from the bank each time.
That 2/2 in the VUE— with no view whatsoever— that sold for $300k in 2005. WOW!! It just sold for $800k!! Guess what? It’s not really worth $800k. The knucklehead who “paid” 800k for it is most likely a pawn in an operation that has defrauded millions from a handful of lenders. It is not unlikely that the lenders were complicit. They get their origination fee and sell the “loan” to a bigger bank.
Now that credit is tightening up, and they can no longer keep flipping that property as easily… “Oh well, time to skip town back to the anonymity of my South American home with my newly earned fortune.”
And we now have the lovely situation we are faced with: foreclosures en masse and investors fleeing from the inflated contracts they agreed to on new units (“Gee…well if that junky one sold for $800k, this new one is a steal at $400. Where can I line up to give you my $80k?”). Meanwhile the banks take it from both ends—bad loans to property holders, and bad loans to developers.
The city has undergone an amazing transformation in the past few years. We have some beautiful new buildings and burgeoning night life in the Brickell area. But if you are a property holder that needs to get out, it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Hope you didn’t fall for that home equity LOC sales pitch at the bank.
As for the banks… there were similar building booms in other cities. It is difficult to tell how exposed they are to this phenomenon in other markets. Either way, it will be painful. We should all hope its effects on our economy as a whole can be minimized.
At least when the smoke settles the property tax problems we’ve had will solve themselves.
I’m a Realtor in CT and your blog is a breath of fresh air. I’ve been looking and waiting to purchase in SOBE and will certainly contact you for consultation when ready to purchase. You ad value!
I cam accross your site recently and find it insightful…great to see a place (website) where input is not driven by the need for a sales pitch…nonetheless, I think there is a glut of inventory out there but in near future those of us who dont buy will be singing the same blues as those 15 years ago who didnt buy in and are now priced out…and looking at it from a global prospective where else can you go and get the South Florida lifestyle at the costs we pay down here….I think in the end the same people who made money form the RE market between 98-03 will be back to buy it up for what they paid back then if not less…
Did anyone here purchase a unit at the Infinity at Brickell? Just wondering what people thought of the building.
I purchased 2 units in Infinity at Brickell 4 yrs ago,one unit on the 32nd fl and one on the 36th fl. I got in @ $275,000 and$435,00 the higher fl has great views both east and west with 1500sq ft. The project is almost complete and the building looks great and the location is great. I will close on both units and was wondering anyone thoughts on my price entry. My sf cost was under $350,which is way below current prices.What do you think??
can somebody give me his opinion and advise, i am thinking about buying a 2/2 condo in brickell area as a long term investment. i believe paying 250 $ per sqf will be a realistic value according to the actual situation in the market with a supply by far exceeding the demand. is it better to wait as prices may come lower with 2000 units coming soon on the market at brickell area, is it too risky to put money now in such a shacky market.
Do you have any comment on brickle on the river.
thanks
samir