Mario Chalmers Is Eager To Sell That Double Apartment He Bought From Drake
October 7, 2016 by Lucas Lechuga
Earlier this week, Curbed reported that people are not necessarily lining up to purchase celebrity-owned real estate and it seems Mario Chalmers got the memo. According to the listing agent, they are reducing the price of his double condo at Marquis Residences to $2,990,000 from the original $4,000,000 ask… and there is still room to negotiate.
If you are a regular reader, you will remember that Chalmers purchased the condo from Drake in 2012 for $2.4M. Drake had previously purchased two apartments from the developer of Marquis and combined them to make one amazingly huge penthouse with a view of the American Airlines Arena. He even filmed one of his music videos from the apartment before the interior finish-out was completed. I wish I could remember the name of it, but I don't really listen to Drake so the actual video name escapes me. Maybe someone can refresh my post-hurricane foggy memory. (UPDATE: Thank you to Eliot Ramos for reminding me that the video is 'I'm On One')
Anyway, In 2014 Chalmers decided that he did not like having a view of the office and put the property on the market for $4M. That didn’t work, so in early 2015, he took the property off the market for a bit. After getting traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in November, I guess he decided he doesn’t need the apartment after all, so relisted the property with a lower price of $3,590,000. And here we are today.
The Curbed article suggests that one of the reasons celebrity owned properties are difficult to sell is that they add upgrades that a typical buyer would not be interested in. That doesn’t really seem to be the case here. The upgrades are certainly a personal touch, but nothing out of the ordinary. Pharrell Williams also had a tough time selling his penthouse in Brickell, ultimately selling for more than $3 million less than his purchase price. Lil’ Wayne is also having an impossible time with his Miami Beach home.
It seems that the property is well-priced too, at least according to the recent comparable sales. This past December, unit 5106 sold with furnishings for $2.9M. At 3,800 square feet of interior space, that amounts to $763 per square foot. With the new price reduction, Chalmers is offering his place for $546 per square foot. It seems this is a great opportunity to purchase a trophy property at a bargain price.
Here are some photos from the MLS. Let us know what you think, and if you have any ideas of why this one hasn't yet sold.
Oil is way down …Coal is temporary out of business ( till a republican prez is elected ) ….the $$$ all around the world are down….countries around the world are in a recession….the “suitcase” days of cash coming up from South America are in the past….disposal income is being held back…..till a republican president takes over and gives the wealthy the tax breaks, they think they deserve …( half of them forgot where they came from) ….the other half, could care less about the disappearing middle class…..
Unbelievable balcony, can’t find a better view in Miami
The music video is called Im On One
Thank you!!!
As far as I can tell a lot of units in the Marquis (and actually all of Park West) were originally listed during the last boom at what can only be described as “highly speculative” pricing. Consider Mario’s original asking relative to what he paid. Some units sold, but many sat as purchasers instead rushed to buy into new projects hoping to get in on the ground floor and flip on building completion. Hopefully everyone is now clear that doesn’t work.
In addition, some who had purchased multiple units during the last recession fire sale seeing the $/Sq. Ft. spread between the smaller and larger suites embarked on projects to combine adjoining suites to cash in on the expected higher returns. The problem with that strategy was that those able to shop in that price range instead opted for the more guaranteed investment of already established neighborhoods.
As a result many units in the building did not sell and have been slowly reducing their pricing over the last few years even as the pricing for planned builds increased. The repatriation of money to foregn countries as the US dollar rose did not help either. Foreign owners saw that they could reduce their pricing to get a quick sale and still come out ahead after the conversion. As some tried to do this it put further downward pressure on prices in the building.
Would you buy into a building during a period of market adjustment when asking prices have already been falling for two years? Investors sense an opportunity here and are waiting to see where things will bottom out. Long term investors will not wait for the bottom though and will get in when the fundamentals make sense. Given that interest rates can only go up from here the window of opportunity is closing for those who intend to finance.
For someone intending to live in the unit or hold long term the spread between Mario’s $/sq ft asking, the going price of new builds and the pricing of ultra luxury buildings like 1000 museum is looking really attractive now. The location, planned neighborhood development, large suite size and unique layout are all bonuses. It’s only a matter of time before someone jumps on this. Wish I had the scratch!
Nice appartment. Horrible taste in decoration. I’ll pass, thanks
Just saw the video… you can see the Miami Herald down below…so cool! 🙂