Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony To Acquire 10 Units at Icon Brickell
October 11, 2009 by Lucas Lechuga
I confirmed that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony placed 10 units under contract at Icon Brickell earlier this afternoon. People magazine reported last month that they had acquired a penthouse condo in the same development as well. It looks like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are very bullish on the future of Brickell Miami. I heard last week from a separate source that prices at Icon Brickell were recently reduced to around $350 to $400 per square foot.
Update: Marc Anthony ended up losing two of the ten condos at Icon Brickell as part of a divorce settlement with wife-number-four Shannon De Lima. The two Miami luxury condos were valued at over $2 million.
I would like to find out what they smoking these days.
And what was their price?
In April when I was in Miami AJ and I visited Icon Brickell. I did not like it at all. I understand that architecht and all designers tried to do something very unusual with a purpose to shock. I am for cultural shocks when they are tasteful. This one I did not find tasteful at all. Everything was mixed up. To me it reminded a set up table where guests eat herring and drink champane simultaniously. Some parts of the building were spectacular like a spa area. But some of the halls, entrance and lobby made me feel that I am in a wax museum or backstage of a huge theatre where you can visit for several hours and even be amused but it is not a place that I would like to call home.
I realize that may be I did not catch some new artistic vision or did not grow up enough to absorb what was presented there. So it is just my humble opinion.
Probably came with a guaranteed buy back clause. So many ways to disguise the real price.. I mean if your a person with so much money – where in the world can u get a decent return on your money anyway .
Sounds like a marketing ploy.
They probably came free as a courtesy for putting their big money into buying a pricey PH in a crappy building MHO
Desearia saber que va a pasar con los inocentes inversores, que apostamos por comprar en Icon on Brickell a 600$ el pie cuadrado.
¿Hay algún grupo de compradores que esten reclamando la devolución del 20% pagado a RELATED GROUPE ?.
MUCHAS GRACIAS si me informais, vivo en España y no sé nada de lo que esta pasando, siempre han dicho que no bajan precios y Jennifer Lopez comenta que se puede comprar por 300 o 400 $.
they are singers, they bought for themselves, so they feel they are smarter and know better than the average bear,
plus just by them saying they will live there should increase values by 10 %
the trump effect……..used to add 12-18 % to prices……
they would have been better off buying gold and silver
kramer, what do you consider a good return on $$$
i am sure they are getting between 6-18 percent minimum…….
I seriously, seriously doubt this is an arm’s length transaction. Not that there is a problem with this, but I imagine they are getting all kinds of sweeteners for use of their starpower. (saw ms lopez, her husband, their kids, and mr perez sharing a skybox at dolphins stadium a few weeks back, so they are obviously spending time together. )
I’m sure it is a marketing ploy. Units won’t appreciate enough yearly to cover the tax bills.
The penthouse units in these buildings don’t afford enough privacy from helicopters and some celebrities bulging waists have already been photographed this way.
Wild Bil….but, but, but…..I always follow celebrity’s advice on investments, real estate, and politics….so it must be a good investment to buy sooo many… LOL An obvious publicity stunt with a probable side deal of a buy back at x% per year. I recently saw a shameless comp ploy in a smaller development where sales of three units to a new LLC were at 2-3x’s the market rate in a shameless attempt to shore up comps for the developers remaining units…. The real estate games continue and the uninformed will be the bag holders.
Reminds me of this…
“I’ve lived in some of the most exclusive places in the world. Now I’m moving to The Bentley Bay in South Beach. Everything glamorous and exciting one could want to see or do is here on this one patch of glamorous real estate – Ivana Trump, Bentley Bay Resident.”
Not that she is or ever was a relevant person, but Ivana did move into the Bentley Bay right? lol
So figures whomever is hanging with Jeorge and of course his trusty sidekick tonight will be the next celebrity owner of the Dolphins and Icon-Hey thats an idea buy a condo own the dolphins…One bedroom gets one seat, two bedrooms two seats and wow a penthouse gets you into the Dewars Club…
Foreclosures Grow in Housing Market’s Top Tiers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125530360128479161.html
throwing one’s celebrity into the Miami scene = jumping the shark
Yo yo yo! Jenny from the Block and I go way back to our days on In Living Color. Since I’m a D- celebrity now, I will be renting one of her ICON units from her. I hope she has a Section 8 studio in her portfolio of units. Lucas, please prepare a lease agmt for me!
Probably have more of an upside than selling a share of the Dolphins to Gloria Estafan.
Lucas
What has happened to your blog?
1) There never seem to be any good posts anymore 2) New buildings and property descriptions are almost non-existenent 3) There are no posts with the data that everyone likes (closing rates, etc.)…just seems like this blog focuses on a lot of fluff lately. Does anyone give a sh*t is J Lo bought in the building? C’mon already.
Hope your success hasn’t gone to your head. Focus on what made you good to begin with; market analysis and the financials.
AZ88
Speak for yourself, creep (“There are no posts …that everyone likes….”). I’ve read many great posts recently and this blog, in my opinion, is doing just fine. Your negative, down, depressing, pushy post is the exception to the rule.
Your lecturing and hectoring is so boring. At least check your spelling (“non-existenent”). Now go dredge out some new foreclosure statistics to turn yourself on with.
Any suggestions as to where is the best place to buy furniture in Miami. I will be closing on an oceanfront unit in a few days.
I think part of the reason this site has far fewer posters is that it has for the most part already served its purpose. in the early days of the downturn (or even late days of the boomtimes), this site gave those of us with the foresight to see the abortion of a train wreck that was coming an outlet to vent where we were all otherwise surrounded in a sea of stupidity. now that the train has gone off the cliff, we are left with just seeing how far down the ravine the train will roll. (a ways to go yet.) not as entertaining as anticipating the wreck and then enjoying the satisfaction of being right.
I agree with AZ88. I dont mind the fluffy articles sometimes, but go back a year or so and check the archives where the bulk of articles had hard data and details that has been non-existent for many months now. For example – I miss the graphs showing the “Condo Closing Rates” that appeared every few months. What are the closing ratios for Icon, Infinity, 900 Biscayne, Axis, Met One, Epic etc. Icon isnt even listed. There used to be articles on trends. There used to be a Brickell Condo Index and on and on. Probably the most glaring shortfalls is the Condo Deals Page where there is zip zilch nada. Recent Sales Data on each building seems to be dated – not current. In defense of Lucas – I recall him stating a few months ago that he was busy with the pickup in sales and over the next few months would be adding staff and correlating better with his web page administrator. So im willing to give Lucas the benefit of time and doubt and hope we can get back the hard data that in my opinion makes this blog “the place to go” when seeking information and considering a Miami Condo Investment. Btw – Where did AJ disappear to?
1. Ross owns Related Group/New York, and also now is the majority owner in the Dolphins. Ross also owns interest in Related Group/Florida, and is close friends and partners with Jorge Perez.
2. Ross has just sold/given/whatever 1% stakes in the Dolphins to South Florida celebrities, including Antony & Lopez.
3. Jorge Perez, majority owner Related Group/Florida and developer of the ghost towers Icon Brickell, is also now Vice Chairman of the Dolphins.
Antony and Lopez suddenly “buy” a penthouse and 10 units in Icon Brickell.
Do you see where this is going?
I saw a post above that mentioned the celebrity cache value of buying in a Trump building and paying more for the marquee name. Perhaps that poster should consider what value that name has now based on the dismal performance and failure of several South Florida projects, and elsewhere around the country. Name and celebrity means nothing now.
If anything, it seems celebrities make many more bad real estate decisions than good ones. I seriously doubt that if you could track the money involved in the transaction it would lead to funds out of Antony/Lopez’s pocket. A barter for public appearances is much more likely.
More lipstick on a pig some might say.
George
I like DWR although it’s not very flashy and a tad expensive. Quality is a great though.
Baker is also nice but the furniture is somewhat ostentatious.
Of course you have your mom and pop stores that sell a slew of different brands.
Finally, if you want to go crazy, there are some studios in the design district that sell some unbelievable stuff. Big prices (e.g., 15k for a dining room table that doubles up as a piece of art).
George, I agree with jcrimes definitely check out the design district. Poliform has excellent Italian furniture worth taking a look at, although not cheap!
Sorry to be off topic, but I have been renting a condo (valued at around $700K) for the last year and a half. I worked with the owner’s realtor and actually met the owner once last year to discuss renewal of the lease. The renewal also went through the realtor. Last week while I was home during the afternoon there was a faint knock on the door then a few seconds later a key was inserted into the lock and I heard the lock unlock and the door handle open so I rushed to the front door to see what was going on. It was the owner. The owner claimed he was just testing out the keys and it seemed a bit weird. The owner never actually stepped foot into the condo since I had rushed to the door. My question is, would I be overreacting in telling the owner or realtor that I want out of the lease as soon as I find a new place because of this incident? I hadn’t planned on moving but it is inappropriate to unlock the door and open it. On another occasion I came back from being gone for a week and found a light on in the condo (I know I had turned it off before I left) and I asked the office manager if anyone had been in from the condo mgt to fix something or etc. and the manager said no. I think I want out…. any words of advice, esp. from jcrimes??? Any help is appreciated! I don’t want to be unreasonable but there are a ton of other places out there to lease so finding on where the owner doesn’t make an unannounced appearance would be preferred.
— Thanks!
George #21 – For a clean, modern and practical approach to furnishing a place try Modani @ NW 36th which has some designer select items at great prices, then infill the balance accross the street at West Elm in Midtown.
Finally got around to taking some pics of the new condo. Only been here for like a month and half so still getting things set up, but most of the main stuff is done…..hope you all enjoy. BTW, for those that haven’t been following my posts over the past few months, this is the short sale that I picked up at the Lexi.
I just made this photobucket account….never used it before, so if this doesn’t work let me know.
http://s985.photobucket.com/albums/ae338/djpooper/?albumview=slideshow
Renter Question…just change the locks…dughhh.
Once again – I can’t just change the locks since that violates the lease and the condo office requires a key. Clearly, the owner should not be opening the door unannounced like that. So it does not appear that it is anyone other than the owner that unlocked the door.
I guess its only a matter of days before we begin to see Jennifer Lopez and Anthony used in the marketing materials to rent/sell units… I could easily envision a deal where they were sold units at 10 cents on the dollar for the right to use their likeliness and images for all brochures, billboards, and materials.
What does your lease say about landlord entry???? Normally they have the right to enter in case of emergency (i.e. to salvage the unit or their proerty) or if they give proper advance notice, so what you are describing could be deemed a breach of the lease. Whether you have the right to terminate upon breach w/o any opportunity for the landlord to cure should be, again, provided for in the lease. Offhand I don’t know if Fla Stat Ch 83 has anything on point, but it may be worth to look into it.
Next time the landlord does that, point a shotgun at his face upon entry. He should get the hint.
Re J-Lo and Marc Anthony: I can envision the scenario…Stephen Ross, Jorge Perez, Lopez and Anthony sitting in a Landshark Stadium skybox and Perez starts giving his spiel on why ICON is such an iconic residence and suggesting that J Lo and hubby “get involved”…eventually they reach some sort of pseudo-deal where no $ changes hands and a press release is issued about the bulk deal. And the whole time Stephen Ross is sitting there with that stupid grin and later suggests that they all celebrate at Estefan-owned Bongo’s Cafe, marveling at all the Miami Celebrity connections he’s made in such a short period of time.
At least those shmucks didn’t get the Corus deal.
DJ
Congratulations. Im impressed. The consummate batchelor pad with the pool table twice as big as the dining table haha. Either way i think u scored with those views especially at $200. per sq ft. Curious about what u found out on your tax bill, the maintenance, and what your electric FPL bill is running you. Enjoy.
Kramer, thanks man. The dinning table looks like a tiny little square in the pics, although in person its rectangular and seems a bit bigger. It expands too to about twice the size, but since I never use it I preffer to leave it like that.
As for the tax bill, it was a bit higher than expected at around $10k. It’s being appealed right now, so hopefully it will go down some. I got a credit for the majority of it from the seller too. Next year it should be significantly cheaper though based on my purchase price and the fact that I’ll have homestead.
Maintenace is $577/month which is very reasonable.
FPL is about $150/month, which seems ok for a place that’s 1750 sq. feet. The windows have tinted glass and I keep the thermostat on the timer so I guess that keeps it down. Only problem is my girlfriend likes to turn it down to 60 whenever she’s over. I think it has something to do with her being colombian and not having AC when she was a kid….you could store meat in this place whevever she’s here though. Cable/internet is included in HOA too (I pay for HBO and shit but that’s like $20 month). Not too bad overall.
Thanks Drew. The lease does not permit entry without a 24 hour notice to examine the property for cause. There is no question about the condition of the property, never has been, kept immaculate. I just think the owner was being nosy or something but got caught. Whatever it is I don’t like it. Who knows how many times the owner has snuck in when I am not home???
I just can’t believe you people. You assume that if a celebrity buys a unit, he’s not paying a dime for it. You assume it’s somehow given to him/her under the table because he/her is a celebrity.
You say this again and again until you hope someone agrees with you. You don’t know these people. You don’t know the developer. But you KNOW they didn’t pay a dime for the unit (in your little shrivelled little nut-brains you know it for sure) and this drives you crazy because you are so poor and ugly nobody would give you a dime off the price since they don’t want you in the building regardless of what you paid for the unit.
And so you are furious and pound your little fists and insist that because they are rich and well-known (and a desirable owner – unlike you) they didn’t pay a nickel for it.
How jealous and lonely and sad you are.
I think its great these two bought a unit or two or ten. They can afford it – unlike you. So they were given a discount? So what? Nobody would give you a discount. Look at you. Look at your checking account. Ha ha ha.
Hey Samson- I’m pretty sure you’re either that conniving weasal David Samson or some loser ICON real estate agent.
There’s no jealously among the critics/commentators- all we’re saying is that the whole thing is a stupid marketing ploy that shouldn’t work but probably will in this celebrity-worshipping town. Its just a desperate move by RELATED to try and do anything to spark interest in that disaster of a project. I could give a shit whether they paid for them or got them for free…the fact that they are now owners in ICON is just somewhat ridiculous given all the players involved and their relation to one another, as Jack McCabe properly noted above.
And nice argument above: “Look at you. Look at your checking account. Ha ha ha.” Its hard to take you seriously or give you any credibility when your comments are so child-like. Again, you’re obviously a mindless, talentless, frustrated realtor.
Drew –
Why is selling to Lopez/Anthony a”desperate move”? You have no proof they bought them at a huge discount and, even if they did, so what? Bulk purchasers like Lopez/Anthony almost always get some kind of discount. The lender obviously agreed to the price in order for Related to have been able to have the mortage lien released in order to be able to give Lopez/Anthony clear title. So was this a “desperate move” by the lender as well?
And if the sale was a “desperate move” like you claim, so what? What would you do if you were Related? Just sit on your hands and wait to be foreclosed? Desperate times require desperate moves. Selling to Lopez/Anthony, resulting in a paydown of the mortgage and occupancy of the building by alluring individuals, seems like a very smart move to me. Sure beats renting to a bunch of slobs in sweatshirts.
And as for your characterization of “Icon Brickell” as a “disaster of a project”, maybe its not good enough for you but it is obviously good enough for Lopez/Anthony. I guess they could have bought elsewhere, no? You find their ownership of units in Icon “ridiculous”; I think its great for Icon, Related, its lender and Miami in general.
And no, I’m not a realtor or “loser ICON real estate agent” – as if these categories are somehow unworthy. You must be some big deal, Drew, to dump on people trying to make an honest living in a tough industry undergoing desperate times.
Wow, never seen someone get so bent out of shape about something so stupid.
George
For furniture check out Ligne Roset. I got most of my stuff there and a few pieces from Modani. Great style and excellent prices. Ask for Guillam.
I agree with AZ88.
this blog has declined significantly – hope the iphone can salvage it.
Perhaps all the housing bulls are now truly dead…makes for boring comments. We know all hope is lost when AJ has thrown in the towel. Unfortunately, the drawn out pain in housing will continue in this area for a long time to come.
Not only does the housing market need to unload a huge number of new condos, ultimately to end users and not just to floplords, investors, etc. BUT so much of the housing mess is still unwinding….condo-hotels, apt to condo conversions, etc. The list goes on … years of legal messes and financial pain will continue.
The best case scenario for the next few years in housing in this area is merely stabilization. Any hope of price appreciation in REAL dollar terms is just not gonna happen for the housing market as a whole. With that said, there are some deals out there and many more to come….
DOW hits 10,000
I wonder when the “Oops, I was so busy complaining I forgot to buy a condo” postings will start.
MiamiBlue…..maybe in 2015…just maybe. Some say 2035 for Miami area. Simply stating the housing market truth isn’t complaining.
sorry miamiblue, but the housing market doesn’t work the same way the stock market does (although during the boom, people sure acted like it did).
Hey jcrimes, any comment on my post #27? THANKS!
r
rq (sorry for the false start)
tough spot. absent commencing some form of litigation, you’re at your landlord’s mercy. if you sue him (or threaten to sue him) to terminate the lease, then you’re looking at time and money (and you may lose). also, once you go down this path or threaten it, chances are, things won’t be amicable going forward.
if you change the locks, then technically you’re in default. but if he then moves to evict you, you can defend by saying i had to change them because my landlord was obviously trying to get in the place when he had no right to. not the best strategy but perhaps the one that gives you some piece of mind.