Marina Blue Unit 5108 Closes for $431 Per Square Foot
December 4, 2009 by Lucas Lechuga
Earlier this afternoon, unit 5108 at Marina Blue closed for $575,000, or $431 per square foot. The unit was decorator-ready and there weren't any seller concessions. The reason why I know this is because it was my listing.
The sale of unit 5108 marks the highest price per square foot sale at Marina Blue for 2009. Earlier this year, I discussed an opportunity to purchase condos at Marina Blue for as low $156 per square foot. Additionally, the asking price for penthouse condos at Marina Blue started as low as $307 per square foot. These bulk prices were offered to those who were able to purchase 5 or more condos. However, the retail prices were excellent as well for those who wished to purchase only one condo. Retail prices started at $188 per square foot. One of my clients was able to acquire a penthouse condo for $362 per square foot. One 08 line unit was available at that time at a bulk price of $226 per square foot or a retail price of $272 per square foot. The 53 units that were available for sale in June all went under contract within the first 2 weeks. That opportunity has come and gone. The sale of unit 5108 just goes to show that there were some outstanding opportunities to be had in 2009 if you looked in the right place and didn't have your mind made up before hearing the deal.
Who in their right mind would pay that much???????????
Lucas I absolutly agree with you. I had an opportunity to buy an apartment there with your help and missed it. Regret it very much.
Totally OT-to AJ from George
Recall that you are in the music business: will you be here for Miami Music Festival next weekend?
Would like to get some music lovers and reviewers/critics to check out the group Aviation Orange whose talented bass player is my 26 yo nephew!
They will perform Friday 12/11 and Sat 12/12.
Do you know any such reviewers etc in so fl?
(The day job is NYC based unigo.com interactive guide to colleges which NY Times +WS Journal have noted.)
How did this generation get SO smart?lol
888 BISCAYNE BLVD 5108
Sale Information:Sale Date: 4/2008
Sale Amount: $696,675
Congrats on the sale, Lucas, but I’m not sure it means much to the overall market. This sounds like it was a high-floor unit with a high-end finish in the building’s best line. All it takes to sell a unit like that is to find one interested buyer. Would you mind telling us how long this unit was on the market?
How much did the previous buyer pay and when?
Oh, I see, this unit besides being a high floor is the unique middle corner line where the front and the whole side are all glass versus just the front being glass.
OK, now here’s the question to ask for comparison. What’s the cheapest that an 08 line has sold for above the 50th floor?
This is the kind of news that gets my juices flowing.
08 line is a dream. I wish I had the opportunity to buy one at $272/sf back then. Probably the only line in MB I would give up my beloved 1800 Club flat for!
Everything that Lucas said in this post is what I have said in many different ways ad nauseum in the past one year. Every word is very true.
Bulk sale opportunity is not for everyone or the man on the street. If it does present itself as a retail opportunity, just grab it. It wont come again. But as Joe said, all it takes is one buyer. Who is complaining?
I don’t know where gables is right now, I haven’t heard from him lately. But he always supported my theory that premium lines and water view units will always hold their value. The $200 and sub $200 units are not to be found anywhere on the water side and premium lines of buildings. The water side flats in 1800 Club have not gone below $325/sf. And they wont.
george, Too busy in New York with Holiday Parties to travel anywhere.
Another example
Unit 4108 sold on 4/2008 for $725,000
now asking
$790,000
Unit 2712 sold on 7/2009 for$263,600 now asking $399,354.
These units are worth about $300,000. My crystal ball never fails.
“All it takes to sell a unit like that is to find one interested buyer.”
I said this in post #5 above and, since it was kind of a stupid comment in and of itself, I’m surprised no one has jumped on me for it. Obviously, it only takes “one interested buyer” to sell any condo (or product, car, etc.).
What I meant is that this sale, without knowing anything about the buyer, is probably one of those “If you see a unit you love, buy it” types of sales that even skeptics like myself and Renter Tom, et al., have been talking about all year here, as opposed to a larger indicator that price inflation is underway in Miami.
Personally, I never would have paid this price in that building/location because I remain bearish on the downtown Miami market, but if the buyer loves the unit/location/building and plans to live there for a few years, that’s all that really matters. It sounds like a great unit. (Any pictures, Lucas?)
Again, Lucas, congrats on the sale. Now if only some sanity would start coming to the SoBe market …
Joe & JL
Read the darn post and all of the comments before posting. Joe in post # 5 says “sounds like a high floor unit with a high end finish”. This after Lucas post states the unit was “decorator-ready.
JL in post #6 ” How much did the previous buyer pay and when “. That information was in post # 4 by Wild Bill. Just sayin.
Only 12 comments posted in 24 hours? Remarkably quiet out there….
I thought something like this might happen when the DOW hit 10,000. I hope at least some of you bought in time.
Kramer — You must be a contortionist if you’re able to post comments on the internet while your lips are firmly affixed to Obama’s ass. Well done.
Now that the condo closing rate graphs are not going to be coming for sure (read the conversation from the previous thread), is it correct to assume or guess that 50 Biscayne, Plaza, MB, 1800 Club, Quantum, Latitude, Neo Vertica, Brickell on the river etc are sold over 90%,
While Everglades, Paramount, 900 Biscayne, Marquis, Icon, Infinity Axis, Ivy, Mynt, Wind, Epic are hovering between 30% to 60% range?
Is there any way some one can throw some light on this subject?
Wild Bill seems to know a lot regarding these things. Can you look up county records to see how much % of the building has been closed?
Or can individuals with inside info from each building let us know how much of the building is still remaining unsold?
Let me start by saying what I know about 1800 Club. The building is almost 90% sold. The developer is still holding just a smidgen over 10% of the flats. From what I imagine, he may not be eager to dilute his share unless people are willing to pay his asking price as going over 90% sold means that he has to reliquish control over the building which otherwise he is entitled to hold until December 2010 (3 years from the CO). I guess it is the same case with Quantum and Terra Group. Pedro Martin will retain control as long as he has over 10% of the flats in Quantum until Jan 2011.
AJ — There’s no need to guess. If you don’t believe the MLS is accurate vis-a-vis the number of unsold units in any given building, just go to the Miami-Dade tax assessor’s site, punch in the building address, and scroll through the unit listings. Most investor-owned properties usually are owned by the developer’s LLC or, for individuals, some other random LLC (ABCD LLC, 1234 Biscayne Blvd LLC, etc.), so it’s usually easy to get a ballpark estimate for any given building.
good buildings are selling in miami. its hard to believe but its true. look at plaza on brickell 951 brickell avenue. that building is sold due to a great location and it is great building also.
only few units left.
but its the best location in miami due to mary brickell village and publix is there so you do not need car.
Can’t really believe anybody in their right mind would pay so much for a unit at MB. Cheap building( despite the impressive all glass look from the outside ) , with very low end finishings..full of renters who are ruining the building as well
it does not matter if it has great views or it is the best line on the building if you live in front of a venue that makes biscayne jammed every single night and cannot walk out of your building..unless you wanna go grab a bite with your homeless neighrbors in Camillus house
good for you Lucas, but i feel sorry for the buyer
cant wait til its in foreclosure in 2 years
299,
575K for that beauty is chump change. Probably you never visited MB or the line 8. I saw one unit in the 20’s and it was breathtaking. 51st floor must be incredible.
Congratulations to the lucky guy who owns that castle in the sky.
“$575,000 … is chump change.”
This site is getting more comical by the day. It’s like the r.e. downturn was only a 6-month deal and now it’s back to the races.
As FHA mentioned in #18 above, isn’t MB one of the buildings that people were claiming was being overrun by renters, with all kinds of associated problems? I might be wrong about that, but it seems like that was a topic in a recent thread here.
Tyuu
A fool and his money are soon parted the only question is; how did the fool and his money get together in the first place.
We will see in a few years who the fool was
Is it true that Marina Blue is the only new building in downtown 100 % sold? If this is true it must mean somehing don’t you think?
thank you so much for this awe-inspiring site me and my kin best-loved this depicted object and sixth sense