Photo Tour of Axis – Brickell Condo
July 16, 2008 by Lucas Lechuga
The following is a shot of the seating area in the lobby of the South Tower at Axis.
Here you'll find the resort-style pool at Axis.
Here's an aerial shot of the resort-style pool at Axis from one of the balconies. I wasn't able to get a shot of the lap pool.
Here's the hot tub at Axis.
The two billiards tables at Axis.
The bar lounge at Axis located off the pool deck.
A seating area with a flat-screen TV at Axis.
Another seating area with a flat-screen TV.
Yet another seating area but without a flat-screen TV.
Steam room at Axis.
A shot of the fitness center at Axis.
Another shot of the fitness center at Axis.
As I mentioned, I was able to also tour a few of the model condo units at Axis. I was told that all of the kitchen appliances and cabinetry are standard except the Penthouse condos. The Penthouse condos come with upgraded Viking appliances.
Here's one of the fully decorated model units that I saw at Axis.
Here's a corner 2 bedroom condo at Axis which faces northwest. If you are interested in a north facing unit then you'll likely want to clear the Camden Brickell development directly across the street. I believe Camden Brickell has about 16 floors.
The bathrooms were pretty nice. This is a shot of the master bath in a 2 bedroom unit. The 1 bedroom units have only one sink in the bathroom though.
The master bedroom was quite spacious in this 2 bedroom condo at Axis.
The closet in the master bedroom was also quite spacious.
The stackable washer/dryer at Axis.
That concludes my photo tour of Axis. Overall, I was pleased with the building and units given the price range for condos at Axis. I definitely wouldn't categorize it as a high-quality building but one shouldn't expect that given the price point. Axis is a great option for a young professional working in the Financial District who wants to be in a brand new building but wants to be towards the lower end of the spectrum on price. I think the quality of the building and units is most comparable to Plaza on Brickell, although I do prefer Plaza on Brickell minus the parking woes there. Compare the pricing of both condo developments by checking the available listings of both below.
great recap on Axis. Looks ok for what it is. Still think it does need to drop in price though ans since the closing rates don’t look good we’ll prob see them prices dropping.
Also how does this bldg compare to Wind and Ivy. Seems Wind is like a young proffesional starter building as well.
i think the price point for all 3 of these bldgs for a 2/2 will prob be in the 200’s shortly. Thoughts?
Something strange is happening. I saw all the rentals on these new Buildings including Axis, Plaza, Q, 18, M Blue etc. There is no sub $2000 2 BR unit to be had anywhere. In fact a little while back, 18 had a couple of sub 2K apts advertised but now the rents seem to have gone with a vengeance.
I have a few thoughts on why this is happening. I wonder what others may be thinking.
1. I am self employed. I may be one of the last lucky ones to be approved for a no doc, stated income loan (of course with a 20% down and a stellar 800+ credit). As per the new guidelines this week, No Doc, stated income loans are all but history.
Some might say this is all the more reason, housing will not recover as many more people will be pushed out of the market as they do not qualify. But corollary to that effect the ranks of renters will be swelling because of this.
2. More foreclosures = more renters.
3. More fence sitters renting and not buying aka renter Toms = more renters.
4. Arguments that rents cannot eat up more than half of the income is being debunked:
In the developing countries, for hundreds of years 70% of income was spent on food alone with out causing revolutions or armageddons! In US, people have traditionally spent mostly a third of income and to a less extent half of income on rent. But in the last 8 years, thanks to some oilmen in power, they have successfully pushed many middle class people in this country into lower middle class or even poverty. Class distinctions are clearly widening. America is slowly turning into a middle income country from being a high income country. It will not be surprising or jaw dropping development if people in this country will soon start spending from half up to 2/3rd of their income on rents. Dicretionary income will go down dramatically while 2 things a man need the most viz. food and shelter will take up most of the earnings. It is scary but we are on that path. This country will have the haves and the have nots like every other country. Those who will be real estate owners will be in the haves column.
Once Again,
I think it’s a bit too early to judge Axis based on the latest closing rate update. Lots of contract holders ask for extensions just to ask for them because they don’t want to be the first to close. I think next month’s update will give us a bit more insight.
I think young professionals are more prone to buy or rent at Axis or Plaza on Brickell than Wind or Ivy just because the former two are likely walking distance to their office. I don’t foresee many people who will live at Wind or Ivy walking to their office on Brickell Avenue.
I’ve been inside Wind a few times and I really like the lobby and common areas. I haven’t had the chance to get inside Ivy yet and I was planning to tomorrow but now I doubt that I’ll have time. I’m hoping that I’ll get the chance to get inside Ivy very soon. I like the price point there as well.
AJ,
I agree with your assessment. The rental market is hot right now. Prices have come down and there are more renters than we’ve seen in quite some time. As long as a unit is priced right, it should go under contract within the first 2 weeks.
There are some rental listings that have been sitting on the market for a few months but they are or, up until recently, were clearly overpriced. Every once in a while I will encounter a unit owner who feels that his unit has the best view and finishes in the entire building and should fetch a $500 premium over all the others. In reality, his unit has a slightly better view and just comparable finishes. My job is to make them realize that they need to be priced competitively in order to get their unit rented fast. I hate to see units sit idle and owners pay carrying costs for those months.
Every once in a while I’ll get an out-of-state owner who feels compelled to overprice their unit by $500 because they feel that they know the Miami market more than I do. I may take their listing but I’ll tell them upfront “Okay, we’ll do this your way. We’ll overprice your unit by $500 for 2-3 months, see no offers and then eventually reduce it to where I’m telling you it should be priced and you’ll end up losing more than if you just listened to me in the first place”. I actually tell people this because I hate to see people lose money. Most listen but 1 or 2 are just so stubborn. Stubborn isn’t even a good word for some of these people. Most of these eventually see the light though (the hard way).
I agree Lucas the lobby at Wind is preety cool for the hipster. I like it personally. Unfortunatley, the units left a whole lot to be desired since they were so small . the 2/2 were more like a 1+ den.
I’m curious to see how the ivy came out.
I’m very upset by a news article that I just read. A few of you have recently left comments regarding Mr. Norman Braman of Braman Motors. Your thoughts were that he was trying to impede progress for the city of Miami in regards to transportation because of his own interests to keep urban dwellers in their vehicles. A few of you mentioned, and the below article states, Mr. Braman has been against the funding of the propositioned port tunnel, plans for the newly revamped Bicentennial Park, a new Downtown Miami streetcar, the Performing Arts District debt and the new Florida Marlins stadium at the old Orange Bowl stadium.
Mr. Braman’s argument is that the city of Miami should decide. He feels that the residents of Miami are not represented and that the city of Miami should not make a decision on behalf of those residents. I think he’s right in the fact that we, residents of Miami, are not well represented. We can change that though.
I say that we, city dwellers, unite. It’ll be much more difficult for Mr. Braman to impede progress in the city of Miami if we can show city leaders that we stand behind the proposed changes to make this city better.
In his latest request, Mr. Braman would like to squash the latest plans to build a new Florida Marlins stadium at the Orange Bowl site. He argues that there is no proof that there will be an economic gain if a new stadium is built. I offer you proof. Me! I promise to buy season tickets for Florida Marlins games for the next three years. The current Marlins stadium just isn’t close enough right now for me to enjoy the games on a routine basis. Build a stadium close enough to downtown and I’ll be there every chance that I get. I’m a huge baseball fan! I’m sure there are others in this city that would frequent games more often if they didn’t need to travel so far from the heart of Miami.
At this rate there will never be any progress for this city. Mr. Braman’s requests to impede progress will just keep coming.
I’m open to promoting a monthly meeting of Miami residents who would like to dictate how this city moves forward. Anyone else have an interest to move the city of Miami to greatness?
Here’s the latest story about Braman trying to impede the progress of our city:
http://miamitodaynews.com/news/080717/story3.shtml
It’s still much cheaper to rent than to own the same thing. In places where yearly rents are less than 3% of purchase price and mortgage rates are 6.5%, it costs more than twice as much to borrow money to buy a house than it does to rent the same kind of house. Worse, total owner costs including taxes, maintenance, and insurance and HOA are about 12%, which is three times the cost of renting. Buying a house is a very bad deal for the buyer.
The Smart Money
Shea Stadium, the Orange Bowl and the old Heat arena are some examples of stadiums that have had very little economic gains for their neighborhoods.
They are trying to push these projects before Wall Street rates Miami’s bonds as junk.
Actually, I have no clue how they are going to pay for this stuff. Can somebody remind me?
Braman is an ego maniac bent on killing whatever chance Miami has of making a serious step up in class…My best guess is he wants to stop the stadium so the Marlins leave and then he can bring in a new team/stadium under his ownership………he should realize that he is quite likely to be no longer of this earth before that could actually happen and it is never attractive when an old man just wants to hear his own voice or be in the news to try and stay relevant…………count me in on any meetings/efforts to move the city forward. This is the last and best chance of having these amenities built in a reasonable timeframe as financing is going to be much tougher in the future. A lot of the stadium cost will be paid for by out of staters who visit so it really won’t be a huge burden for Dade taxpayers and while I am not personally a huge baseball fan, the stadium will generate a ton of visitors and revenue for hotels, restaurants, airlines, small merchants, livery, etc (Does anyone think that employment might be of importance in Miami Dade as we work through the tough economic next few years?)……..ALSO, THINK OF THE PRESS MIAMI GETS WHEN MLB BROADCASTS FEATURE ARIEL SHOTS OF THE NEW GORGEOUS BALLPARK……(might even bring a few new residents for all these condos we speak of)……..I’m with you Lucas, we will even buy season tickets as well as it is a great way to spend an afternoon in a brand new clean and well designed ballpark. Little Havana has earned a local team (Where the Marlins play now is not even close to local). The tunnel not so sure about, but Miami gets a large amount of the funds from other govt agencies so why not support anything that helps traffic in our city’s core? The Park! Don’t even get me started on the Park….Normie Norm just needs to stroll through the current Bicentennial after dusk (even during the daytime?) and then he can truly understand what “blight” is and how vital it is that the work on this bayfront treasure begins right now. Perhaps folks will not want to purchase or even service their cars at Braman Motors if he is hell bent on hurting our town?
Darryl said: “Perhaps folks will not want to purchase or even service their cars at Braman Motors if he is hell bent on hurting our town?”
Although I support the “megaplan”, it appears I am in a growing minority. Braman seems to have caught the crest of a wave created by the declining economy….
We shall see how gutless these puppet commissioners or Braman trial judge turn out to be. Unfortunately, if they elect to bail, they have the current numbers to hide behind:
“Miami-Dade voters strongly oppose spending tax dollars on a baseball stadium and other projects in a $3 billion public-works plan, but would back spending on local schools, a poll shows.
The survey of 800 Miami-Dade voters suggests the public is reluctant to spend tax dollars for ”luxury items” during an economic slowdown, said Sergio Bendixen, whose Bendixen & Associates conducted the poll.
The poll found that 57 percent of respondents viewed a new stadium as a ”bad investment for Miami-Dade taxpayers,” while 37 percent viewed it as a “good investment.”
The support changes along ethnic lines, with Cuban Americans more likely to support the stadium than non-Cuban Hispanics, blacks and non-Hispanic whites.
Voters were even more opposed to paying for construction of a new museum park at Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami. The poll found 66 percent of respondents found it a ”bad investment” for the county; while 29 percent considered it a “good investment.”
The poll says 60 percent of voters consider a tunnel connecting the Port of Miami to Interstate 395 a ”bad investment,” with 33 percent finding it a ”good investment.” And 65 percent of voters found the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts a ”bad investment;” 29 percent found it a “good investment.”
Bendixen noted that the poll didn’t ask voters’ opinions of the projects, just the funding mechanism. “Voters aren’t saying they don’t like the ideas, they don’t think these projects are good investments for tax money.”
When I lived in Chicago I did a lot of pro-bono work for SOAR- STREETERVILLE’S ORGANIZATION OF ACTIVE RESIDENTS.
http://www.soarchicago.org/
Perhaps our newly blooming City of Miami needs an organization like this to oversee and control how Miami, as a young city, continues to evolve.
It sounds like we have a natural leader in Lucas considering the “Call to Arms” he just gave US! Sign me up!
you guys all think that braman has an ulterior motive. maybe he does. whatever it may be, it’s simply irrelevant. what is relevant is the issue of whether we should entrust the execution of a multi billion dollar project to our local politicians.
lucas, you say that braman is impeding progress. you consider these projects to be progress? really?
my take is every aspect of this megaplan horrible. an underground tunnel. sounds real sexy. problem is, the truckers don’t want the tunnel, and more importantly, many of them won’t be able to use it (if you’re hauling anything hazardous, you got to stay above ground). thus, it solves nothing with respect to supposed traffic congestion and is a waste. not to mention, if you guys think the city can somehow manage a project of this magnitude, you are certifiably insane.
improvement of public transportation, although noble, is also a waste. the proposed expansion, aside from being expensive, doesn’t do much to make the city more public transportation friendly. not to mention, see today’s herald about the current state of finances for this miscreant agency.
finally, if anybody wants to explain to me
why the public should fund a baseball stadium when time after time, independent, unbiased economic studies have shown that they do not lead to a revitalization of an area, feel free to enlighten me. lucas, i’m a big baseball fan as well. grew up watching the sox at old comiskey. and since you know chicago, you know that wrigleyville didn’t clean up because of the cubs. rather, it was the explosion of high paying service jobs (e.g., consulting/law/finance) for young people that lead to a migration into the northside. cash rich, developers came in to house these folks. and of course, along the way, all these fair weather dopes from umich and miami of ohio became cubs fans (can’t resist a dig at the northside). as for the south side near comiskey, the area is still unimpressive.
Un-Related, You are correct the polls show that the citizens do not support the megaplan, but it is very easy to get folks to say no in the current political landscape & the city didn’t bother to promote or market these projects as they did not feel they would need to. The voters have voted for structural change like a strong mayor and obviously certain decisions are to be made by our local governors and not public vote. Here is the reality: Will you have lower taxes without the stadium, park & tunnel? Probably not, you just won’t have a decent central park or stadium, or even a baseball team or the tunnel & folks like me will sadly have to move to a stronger city like NY, LA or CHICAGO that has all of these critical civic features.
gotta say that axis has a lot of similar build out to ‘one broadway’….
Darryl,
First, I stated I was in favor of the Miami megaplan.
Second, being from L.A., I can tell you the closest tunnels are the ones the illegal alien and drug cartel purveyors dig under the US border with Mexico!
darryl
you’re right, we do delegate decisions to our local elected bums. however, some decisions cannot be delegated, and the megaplan is one of those decisions. trusting these dopes with the financial future of this city is beyond reckless. let’s not forget that miami almost filed for bankrupty in the not to distant past.
btw, you’re gonna move to a stronger city because of baseball?
The county needs to spend a billion dollars treating our raw sewage before it gets pumped three miles out to sea.
If the Port of Miami need the tunnel to stay competitive they should build that. They have railroad tracks going there why don’t they use those again? The museum and ball park are financial losers. They should still have an obligation to clean up the park without a museum.
Appreciate all the different views on the future of our city…..we wouldn’t leave because of baseball or the lack thereof, but if it appears that Miami cannot get anything done in terms of improving downtown and the surrounding areas then the future just won’t work here. How are people supposed to live at Marina Blue, 10 Museum, 900, Marquis, etc with desolate surroundings and a stalled plan for improvement? One can say who cares? You can live South of Fifth or Pace Park or Bay Harbour or Pinecrest, but the downtown core in my opinion is make or break….If we get a true downtown central park with museums and good foot traffic, solid retail built out, decent occupany% in the residential towers, programming that works at the performing arts center then Miami could really be an amazing metropolis in a few years and I believe that a monumental effort is needed in order to succeed. I’m originally from LA too UN-Related, and really don’t want to go back but Malibu, Laguna or San Diego might not be too rough for awhile, and the SoCal housing market is in worse shape than here (whether they know it or not)and the State Of California is broke 3-4 times over……Best wishes to all as we are living in truly “interesting times”!!
thanks for the axis pictures and updates Lucas…i’m going to be renting a unit from my cousin and he gave me a ridiculously amazing price for a 2/2 that he’s holding on to until the market turns around. It was hundreds of dollars below anything on the market for rentals, so I figured that it was worth the deal and that I had to take it.
Just so that you know, I am a young professional, and I’ll be working in the Jackson Memorial area, and the metrorail being so close, was a draw; so your analysis of who the building would be appealing to was spot on.
thanks again
There are a lot of great looking condos downtown and elsewhere but you would have to either have money to burn or insane to buy them now. If you move into one of these near empty buildings you have no idea of what that will mean to your monthly main. costs in the years to come and to think that someone will come in and manage these buildings to the standards they were built and sold as is a roll of the dice.
It is not unconceivable that some of the middle of the road buildings could really go down hill quickly in the next few years and you will have no idea what kind of people your neighbors will be.
And isn’t it time someone stop this 24/7 lifestyle nonsense? I keep seeing that in sales material. What a joke.
Downtown Miami sucked before these places were built and it still sucks today. Maybe it is better for the homeless bums and illegals, but that’s it.
Ace,
Once again, which orifice did you pull out this fiction from “total owner costs including taxes, maintenance, and insurance and HOA are about 12%, which is three times the cost of renting”?
I have explained before, many owners in the Q and 18 are clearing anywhere between 70-85% of carrying costs by the way of rents. Some fools who paid ridiculous amounts for a resale flat in ’05 and ’06 are struggling. But we are not talking about those fools.
Those who paid $300-$400/sf for the new condos at pre con prices in ’03 and ’04 and secured a decent 6% 30 year loan with 20% down and closed on those units are doing pretty well in this market with a high renter demand. That is another reason why your $125 and someone else’s $150/sf will remain a pipe dream. As long as the owners can rent their units for 70-80% of carrying costs and not 40-50%, they have no incentive to do a fire sale or discount the properties.
That is why you should not crawl out from under a rock once in a while, regurgitate you $125/sf theory and go back under the rock. Read and follow these posts regularly.
AJ
so under your logic, people should be happy operating at a loss with absolutely no appreciation in the next three/four years, and thereafter, hope for what? that appreciation slightly exceeds inflation. yeah, great investment.
Lucas,
Thanks! Being a multiple unit owner and a landlord, your confirming the hot rental market is a cause of great cheer and joy for me.
Pete,
I am a recent buyer and No, I do not have money to burn nor am I insane (at least the people who know me don’t think so). I am very happy with my recent purchase and I am doing very well with it, thank you.
You have some very serious and good deals out there. Before the interest rates spike to double digits, do yourself a favor and buy a condo or remain a bitter renter for the rest of your life trying to justify what you believe. You made a mistake of not buying in the pre boom era. You got a second chance now. Use it or you may have to keep finding more excuses as to “why a condo or an area is bad and how glad you are that you did not buy” to pacify yourself in the future for missing the chance to be a home owner for the second time around.
jcrimes,
No, my imploring the people to buy in Miami is not for investment. I would be doing a disservice to people if I did that. I am only imploring these classes of people to buy right now
1. Local Miami residents who are renting. There is no better time to buy a condo than now. Maybe they might go down another 10% or so (who knows? or maybe not) but the interest rates are already 7% and are heading higher. Any drop in prices will be negated by the higher interest rates.
2. Those out of towners who always wanted a pad for them selves in Miami either as a a) Vacation home or b) eventual retirement home.
For them paying 20% out of pocket so that they can snag a choice water view unit now at a good interest rate makes a lot of sense. These are the people not looking to flip and make money from their purchase.
If one goes by your argument, no one will ever buy a new car as it is a lose lose situation and you never make money money out of it. But you cant put a price on the joy of owning and driving a new car. The same goes here. When they use their condo once in a while on the way to permanently settling down in it, the joy that brings cannot be quantified. It is a small price to pay. Staying in a hotel is not the same or not an option.
Don’t the lenders consider condos with more than 30% of units rented an investment building. Aren’t almost all new building downtown rental/investment buildings by the banks own criteria. Seems to me these buildings should be rental buildings not condominiums as the demand is not there.
What’s the percentage of renters in Quantum, 1800, Axis?
AJ said: “You have some very serious and good deals out there. Before the interest rates spike to double digits, do yourself a favor and buy a condo or remain a bitter renter for the rest of your life trying to justify what you believe. You made a mistake of not buying in the pre boom era. You got a second chance now. Use it or you may have to keep finding more excuses as to “why a condo or an area is bad and how glad you are that you did not buy” to pacify yourself in the future for missing the chance to be a home owner for the second time around.”
AJ, You are a nice guy notwithstanding your endless self-promotion, however, do you really have to drone on to the point of insulting those who have a different opinion of an ever-changing market?
AJ
what you’re referring to is non-qunatifiable, non economic reasons for making a purchase, i.e., i bought it because it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside (sorry for sounding crass). i’m talking cold hard rational economics. using your out of towners as an example, if i think that maybe one day i might want to settle down in a condo at 1800 with a choice water view, then why not take the money i would use today to buy it, and put it to work for me? i can cover the future purchase price (if i end up choosing to buy at a later date) and put a little extra coin in my pocket for good measure. as for a vacation pad, others on here (such as julian) can make the argument why that simply doesn’t work.
as for your assertion that any drop in prices will be setoff by an increase in rates, i disagree – the opposite will happen. rather, an increase in rates will exacerbate price declines in real estate (if more people are priced out because of an increase in rates, that means less demand, and thus, the effect will not be a movement up/down on the supply and demand curve, but rather, an actual shifting of the entire curve curve to the left). moreover, any increase payment due to a rise in interest rates will not have a dollar for dollar effect when compared to a decrease in sales price. the tax deductibility of your interest payment will blunt the increase in rates in your favor.
Un related,
It is not a condescending talk. It is tough love. All my life I harassed my friends to buy instead of rent. Same goes here. I consider many in this blog a quasi friend and so I bug them to buy.
jcrimes,
so many parameters and so many variables. No one can lay claim to know what will happen if interest rates spike or foreclosures level off or supply declines or so on. That is why I am not a policy maker and only a blogger. 6 months hence, we will know who in this blog got it nearly right. Until then lets chat happily.
Just one more thing, if every dollar and red cent you ever spend has to be looked through the magnifying glass to determine if it is well spent or not, if it is a good investment, one would end up a nervous wreck. There will be no joy in life.
Miami Condo is a discretionary purchase like buying a fancy car. Sometimes you cannot justify buying a fancy car. I just cannot understand why anyone would pay 70, 80 or 400K for a car. Maybe because they can afford it or maybe because their life is not complete without it. Who am I to judge.
If you are looking to buy a Miami condo to make money at this time, Don’t. If you want to double your money 5 years, buy a home in Overtown instead. But if one can afford it and one wants it who are we to question if they are spending out of pocket to own a piece of paradise?
Ha, parking woes at Plaza? That will be nothing compared to the parking woes set to take place in Axis: 1 space per unit, unless your in the PH–you get 2!
And, with really no option to buy or rent additional spaces, but if so, I was told they’d run around $500/month.
Top that off with the fact they WILL charge your guests for parking, due to the proximity of Mary Brickell Village.
Here’s a great blog post about the megaplan funding.
Mayor Carlos Alvarez’s administration says the county will need to generate $9.4 billion more over the next 30 years to support Miami-Dade Transit.
Hey Aj…the issue you forgot to mention is that your semi ok now cause your HOA fees @ 1800 are 400- 600 now. What are you gonna do when it gets up to 800 to 1000 liek the rest of the other buildings. To think 1800 club is immune and will maintain that low rate and others have a much higher HOA fee is ridicooulous. Either that or lose some of the servies.
Hey just think State Farm wants a 70% increase in insuranse..how crazy is that. not to mention god forbid a hurricane hits us. Then watch insuranse premiums go up on all the buildings and thus HOA fees will skyrocket!
Gonna lose alot more money holding on to those dead ducks renting just put a small cottom ball on the squirting blood loss.
Prices gotta go to that sub 200 p/sq ft level to make it affortable.
the parking woes at Plaza are real. it is an insanely poorly designed entrance. a very tight turn from too small of a road, nearly always have to lean out your car door to connect the fob, amde much worse if any other cars are also trying to get in or out. then once inside, very tight, narrow turns. and always some jackass with their headlights off coming around too fast. it will be a nightmare if that building ever fills up. could you imagine having an assigned space on the ninth floor of the garage?? designed by an artist and not an engineer……
I’ve been reading this blog for several months now and I have to say that it’s the best source of information on the Miami condo market that I have come across (and I’ve looked everywhere!!) So, thanks Lucas for providing this site.
I’m a young professional that recently moved back to Miami. My wife and I are looking to buy our first home. We lived in Boston for 3 years and we loved the city lifestyle there. So much so, that we are exclusively looking at condos in the Brickell area. Clearly, downtown and Brickell don’t hold a candle to Boston’s city living, and almost certainly never will, but it’s the closest we’ve got. On a side note, much of this has to do with the fact that we don’t have a Fenway Park (Go Sox!!). Thanks Braman!!
We’ve seen numerous of the new buildings in Brickell (Plaza, Brickell on the River, Latitude, Avenue, Wind, and some others). I read some commentary about Wind. I really like this building. The 2/2 units are on the small side. However, when comparing units and costs in the different new buildings in Brickell/downtown you can’t go on square footage alone, as you all know. Even within the buildings I listed above there’s an enormous variation. Of these, Wind is by far the superior building. Prices are higher than in the other buildings, but the luxury found in Wind is not even nearly matched by the others. The amenities are great. Marble everywhere. Unlike in many of the other overpriced condo buildings, at least in Wind, you can see why you’re paying more per square foot. Maintenance is lower (for the moment at least) than in Brickell on the River, which is insanely high by the way. Another thing the one has to realize is that when the complex is complete, Riverfront will be the only gated community in all of downtown and Brickell. This is huge in my opinion. It’ll be a huge selling point for owners holding on to units until the market rebounds. It’s also spitting distance to I-95. You can’t beat it. Not to mention it’s on the River and if you’re high enough you have bay views. I haven’t seen the 3/2 units yet (which are actually 2/2 because the 3rd “bedroom” doesn’t have a closet or a door…nice try Neo) but the layout looks great. In summary, the luxury found in Wind and the location may out weigh the size of the 2/2 units.
Now a question. I’ve heard that there have been problems with units appraising for much less than the purchase price in some buildings, clearly causing problems with closings. Has anybody else heard anything about this? If so, which buildings are having this problem? If units aren’t appraising and banks are thus not loaning money, how are we going to get out of the state that we’re currently in when the one thing that can help the situation is sales actually happening?
My final point. About rentals, I’ve had my eyes on the rental market for about 6 months now and contrary to what a previous bloger posted, I have seen rents drop significantly. Case in point, my wife and I loved the 2/2.5 (1400sf) units at the Plaza. We wanted to purchase one but prices are still too high. So, we began to look at renting. Just two months ago, you would be hard pressed to find one listed for less than $2500. Just recently I saw some for $1950, $2000, $2100. That’s a big drop.
I look forward to your comments.
thats unfortunate about the parking at plaza… im sure that other newer buildings are having the same problems..
about axis: i think the final product looks very modern and too cold. this design will get old in about 3 yrs then the building will need to redo the interiors again. it needs more artwork and greenery
aj,
i agree with your comments. i see your points
Back in May 2007, I wrote about a 1 bedroom short-sale at Brickell on the River. The unit just came back on the market as a foreclosure. At the time, the unit was listed for $280,000. I submitted an offer for a client of mine for $240,000. The bank refused his offer and instead insisted that they wanted $300,000 for it. It just came back on the market with a list price of $229,000. There’s another 1 bedroom in the building two floors higher that was recently reduced to $215,910. Prices in that building have taken a big hit.
In my opinion Brickell on the River is nor all that. Sub par and way overcrowded for that plot of land considering now that the other loft tower shares the common areas…which by the way the other tower is horendous atleast the units so damm small u cant even fit a plasma tv flush on a wall in the living rooms. I think the Brickel on the River project will just go more downhill from here. The gym area is not but not when you share it with 1000 people. Pool area is lame.
Wind is nice the finshes and lobby liek most neo buildings they do a nice job decorating lobbies and party rooms etc..but the units are very weak as far as space goes. I did see the supposed 3/3 or 2/2 if u want to call it the largest layout and it wasnt all that big at all. Agian most of these units suffer from small units. Developer crammed all they could to squeeze out profits.
Once Again,
I too was surprised to learn that the amenities at Brickell on the River are now shared between the two towers. The gym is nice but definitely not spacious enough for residents of two towers to share. I toured the loft units about a month ago and you’re right about not being able to fit a plasma on a wall. The living room and kitchen were very crammed. Horrible layout. The floor plans in the first tower aren’t bad though. I think units there will always sell at a premium to the units in the second tower.
It looks like the stock market is going to get hit hard tomorrow. Merrill Lynch posted a huge loss. They lost $4.9B, or $4.95 per share, within the past quarter. Analysts were expecting them to lose just over $1.8B, or $1.91 per share. That’s a huge difference. $4.8B of Merrill’s loss was due to its mortgage-related portfolios. They’ve lost $19.2B within the past 12 months! That’s unbelievable!!!
Citigroup is also scheduled to release their earnings in the morning. If they announce horrible earnings then I think you’ll see all of the gains from the past two days erased.
Stock market..don’t even talk to me I’ve gotten killed recently. Holding on.
Agree with the Brickel on the Rver lofts I mean it flat out sux to put it bluntly. I went through all the layouts and even saw the furnished ones and nothing tickled me other than to say who the fu*k would buy this sh*t! The only cool thing was the lobby waterfall and the Martini Room. The rest a disaster. They would have to sell in the 150K below range for the 2/2’s to even consider looking at this. You’d have to buy 2 units together and knock the walls to make it decent. To think they were even trying to sell these back in the day for $500k plus. Stupidity! Should have known from a developer that includes air space as square footage and assesses HOA fees on air space too! How retarded is that!
Lucas what do you think the price will settle p/sq ft @ Axis?
I mean there’s hundreds of listings and very little movment. Is $250k and below for a 2/2 a fair assesment?
Once Again,
It really depends on the view. I think we might see some 2/2 units at Axis go for $250K down the road but they’ll have horrible views. I think prices will bottom around $270K for a 2/2 with a decent view. It really depends on the percentage of closings that they can achieve within the next 6 months though. If they’re successful then the bottom might be at $300K for a 2/2 with a decent view. It’s too early to say though. There are definitely a lot of units listed on the market right now but you have to realize that a lot of these people have not closed yet. The Axis developer allowed contract holders to relist their units with outside brokers before closing because they didn’t have a resale program. Most developers did not allow this which is why you’ll see a lot fewer units available on the market in some of the other new condo developments. If they had allowed contract holders to relist with outside brokers before closing then you would probably see more listings on the market in the other brand new condo developments as well. I heard that all contract holders were mailed a letter stating that they could relist their unit with an outside broker since they didn’t have a resale program. Many of these unit owners decided to relist their units at a profit because it didn’t hurt them to do so. The best priced units available are from contract holders who are willing to take a loss. Probably 40% of the rest of them will likely close but they’re willing to reassign their contract for break-even or for a profit if the “right” buyer came along. If they were more motivated to sell then their list price would have reflected it. That’s my opinion at least.
Interesting so if they have had their listing on the mls for some time and it hasnt sold then why bother closing. What makes them think if they do close they would be able to sell it after the fact. By then they would have incurred closing costs and prob developer fees. So makes no sense if they couldnt sell it cheaper or break even that they’ll have to spend more to close and now have the burden of carrying costs. Makes no sense.
I agree we prob wil see that $250k range soon.
When considering the proposed stadium from a dollar and cents point of view, we can argue ad nauseum about whether it makes sense or not, at then end of the day, maybe it doesn’t.
As a native Chicagoan, no matter how far away I move, I always cherish the memories I have of all the camaraderie, team spirit and pride Chicago’s sports teams elicit from their fans. It cracks me up!
A baseball stadium in a central locaton like downtown would improve the QUALITY OF LIFE for residents of Miami and its outlying areas. Being able to walk to a game or take public transportation, like to Wrigley- oh my God being on the el on the way to a game or even more after a game is one of the funnest experiences I’ve ever had!
Well, it would be nice if our children could have the same loyalty and affection for the Marlins, that there is for the Cubbies, White Sox, Red Sox, and so on! That’s sorely missing here. I mean, no offense, but who really gives a s**t about the Marlins?
I remember when the Panthers were doing well and the whole rat thing, I HATE hockey, but I enjoyed the sense of coming together as a community to root them on and enjoying the hijinks created from the rat craze.
We need that here to ever be a true city.
la la
i’d love to have a baseball stadium in downtown (biggest mistake ever made before the boom was that no one had the foresight to try and get the stadium in the design/art district – perhaps the land wasn’t available), but frankly, if you built it, people still wouldn’t come. and i’m totally opposed to giving any tax dollars to build it. why should my money be used because the team can’t afford to go at it alone, but on the flipside, sign some bum pitcher with a 5.40 ERA to a $100M+ contract? where’s the logic in that?
in any event, i’ve heard all the arguments from marlins fans down here: “oh, if it were a retractable stadium, i would go” or “if it were closer to home, i would go.” problem is, the stadium is never going to be close enough for many of the fans (e.g., if it’s in little havana, i don’t think broward fans are going to schlepp down here for a game) and the rain delay problem is not nearly as bad as folks make it out to be. aside from this, the biggest issue is that like atlanta, miami/ftl are transient cities. you’re never going to see the loyalty to the marlins like you do with teams up north. no matter where you build a stadium…attendance still won’t skyrocket. although many will pay lip service to their marlins fandom, my observation is that they don’t care when push comes to shove (i.e., let’s go to a game).
btw, riding the el after a cubs game is not nearly as fun as heckling st. louis fans (or for an AL person such as me – minnesota fans), as they get back on their greyhound buses. cardinals fans. twins fans. what boobs.
I am starting to come around to BRAMAN’s point of view. After listening to NPR and reading some articles online. I think this plan should be voted on. Only then will we get all the details to the public. Most Miami residents are fair weather fans not matter what the team is and if the Marlin’s are not winning then no one will go to the game. I just learned the Marlins is # 30 out of 30 baseball teams in attendance. It won’t improve much by putting it downtown.
I think we would be better off building a MLS soccer stadium with all the foreigners we have here.
The tunnel idea, i just don’t get. Why do we need this?
If we can come up with money for these plans then why can’t we come up with money to improve public transport?
The Museum Park idea seems good, however. Maybe we can just vote on this plan a la carte style.
It’s not the rain delays that are the problem with the Marlins – it’s the constant threat of rain delays. While it’s doesn’t always rain there, there’s always the potential; and people don’t want to schlep all the way to Dolphin Stadium (it may be equidistant to Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, but that means it’s also not close to anyone) to get rained on.
Plus, I hate going to Marlins games after it has already rained during the day. I don’t want to pay $30 to sit in a wet seat. And this is coming to you from a Marlins fan that actually supports the team and goes to, on average, about 10 games at the stadium every year (and is going to the all-you-can-eat game tonight vs. the Phillies – yum).
What doesn’t make sense to me is why a dome-only (no rectactable roof) stadium is not being discussed at all. To me, it’s retarded. Nobody ever is able to make an actual, intelligent argument against a dome-only stadium. The retractable roof is what blows the cost of the stadium to the statosphere, and frankly I’d rather watch the game indoors in air conditioned comfort. Miami’s summer weather is just not all that pleasant.
If the Marlins really want to get a stadium that would increase attendance, they would be better off if they put their stadium in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. Most of their hardcore support comes from white, Anglo Americans from Broward and Palm Beach, and they’d probably get more of them to come if they didn’t have to drive all the way down to Dade (and the attendance will likely take a hit by moving the stadium to downtown). But Broward county is also little smarter than Dade and isn’t tripping all over themselves to give money away to Mr. Loria.
The MLS soccer stadium is an even bigger waste of money than a Marlins stadium. The argument for baseball down here was that Cubans love baseball, so baseball in S. Florida was a natural fit. Now people are using the same argument for an MLS team, but the problem is – we’ve already had an MLS team down here and they went bankrupt and folded. Most of the support for these sports teams down here (Marlins, Heat, ‘Fins, Panthers) are still coming from born-and-raised American fans, and they still don’t care all that much about soccer.
I’m am absolutely 100% against the Museum Park idea. Bicentennial Park needs to be left open for big concerts and outdoor events. I’m sick of having to go all the way the hell up to West Palm Beach just to see a music festival (Cruefest, Mayhem Fest, Projeckt Revolution, and the Warped Tour are all up there this summer) – and Bicentennial is the only open space we have left that’s centrally located and is big enough ot host these sorts of events.
I bet if you check public records the city hasn’t spent a dime on Bicentennial Park in 15 years. Classic example of government failure. Then they hold the park hostage with a all or nothing $208 million plan to build a museum. They do the same thing in Miami Beach. No maintenance until the a capital improvement project begins. Residents get no improvements in areas for 10 to 20 years because of this policy. The city can balance the yearly budget because they don’t have to include these maintenance items in the budget. Take a look at some of the sidewalks in the residential areas of South Beach. Absolutely third world.
The biggest improvement the Orange Bowl received was a paint job and a new toilet in the upper level bathrooms.
although the planned museums look cool, in reality, i just don’t see it having mass appeal the way they do in cities up north. it’s not that people here aren’t cultured (although some would suggest that is the case). rather, when you have good weather year round, chances are you’re looking to be outside boating, at the beach/pool or dining out. rather than shoot the moon with two museums, i think the better idea is to increase the tree coverage in the parks dramatically. i took my first real stroll through bayfront in a long time and i’m amazed how underutilized it is. maybe that will change as folks eventually plow into the buildings nearby but part of the problem is that it’s impossible to get out of the sun there (i.e., benches under trees – the simplest pleasure in a park).
bender – i think a dome is the right idea but it will never happen.
Guys most people here have no clue what they are talking.
Some buildings in Brickell will do just fine just like some hybrid cars in the USA with high mpg. Some models like SUBURBAN SUV will not do well but on other side some small cars with high mpg will do just fine.
Some buildings will do bad due to a bad location and pricing.
Plaza on Brickell will do the best in the Brickell area due to a right pricing and location.
Other buildings in Brickell have not such good location or the price is similar like in the Plaza on the Brickell but the Plaza has a better location.
Remember that recession affects only certain % of people.
Some people are unaffected and they are looking for a place to live or vacation.
If you do not buy you gotta rent. And the guys that said above that renting is cheaper than buying is so without clue.
First of all when you buy a place you feel like at home versus when you rent you feel like you are camping at some place for a short period of time.
Than you have tax breaks when you own a place. Especially people who run biz it helps a lot.
Than you can sell it in future and make a profit. And when you rent it you just throwing your money through window and you will never see it back. Plus that rent money is after taxes. So if you pay rent $2000 you gotta earn $2680 just to pay the rent.
Plus you have no tax breaks. And you make a landlord rich or you pay his mortgage. He will use you to pay the mortgage and in 10 years will sell a place for profit.
Now it is great time to buy. .barrons.com is ssaying that we are bottoming. And it make take some time to get out of mess but you might not capture the wanted condo like you might do now