Marina Blue 5404 – Then & Now
September 22, 2010 by Lucas Lechuga
Below is a list of changes/additions that were made to unit 5404 as part of the build-out process:
- 36 x 36 Crema Marfil marble flooring installed throughout
- Custom kitchen island with new countertops, wine rack, beverage center and dual-bowl under-mount sink with garbage disposal and custom fixture
- Custom kitchen pantry with frosted glass door
- Granite backsplash in the kitchen
- Custom lighting throughout kitchen
- California-style built-in closets in both bedrooms
- Remote-controlled electronic window shades
- Baseboards and paint
A few days ago, the build-out process for unit 5404 at Marina Blue was completed. Below, you'll find pictures of the condo as it looks today. Unit 5404 is a 2 bedroom/2.5 bath condo with 1,663 square feet of interior square feet and 222 square feet of balcony (view unit 5404 floor plan). The condo has direct views of Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and Downtown Miami from the 54th floor. The asking price for unit 5404 at Marina Blue is $3,500 per month and is available immediately. Contact us at 305-428-3860 if you would like to view the condo in person.
For those of you who don't know, Marina Blue is a Downtown Miami condo developments located at 888 Biscayne Blvd across the street from the American Airlines Arena and within walking distance to Bayside Marketplace and the Adrienne Arsht Center. Marina Blue is one of the few Downtown Miami condo buildings where every unit has a direct water view.
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Below is the Before & After video of unit 5404 that our videographer created:
Looks very nice (except for the trendy bathroom sinks). Well done.
That is a Beautiful unit!!! I am just curious as to what a nice build out like that one would cost approx.I would especially like to know the cost of the marble floors. Thank you
Joe:
Yeah…..I agree. Having been through the design center in Kohler, WI, I can attest to the fact that vessel sinks and carerra marbel are all the rage. (Note: I don’t know if the sinks used here are vessel sinks.) A fad is a fad. Kudos to Mike for not selecting the Kohler faucet and sink design which has a spout mounted flush with the wall (above the vessel sink) so that the water comes out much like a water fall. (Silly, ain’t it?)
I would have gone with wood flooring because it is warmer and easier on the feet – – wood does not get ice-cold in air-conditioned environments.
What’s with the two-tone in the California closet? Did they run out?
Re-framing the closet next to the kitchen and replacing the doors with see-through glass was a nice touch and a better use of space. (I have said it once, and I will say it again – – the developers that built these things were clueless prats with little taste) The back-splash in the kitchen was a nice addition, although I would have used porcelain tile because it is more durable and lower maintenance as it does not have to be re-sealed on a yearly basis.
Paul:
Depends. Material costs? Labor costs? Both?
Bottom line: if it was done properly, it cost a lot. I am presently building a place. The flooring is red oak (random length, 5-inch wide tongue-and-grove boards). Bathroom flooring is stone tile (some large, some mosaic – – to keep things interesting) from Ann Sacks. The cost? Enough that I won’t publish it on the web.
scriv
Looks generic and suburban. Why does everyone in Miami use those cheap marble tiles for floors. So many better tiling options out there. Kitchen looks sad and low-end. The only thing that apt has going for it is the view.
Paul,
This is a VERY rough estimate, but $20-25/foot would get you a basic build out of a “designer-ready” space. This includes flooring, soundproofing, labor, painting, & very basic lighting. A luxurious finish would run you more like $35-45/foot. This would include higher end tiles for floors, cooler European lighting fixtures, custom window shades, California Closets, and switching out some of the cheesy developer bathroom fixtures.
I like the flooring. With regard to marina blue, I hate the way they do the tub inside of the shower like that. It’s just weird and unappealing and looks cheap. The floorplan looks odd to me too. I guess the living room area would right next to the kitch and dining room would be in that foyer area to the front of the third pic. Strange floorplan IMO.
DJ — Agree 100% re: the tub/shower combo. (I recall discussing this in the past.) Not only is it an ugly design, but it more than doubles the space that needs to be cleaned. Strange design practice.
Joe,
It actually saves space. If you look at the floor plan there would have be no other place to put a separate shower and the tub is already a nice size. So you either leave the shower space as wasted open space or you enclose it all they way they did. Besides the fact that people in this prices range want separate tub and show which always wastes space. They could have used better tiles but the layout is an efficient use of space.
Gixxer 1000 — It might save floor space, but it doesn’t save cleaning space. Most people use either their tub or their shower. But this design requires a constant cleaning of the entire shower/tub area (i.e., there’s probably 2x as much tile as would have existed with separate tub and shower).
Anyway, I’m not even sure it saves floor space. If the shower and tub were installed front-to-back instead of left-to-right, there might have been room for both. (And if floor space was really the concern, why the hell did they install two widely-spaced sinks and a bidet? That bathroom could have been designed much better.)
Joe,
“save cleaning space” ??? Dude you’re such a joke. 99% of the time they are going to use the shower only. The hardest thing to clean is the glass door and that would have to be cleaned anyway since no matter how they configured it again the shower would be used almost all the time. The tub is there simply to say its there, and will rarely ever be used or cleaned.
“If the shower and tub were installed front-to-back instead of left-to-right, there might have been room for both.”
If the shower and tube were installed that way then the shower would still be directly beside the tub and you wouldn’t be able to turn on the tub unless you physically got inside the tub. Which is the same problem they have here and why the simply made the shower the entire length. The only other possible solution would have been to run plumbing around to the opposite side and had the shower be half the length with the the shower and tub on opposite walls. But again not worth the extra cost since most people never use the tub.
“And if floor space was really the concern, why the hell did they install two widely-spaced sinks and a bidet?”
Because what you seem to not understand is that most people would prefer two widely spaced sinks. They were trying to hit the check points on most peoples list. If you look at the actual floor plan which is designed to provide both a living and bedroom space with a great view this is pretty much the only configuration that gives 1) decent closet space 2) double sinks 3) separate shower and tub.
It may not be the ideal setup but it hits all the points. Most people (unlike a few people here with chips on their shoulders) aren’t going to care about the tub that they know they’ll use a couple times a year.
The kitchen is slightly different but regardless they have views from every room in the unit except the second bedroom. That is the driving factor behind the layout.
Gixxer 1000 — I see you’re back to your old tricks. “You’re such a joke” isn’t really a persuasive argument technique.
Anyway, are you seriously suggesting that people can take showers in these shower/tub combos without any water/condensation making its way over to the tub area which is one foot away and has NO BARRIER between it and the shower? I don’t know how things work where you’re from, but in a place like So. Fla., water on tile = mold and mildew. This shower/tub combo might have saved 4 square feet of floor space, but it did so at the cost of weekly hassle for the occupants.
Also, don’t tell me they had no other architectural/engineering options, because installing a tub-length shower was dumb (and wasteful), too, and running 3 more feet of pipe in a million-dollar condo isn’t even a rounding error when it comes to cost. Give us a break with the always-contrarian B.S.
gixxer and joe, both of you miss the point on the shower/tub combo. overall it is a space saver, and it does not add any additional work to cleaning effort. the owner of this type of residence will not clean the unit himself-that is what the low skilled low wage labor market provides in miami. you think somebody will spend $3500 a month on rent (or more to own) and skip on the $100 month to have the place cleaned?
great unit with a great view. not sure i could handle dealing with the elevator to the 54th floor on a daily basis-that commute may be longer than the car trip to work. but i would certainly give it a try 🙂
Joe,
“Anyway, are you seriously suggesting that people can take showers in these shower/tub combos without any water/condensation making its way over to the tub area which is one foot away and has NO BARRIER between it and the shower?”
No I’m not saying that.
“I don’t know how things work where you’re from, but in a place like So. Fla., water on tile = mold and mildew.”
Instead of telling you how it works where I’m from I’ll tell you how it works where I currently live. Which is in Miami with a unit with a similar bathroom (tile with glass door).
The tiles are placed extremely close to one anther with a very thin grout line. If you were to look at it in person you can barely see the grout, it’s about 1/8 inch thick. With this being a new unit (upscale one at that) I can assure you that they also used mildew resistant grout similar to whats in my unit. The bulk of the cleaning is the glass door. I’ve probably spent a total of 15 min cleaning of the tiles in the past couple of months. So regardless of whether the owner, renter or maid is cleaning this bathroom there wont be much to clean other than that glass door.
So give me a break with your always negative views.
gables,
“gixxer and joe, both of you miss the point on the shower/tub combo. overall it is a space saver, and it does not add any additional work to cleaning effort.”
How am I missing the point when that is my exact point.
“great unit with a great view.”
Agreed.
“not sure i could handle dealing with the elevator to the 54th floor on a daily basis-that commute may be longer than the car trip to work. but i would certainly give it a try”
I live on a high floor (although not that high) and my elevator ride isn’t that long. It really comes down to how many people are getting on at the same time turning the express into a local if you know what I mean. I’d put the average time around 2 minutes. Now what really sucks is the floor you park on. I take the metro most of the time but my parking spot is on the 7th floor. Driving up and down 7 floors in a circle is a real pain.
In response to the Shower/Tub Combo.
I live in the Marina Blue and I love the combo. I’ve used the tub a few times and the shower daily obviously. The tub stays clean when you don’t use it and rarely needs anything done to it so cleaning is not an issue.
So from a resident I love the shower/combo and I never heard any complaints about it from my neighboors.
In regards to the 54th floor, Marina Blue has High Speed Elevators that will put you to the top in litterally 30-40 seconds if not quicker if there are no stops.
To each his own, I guess. I still don’t see how installing a tub-length shower yields more than a (net) 1 or 2-foot savings vis-a-vis floor space, but if people like them, then that’s all that matters.