13 Star Island Drive Sells for $25.5M – Record Breaking Sale
May 20, 2011 by Lucas Lechuga
13 Star Island Drive in Miami Beach recently sold for $25.5M, making it the highest priced sale in Miami-Dade County history. The sale closed late last month but wasn't updated in the MLS until yesterday afternoon. The 8 bedroom/8 full bath/2 half bath waterfront home resides on a 40,000 square foot lot and has 15,008 square feet of living space, a bayfront infinity edge pool and a fitness center. The Star Island waterfront estate sold in 50 days at a 20.3% discount from its initial asking price of $32M. The property was previously purchased in 2000 for $3.7M.
To put this sale into perspective, let's compare it to another recent sale on Star Island. As you may recall, 27 Star Island sold earlier this month for $10.75M. That property also sat on a 40,000 square foot lot and had 15,000 square feet of living space. My initial reaction is that there is A LOT that can be done with $14.75M. An argument can be made that the west side of Star Island is preferable over the east side because you get a gorgeous view of the sunset and Downtown Miami skyline but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who would say that justifies the price. Nonetheless, 13 Star Island Drive is a beautiful property. There's no denying that the luxury real estate market has performed remarkably well this year, especially given the state of the economy. There have now been four home sales this year of $10M or more, two of which have been properties located on Star Island.
Who owned this place? And who bought it?
Check the records before opening the bubbly! It was a special warranty deed. That should explain something to those who understand RE.
Seller was Thomas Morgan, a Denver-area oil exec according to some reports.
P&U- Please enlighten me why a SWD would have a bearing on the purchase price. I think you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Drew,
May be you are right about me. What do I know about this business? Unless one has done these kinds of deals with lots of zeros and complicated debt financing, there is no point trying to explain it to you.
So what are you suggesting? That a title defect pre-seller is somehow related to an inflated sales price? While I agree that the price seems suspiciously high, I don’t see the connection with the seller giving a SWD instead of a warranty deed.
Here is food for the thought.
With about $25 million equity in the house, why would there be any title defect?
High priced lawyers and accountants are very useful in international finance, where assets are pledged in deals. Losses can be converted in to profits and profits are protected against taxes. Buyer is a BVI company.
For the third time, what does any of this have to do with a SWD instead of a WD? I still think you don’t understand the difference between the two.
OK Drew You know it all. Enlighten us about your knowledge of “Special” Warranty Deed. Make it long and legal (Not copy / paste from google search). Also throw in some information on the interstate torts for good measure.
You obviously have no clue and just confirmed your ignorance. You said:
“Check the records before opening the bubbly! It was a special warranty deed. That should explain something to those who understand RE”
Warrants in deeds relate to title defects, dummy. Don’t make stupid comments if you have no argument to back up your claim. No wonder you’re poor and unemployed. I wouldn’t hire you to shovel shit.
Drew, Drew, Drew
Didn’t I say it.
Unless one has done these kinds of deals with lots of zeros and complicated debt financing, there is no point trying to explain it to you.
Wonder when & for how much this home last sold?
Date Description Price % Chg $/sqft
04/28/2011 Sold $25,500,000 -20.3% $1,699
02/16/2011 Listing removed * $32,000,000 765% $2,132
03/13/2000 Sold $3,700,000 51% $246
08/07/1998 Sold $2,450,000 — $163
Lol. Of course 13 star sold for more than twice 27 star did…and it is entirely justified. 13 star faces west and 27 star faces east. Now to a silly realtor who can’t afford either property that may not seem like a big deal. But it’s a huge deal and facing west makes the property at least 2 to 3 times more valuable.
I have been in both properties and comparing them on sq foot is like comparing a warehouse to a palace. 27 star’s price is a land-value deal as the home needs to be torn down and rebuilt, or gut-renovated down to the shell…and anyone who has built a house knows the shell is the least expensive part…it would easily cost $800-$1000/ft to turn 27 star into 13 star (~14M)…and you would STILL have a house on the wrong side of the island lol.
No comparison, 13 star = better deal than 27 star. period.
The $45 Billion Genting Malaysia paid $236 million for the entire 14 acre miami herald property including the building. Herald is moving out in 2 years so the building can get torn down for redevelopment. Plans for a hotel/resort/casino. They are lobbying hard to get a casino permit for this site and the laws may be changed in the next 2 or 3 years. All I can say is wow, a world class casino smack in the middle of downtown miami’s arts district!
I guess it’s time for our annual “Urban Beach Weekend” discussion. I got blasted last year for saying it’s a low-class affair that has no place in Miami Beach, but the news reports this year make my position unimpeachable. It’s high time for Miami Beach to put an end to this “event” and tell these dregs to go elsewhere. It’s an absolute joke that people who pay millions to live at the Beach have to flee every year because of the havoc wrought by these “Urban Beach” thugs.
agreed — i forgot it was happening so by error i rode my bike through them on the way back from a long bike ride from ft lauder back to brickell – they sure made a hell a mess – i hope city of miami does not decide that brickell needs to start having the event – it was major trash event – i think it was worst this year…
====news report===
A Miami Beach commissioner on Tuesday called for a curfew to be in place for next year’s Urban Beach Weekend after two police-involved shootings broke out during the Memorial Day holiday.
Jerry Libbin, the head of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, said the city should consider limiting the late-night fun for the hundreds of thousands of visitors on South Beach in the wake the shootings.
The city spends an extra $1 million for security and clean up during Urban Beach Weekend and local businesses said the money they make is also offset by the added security, Libbin said.
“Everyone is welcome as long as laws aren’t being violated,” he said.
Miami Beach Police arrested 431 people from Friday to Monday, which is up slightly from 2010’s total of 382.
Most of the arrests were misdemeanors, and felony arrests and the number of citations issued dropped this year, Miami Beach Police said.
But two shootings that happened just blocks apart Sunday night jumped to the headlines and have some officials thinking something needs to be done to curtail the crime during Urban Beach Weekend.
One man was killed after police surrounded his vehicle and opened fire, authorities said. Four bystanders were also hit with bullets, police said.
An hour later, an officer was forced to shoot at a car that was headed toward her, police said.
Police Chief Carlos Noriega called the weekend “uneventful” if not for the two shootings.
Miami Beach Mayor Matti Bower challenged the legalality of a curfew for a select weekend in only a particular section of the city. She said residents complain about events such as Spring Break and Boat Week, but the city doesn’t issue any curfews.
Urban Beach Weekend is a collection of private events that have adopted the same name. It is not city sponsored, which makes it even more difficult to regulate, Bower said.
The city is considering making clubs and bars close earlier during Memorial Day weekend, but no time has been discussed as of yet.
here is a vid on it, i am glad i did not buy in sb
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2011/05/one_killed_many_injurie_in_sou.php
That is a real shame that these thugs are allowed to do these things every year. The police chief calls it uneventful?
One of the Miami outlets (CBS?) had a report yesterday that even “Uncle Luke” (Luther Campbell), who was one of the founders of Urban Beach Week, hasn’t attended the event in several years due to “too many thugs.” That seems like a good sign that the event has outlived its usefulness.
(Oddly but perhaps not unexpectedly, Campbell blamed Miami Beach instead of the thugs. Campbell says MB needs to organize better events, such as a Mary J Blige concert, but that seems like B.S. Miami Beach doesn’t organize events to keep people from rioting during Art Basel or the boat show. It seems like Mary J Blige would need to be contracted by the Urban Beach people, not MB bureaucrats.)
Joe,
I’m not sure that the city can simply shut this event down since it doesn’t issue any special events permit for it. This weekend has no real structure, just different people promoting parties at clubs. I agree it negatively impacts the residents of the beach, however the challenge will be balancing the needs of the business community (clubs, hotels, parking lots etc who make a ton of money during this weekend) and those of the residents.
What Luke is advocating is a structured event supported by the city not organized by the city.
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2011/06/memorial_day_weekend_fiasco_co.php
I think we should not allow any criminal to enter or live in the city. Especially those who come here on Memorial day weekend. Let’s turn the clock back and bring back all those old folks who used to live in MB. Shut down the bars, restaurants and clubs.
How dare these criminals allow themselves to get killed with 100 shots in Miami? They should do that in NY or New Orleans bridge!
It is sad state of affairs when people jump to conclusion so quickly, when the dead person is not one of their own kind.
No one jumped to any conclusions. This event has had the highest number of arrests of any event in MB every year for the past five or ten years.
Joe,
May be people should start asking that question? But they dont look like us so – who cares? Thanks god they are Americans unlike most in this city!
Shops, hotels, restaurants, clubs – the business community in general has no complaints but somehow hundreds of tourist get arrested on the streets not in the hotels, bar and restaurants. We never hear about riots, destruction of property – kind associated with such high number of arrests.
Both the police and the “tourists” are at fault. Memorial Day “tourists” behave like animals – wandering the streets (and refusing to get out of the way of cars), litter, fight, and other forms of rude and obnoxious behavior. And leaving shitty gratuities at restaurants. Show some class and act like civilized humans and there is no problem.
On the other hand, the police need to show some restraint. They completely went overboard with the Collins Ave shooting. (2 days later the “found” a gun in the car! What a coincidence!) Couple the police abuse with several thousand blacks (who the police don’t like anyway), and this is a recipe for disaster. Hide your kids, hide your wife.
Hey Drew
45 STAR ISLAND DR was just sold for $7.105 million. Any comments?
Yes, I do have a comment: Whether the deed was a warranty deed or special warranty deed has no bearing on the sales price.
Drew,
Can you give us your expert opinion on the big difference in price of these two properties?
I never contended that there wasn’t something strange going on with the sales price of 13 Star Island. You’re the guy who claimed that a SWD had something to do with it, which is idiotic.
Hello Drew,
So you do not have a clue but you do have a opinion!
Only in Miami! What a country!
P&U, it appears you are the one who claimed conspiracy theory, not drew. tell us your conspiracy! that way i can be sure not to use star island to comp my future home!
How about you explain how one home sold at $25 million and other for $7 million. Is the market going up or down? Or do you think these people are just too rich to care about $10 – 15 millions here and there.
Are you Drew too? what other personalities to you have on this site?
that is what i was asking you, since you seem to have all the answers! if i knew, i would have told you and not asked you a question!
Well from a quick look at things I’d have to say if anything there is something wrong with the 45 star island sale. The house is 5000 sqft smaller than 13 star and it’s facing south so its right by the bridge and all the traffic and has a view of the port.
Further more 40 star island is listed for $27M and $29 star island is listed for $21M. 45 star was only listed for $9M so even the owners knew it was worth less.
30 star island is also listed for $9M and is an empty lot. So if 45 star did sell for $7M is basically sold for less than what an empty lot is worth.
Miami Luxury Penthouse Sales Heating Up:
Hurry up, buy now! Units are going fast! There won’t ever be an opportunity like this again!
What a difference a year makes. Here is an unofficial update of condo supply from some MLS numbers I pulled of the net:
Price Total/Average sales per month/months of supply
Miami-Dade
Total 10597/1513/7
under $200k 4337/1111/4
$200k-$300k 1728/151/11
$300-$400 1170/76/16
$400-$500 782/40/19
$500-$750 1018/54/19
$750+ 1562/82/19
Miami Beach
Total 1696/206/8
Under $200 423/99/4
$200k-$300k 292/28/10
$300-$400 248/20/12
$400-$500 149/12/13
$500-$750 216/19/12
$750+ 378/28/13
So Miami-Dade went from 16 months of supply back in April 2010 when Lucas last ran the numbers and now it’s closer to 8 months. And Miami Beach went from 14 months down 8 months.
Inventory in Miami-Dade has also been dropping pretty fast. For months the number of condos on the market hovered around 16,000 and then at the end of 2010 it started dropping fast:
12/10 15,117
01/11 14,138
02/11 13,111
03/11 12,138
04/11 11,399
05/11 10,597
WOW! Looks like sure shot! How many are you buying? No wonder they keep saying here that americans are stupid. They dont know how to make money.
At this rate, in next 8 months we will have no inventory!
You’re just as idiotic as you friend Joe. Either the market is completely busting or its shooting through the roof and you have to buy multiple condos.
I’m just posting the numbers to show that the local market here is getting back on track.
It’s funny a year ago the big argument is supply and Joe and others were yelling about how there was enough supply for 4 to 5 years and now that you start showing that the supply is getting down to manageable levels they act like you’re telling them they they have to rush out and buy.
Regardless, a year ago none of you would have thought that a year later we would be trying to approve new projects and yet here we are. So no we will not be out of inventory in 8 months but the supply will be low enough to build more.
Only Gixxer 1000 can post numbers that say one thing and then claim they say another. His own damn chart, above, shows 4 months of supply in the bargain-basement “under $200k” segment but then 11, 16, 19, 19, and 19 months of supply in Miami and 10, 12, 13, 12, and 13 months in Miami Beach. That hardly looks like an “8-month supply” to me. It looks like one bargain-basement market that’s moving and five other segments that are essentially stagnant (and are WAY, WAY higher than historical supply norms, with shadow inventory still looming large as well).
You’re an idiot. I posted the information in the exact same format that Lucas did a year ago. There were 16,310 condos available with monthly average sales of 995 for 16.39 months of supply for the entire market. The total supply is an apples to apples comparison to a year ago.
“but then 11, 16, 19, 19, and 19 months of supply in Miami and 10, 12, 13, 12, and 13 months in Miami Beach. That hardly looks like an “8-month supply” to me. It looks like one bargain-basement market that’s moving and five other segments that are essentially stagnant”
How easily you forget. When Lucas last did his numbers the individual segments were extremely higher:
Total 16 Months
$0-$250 12 Months
$250-$500 26 Months
$500-$1M 31 Months
$1M-$2.5M 30 Months
$2.5-$5M 55 Months
$5M-$10M 84 Months
Now I don’t have the information available in the same segments, the info I have is in $100k segments. But you can clearly see that the lower range went from about 12 months of supply down to 4 months of supply.And the mid range went from 26 month supply to around a 17 months supply.
When Lucas puts out his numbers you’ll be able to see the direct head to head comparisons and its been pretty shocking how much sales have increases and inventory has decreased since the beginning of 2011.
Also I posted an article yesterday that Lucas didn’t approve about the high end market that you follow so much. Since I can’t link to the article here are the quotes I wanted you to see.
“What’s happened in the last 60 days is almost all of the high-end market sold,” Butler said. “We’re really looking at an inventory shortage. The deals that have been sitting on the market for a while are now selling, for good prices and multiple offers. So it’s very encouraging.”
“[The Miami market] is selling more condos over $7.5 million than we’ve ever sold in the past,” he said. “Over the last nine years, we’ve been averaging 2.5 sales a year. In the past 12 months, we sold eight.”
“I think we’re going to see that prices are going to start going up a little,” she said. “Inventory’s decreasing [and] a price increase is soon to follow. I think that when we look at the six-month point at the end of this month, we’re going to see that the price per square foot at a lot of these buildings actually increased.”
You’re the one who’s always claiming nothing is moving in the high end market and its basically the “bargain basement” units that are moving the market.
Gixxer said: “You’re an idiot.”
— Great rebuttal! That U. of M. master’s program is paying off already.
Anyway, I don’t care what some shill realtor says. If “almost all of the high-end market sold,” then why does your chart show 11, 16, 19, 19, and 19 months of supply in Miami and 10, 12, 13, 12, and 13 months of supply in Miami Beach in the segments over $200k? That sure as hell doesn’t look like a “supply shortage” to me. Some of those segments have supply that’s still 200 or 300 percent higher than historical norms, and that’s only if we pretend there’s no shadow inventory.
When you get used to talking with other classmates, professors and professionals its kind of hard to then switch gears and talk with a layperson with not much education about the subject.
But anyways, that comment of inventory shortage was actually referring to the over $5M segment which I don’t have. I can tell you that in Miami-Dade there were only 92 condos available when he did his last condo supply update. At the time there were less than an average of 1 sale per month which turns out to be an 110 month supply.In Miami Beach there were 43 condos available and an average month sales rate of .5 for an 86 month supply.
We know for sure we’ve been selling more than .5 high end condos per month so we know those numbers are down dramatically. Heck simply changing the .5 to 2.5 cuts the supply of Miami Beach high end condos to 17 months without considering if there are less condos on the market after those sales.
But we’ll have to wait for Lucas update to see exactly where were at.
“Some of those segments have supply that’s still 200 or 300 percent higher than historical norms, and that’s only if we pretend there’s no shadow inventory.”
Do you actually know the historical norms for supply in the over over $5M segment, or any segment for that matter. You always cop out and say stuff like this. “Well were still higher than the average” but you never say what or where you’re getting that average from.
The article did say we average 2.5 sales a YEAR in the $7.5M and over segment for the last 9 years (which were primarily boom years), and in the last 12 months we’ve sold 8. That means were now selling 3 times more than the 9 year average.
If were extremely higher than the average then state the average, if we have a huge amount of shadow supply then quantify it, there are sources that do. But instead you just throw out random thoughts to support your points.
Shadow supply for instance, this could be a problem. If all the banks were to dump all their REO properties on the market at the same time that could be an issue. But its become clear that banks have stopped foreclosing and switched to short sales. And if they have sustained with the write downs on these properties for this long why would they dump all these properties at the same time now.
Bank owned properties are less than 4% of resales in South Florida right now. Even if the planned projects get approved quickly were still 2-3 years off before any new inventory. And even then it will only be a small amount of new inventory as the majority projects planned are rentals.
Banks are in a much better position today. They’ll be able to slowly sell properties over the next couple years and actually make a profit since they’ve already written the value of these properties down while they sell them off as values rise.
Foreclosures have dropped to 1,000 per month. They’re back to 2003 levels.
gixxer “The article did say we average 2.5 sales a YEAR in the $7.5M and over segment for the last 9 years (which were primarily boom years), and in the last 12 months we’ve sold 8. That means were now selling 3 times more than the 9 year average.”
To even remotely justify using any statistical calc is appropriate under such a small sample set is obnoxious. It’s almost like providing the mean, median and standard deviation of a sample set of 1 number! You can make the calculation, but you better not read anything into it!
but seriously gixxer, is the slowdown in foreclosures because the banks are better controlling the rate of REO properties back into the market with short sales? or is it because it takes nearly 2 years and judicial oversight for the foreclosure to be completed in florida? or is it because banks are tied up in foreclosure litigation which is stemming their ability to foreclose on a property right now? remember, a short sale is still a distressed sale.
“but seriously gixxer, is the slowdown in foreclosures because the banks are better controlling the rate of REO properties back into the market with short sales? or is it because it takes nearly 2 years and judicial oversight for the foreclosure to be completed in florida? or is it because banks are tied up in foreclosure litigation which is stemming their ability to foreclose on a property right now? remember, a short sale is still a distressed sale.”
It’s all of the above and that’s my point. With all the hassles with foreclosures banks are simply not going to even bother. During the short sale process they have much more control. They can turn down any offer they don’t want instead of going to auction and getting what they get. And yes short sales are still distressed sales but they sell for more than foreclosures.
But regardless of all that the end result is that due to all the reasons you highlight its pretty clear that distressed properties will leak out onto the market and not be able to flood it at once. Again bank owned properties make up less than 4% of the market. A market where supply is drastically decreasing and there is no new inventory coming for years.
There is a 4 month supply of condos $200k and under. And pending sales are pretty high. I’d gather a lot of those pending sales are on short sales that aren’t getting approved.
gixxer, i don’t really buy into the theory distressed and shadow properties will flood the market either-unless another financial crisis hits us soon. but they will leak into the market, at not insignificant levels, for perhaps several more years. this is downward pressure on prices in general, and will make appreciation difficult for a while.
Here is a chart showing the change in median values for both condos and single family homes in Miami:
http://blog.altosresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Miami-city-prices-condos-and-sfh-since-2009.png
Since Case Shiller is a 3 month average and is current Jan-Feb-Mar I expect it to start going up in the next couple months as well.
gotta love the 1Q2009 bottom in that chart!
Again gables that is all of Miami. Statistics still show that Downtown bottomed when I said which was 2Q2009. I don’t anyone one this site is actually concerned about the Homestead or Plantation.
gixxer, then why provide the chart? what percentage of condos from that chart are from downtown?
show me a price index which showed downtown bottomed in 2Q2009. a price index is more definitive than the mean and median prices people have been producing. “statistically” numbers may have risen (it’s a game), but people are still buying units for similar prices to a year ago. just saying…
There is no price index for downtown and you know it but regardless the median price and sales volume has been incresing since 2Q2009. Call it a numbers game if you want but it doesn’t change the fact that prices are rising. You keep trying to say that its just Icon making the numbers go up but prices are going up in most of the individual buildings, especially in Brickell. People are paying more for units than they were in 2009. Drew and Infinity have shown this. Can you find a unit or two at certain buildings that sold for the same,yes. Heck you can even find some units that have sold for less. That happens in pretty much every market. Not every unit is going to sell for the same, there are to many variables. You seem look for a sale that confirms what you want to believe. But I’m talking about the overall average of the current market, and right now it has been slightly increasing Downtown for about two years now.
We’ve been putting together market reports that show that the prices are going up to provide to lenders for approval of financing and even in this dismal financial time the lenders have been agreeing. The problem is that the price increases aren’t going up fast enough so the lenders are pushing us toward rentals. Even thought the prices have increase to a point where we can make money off new condos their worried about what it will do to the market so they rather go with rentals which is a safer bet right now.
And here is a better chart showing active and pending listings:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/trd_three/images/281695/680.jpg
From the Miami Herald:
City to start enforcing pickup truck ban
This cracks me up. Can’t park a $30k pickup truck, but i can park a $2k tricked out honda civic in my driveway overnight!