The Mandarin Oriental. Photo by George Apostolidis
The Guide: Miami
November 1, 2005
While demand continues to spur supply, even when buildings sell out (and they always do), a vast majority of the units remain unoccupied, fanning concerns that most of the real estate is being bought on spec and that the bubble is about to burst. That has not discouraged such developers as Jorge Perez, whose Related Group boasts a $10 billion real estate portfolio and is one of the most influential and successful developers in Miami. Perez has gained the respect and trust of the city (he is as well known there as any celebrity) for delivering projects on time and on budget. “Miami isn’t a walking city—they say that it’s too hot. But I think it’s because there is nothing to see. The buildings turn their backs on you,” says Perez. “I don’t want to create buildings that stand by themselves. I want them to complement each other and have pedestrian streets in between that create a community.”
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Chad Oppenheim’s Ten Museum Park soars 50 stories above the city, overlooking
the bay. Photography by dbox. (Click image to enlarge.) Recently, Perez secured the land around Brickell Park to build Icon Brickell, a mixed-use waterfront community with 1,800 residential units and commercial space that will link downtown Miami with Brickell Avenue. As with Icon South Beach, Perez has hired Philippe Starck (of Delano hotel fame) to design the interiors and public spaces. Of Related’s 40 properties totaling nearly 17,000 units in South Florida, the most luxurious is Apogee in the laid-back SoFi (South of Fifth) district of Miami Beach. The 3,100-square-foot units start at $4 million and come with 10-foot ceilings and 1,000-square-foot balconies, an almost unheard-of amenity. Farther north in Sunny Isles, Perez has partnered with Donald Trump and Gil and Michael Dezer on Trump Towers I, II and III, each with 271 units on a total of 900 feet of beach frontage. The units in each of the first two towers sold out within 72 hours.
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Units at the Oppenheim-designed Park Lane range from $1.2 million to $6 million. Photography by dbox. (Click image to enlarge.) Another big player in the city’s redevelopment is Craig Robins, who has been involved in the area since the late 1980s. His company, Dacra, is largely responsible for transforming downtown Miami into one of the hottest up-and-coming areas in the country. His development Aqua on Allison Island has combined three waterfront mid-rise condominiums and 46 modern townhouse residences by architects such as Alison Spear, Alexander Gorlin and Walter Chatham. “It’s the first time anyone has taken principles of the urban design movement and combined them with the best modern architects,” says Robins, who is moving there himself toward the end of 2005, once the project is complete.
advertisement
