New GAP Store – Lincoln Road

With GAP and Apple putting up new buildings, Lincoln Road begins to run the risk of looking like every other lifestyle center in a sunny town.  To be fair, amazing buildings or renovations have sprouted up in the past 24 months along the pedestrian mall – including the new H&M store (cool use of the proscenium) – and the shops at 1111 Lincoln.  But….

The new GAP store looks like generica in the renderings, and the Apple store – while destined to be sleek and minimalist – look like any other corporate/retail architecture in Florida or California.

We’re not diehard preservationists here, but if Lincoln Road turns into another corporate-y 3rd Street Promenade, Miami Beach has lost something in intimacy and appeal.

Standard Hotel construction

The Standard Hotel / South Beach got wrapped today.  We’re not sure if this is another Christo installation – or perhaps just an exuberant homage to Jamaican culture – but either way, it’s funky.

The Standard Hotel is building an adjacent robotic parking facility (so you won’t have to wait 30 minutes for your car that currently gets valeted in South Beach)……..but wrapping the entire building???  Makes us sweat just looking at it.  Really.

Proposed Miami Beach Convention Ctr

Two billion-dollar convention centers in the planning stages (Miami Beach/Miami Downtown), as many as 100 new condo buildings headed for development, a $1 Billion CitiCentre underway in Brickell, and dozens of high-end boutiques rising in Miami’s Design District.  If you were here five years ago during the real estate crash, this might look like the other side of an unpleasant dream.  From the crash of 2008-2009, to the current frenzy of new development, residents of Miami and Miami Beach are struggling to comprehend where their pleasant little beach town went…

Miami joins Los Angeles, San Francisco, and a small handful of other U.S. cities with high concentrations of desirable, lifestyle-rich amenities – starting with amazing weather and coastal views that can’t be replicated.

Real estate and rental prices will continue to trend upward, as demand piles into the sliver of space that defines Miami-Dade (from the Everglades to the Ocean).

We may not see the universal, get-rich-quick days of the last decade, but Miami has once again proven to be an attractive and resilient real estate market.

Portofino | SoFi

If you’ve been looking for a great place to rent South of Fifth, you know they’re expensive, and hard to find.  The neighborhood just south of Fifth Street in Miami Beach has evolved from an unsafe, undesirable area just 20 years ago, to some of the most expensive real estate in South Florida.  We have rentals available in Continuum, The Courts, Cosmopolitan, Icon, Murano Grande, and additional buildings in the neighborhood.  Call 305-305-APTS for current availability

Hadid – Miami Beach Garage Rendering

Ever stopped at the BP at 1000 Biscayne, and wondered why a gas station still sits in the middle of four big high rises?  Looks like those days are numbered.

Zaha Hadid has been hired to create her first high rise in the Western Hemisphere, and it will be pretty remarkable.  Hadid is a Pritzker Prize winner, and her organic/futuristic forms are studied and generally acclaimed worldwide.   East/West views from the new condo building will be challenging due to surrounding buildings, but bay views – toward Museum Park – will be unrestricted.  Nearby buildings 10 Museum, Marina Blue, 900 Biscayne and Marquis Miami have all sold and rented very well, and with Midtown continuing to develop core amenities such as museums, good restaurants, a Publix, etc, developers will continue to do what it takes to infill the waterfront from NE36th Street to the Venetian Causeway.

This could be to Miami’s 8 Spruce Street - redefining the skyline and raising the bar for new condo buildings in Miami.

- Because 80,000 people board big love boats in Government Cut every week

- Because there’s a CrossFit or Boxing Studio on every block now to remind you just how lazy and gross your body actually is

- Because Coconut Grove continues to operate as the local beatnik – unaffected by the surrounding mania that pervades Miami

- Because you can go to an opera in an I.M. Pei building – but still be expected to park on a gravel parking lot

- Because a company opens a new hostel on South Beach called Freehand, and nobody gives it a second thought

- Because according to the latest U.S. Census – nearly 5,000 homes in Miami-Dade still lack complete plumbing, while at the other end of the spectrum fully 29% of homes here don’t have a mortgage

- Because our local Art Basel has become the largest show of Contraptions-We-Don’t-Understand in the modern world

- Because a casino company spends vast sums of money for a waterfront location in this resort town, and promptly gets shut down by the State legislature

- Because you don’t have to go beach to see celebrities and other posers – TMZ does that for us

Cartier Store | Design District, Miami

The huge white tents are up and ready in Midtown, and a few blocks to the north, Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Hermes are ready to welcome collectors, dealers and hangers-on to Art Basel Miami 2012.  A few short years ago, Midtown was an unsavory and barren streetscape you passed-through on your way to more glamorous locals.  Now it’s tough to find a parking space near your favorite eatery, and most condos and rentals in the neighborhood are full.

Master Suite

New 2 Bedroom / 2 Bath furnished, with rooftop deck and 2 parking spaces available for rent.   Condo has upgraded finishes, high ceilings, and is located two blocks from the beach – surrounded by upscale restaurants and shops.

$3350/month.  Call Sophie Bamps 305-305-2787.