South Florida's Luxury Condo Boom: Helicopter Pads, Car Elevators & Leather Walls
Pompano Beach, FL (PRWEB) July 01, 2013 -- In 1868, Miami Beach real estate sold for just 35 cents an acre. The buyer was John Lum who wanted to build a coconut plantation. Today, instead of coconut plantations, the South Florida Gold Coast is booming with some of the most expensive and upscale condominium projects in the world. The Miami Beach to Fort Lauderdale strip has cruised past its condo bust years and has launched into a real estate stratosphere that no one would have predicted a few years ago. If you have the money, it seems that there is a new project somewhere in South Florida that is offering something new, unique and very pricey.
How about a sparkling, new Florida highrise where you will be able to take your car with you up to your living room? Even the penthouse? Porsche Design Group has begun construction of a 132 unit tower in Sunny Isles Beach, near Miami Beach, that will be the world’s first condominium complex with an elevator and sky garages that will take cars directly to owners' condos. Units are priced from $4.7 to $13 million and are already over 50 percent sold out. In addition to convenient parking up to 57 stories, the building also offers plunge pools, a golf simulator, summer kitchens, a ballroom, a 4-car virtual race simulator, and a 10,000 square foot oceanfront display space for car collectors. Expected completion date is 2015.
Or, skip the car lift and take to the sky with a roof helicopter pad and a private helicopter lounge at One Thousand Museum in Miami. Construction starts next year on a 32 unit, ultra-contemporary building designed by Zaha Hadid, the first woman to win the coveted Pritzker Architecture Prize. Zaha is famous for her futuristic designs that many people say are “works of art.” She also won Stirling Prizes in 2010 for the MAXXI Museum of the Arts in Rome and London's Evelyn Grace School in 2011. Although the building won't be finished until 2017, it is already 50 percent reserved. Half and full-floor residences range from $4.3 to $12.25 million.
Another Sunny Isles project under construction claims that it will have the “world's finest penthouse.” Built by the Trump Group (not Donald, but an unrelated Trump family that started in South Africa), the Mansions at Acqualina feature a $55 million penthouse with retractable glass walls overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, a 25-foot water fall and glass pool, leather walls, six bedrooms, sky garden and an indoor-outdoor theater. Mansion condo prices start at $8 million.
Back where it all started in Miami Beach, the Related Company is using a premier location at the southern tip of South Beach, flashy building design, ocean views and expensive major art works to attract buyers looking for the South Beach life style of celebrities, models and professional athletes. One Ocean is under construction with 46 condos, four ocean villas, a zen park and a private beach club priced from $2 million to $10 million.
Much of the recent Florida real estate demand is coming from internationals who see the area as a bargain and a safe place to invest money. Apogee Beach in Hollywood, Florida is one of the few new developments to be completed since the condo crash. It started construction in 2012 with 49 units priced in the $1 to $2 million range and sold out in just a few months, mostly to South Americans. Some new developments are spending most of their ad money outside the United States and are selling out before the first shovel even hits the sand.
Real estate is never boring at TopTenRealEstateDeals. Check out today's most entertaining and unusual real estate news stories of the week. News such as America's top ten bargain mansions, government lighthouses for sale and JFK's home collection.
Top 10 lists are available to media outlets for publication.
Terry Walsh, Top Ten Real Estate Deals, http://www.toptenrealestatedeals.com, 954-283-9214, [email protected]
Share this article