Related Group revises plan for new Brickell tower

Post from Miami Herald

The Related Group has plans for a new condominium project in Brickell, but the
project’s lack of a parking garage has sparked backlash in the neighborhood.

By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com

Miami's top condominium developer is planning to emerge from the region's worst housing bust picking up where it left off before the economy tanked, and building a shiny new condo tower.

The Related Group, which built more than 15,000 South Florida condos during the housing boom, then found itself fighting off insolvency when the recession hit, is seeking city approval for a new 35 story condo building in Brickell.

Related is set to go before the city of Miami's Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board on Wednesday to pitch its new project, to be built at 30 SE 6th Street.

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Related's subsidiary, TRG Brickell Station TRG Brickell Station, originally received approval to use that site for a project called “Brickell Station,” in 2006. That condo tower, stalled because of the downturn, was planned to be nearly 600 feet tall, with 232 residences stacked on top of a parking garage.

The new plan scraps the 10-level parking garage, dropping the building’s height to 350 feet, and offers a new name: “My Brickell.” The expected dates for groundbreaking and completion are not listed in the application, and Related executives did not respond to requests for comment.

“To see Related and others move forward to build towers doesn’t surprise me, because it’s an arduous process,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal at CondoVultures, a Bal Harbour-based consultancy. “If you assume that construction takes 18 to 24 months, you start to look at roughly a 2014 delivery. I don’t know that that’s going to make sense two years from now, but if Related were able to build a tower without parking, they’d be able to reduce their costs tremendously.”

Zalewski added that of 22,000 new condos built in downtown Miami since 2003, about 3,200, or 14 percent, remain unsold.

Related’s condo application said it had made the changes to bring the project in line with the Miami 21 zoning code, a pedestrian-friendly development guide passed by the city in 2009, but the modifications have not been well received by some in the neighborhood.

The residents of several nearby buildings have protested Related’s plan to build 234 additional units without a parking garage.

Related’s condo application indicates that it would provide required parking by using leftover spaces in the parking garage at 500 Brickell, a twin-tower project the company developed adjacent to the My Brickell plot.

Condo owners at the 633-unit 500 Brickell protested by filing an appeal to the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board, and a lawyer representing them said there simply are not enough spaces to accommodate nearly 200 more cars.

“There’s at least 100 missing parking spaces [needed] to accomplish what they want to accomplish,” said Carlos Gimenez, an attorney representing the associations for 500 Brickell’s two towers. “This would be a strain on all the surrounding buildings.”

Gimenez said that unit owners were upset that Related submitted its application, along with its plans to make use of the 500 Brickell parking lot, without consulting with residents at 500 Brickell.

At Wednesday’s 7 p.m. hearing, Gimenez said, the board will likely grant a “continuance,” so that all the parties involved can come to an agreement about the details of the new project.

Iris Escarra, an attorney representing Related’s subsidiary, did not return a call seeking comment.

Related’s founder, Jorge Perez, has often expressed grand ideas about transforming downtown Miami into a bustling metropolis, but those plans hit a snag during a housing downturn that cost his company $1 billion. As potential buyers walked away from their contracts amid a falling market, Related fell into danger of defaulting on dozens of bank loans in 2008 and 2009. The company eventually negotiated deals with all of its lenders, using a range of exit strategies that included so-called “friendly foreclosures,” property givebacks and cash payments.

Last year, Related emerged from its seventh and final troubled South Florida project, and claimed to be debt-free.

It has since focused on affordable housing projects, and development deals in emerging international markets. Still, the company has promised that it would return to build condos again in Miami.

“I still believe that we have massive amounts of work to be done for Miami to become a 24-hour city,” Perez said during a January interview with The Miami Herald. “I think we need to build a lot more residential. A lot more residential.”



Read more at Miami Herald

South Florida airports hope regional food will lure travelers back

Post By Arlene Satchell, from Sun Sentinel

April 18, 2011

A spate of new airport restaurants have opened in South Florida and some are infusing culinary elements of the region into their menus to help them stand out to runway-weary travelers.

This week, the Bacardi Mojito Bar officially opened in Concourse D at Miami International Airport's North Terminal, offering a special menu created by celebrity chef Lorena Garcia.

Garcia, who has ties to Miami, is a panelist-investor on NBC's new reality television show "America's Next Great Restaurant." Her menu features Caribbean and Latin American-inspired cuisine.

At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, a new dining concept from Aventura chef Allen Susser has met with raves since it took flight late last year in Terminal Four.

Monthly sales have soared as much as 350 percent since the gourmet burger joint opened in space once occupied by a nautical-themed bar and eatery, said Alan Gluck, the airport's business manager for concessions.

"It's a really neat new offering for us," Gluck said.

Susser has worked with Buffalo, N.Y.-based Delaware North Companies Travel Hospitality Services (DNC), the airport's exclusive terminal restaurant operator, since 2009 to bring his signature offerings there. That year Chef Allen's 2 Go sandwich and salad kiosks were opened throughout the terminals.

"It's not typical to find really good food at an airport," said Miami businessman Nelson Hincapie Thursday after grabbing a burger at Chef Allen's while waiting for a flight. "I was very surprised and pleased with my lunch choice."

In recent months, two Sushi Maki sushi and seafood kiosks have also opened at the Fort Lauderdale airport, adding Japanese cuisine to the mix. A Red Mango smoothie and yoghurt kiosk is also in the pipeline.

In May, Shula's Bar and Grill, a new casual dining concept from restaurateur and National Football League Hall of Famer Don Shula, will debut at Miami International through HMSHost. It's the first airport eatery for Shula's steakhouse chain.

A second is planned for Fort Myers' Southwest Florida International Airport this fall, HMSHost spokesperson Susan Goyette said.

HMSHost, one of the largest airport restaurateurs, operates outlets in 85 airports nationwide, including Palm Beach International, Miami International and Orlando International.

In 2009, the company added a Chili's Too and Quizno's to the lineup at the Palm Beach airport.

HMSHost typically culls trends reports and works with nutritionists and culinary experts to help it determine what food concepts will work well, and in what airports.

"Each airport wants to be unique," Goyette said.

Offering local brands is one way airports are standing out.

At Miami's airport, homegrown brands such as La Carreta and Café Versailles have long tantalized travelers with Cuban pastries and specialties such as café con leche.

Now other local and ethnic brands are settling in.

Last September, South Beach's Icebox Café, which has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show for its specialty cakes, opened in the North Terminal, and on tap is a Juan Valdez Café featuring Colombian coffee.

"Airports are being more proactive in understanding travelers' needs," said Pauline Armbrust, president of Airport Revenue News publication based in Palm Beach Gardens. "They're now very concerned about customer service and the customer experience."

Airports also want to capture more revenue as more airlines charge for meals and snacks on board.

Americans spent a little more than $3 billion on food and drinks in the Top 50 performing North American airports in 2009, the latest data available, according to Airport Revenue News. That's down from about $3.2 billion spent in 2008.

Bar offerings are also getting fancier. Airport concessionaires could soon start adding mixologists to their staff as many have done with nutritionists, to spice up their drink menus, Armbrust said.

Wine bars offering light fare are popping up in airports, such as Beaudevin, which debuted in February at MIA.

"The food was excellent," said Ileana Cabrera of South Miami after a hummus and bruschetta meal at Beaudevin recently.

"And green tea," added traveling companion Laura De La Pena of Coral Gables. "That's not always easy to find."

asatchell@tribune.com or 954-356-4209. Follow her on Twitter.com @TheSatchreport.
Copyright © 2011, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Miami News - New Audi A7 presented by The Collection

THE COLLECTION and Dwyane Wade Unveil the All-New Audi A7
— On Thursday, April 7th, THE COLLECTION, South Florida's foremost luxury automotive dealership, along with its brand ambassador and all-star Dwyane Wade, and in association with Ocean Drive Magazine, revealed the highly-anticipated, all-new 2012 Audi A7.

Can Brazilians Save South Florida Real Estate?

Apr. 4 2011 from Forbes.com – Article by Kenneth Rapoza

"Only in Miami...is Brazil so far away."

If south Florida’s real estate market returns from the dead, thank a Brazilian.

Brazil’s  upper middle class have been buying properties in Miami and Orlando since the 1990s, when high interest rates and high taxes forced many of them to invest overseas in a way to avoid tax authorities. Now, the middle class is buying up Florida properties, mainly in Miami, thanks to a strong currency, and more spending power than they have had in a generation, a Folha de São Paulo study revealed on Monday.

According to the Association of Foreign Real Estate Investors (AFIRE), Miami’s improving real estate market is due mainly to Brazil’s rising GDP.

“Wealth creation in Brazil is now starting to look for cross-border opportunities, and Miami certainly is a natural,” says Terra Blanca, CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate in Real Estate Journal Online last week.  Greater Downtown Miami’s condo supply is overstocked, according to AFIRE . South Florida, and Miami especially, could come to depend on attracting foreign buyers like Brazilians while the US job market, and US incomes, continue to hobble along. Real estate prices are rising in Brazil, and still declining in south Florida.

A recent Franklin Templeton survey of foreign investors in some emerging markets showed that 70% of the 1,004 Brazilians surveyed said they would be putting money to work overseas this year. The average within the emerging markets surveyed was 62%.

Miami is ranked a distant 8th for foreign investment in real estate. New York, Washington, DC, Boston and San Francisco were the top four, according to Real Capital Analytics.  Thanks to the bursting of the housing bubble in 2008, the US is currently ranked as the best place for capital appreciation in the world real estate markets, according to Real Capital.

Posted via email from AventuraRealtor's posterous

Wealthy Buyers Re-emerge in Real Estate

Daily Real Estate News | March 7, 2011 |

The rich have returned to the real estate market and are taking advantage of big bargains in luxury homes. Sales of million-dollar homes and condos increased last year in all 20 major metro areas — with some cities seeing an 18.6 percent increase in high-end home sales, according to DataQuick Information Systems. The increase follows four consecutive years of declines in million-dollar homes.

The market that fared the best in high-dollar real estate: San Jose, Calif., which boasted a 27.4 percent increase in sales last year in million-dollar homes. Honolulu also saw a big spike in million-dollar sales — a 26 percent increase — as well as New York, where million-dollar home sales rose nearly 25 percent.

In Washington, D.C., million-dollar home sales grew by 20 percent, as government workers continued to help the high-end real estate market there. Washington, D.C., has recently been ranked as one of the highest paid cities, as well as best educated place in the country.

Other cities with big gains in million-dollar home sales include San Diego (14 percent) and Nashville (13 percent).

"It hasn't been a good six months for all people, but it was a good six months for rich people," Glenn Kelman, CEO of Seattle-based real estate brokerage Redfin, told CNNMoney. "When Wall Street goes up, rich people buy homes."


Source: “Who’s Buying Homes? The Rich,” CNNMoney (March 7, 2011)

Louis Vuitton moving to Aventura Mall

By Elaine Walker
The Miami Herald
March 28, 2011










Louis Vuitton is ready to redesign South Florida's luxury retail market.

Executives of the French brand known for its trademark handbags and accessories said they will leave the Bal Harbour Shops at the end of June and move to Aventura Mall where they will eventually more than double the size of their store.

Also on the agenda: opening a second store in the burgeoning Miami Design District by 2014.

The news is a blow to the dominance of the Bal Harbour Shops, which in 1965 created the concept of luxury retail in South Florida and has consistently ranked as one of the industry's top performing malls.

Louis Vuitton's arrival will help Aventura Mall continue to elevate its merchandise mix. For Miami's Design District, this could be the catalyst to turn the area into a fashion destination akin to SoHo or New York City's Meatpacking District. Expected to follow Louis Vuitton's lead are at least some — or possibly all — of the other brands owned by parent-company Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy that currently have stores at Bal Harbour.

Louis Vuitton's lease at the Bal Harbour Shops expires at the end of June. Louis Vuitton then opens a temporary store at Aventura on July 1, with plans to begin construction of a two-story flagship store at Aventura to open in fall 2012. Plans for the Design District are still being finalized.

Geoffroy Van Raemdonck, president of Louis Vuitton North America, said the brand decided it needed a bigger store in South Florida than Bal Harbour could accommodate and also did not want to be limited to one store in the market. Bal Harbour's leases prohibit tenants from opening a second store within 20 miles unless Bal Harbour's owners receive a percentage of the additional store revenue.

"We believe that this market deserves more than one free-standing store," Van Raemdonck said. "We feel that we are not reaching the customers if we have only one store in the market. We want to give them multiple chances to experience the brand in its full notoriety."

The move is particularly dramatic because Louis Vuitton was one of Bal Harbour's oldest and most successful tenants. The brand has been there for about 30 years, when it chose the site for its first U.S. location outside of New York.

Louis Vuitton's Miami-Dade presence beyond Bal Harbour had been limited to departments within Bloomingdale's in Aventura and Neiman Marcus at the Village of Merrick Park. Palm Beach County has three stores: Worth Avenue, Town Center at Boca Raton and The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens.

Industry experts view Louis Vuitton's decision as a sign of things to come with luxury brands under pressure to grow.

"It may not be as sexy today to have Aventura on your bag as it is to have Bal Harbour," said Arthur Weiner, principal of AWE Talisman, a Coral Gables firm that handles retail leasing and development. "In these days, sexy gets put in second place. Sales and profitability get in first place. If Louis Vuitton trades a single-store strategy for a north and south location, there is no doubt that their sales would increase by three- or fourfold."

On a temporary basis, the Louis Vuitton store at Aventura will be located in the former Barney's Co-Op store. The permanent Louis Vuitton store will be more than twice the size of the existing Bal Harbour location, with a grand staircase connecting the two floors.

NAR: Sales of $1M-plus homes rise 4% in February

Russian venture capitalist pays record $100 million for California mansion

Post by Matt Carter, Thursday, March 31, 2011 - source Inman.com




The sale of a 25,500-square-foot limestone mansion in Los Altos Hills, Calif. to a Russian venture capitalist for a record $100 million is a dramatic illustration that high-end luxury homes inhabit a market of their own.

According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of homes priced at or above $1 million were up 3.9 percent in February from a year ago, while sales of homes priced between $100,000 and $250,000 were down 7 percent.

Million dollar-plus homes accounted for just 2 percent of sales, while homes in the $100,000 to $250,000 range accounted for 42 percent of sales.

Although $100 million is an impressive number -- besting the previous record of $95 million for the 2008 sale of a Palm Beach, Fla. estate owned by Donald Trump -- half of the Los Altos Hills mansion sale was seller financed, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Buyer Yuri Milner, 49, is the leader of Digital Sky Technologies, a Moscow-based fund that's invested in Facebook, Groupon and Zynga.

Sellers Fred and Annie Chan made their fortune in Fremont-based ESS Technology Inc., which designs video and audio semiconductors for digital media players and audio systems.

The couple also own a 5.4-acre oceanfront property in Hawaii that was on the market for $80 million but is no longer listed, the Journal reported.

Shari Chase, the founder of Lake Tahoe-based Chase International, said the "ultra-high-end" luxury market still presents an opportunity for "just the right buyer."

"The sales are not many but when they happen they make headline news," Chase said in an email."Activity is increasing with buyers in all luxury price ranges focusing on lifestyle and value."

Chase has her own $100 million listing -- a 210-acre property dubbed "Tranquility" on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe that completely encircles a private lake. That property went on the market in 2006.

"We do have some good interest" in Tranquility, Chase said. "It's a magnificent estate and if the Los Altos sale is an indication, Tranquility is a great value just is waiting for just the right connection."