New Brickell project wants a low profile for cars - Business - MiamiHerald.com

New Brickell project wants a low profile for cars - Business - MiamiHerald.com

How to build a three-block mall, office and condo complex without a garage next door? Put it underground.

BY DOUGLAS HANKS

DHANKS@MIAMIHERALD.COM

As Swire Properties sets out to build one of the boldest developments ever seen in downtown Miami, it hopes to keep one crucial element as low-profile as possible: automobiles.

The Hong Kong developer’s planned Brickell CitiCentre will spend millions of dollars freezing the soil beneath the three-block complex to hold back ground water while it installs a rare underground parking garage in Miami’s downtown. Swire took the unusual step of putting the restaurants for its mall on a top floor in part because that’s the same level as the adjoining station for Miami’s county-run Metromover.

Swire’s top U.S. executive told a business group Wednesday that the $1 billion CitiCentre was designed to thrive in a future where Miami residents are far less enamored with driving to work and play than they are now.

“We don’t think petrol will be $5 a gallon forever,” Stephen Owens, president of Swire Properties Inc., told a breakfast reception held by the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade’s economic-development group. “We’re living in a world of subsidized energy, and we don’t think it can last forever.”

The push to make CitiCentre more pedestrian friendly also meshes with Miami’s ambitions to become more of a 24-hour metropolis, where thriving shopping areas serve both offices and residences. The city’s Miami 21 zoning code now bans developers from building garages at sidewalk level, instead requiring restaurants and shops there to make streets seem more lively for pedestrians. And advocates for Miami’s downtown are pushing for more trees and sidewalk improvements to make the city’s retail offerings more inviting for riders of the city’s under-used MetroMover.

Read complete article here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/25/2912510/new-brickell-project-wants-a-low.html

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/25/2912510/new-brickell-project-wants-a-low.html#storylink=cpyhttp://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/25/2912510/new-brickell-project-wants-a-low.html

 

 

55 Merrick Way unit 506

Coral Gables, Florida

MLS  A1602665

Great opportunity in Coral Gables, close to Miracle Mile. Newer construction from 2008. 2 bedroom/ 2 bath unit 1200 square feet with over sized outside terrace adding 800 square feet of exterior space to unit. For more information view accompanying listing here: http://bit.ly/55MerrickWy506.

Romero Britto luggage at Macy's

June 8, 2012

By Rod Stafford Hagwood, Staff Writer

 

Romero Britto has a brand new bag.

The South Florida-based artist has emblazoned luggage from Weston's Heys USA travel good company forMacy's stores nationwide.

The Neo-pop artist will launch the line of 4-piece lightweight luggage sets (which Britto termed "art on wheels") Saturday, June 9 at Macy's Aventura Home Store (2nd floor) at an event starting at 2:30 p.m.

"If you are not in people's live you will be forgotten," said Britto from his studio in Miami's Wynwood Arts District. "Especially the arts, which [don't] get that much coverage."

The Britto Collection is part of Macy's “O Mercado, the Market at Macy’s” campaign with Brazil-themed limited-edition items in a store-within-a-store."Everything basically starts from a painting," Britto said. "I started about two years ago [on the Macy's project]. The whole process takes a long time."

Britto was born in Recife, Brazil - one of nine children born to a single mother - and after moving to Miami, rose to international fame through partnering his colorful sculptures and painting with corporate clients from Absolute Vodka and Disney to Pepsi and BMW.

"It used to be that you did this one-of-a-kind of things for royalty and aristocrats," he continued. "But then along came the Industrial Revolution. Now we have the Communication Revolution where everyone can talk to one another so fast. So why not the Arts? Some people are stuck in the past with art just on the wall. A lot of the galleries, they are very snobbish and that is why a lot of them are closing."

In Brazil he is ubiquitous with his larger-than-life kaleidoscope-colored art in airports and on streets. "Everyone recognize me in Brazil now," said Britto. "At this year's Carnival they did a homage to my art. There were 5,000 people parading around in costumes that looked like my art. 90,000 people were there. This was televised in 14 countries."

Next up? Britto is mum except to say something huge will happen around 2014, "It will be seen by over three billion people. It's the biggest thing I've ever done."

In the meantime, for more information on the Macy's Aventura event, call 305-682-3300.

For more information on Britto, go to Britto.com.

From SunSentinnel.com

Adler Group, ECI Group Announce Two New Luxury Rental Towers Along Miami's Biscayne Bay

Posted by Michael Gerrity
Author Bio | Archives

Adler Group Rental Rendering

(Miami, FL) -- This past week a new multifamily project by Miami-based Adler Group and Atlanta-based ECI Group was announce to meet rising demand for rental housing in South Florida.

Adler and ECI have made plans to develop two luxury 20-story apartment towers overlooking Biscayne Bay on a 2.84 acre site located at 7950 NE Bayshore Court. Groundbreaking is scheduled for later this year and the development timeline is expected to last 24 months.

News of the development comes as Miami experiences an uptick in demand for multifamily living and a depletion of available rental supply. A recent market study conducted by Focus Real Estate Advisors found that overall average vacancy rates in the Miami rental market declined steadily over the past seven quarters, dropping to 4.7% as of Q4 2011. Rising demand and extremely limited supply currently in development both market-wide and in Miami's Upper East Side indicate these trends will continue, according to the report.

The Adler-ECI development will fill a void of available rental product in the mainland Miami communities north of the Downtown/Brickell market and south of the Aventura/Sunny Isles market. The new development will be situated just north of NE 79th Street, directly across the 79th Street Causeway from Miami Beach and halfway between downtown Miami and Aventura. The site was the former home of the historic Mike Gordon's Seafood Restaurant, a Miami dining institution for more than a half-century prior to its closing.

The property is fully entitled for multifamily development within the confines of a Major Use Special Permit (MUSP). The acquisition of the land was financed by Miami-based Apollo Bank.

"All signs indicate there is fast-growing demand for quality apartments in Miami's well-located Upper East Side neighborhood, so this development will fill a niche in the city's rental market," said Adler Group CEO Michael M. Adler. "The Adler-ECI partnership brings decades of national expertise building and managing rental properties just as Miami's multifamily market improves, with employment numbers strengthening, rental rates on the rise due to growing demand, and new supply at historically low levels."

The rental complex will be professionally managed, offering a host of amenities for residents. Features will include up to 13 boat slips zoned for development on Biscayne Bay and a new neighborhood park that will be dedicated by Adler and ECI and owned by the City of Miami directly across 79th street from the apartment complex.

The joint venture marks Adler Group's return to its roots in multifamily development and ECI Group's entrance into the Miami market. Founded more than 50 years ago by high-rise apartment developer and multifamily housing pioneer Samuel I. Adler, the Adler Group developed more than 8,000 rental units in South Florida during its earliest days and has continued to build luxury residences at affordable prices. Additionally, the firm has developed, acquired and operated in excess of 20 million square feet of office parks, industrial complexes, and retail centers in recent years.

ECI Group has more than 40 years of experience building and managing top quality apartment and commercial properties across the Southeast U.S. The firm currently owns and manages approximately 9,300 apartment units at 40 properties across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.



From World Property Channel

Business

Aventura Mall is America's Second Most Visited Mall

By Kyle Munzenrieder

 

​
We don't need to tell anyone who's attempted to park at Aventura Mall that the place is busy. It's so busy, in fact, that it's actually America's second most visited shopping mall. The only mall more crowded than it actually has an indoor amusement park, so there's no shame in coming in second.

Travel + Leisure compiled the rankings by focusing on America's 50 biggest shopping malls and obtaining their yearly visitation numbers.

Unsurprisingly, Minnesota's Mall of America came in first with 40 million annual visitors. That mall is of course in a league of its own. With 4.2 million square feet, it's Americas largest. It's even got the Nickelodeon Universe theme park and an aquarium inside.

Our own Aventura came in as the second highest traffic mall, despite being only America's fifth largest by square footage.

"The greater Miami area's largest mall is an integral part of a super-posh coastal enclave that includes the Turnberry Isle resort and championship golf course, Gulfstream Park thoroughbred horse track, and the upscale Golden Beach/Golden Isles residential area," writes T+L. "Cashing in on south Florida's tourism bounty, the mall organizes shopping experiences for visiting conventions and hosts special events like the Chocolate Festival, Great American Bake Sale, Miami's Most Photogenic Baby contest, and a regular farmers' market."

Yet, with 300 plus stores its amazing how often we've been there and can't find a single thing we actually want to buy.

Maybe the parking and indoor foot traffic quagmire would be worth it if we had a rollar coaster to ride in between trying on Polo's at the J. Crew and Bloomies.

Though, with all that traffic it's no surprise that the mall is expanding its luxury wing with plans to bring in a Louis Vuitton store and more.

Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.

From Miami New Times

Government: First house price increase since 2007

WASHINGTON – May 23, 2012

U.S. house prices rose 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2012 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI).

HPI price changes are generally smaller than other indicators because they’re based on same-home selling prices for homes under government-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The purchase-only index is based on more than 6 million repeat sales transactions.

Comparing year-to-year, the seasonally adjusted house prices rose 0.5 percent compared to first quarter 2011.

Comparing month-to-month, FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for March was up 1.8 percent from February.

“Consistent with other housing market indicators, the FHFA HPI showed stronger house prices in the first quarter, most notably in March,” says FHFA Principal Economist Andrew Leventis. “Increased affordability and a somewhat smaller inventory of homes for sale are positively impacting house prices.”

Findings:

• The seasonally adjusted purchase-only HPI rose in the first quarter in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

• The top five annual increases were Hawaii (10.3 percent), Washington, DC (9.8 percent), Iowa (5.7 percent), Florida (4.7 percent) and North Dakota (4.4 percent).

• Of the nine census divisions, the Mountain division experienced the strongest prices in the latest quarter, posting a 1.4 percent increase. Prices were weakest in the New England division, where prices fell -0.7 percent.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

New-home inventories shrinking | Inman News

Sales still slow, but up nearly 10 percent from a year ago

By Inman News, Wednesday, May 23, 2012.

Inman News®

Sales of new homes remain anemic by historic measures, but homebuilders have cut back so drastically on construction that new-home inventories are no longer bloated.

New single-family homes were selling at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 343,000 homes per year during April, up 3.3 percent from March and 9.9 percent from a year ago, the Census Bureau reported.

That represents a supply of 5.1 months at the current rate of sales, down from 5.2 months in March and an all-time high of 12.1 months in January 2009. Many analysts consider a six-month supply of homes an even balance of supply and demand.

Sales of new single-family homes exceeded 1 million per year from 2003 through 2006, dipping below 500,000 in 2008 for the first time since 1982. The 306,000 new homes sold last year was an all-time low in records dating back to 1963.