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South Florida report

South Florida report

A rendering of Boulevard 57
A rendering of Boulevard 57

Boulevard 57 cancels condo sales

In another sign of the market slowdown, Boulevard 57, a planned mixed-use project on Miami’s Biscayne Boulevard, has called off condo sales.

Hector Torres, chief operating officer of developer Unitas Development Group, said he is revising the project’s plans to build only a retail portion instead of the proposed eight-story condo tower on the boulevard at Northeast 57th Street and Northeast 58th Street.

“We have suspended the sales program until we understand where the condo market is going,” he said.

Boulevard 57, which launched condo sales last fall with prices averaging $550 to $600 per square foot, is the latest South Florida project to reverse course in response to slumping sales. Reports show the market has cooled in recent months amid the strengthening of the U.S. dollar and international economic turmoil.

In fact, Miami’s housing market is now facing what amounts to a giant reality check, according to second-quarter Douglas Elliman [TRDataCustom] reports.

On Miami’s coastal mainland, sales dropped by 12.5 percent year-over-year, from 5,016 homes and condos sold last year to 4,390 in this year’s second quarter. On Miami Beach, sales are plummeting 24.7 percent year-over-year. “The market is transitioning from this irrational, hyperbolic period that was unsustainable to a market with a more moderate pace,” said Jonathan Miller, whose firm, Miller Samuel, authored the report.

A rendering of Flagler 626

A rendering of Flagler 626

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Downtown Fort Lauderdale flourishes

The vacant lots, old warehouses and dilapidated housing that have long characterized much of urban Fort Lauderdale are quickly disappearing.   

Revitalization of the area, known as Flagler Village, got started a few years ago with FAT Village, a strip of old warehouses that have been converted into galleries, performance spaces and hip businesses.  Today, the roughly 300-acre neighborhood has 42 projects either in the planning stages or under development. Most are rentals aimed at young professionals, but there are also condo projects like Flagler 626, a 12-story tower at 626 Northeast First Avenue being developed by BRYL Development, which is expected to have 97 units at an average price of $350 per square foot. Morgan Group, a Texas-based developer, also has several projects in Flagler Village, and earlier this year sold a 332-unit apartment complex to financial services giant TIAA for $114.4 million.

Jon Paul, Jorge and Nicholas Perez

Jon Paul, Jorge and Nicholas Perez

‘Condo King’ Jorge Perez to step aside

Miami’s “Condo King” Jorge Perez, who’s had a prolific decades-long career as a real estate developer, is preparing to relinquish his throne, clearing the way for his two sons to take control of the Related Group.

Within a few years, Perez, who is 66, intends to hand over the reigns of the company he founded to 31-year-old Jon Paul and 28-year-old Nicholas, Bloomberg reported. Perez would stay on as chairman.

Jon Paul Perez, Related’s vice president, took the helm of his first condo project earlier this year: the ultra luxe Auberge Residences & Spa Miami. His younger brother Nicholas is  as an associate with Stephen Ross’ Related Cos. in New York, a separate entity from Perez’s Related Group.

The Related Group has built the lion’s share of the high-rises that now dot downtown Miami’s skyline.