South Florida round up

Porsche Design Tower appeals to car collectors

It’s fair to say that developer Gil Dezer has a thing for luxury cars.

His 60-story Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach will offer a new amenity at the $32.5 million penthouse: an option to store up to 11 cars in two separate two-car garages and a 3,000-square-foot car gallery — with city and ocean views — that’s connected to the four-story residence. There will also be a patented car elevator named the “Dezervator.” Potential buyers have the option to use the car gallery to store seven cars, or the gallery can store three cars with the addition of a living room, bar and billiard table. The 16,915-square-foot penthouse will have four bedroom suites and 6.5 baths.

Dezer himself boasts a collection of customized Porsches that is valued in the millions. Each one is painted in his favorite shade of silver. “They’re investments you can enjoy,” he said on CNBC’s show “Secret Lives of the Super Rich” in March.

He broke ground on the beachfront Porsche Design Tower in 2013. Aside from car storage, it offers a range of other amenities, including man caves and balcony plunge pools. Six units remain at the tower, which is expected to open by the end of this year.

Panama Papers reveal secret condo buyers

A series of reports from the Miami Herald analyzing the Panama Papers — documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca — found that foreign officials linked to corruption, and even convicted criminals, used offshore dummy corporations to buy ritzy residences in some of Miami’s priciest addresses.

Paulo Octávio Alves Pereira

Among them, Paulo Octávio Alves Pereira, a Brazilian developer and former politician under indictment for corruption in his home country, paid just under $3 million for a unit at the St. Regis Bal Harbour. The  condo boasts lavish amenities like 24-hour room service for its residents. “I never took bribes. There were no papers, no video that incriminated me. I am innocent,” Octávio told the Herald.

The Herald report also found that Mossack Fonseca funneled hundreds of clients through its satellite office located in a luxe Brickell condo tower once featured in “Miami Vice.”

Report: South Florida slowdown worsens

South Florida’s residential market continued to soften as sales figures dropped across the board. According to recently released first-quarter Elliman reports, Miami and Miami Beach are experiencing a significant sales slowdown compared to the fast-paced years of 2014 and 2015. On the coastal mainland, sales fell by 17.5 percent year over year, while Miami Beach fared worse with a 21 percent reduction in closings. Market volatility is also spreading north to Broward and Palm Beach counties. Fort Lauderdale, one of South Florida’s major residential markets, saw an 8.3 percent dip in sales year over year. And while figures are inherently volatile in Palm Beach because the city is so small, sales fell by half — from 90 to 45 — when comparing this year’s first quarter to that of 2015. A good portion of the slowdown is attributed to weak economies in Latin America, whose buyers have fueled the South Florida market.