Boutique condo project coming to Merrick Park in Coral Gables

Roger Development Group is planning a boutique condominium tower at the Shops at Merrick Park in Coral Gables, aimed at local homeowners who want to switch to low-rise condo living.

Laguna House, a 10-story luxury project, will have 13 units, ranging from 3,000 square feet to 6,250 square feet, Oscar Roger, president and CEO of Roger Development Group, told The Real Deal. The first two and a half floors of the building will be for parking, then six floors with two units per floor, topped by a full-floor penthouse on the 10th floor.

Prices will range from $1.5 million to $3.2 million for the penthouse, or $575 to $795 per square foot, for an average of $650 per square foot, Roger said.

“We decided to do a very unique boutique building – the Chanel of residential living at Merrick Park,” he said.

Sales are expected to launch in a week, once the sales center is completed. Michael Martinez of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty will be the exclusive agent. So far, the project has received two reservations, Roger said.

Miami-based Roger Development purchased the site at 4220 Laguna Street from General Growth Properties, owners of the Shops at Merrick Park, Roger said. The company paid $2.4 million for the 11,000-square-foot property in June.

“They had to approve our designs and were particular of about who was going to develop there,” he said.

Laguna House will be across the street from the entrance to the upscale shopping center, which has more than 100 retailers and restaurants, including Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Gucci, Burberry, Diane von Furstenberg, Jimmy Choo and Tiffany & Co. Merrick Park also has Equinox Fitness, SoulCycle and Elemis spa, offering nearby amenities to Laguna House residents, Roger said. “We are using the location as our biggest amenity,” he told TRD.

The Mediterranean-style tower is designed by Boca Raton’s PGAL Architects. Units will feature great rooms, open kitchens with Italian cabinetry and Wolf appliances, Roger said. Outside, units will have 10-foot terraces with summer kitchens and outdoor grills. The building will also have a heated pool and sundeck.

The project is designed to appeal to empty nesters in Coral Gables, he said, who have big homes and want to move to a large condo unit. Laguna House will also have 3,565 square feet of retail on the ground floor, being offered as a retail condo.

“The location is so pristine, across the street from the entrance to Neiman Marcus, and we also have Equinox and SoulCycle on the other corner, so I believe it is going to be either a clothing boutique or a smoothie place or small restaurant,” Roger said. “We’ve been approached by all of those. We’re trying to pick the right one for the location.”

It is also near the planned Collection Residences, a mixed-use project that Ugo Colombo’s CMC Group and Masoud Shojaee’s Shoma Group had expected to develop together through a joint venture until they parted ways in November. Colombo has said he will still build the project in the future.

Laguna House is currently going through permitting, and is expected to break ground in the first quarter of 2016. It is slated for completion in the spring of 2017.

The project is among several Roger Development has developed in Coral Gables, including One Village Place, Gables Park Tower and Gables on the Green, as well as Le Phare in Key Biscayne. The firm was started by Roger’s father, also named Oscar Roger, 55 years ago.

Roger Development is also planning a mixed-use project with office and retail components at the corner of LeJeune Road and Bird Road, near the Shops at Merrick Park. The company has not yet purchased the site, a former gas station. Roger said the company will submit plans to the city of Coral Gables in January that will show retail on the ground floor, then a few floors of parking, then offices. The 10-story building would also have condos at the rear.

“The location is amazing, right across from Merrick Park, Roger said. “This area offers much more than other areas because of the amenities you have across from your home.”