A 3,200-square-foot house at 2020 Alton Road is the first LEED Platinum home in Miami Beach, with a level of energy efficiency that means the next owners may not have to pay an electric bill. “We’re trying to obtain next zero,” said Robert Arkin, general contractor for the home. “At the end of the day, we’re not going to be paying for electricity.” The home will have geothermal air conditioning and a self-cleaning pool — with everything controlled via an iPad. See more in the video above. [NBC Miami]

The green-friendly Hampton Inn & Suites Miami-Brickell is now open, with rates starting at $129 per night in its downtown Miami location, according to Hotel Chatter. The hotel is among the chain’s 10 largest locations. The project is the brainchild of Miami developer Bernard Wolfson. [more]

Harvard House and Stephanie Berman

While Miami’s residential market is just beginning to emerge from a construction standstill caused by the condominium bust, the city’s affordable housing sector has seen a relative boom. The sea of foreclosures in Miami has actually been a positive for affordable housing developers, who have been able to scoop up blighted or distressed properties and restore them into functioning housing, sometimes with government funds like the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, according to Stephanie Berman, the director of non-profit developer Carrfour Supportive Housing. The Real Deal talked to Berman about the state of affordable housing in Miami, green affordable housing and her organization’s recent $5.6 million purchase of North Miami Beach’s Harvard House distressed complex. [more]

Bernard Wolfson and the new Hampton Inn in Brickell Tower

After 40 years in Miami real estate, developer Bernard Wolfson, president of Hospitality Operations, is bringing a first to the market — the city’s only LEED hotel, a Hampton Inn in Brickell. The hotel is set for a soft opening next month, with a grand opening around the end of October. Wolfson, whose company owns five other Hampton Inn properties in the Miami area, along with a Wingate by Wyndham in Fort Lauderdale, talked to The Real Deal about greening the Brickell hotel, the changing market in Miami and the commercial sector’s impact on Miami hospitality. [more]

Florida Atlantic University’s new College of Engineering and Computer Science building has been rated LEED Platinum by the U.S. Green Buildings Council. The 97,000-square-foot project contains FAU’s computer science, electrical and other programs at its Boca Raton campus. The project includes several high-level energy-saving properties, including a 40 percent reduction of water consumption and geothermal wells that capture heat from groundwater to provide a constant temperature for the property. [SFBJ]
[more]

DHL’s Doral building, which is owned by DCT Industrial, has earned the LEED Commercial Interiors gold certification from the U.S. Green Buildings Council. “We are extremely proud to be the first DHL LEED-gold-certified building in the U.S.,” said Todd Watson, vice president and regional market representative with DCT Industrial. “Our savings, as well as our ability to protect one of our most valued assets — our employees — proves our green investment has paid off.” The building has been equipped with only Energy Star equipment, and 95 percent of the building was fitted with occupancy sensors. The building’s furniture is also Greenguard certified. [SFBJ]
Comments

• Tweet

The Cornerstone Group has begun consruction on Villa Capri Apartment Homes in Homestead, a LEED-certified affordable housing project. It is the second LEED-certified project to be built by Cornerstone following the Mirabella, also in Miami-Dade County. The project will be built on a 25-acre site at the southeast corner of SW 147th Avenue and SW 280th Street in Naranja Lakes. There will be a total of 360 garden-style apartment homes. Tseng Consulting Group is the architect for the project. The first phase of Villa Capri will consist of 140 residences, with completion expected by December 2011. TRD
44 Comments

• Tweet

Office Depot’s headquarters in Boca Raton has been sold by the joint venture that owns it for $171 million, according to Palm Beach County records. The buyer of the building is Hub Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Newton, Mass. The building was developed jointly two years ago by Flagler and TIAA-CREF, a retirement fund, for a reported cost of $210 million, including an $80 million interior build-out, which was paid for by Office Depot. The total space is 625,000 square feet. Office Depot is on a 15-year lease at the space, which has LEED certification. 1 Comment

• Tweet

Louise Bendix is a commercial real estate associate at Miami-based ComReal specializing in the office market. She also recently received her LEED-AP credential from the U.S. Green Building Council, meaning she has been certified by the council as a green associate with a certain level of green building expertise. She spoke to The Real Deal about recent trends in the commercial market and how green building is changing the industry. [more]

Fort Lauderdale’s 1401 Crown Center, the 76,703-square-foot office building off of Cypress Creek Road, has achieved LEED New Building Silver Certification, thanks to extensive renovations on the building, originally built in the early 1980s. The building was certified for occupancy in February 2009, and currently houses Parkson Corporation’s global headquarters and CBS Interactive. Property manager Midgard Management said 1475 Crown Center is also angling for LEED certification for existing buildings. If successful, Crown Center would become the only campus in South Florida with multiple LEED-certified buildings, Midgard said. TRD