South Florida report

Faena reveals towers

Alan Faena is adding to his Faena Miami Beach developments with two new luxury residential towers: Versailles Classic and Versailles Contemporary. The additions bring the Faena district to three condo towers, along with a hotel, event and retail complex in burgeoning Mid Beach area.

Faena Versailles Classic will be a 22-unit tower designed by William Sofield. Architect Brandon Haw will design Faena Versailles Contemporary, which will feature 41 units.

Prices will range from $3 million to more than $50 million. Douglas Elliman is marketing the projects.

Faena Miami Beach spans from 32nd Street to 36th Street. It includes the Faena Saxony hotel, a marina and a retail complex designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA. The 47-unit Faena House sold out last year. Closings are scheduled to begin shortly.  

New Sunny Isles condo

The Verzasca Group plans a 19-story luxury tower on the site of a Denny’s on Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach. The condo will be on the west side of the street where new residential projects are scarce.

The planned development, at 17550 Collins, will have 76 units, priced from below $1 million to just under $2 million, said Gennady Barsky, executive chairman of the Verzasca Group.

A rendering of 17550 Collins

Verzasca paid $10.5 million for the .99-acre Denny’s property, according to public records. Architect Luis Revuelta of Revuelta Architecture International is designing the project. Sales are expected to launch in August.

The tower marks the third project in the region for the Russian developers, who plan to invest $700 million in South Florida. The group has two developments underway in Bay Harbor Islands, Pearl House and Le Jardin, which are each nearly 50 percent sold, Barsky said. Verzasca also plans to develop “the tallest building in Edgewater,” he said. A “world renowned architect,” whom he declined to name, will design the building.

Ion East plan revamped

The developer of the Ion East Edgewater scuttled plans to develop the 36-story condo tower at 2701 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami.

The proposed Ion East Edgewater

Sakor Development said it is reevaluating the project, due to delays caused by a legal dispute involving one of the parcels assembled for the project.

“With land values along the Biscayne corridor rising, we are configuring the property for mixed-use development,” the statement said. “This will ensure the highest and best use of the site given the appreciating land values in one of Miami’s fastest growing neighborhoods.”

Sakor had hoped to start construction of the 328-unit project during the fourth quarter of 2014. Arquitectonica designed the tower; Hirsch Bedner was handling interior design. The project planned one-, two- and three-bedroom condos starting in the low $300,000s. It also included six two-story townhomes.