W South Beach sales now total $215M

The 408-unit W South Beach sold $7 million worth of condos in May, bringing the grand total thus far to 128 units and $215 million, developer and resident David Edelstein told Dow Jones. Edelstein, who said this is the first of his developments that he’s actually lived in, estimated that 63 percent of buyers were foreign, with the biggest chunk of those foreigners hailing from Brazil. Celebrity athletes are another significant contingent, including the New York Knicks star forward Amar’e Stoudemire, Italian soccer player Alessandro Nesta and Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade. Edelstein’s own unit is a 1,716-square-foot, two-bedroom penthouse duplex with a private roof deck, for which he paid $3.5 million and uses as a pied-a-terre (he lives full-time in a townhouse in New York with his family). According to Peter Zalewski of real estate brokerages and consultancy Condo Vultures, prices have slipped at the W since it opened two years ago, from $2,019 per square foot to $1,644 per square foot. [Dow Jones via Sun Sentinel]