Miami Beach-based Pierre Charalambides of Dolphin Capital Investors has launched sales for luxury villas in the Dominican Republic – and is looking to lure New York and local buyers.
Charalambides, co-founder and managing partner of London-based Dolphin Capital is leading development of the 200-acre Amanera resort and villas, part of a long-term 2,400-acre project in Playa Grande. The resort, which opened at the end of November, features access to a 180-acre golf course, club house, spa and health club, restaurant and outdoor activities.
The Amanera resort and villas are part of the first phase. “If the first phase does not go exactly as planned, and you have a lot of land around it, you have a lot of room for error,” Charalambides told The Real Deal.
The villas, priced from $4 million to $8 million, range from 2,400 square feet to 8,600 square feet. Buyers will have the option of joining the hotel rental program.
“We know owners [of a nearby resort] that make $600,000 to $1 million on rental villas a year,” Charalambides said.
He’s sold five of 35 villas and expects to sell out within the next three years, and said the units offer a value as compared to South Florida and the Northeast. “We think the opening coincides with a great time in the market. Prices in Miami and New York are very high,” he said.
Dolphin Capital, with regional offices in the South-of-Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach, and listed on the London stock exchange, has a $150 million investment in the project. That includes about $50 million in debt.
The deposit structure is 40 percent to purchase the lot and receive a title, then the remaining 60 percent in three installments. From start to finish, each villa takes about 18 to 24 months to deliver.
So far, the biggest demand is from the finance industry in New York, he said. But the firm is also targeting high net-worth individuals from West Palm Beach and Miami.
According to a Knight Frank wealth report released earlier this year, Miami has become a hot spot for the wealthy, and will remain among the world’s top 10 cities for the super rich through at least 2025. Underlying that is the demand for luxury properties.
“Obviously, there’s less reason to leave Miami to go to Dominican Republic. [But] the more Miami prices are rising now and the more the city is becoming more and more [congested], it becomes more of an escape,” he said.