Neighborhood dive: North Miami Beach redeveloping

The Intracoastal neighborhood in North Miami Beach has long been known for its mid-rise apartment buildings and stretches of traditional shopping centers along Biscayne Boulevard.

Yet, its blue collar aesthetic is about to undergo a major facelift as luxury condo developers are snatching up wide swaths of land to develop new high-rise buildings and mixed-use projects they hope will lure well-heeled buyers who are looking for bargains near Aventura and Sunny Isles Beach.

According to the preconstruction condo website CraneSpotters.com, there are nearly 8,000 new condo and rental units in the planning and presale phases of development on and around a stretch of Biscayne Boulevard between Northeast 151st Street and Northeast 176th Street.

Developers are flocking to the Intracoastal area because the cheaper land prices allow them to build more reasonably priced units in a neighborhood that is still close to the water and that will soon benefit from passenger rail service when the Tri-Rail commuter train adds a new stop at 163rd Street, possibly in 2018.

Developers have also been encouraged to build along the Intracoastal by the North Miami Beach City Council, which passed new zoning regulations in March that allow for higher density projects along the Biscayne Boulevard corridor.

Neil Fairman

Neil Fairman, president and founder of the Plaza Group, which is co-developing the Marina Palms Yacht Club and Residences at 17201 Biscayne Blvd with partner DevStar Group, said the Intracoastal always had enormous development potential, but previous zoning laws held it back for many years. “It was previously a bedroom community often overlooked by developers,” Fairman said. “Now there is a new attitude to make North Miami Beach a dynamic, healthy and well-developed city.”

Transportation

There is no rail transit service in the Intracoastal, but 17 bus routes operated by the Miami-Dade Transit Agency pass through the neighborhood that can take commuters to Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach, and Miami. One of the main roads, 163rd Street, connects to to the Sunny Isles Causeway, State Road 826 and Interstate 95. The Intracoastal is also located along the Biscayne Boulevard corridor.

Most expensive residential sale

Marina Palms Yacht Club & Residences, Grand Penthouse 8, 4,300 square-foot condo, sold for $4.3 million

Residential broker’s take

“The Intracoastal is a developing area that offers more competitive pricing than areas like Sunny Isles Beach and Miami Beach that are along the waterfront,” said Dustin Nero of Douglas Elliman.

Commercial take

“The city has allowed for new zoning and land use in key commercial locations such as at the intersection of US1 and 163rd Street. This development-friendly initiative has captured the attention of developers seeking to capitalize on pent-up demand for multiple product types in these important locations that serve as gateways to the more established and highly affluent areas of Aventura and Sunny Isles,” said Gerard Yetming of CBRE.

Demographic changes from 2000 to 2015:

Population: 37,674, down 6 percent from 2010, up 10 percent from 2000

Median age: 45

Median income: $46,817, up 19 percent from 2010 and up 32 percent from 2000

Average household net worth:  $393,144

Price trends:

$305,000 median sales price, a 1.6 percent increase over last year

$357 average price per square foot, 36 percent higher than the rest of Miami-Dade

3% increase in average rent over last year for a one bedroom, to $983

2% increase in average rent over last year for a two bedroom, to $1,438

Most expensive home on the market:

3142 Northeast 166th Street, five bedroom house, asking $7.5 million

Least expensive home on the market

Apt 208, 3642 Northeast 171st Street, two-bedroom unit, asking $169,900

New development

Marina Palms north tower

Over the last year-and-a-half, developers have begun construction or announced plans to build new condo towers and mixed-use projects in the Intracoastal neighborhood. In February, Plaza Group topped off the first of two buildings that make up the Marina Palms project. Each tower is 25 floors with a combined 468 units. The marina and yacht club offers concierge service and 112 slips. Fairman said 80 percent of the units in the south tower have been sold and that closings have begun on the recently finished north tower.

Renderings of The Harbour in North Miami Beach

In August, 13th Floor Investments and Key International closed on a $30.5 million deal to buy land at 16385 Biscayne Boulevard, where a twin-tower condo project called The Harbour will be built. The firms are planning 425 units in both 32-story buildings. The seller paid $3.7 million for the property in 2004. The developers have sold nearly 70 percent of the units, which range in size from 1,032 square feet to 2,442 square feet and are priced from $552,000 to $1.2 million.

Also in August, a group of Argentine investors bought a parcel at 1700 Northeast 164th Street to create a mixed-use development that will include a 30-story apartment building. The buyers paid $2.15 million.

Dean’s Gold

In September, Aventura real estate investors and developers CK Holding Group and Privé Land Banking paid $23.5 million for a 2.2-acre development site at 2355 Northeast 163rd Street, which has been the longtime home of the strip club Dean’s Gold. Prive and CK plan to build a mixed-use project on the site.

Two months later, the same group purchased a 1.8-acre parking lot across the street from Dean’s Gold for $12.7 million. The sellers paid $5 million for the site in 2006, property records show.