400 Sunny Isles project tops $200M in new condo sales

Amid a growing supply of condos available for purchase on the Miami-Dade County barrier island, the new 400 Sunny Isles complex fronting the Intracoastal Waterway has sold off 96 percent of the total units to generate more than $200 million in recorded transactions as of Tuesday.

Developer sales in the 400 Sunny Isles Condominium project featuring a pair of 21-story buildings — known as the East and West towers — with a combined 230 units, with more than 375,000 square feet of salable “unit area” space in Sunny Isles Beach, began to be recorded on Dec. 8, according to Miami-Dade County records.

To date, at least 221 units in the 400 Sunny Isles project — developed by a Delaware corporation led by Inigo Ardid — have traded for a combined $206 million, which works out to a price of more than $930,000 each for an average of about $570 per square foot of “unit area” as of Tuesday, according to government records.

The project’s East tower has sold 129 units out of 133 total units for nearly $114 million  — or $882,000 each — for an average of less than $560 per square foot of “unit area.” The West tower has sold 92 units out of 97 units for more than $92 million — or $1 million each — for an average of nearly $590 per square foot of “unit area,” according to government records.

Individual units in the 400 Sunny Isles complex have transacted at prices ranging from less than $550,000 to more than $2.8 million each. On a price per square foot basis for “unit area,” individual condos have traded from as little as $421 to as much as nearly $1,000, according to government records.

Currently, 82 units in the 400 Sunny Isles project are listed for sale at a price of more than $1.4 million each, for an average of more than $660 per square foot as of Wednesday, according to data from the Southeast Florida MLXchange.

No condo units in the 400 Sunny Isles project have been resold or are currently under contract on the MLS, according to the data.

Sunny Isles Beach — a popular seaside destination for international and domestic buyers alike — is the fourth most active market east of I-95 in South Florida, based on more than 3,165 total units announced during this cycle that began in 2011.

The only South Florida markets with a greater number of condos announced during this cycle are Greater Downtown Miami with at least 22,850 units, the Hollywood-Hallandale Beach area with more than 4,800 units and the Downtown Fort Lauderdale and Beach market with more than 3,350 units as of Monday, according to the preconstruction condo projects website CraneSpotters.com. (For disclosure, my firm operates the website.)

It is worth noting that the Aventura market on the mainland across the Intracoastal Waterway, to the west of Sunny Isles Beach, is the fifth most active market with 21 new condo buildings and more than 3,000 units announced during this cycle.

Currently, five new condo buildings with 436 units have been constructed in the Sunny Isles Beach market. An additional six buildings with nearly 1,025 units are currently under construction, according to CraneSpotters.com.

Combined, the number of new units completed and under construction represents about 46 percent of the total pipeline of new condos slated for development during this cycle in Sunny Isles Beach.

At least 15 new condo buildings with more than 1,700 units — some 54 percent of the total pipeline announced — are currently in the planning or presale phase of development in the Sunny Isles Beach market, according to the data.  

Aside from the new condo pipeline, the Sunny Isles Beach market currently has more than 1,335 units being marketed for purchase at an average asking price of $1.4 million each or nearly $655 per square foot, according to the Southeast Florida MLXchange.

In 2015, buyers acquired nearly 775 condo units at an average price of about $738,750 or more than $440 per square foot.

Based on the 2015 resale transaction pace of 65 units monthly, Sunny Isles Beach currently has more than 20 months of supply of condos available for purchase, according to the data.

A balanced market is considered to have about a six-month supply of units available for purchase. More months of condo units available for purchase suggests a buyer’s advantage, and less months indicates a seller’s advantage in negotiating transactions.

Overall, South Florida developers have already completed 59 new condo buildings with more than 4,350 units east of I-95 in the tri-county South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. An additional 132 new condo buildings with more than 14,225 units are currently under construction in South Florida.

A combined 233 new condo buildings with nearly 31,650 units — about 63 percent of the total tricounty pipeline — are currently in the planning or presale phase of development in South Florida.

The unanswered question going forward is whether the buyer pool on the barrier island is deep enough to absorb all of the Sunny Isles Beach condo units that are available for purchase at this stage of the current South Florida real estate cycle.   

Peter Zalewski is a real estate columnist for The Real Deal who founded Condo Vultures LLC, a consultancy and publishing company, as well as Condo Vultures Realty LLC and CVR Realty brokerages and the Condo Ratings Agency, an analytics firm. The Condo Ratings Agency operates CraneSpotters.com, a preconstruction condo projects website, in conjunction with the Miami Association of Realtors.