Ritz-Carlton Residences Sunny Isles to break ground Thursday

Fortune International Group and Château Group will break ground on the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Sunny Isles Beach on Thursday.

The 52-story, 212-unit tower is more than 65 percent sold, developers Edgardo Defortuna and Manuel Grosskopf told The Real Deal. Three of the five penthouses are under contract.

Buyers are from the Northeast, South America and Europe, Grosskopf said. Prices start at $2.5 million, and units range from 1,605 square feet to 3,640 square feet.

Defortuna told TRD that “the buyer and broker [communities] are still very interested” in the oceanfront project. “Certainly the market has slowed down somewhat,” he said. “Unfortunately, we were all spoiled with a very hot market the last few years.”

The developers are in the process of scoring construction financing with a traditional bank lender, but declined to disclose the lender and the amount. Suffolk Construction is the general contractor. The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sunny Isles Beach, designed by Arquitectonica with interiors by Michele Bönan, will be completed by the end of 2018.

Grosskopf said the project’s branding, amenities and location make it appealing to buyers.

“You cannot replace the oceanfront,” he told TRD.