Sophie: new condo project planned for Bay Harbor Islands

Allure Development Group’s first condo project in Bay Harbor Islands has a new name, and will soon begin launching sales after winning town approval, The Real Deal has learned.

Named “Sophie,” the seven-story development at 1045 92nd Street will have 26 units and a rooftop deck, Allure Development Group partners Nicolas Livsit and Oscar Acosta told TRD. The partners said they plan to name all their projects with women’s names.

Nicolas Livsit

“It’s a boutique project and we want to give each project its own personality,” said Livsit, who is from Argentina. Though the development is not specifically named for her, artist Sophie Rouillon will have her photographs on display in the common areas as the project’s guest artist, he said.

Sophie’s units will be sized from 1,200 square feet to 2,464 square feet for two penthouses that will each come with a private rooftop garden terrace with summer kitchens. Aiming for families, the condos will have two bedrooms to three bedrooms plus a den. Four additional private terraces will also be for sale.

Oscar Acosta

Late last month, the project won unanimous approval from Bay Harbor Islands. Sales will launch soon with reservations at starting prices at $420 a square foot, the partners said.

“Instead of building a big development, the idea is to develop many boutique ones, which to us is a safer approach in today’s market,” Acosta, who is from Colombia, told TRD.

Rendering of Sophie’s atrium

Frankel Benayoun Architects has designed the project, which includes an interior atrium breezeway that will rise from the third floor to the rooftop deck and becomes apparent within the two-story lobby which is covered by glass roof, architect Markus Frankel told TRD.

“The breezeway allows you to have natural ventilation north to south and vertically through the rooftop, and it’s an active and passive transition space filled with tropical landscaping, hanging gardens and a 100-foot long linear fountain,” Frankel said.

Sophie’s amenities will include a rooftop swimming pool, gym, spa and kids playroom, beach club membership, and transportation to the beach.

Allure Development Group paid $4.4 million for the two development lots at 1055 92nd Street and 1047 92nd Street in Bay Harbor Islands. The firm bought the property along with an approved project and transferred development rights from the developer that built The Club in two adjacent lots and that is currently building The Palms, Livsit said. The previously approved project can no longer be built because it was for 36 units and now the maximum allowed in two lots is 30, he said.

For its next project, Allure is negotiating a contract for another site in Bay Harbor Islands, Acosta said. The firm is also negotiating on a location in Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, where it plans 12 to 14 condos.

Allure is also building out a development office at 1166 Kane Concourse, Suite 202 in Bay Harbor Islands. The new office will be in addition to the company’s existing offices in Buenos Aires and Houston. For the past 10 years, the firm has been active in developing warehouses and single-family homes in Texas, the developers said.

The partners are now focusing on Bay Harbor Islands, which is surging with new development. At least 26 new projects are in some stage of development on the neighborhood’s two islands, many of them boutique condo buildings and townhouses, including Sereno, Akua, Bay Harbor Gardens, Pearl House and Le Jardin.