Related’s Carlos Rosso talks SLS Lux top off, 444 Brickell and more: PHOTOS

The Allen Morris Company and the Related Group hosted a construction tour of SLS Lux on Thursday all the way up to the 55th floor of the 58-story Brickell skyscraper, where Related executive Carlos Rosso discussed the neighborhood’s evolution, including restarting plans for 444 Brickell.

SLS Lux, designed by Arquitectonica with interiors by Yabu Pushelberg, is part of Related’s latest round of Brickell buildings, which include Brickell Heights, two towers just west of SLS Lux; and SLS Brickell, completed in October.

The Real Deal took a construction tour of Lux, a 450-unit luxury condo and 78 condo-hotel suites at 801 South Miami Avenue, where crews just topped off the building. That included views of the amenity deck, complete with a rock climbing wall, tennis courts, pool and outdoor theater. It’s set to open in September 2017, with Brickell Heights opening in March.

Construction workers are also working on the residences and suites’ buildout, where appliances, counters, floors and fixtures are being installed. At Katsuya, the ground floor restaurant by chef Katsuya Uechi and cocktail lounge by SBar, Rosso told TRD the buildout cost $22 million. Sbe will operate the condo-hotel suites and the 15,000-square-foot restaurant.

Buyers hail from Latin America, the Northeast and countries like Turkey.

Rosso, president of Related’s condo development division, joked that he was surrounding “Stephen Owens’ fort,” a.k.a. Brickell City Centre. Swire Properties opened the 500,000-square-foot retail component of Brickell City Centre in early November. Condo towers Reach and Rise, two office buildings and East, Hotel are also open at the mixed-use project, across Eighth Avenue from SLS Lux.

Related has proposed making South Miami Avenue from SLS Brickell to SLS Lux pedestrian-only on Saturdays and Sundays. “We want this to become like Lincoln Road,” Rosso told TRD.

SLS Brickell, a 124-room hotel and 450-unit condo tower at 1300 South Miami Avenue, is home to restaurants Fi’lia and the Bazaar Mar by Jose Andres. Fi’lia, operated by restaurateur and chef Michael Schwartz, is grossing $600,000 a month, Rosso said. He expects Bazaar Mar to surpass more than $1 million a month in sales.

Rosso also told TRD Related plans to relaunch condo plans for One Brickell, a three-tower, 1,400 unit residential and hotel project that would replace an existing office building at 444 Brickell. He cited new project launches like the Aston Martin Residences and updated plans for Tibor Hollo’s super-tall at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive. The Coto family of Argentina just launched sales for the Aston Martin Residences, and Hollo’s Florida East Coast Realty, Corigin Real Estate Group and McCourt Global Properties announced Norman Foster would be designing their 660-unit high-rise last month. Both high-profile projects are moving forward during a slowdown in Miami’s luxury condo market.

Rosso said Related is “waiting for the market to get stronger” but would likely relaunch One Brickell during the third quarter of 2017.

“People are blown away by the [Brickell] lifestyle,” he said. “In this case, it’s real.”