Developer Dan Kodsi plans hotel-condo tower at Miami Worldcenter

The tower joins a wave of new projects with short-term rental options for buyers

Rendering of Legacy Hotel and Residences with Dan Kodsi and Peggy Olin
Rendering of Legacy Hotel and Residences with Dan Kodsi and Peggy Olin

Dan Kodsi is launching his next Miami project, geared toward international buyers looking for crash pads that they can also rent out whenever they please.

Kodsi, who recently delivered the luxury condo tower Paramount Miami Worldcenter, revealed plans for his next building, Legacy Hotel and Residences, also at Worldcenter. His Royal Palm Companies will build the project, with 278 branded condos above 255 hotel rooms, at 942 Northeast First Avenue, he told The Real Deal.

His plan is to break ground in June and complete the building within 32 months, Kodsi said.

As the luxury market grapples with an oversupply of large units sitting on the market, a number of developers are switching gears and building condo towers with smaller units, priced under $1 million, and without rental restrictions. They include projects such as Habitat Group’s Smart Brickell; Harvey Hernandez, Russell Galbut and Bruce Menin’s Natiivo Miami; and Aria Development Group and AQARAT’s YotelPad Miami. The Related Group is also working on a similar concept.

Fully furnished units at Kodsi’s Legacy Hotel and Residences will start in the $300,000s and the majority of condos will be priced between $300,000 and $500,000, Kodsi said. The units will range from 373-square-foot studios to a 949-square-foot, two-bedroom duplex, according to a fact sheet.

Owners will be able to participate in the hotel rental pool or rent their units out themselves on websites like Airbnb, TripAdvisor and Booking.com. Peggy Olin’s OneWorld Properties is handling sales. Her firm also handled sales and marketing of Paramount Miami Worldcenter.

The deposit structure calls for 10 percent down, each, at reservation, contract signing, groundbreaking, when construction reaches the ninth floor pool deck, and at top-off, with the remaining 50 percent at closing.

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Kodsi said that his project will differ from its competitors because it will be a mixed-use building with a hotel that can host weddings, conferences and other events, as well as 50,000 square feet of medical space, and a wellness component. Citing a need for medical operators in downtown Miami, Kodsi said he is in talks with major hospital systems to either joint venture or lease the space.

The wellness center will feature “herbal baristas,” IV solutions and hormonal balancing.

In addition to the medical and wellness components, the tower will have a 1-acre pool deck – reportedly the largest in downtown Miami – a rooftop atrium event space, and a business lounge.

Kobi Karp is the architect and IDDI is the interior designer.

Along with Miami Worldcenter Associates, Kodsi developed the 60-story, 569-unit Paramount at the master-planned community. It was completed in July at nearly 90 percent presold.

In addition to Paramount, the $4 billion Miami Worldcenter is also expected to include about 450,000 square feet of high street retail, a 1,100-space parking garage, a 1,700-room convention center hotel from MDM Development Group and an office tower being built by Hines.

Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani are leading the development of the 27-acre area with partners CIM Group, MDM, citizenM and others. In January, Miami Worldcenter Associates, CIM Group and Falcone Group completed the first building, Caoba, a 444-unit rental tower at 698 Northeast First Avenue.