A new benchmark for post-pandemic condo sales in South Florida was set with the nearly $1 billion sellout of the Related Group and Dezer Development’s Residences by Armani/Casa.
The developers are among the latest to report a sellout or near sellout in recent months as demand remains high for luxury condos in South Florida. E11even Hotel & Residences, a planned project near downtown Miami, is more than 95 sold after launching earlier this year.
Related and Dezer completed the 60-story, 308-unit Armani/Casa tower at 18975 Collins Avenue in late 2019 and held a blowout party to celebrate the opening just before the pandemic shut down events and travel last year. The event included a performance by Pitbull and an Armani fashion show by the pool.
Gil Dezer, president of Dezer Development, said the building was about 85 percent sold at the time of the opening event in February 2020. Recent deals include the sales of both penthouses for $7 million and $9 million. Sales had slowed to about one a month until late last year when Florida began to open up.
“During Covid, it obviously was slow,” Dezer said. “Come November, when the world opened up, it just popped.”
The tower was designed by César Pelli, the internationally known architect who created the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. The developers broke ground in 2016 and secured a $305 million construction loan from Wells Fargo and the Blackstone Group, which they paid off last year.
Buyers include Radamel Falcao, a Colombian professional soccer player who plays for the Turkish club Galatasaray, according to a source.
Amenities include an Armani Prive lounge, a restaurant, cigar room and wine cellar, a fitness center facing the ocean, a two-story spa, pool and lounge. Units range from two to six bedrooms, and include private elevator access and summer kitchens.
Related recently launched sales of the first tower of Baccarat Residences in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, in which Dezer is a minority investor. The Miami-based developer’s Solemar project, a boutique oceanfront condo in Pompano Beach, is also about 80 percent presold.
Dezer is partnering with Bentley for his next project, a 749-foot cylindrical condo tower planned for 18401 Collins Avenue. The sales office is expected to open by November, Dezer said.
He is also working on the major redevelopment of the Intracoastal Mall property in North Miami, where Dezer Development is planning to build Uptown Harbor with 2,000 residential units, a 250-room hotel, 200,000 square feet of office space, a 280,000-square-foot shopping center, a 50,000-square-foot supermarket, and a 45,000-square-foot gym.
Dezer called the sellout “a big deal” and said that other developers in Sunny Isles are still sitting on inventory.
“Every buyer who looked at us was looking at everyone else,” he said. “That’s something to be proud of on our part.”