The Weekly Dirt: How secrecy sells Miami’s priciest penthouses

Developers are keeping prices and other unit details close to the vest to lure billionaire buyers to their top penthouses. The strategy seems to be working. 

At the Shore Club, an Auberge-branded luxury condo development on the oceanfront in Miami Beach, a mystery buyer plans to spend more than $120 million, or over $11,000 per square foot, for the penthouse. Witkoff and Monroe Capital are the developers. 

Not only would that set a record (it’s not yet a record because the building isn’t completed) for the total price ever paid for a condo in Florida, but it would more than double the previous record, which technically doesn’t really count because it was $60 million for two units that were never combined. And it would of course blow past the highest price per foot ever paid in the state for a condo — around $6,000 per foot. 

A small group of developers are using the same approach as the Shore Club team to capitalize on demand from the 1 percent of buyers, insiders say. Exclusivity, privacy and secrecy drive their strategy. Prices are not released publicly. Few renderings exist online. The developers will either not respond to interview requests or only grant them to certain publications. And they will never talk about specific deals. 

“There’s this notion of getting what is not available to others,” said Douglas Elliman Florida’s CEO Jay Parker, who would not comment on specific projects. 

Most ultra-high net worth people “would rather buy something that hasn’t been marketed,” Parker said. 

Luxury broker Oren Alexander, whose firm, Official Partners, is leading sales and marketing at Shvo’s nearby Raleigh development, said buyers at that level don’t want their future homes plastered all over the internet. He compared developers’ strategies to how high-end jewelry houses operate. 

Another factor at play is that many of these projects, most of which are in a small stretch of Miami Beach, have few units. That creates scarcity, or at least the illusion of it. 

“We’re being extremely selective about how we release inventory,” Mast Capital developer Camilo Miguel Jr. said. Mast is in contract to sell a penthouse at the planned oceanfront Perigon development for more than $7,600 per square foot, though Miguel declined to confirm or comment on the deal. 

I’ve gotten used to that. 

What we’re thinking about: Aimco is trying to sell a waterfront office tower and adjacent apartment building in Brickell for… $650 million! The properties are being marketed as a potential redevelopment opportunity. Seems like it’s not the best time for this. What do you think? Send me a note at kk@therealdeal.com. 

CLOSING TIME 

Residential: The estate of late mattress mogul Harry Acker sold his oceanfront Highland Beach mansion for $21.2 million. A trust named for the address of the property at 3719 South Ocean Boulevard purchased the 9,200-square-foot mansion, which has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, two half-bathrooms, a saltwater pool and 100 feet of oceanfront. 

Commercial: Shaked 21 LLC, led by Sagi and Anat Shaked, sold the Chase Bank-anchored office building at 1040 Weston Road in Weston to GT Weston Holdings LLC for $9 million. The buyer is led by Samuel and Sydnee Chandy of Southwest Ranches. 

— Research by Matthew Elo

NEW TO THE MARKET 

My Eyelab and Lasik Vision Institute co-founder Massimo Musa listed his waterfront estate at 2325 South Ocean Boulevard in Delray Beach for $60 million. The 23,000-square-foot Italian Renaissance-style mansion has a 13-car “lounge,” a gym, theater, library, game room, pool, Jacuzzi and outdoor lounge, according to the listing brokerage Douglas Elliman. Senada Adzem has the listing. 

A thing we’ve learned 

An adaptation of The Sims will be made into a movie. If you’re not familiar, the life simulation computer game allows players to create avatars with customizable personality traits, skills, physical features, clothing, jobs, goals, families and their homes, down to the flooring, landscaping, lighting and more. The game peaked in popularity in the mid 2000s, but updated versions and expansion packs continue to be released. 

Elsewhere in Florida 

• Florida’s problem gambling helpline saw an uptick in calls in the month after the Seminole Tribe of Florida launched its sports betting app last year. Calls increased by 100 percent, the Tampa Bay Times reports. 
• Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new homelessness law that bans cities and counties from allowing people to sleep in public places and allows municipalities to create government encampments if shelters are full, according to Axios. The law allows residents, business owners or the attorney general to sue a local government if it is not following the law. 

Following a record year of manatee deaths in Florida, a group of manatee advocates (aren’t we all??) put the federal government on notice that they are preparing to file a lawsuit over a delay in potentially reclassifying the aquatic mammals an endangered species, CBS News reports. “The West Indian manatee is in danger of extinction, and the (Fish and Wildlife) Service’s continued delay in issuing its 12-month finding harms the manatee’s prospects for survival and recovery,” the notice said. About 1,100 manatees died in Florida in 2021.