Hospitality mogul and food and beverage entrepreneur James Brennan closed on a bayfront development site in Morningside, where he and a partner plan a luxury condo project, The Real Deal has learned.
Brennan teamed up with Six Senses Ibiza co-developer John Jacobson to build The Mornings, a 17-unit, five-story building planned for 700 and 750 Northeast 61st Street in Miami, Brennan said. The partnership paid $16.5 million for the 0.8-acre assemblage, which is home to six-unit and 12-unit apartment buildings. They are just outside of Morningside’s gates.
Brennan moved to Miami from San Diego during the pandemic, and he ended up building a waterfront estate in Morningside where he lives with his family. The Miami neighborhood is northeast of the Miami Design District, and just north of Bay Point.
“I fell in absolute love with Morningside as a neighbor,” he said.
This project will “basically double” the number of homes that are waterfront in the neighborhood. The building will also be within walking distance of the Cushman School and Morningside Park.
Brennan said the project will cost about $150 million to develop. He and Jacobsen have both developed residential properties in the past. They tapped Brandon Haw Architecture to design the project, with interiors by Thomas Schoos’ design firm.
In addition to the 17 units, the building will also have four 500-square-foot nanny or grandmother flats that buyers can purchase. The units will ask an average of $2,500 per square foot. He expects to launch sales next year, by the summer.
The units will range from about 4,200 square feet to 7,700 square feet. All buyers will be interviewed by Brennan, he said.
The two properties that make up the site previously sold for $2.7 million in 2012, records show. The seller is Miami-based UES Partners, led by Robert Vecsler. Vecsler is CEO of New York-based Hyperion Development Group.
Brennan is a co-founder of Suja Juice, which is sold at Whole Foods, and Kopari Beauty. He’s also a senior adviser to Paine Schwartz Partners, which describes itself as a private equity firm that invests in the sustainable food chain.
Jacobson, who co-developed the Six Senses resort in Ibiza with architect and developer Jonathan Leitersdorf, is also working with Prosper Group on projects in Brickell and North Bay Village.
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