Lincoln Road Macy's To Be Replaced By DOMO-Designed 1675 Meridian

1675 Meridian, a new concept designed by DOMO Architecture + Design which was first revealed last year, will reportedly replace the Macy's at Lincoln Road in South Beach. In September 2016 PROFILEmiami reported that Macy's was quietly marketing the remainder of leasehold for their Lincoln Road location. Located at 1675 Meridian Avenue, the building as it stands now is 98,610 SF and Macy's has 33 years left on the lease and could go for about $80 million. It is one of the largest retail spaces available in the area.

Target To Open Its First Ever Store In South Beach At BLVD At Lenox

Target has announced that they will be opening a new small-format store in South Beach. The store will be located at the new BLVD at Lenox retail development located at Fifth Street and Lenox Avenue. The location will be Target's first ever in Miami Beach and will be 33,000 SF. The BLVD at Lenox was designed by Zyscovich Architects and is being developed by the Comras Company. The project will rise 4 stories on the lot which was once the Ivy nightclub and will feature 27,000 SF of ground-floor retail along 227 parking spaces. Groundbreaking is expected for 2018 with completion in the spring of 2019. 

“Target has been seeking the ideal location for a small-format store in Miami Beach, so we’re thrilled to be part of the BLVD at Lenox shopping complex to conveniently serve residents and tourists with a unique product assortment that only Target can provide,” said Target Senior VP of Properties Mark Schindele.

Take A Video Tour Of Tranquillità Del Mare, The $45 Million Oceanfront Compound In Vero Beach Headed To Auction December 13

Tranquillità Del Mare, the 7-acre oceanfront compound located at 1940 Highway A1a in Vero Beach, is headed to auction without reserve on December 13. The estate is currently listed for $45 million with O'Dare, Boga, and French of Premier Estate Properties. Tranquillità Del Mare was built in 2015 was designed by Thomas Hoos as an "homage to the famed villas of the Mediterranean with authentic touches of the Côte d'Azur.” The estate features 27,000 SF spread over main house, two large guest houses, and a caretaker’s cottage. In total there are 18 bedrooms and 27 bathrooms along with a movie theater, handmade mahogany windows and doors, French limestone flooring, an antique cypress-beamed cathedral ceiling, a cypress-paneled library, a wine cave finished in pecky cypress and stone; and a poolside loggia with a full bar and an entertainment center. The guest houses and caretaker's cottage are 2-stories with kitchens and 2-bedrooms with 2.5 bathrooms per home. Each of the three additional houses is two stories and includes a living room, a kitchen, two bedrooms, and two and a half bathrooms. Outside features 315' of frontage along the Atlantic Ocean along with several acres of sweeping lawns featuring stunning landscaping and gardens. The owner acquired the property in 2013 for $4 million before building the stunning estate. Explore the massive estate at the video tour below. 

SHOMA Group Celebrates Unveiling of The Sales Gallery at Eleven On Lenox With South Beach Soiree

Sales are officially underway at SHOMA Group's luxurious Eleven on Lenox in South Beach after the developer hosted a swanky South Beach-style Soiree to officially open the on-site sales gallery (November 2, 2017). SHOMA Group is one of South Florida’s most prolific real estate development firms with a nearly three-decade track record of successfully delivering developments. More than 200 of the Miami’s leading real estate brokers and VIPs joined Masoud Shojaee, President and Chairman of SHOMA Group, in commemorating the luxurious coastal retreat, comprised of 11 beach-inspired homes in the heart of South Beach.
 
Guests at the Eleven on Lenox sales gallery premiere enjoyed VIP treatment, which included an exotic, living wall step-and-repeat, champagne bottle service and tunes by resident South Beach DJ YSL. The event also provided a first look at the project’s refined finishes designed by five-time Architectural Digest’s Top 100 Interior Designers, Charles Allem and scale model created by internationally recognized firm, Zyscovich Architects. The developer announced that brokers will receive 50% commission immediately after the rescission period, which was followed by a champagne sparkler parade and confetti shower, which closed the event in true South Beach style.

First Units Begin To Close At The Newly Completed Echo Brickell

Brickell Avenue's newest luxury high-rise from Property Markets Group and JDS Development Group has been completed and closings are now underway. The first unit to close was unit 1006, a 2 bedroom unit with 1,1110 SF of interior space and a 465 SF balcony, which closed for $560,900, roughly $510 SF. It is currently available to rent on the MLS for $3,100 along with another 5 units which appear to have closed and listed for rent priced from $2,200 to $4,500 /mo. PMG and JDS first began work on the 57-story, 637' Echo Brickell in October 2014. The tower was designed by Carlos Ott with Cohen, Freedman, Encinosa as well as is a limited edition design collaboration between Carlos Ott with interiors by the yoo Studio to create Carlos Ott + yoo. Echo Brickell features 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom layouts which range in size from from 610 SF to over 4,300 SF (penthouse). Residence's include smart home technology, summer kitchen, 8' terraces, marble floors and Italian cabinetry. The residences are matched with high-end amenities including an infinity edge pool with bay views & poolside service, hot tubs, fitness center, valet and 24 hour concierge and security. 

80-Acre Wellington Equestrian Compound With Development Site Lists For $25 Million

An 80-acre equestrian compound located at 13560 Indian Mound Road in Wellington tied to a Houston oil conglomerate has hit the market for $25 million. It is one of the largest properties for sale in South Florida and includes a grass grand prix field with natural jumps, a 26-stall barn with storage, a tack room, office, owners lounge, riders lounge, apartments, a rideable track, and 19 grass turnout paddocks. The property also features an elevated development site where a luxury estate could be built, transforming the property into an ultra-luxury equestrian estate. The owner purchased the property for $2 million in 1989. 13560 Indian Mound Road is listed for $25 million with Marley Overman of the Overman Team at Keyes’ Illustrated Properties.

Miami The 9th Most Expensive 1-Bedroom Rental Market In The U.S. According To Zumper's November Report

Miami has come in as the 9th most expensive city to rent a 1-bedroom with a median price of $1,750 according to Zumper's November report. This number reflects a fall from $1,800 median 1-bedroom rent that Miami reported in their October report studying numbers from September. The Zumper report analyzes active listings across 18 metro cities to show the most and least expensive cities and cities with the fastest growing rents. For the entire state of Florida, 1 bedroom state median was around $1,173 in September 2017. 

In the October report, Miami remained the most expensive city to rent in the metro with 1 bedroom units priced at $1,800, down .6% year-over-year. Boca Raton narrowly beat Miami Beach to become the second most expensive city with a median rent of $1,620, up 14.1% year-over-year. Miami Beach fell 3.6% year-over-year, coming in at $1,610. Homestead rent was the cheapest, seeing no change at $1,000 followed by Lauderhill at $1,030 which was up 8.4% and Coral Springs, which was down .9% at $1,140. Other notables include Hollywood which fell 1.4% to $1,380, Weston remained unchanged and $1,400 and not included is Fort Lauderdale, which comes in at $1,483, falling 1.1% year over year. 

Compass Raises $100 Million In New Round of Funding Amid Questions By Skeptics

Compass is certainly on a roll after locking in $100 million of additional financing via their new funding round, bringing their valuation to $1.8 billion having raised $325 million from investors to date (November 8, 2017). The latest round of funding was provided by Fidelity Investments, IVP and Welling Management. Since being founded in 2013, Compass has grown to over 2,000 agents in 10 different markets. They plan to add an additional 10 markets by 2020. Compass has a reputation of breaking into new markets quite aggressively, poaching top agents from top firms with huge salary and commission split agreements. While many top firms initially and key players including Douglas Elliman's Howard Lorber expected Compass to fold within years, they have continued to grow.  

Compass reported $180 million in revenue last year (2016) and expects to generate $350 million this year (2017). Revenue includes all income including what Compass would have to pay out to their agents. While typically a brokerage's valuation is based on off multiples of the brokerage's earnings, Compass holds that they are a tech firm, leading to even higher valuations. Real estate brokerage can be an extremely low margin business. For example, Douglas Elliman reported $190.4 million in revenue by the end of Q3 2017 year-over-year which only produces a profit of $4.2 million. That is down from $184.5 million reported at the end of Q3 2016 which produced $8.7 million in 2016. Reology, which owns Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and Sotheby's International, reports a revenue of $5.81 billion but as a publicly traded company, their entire valuation is merely twice that of Compass' with a total equity of $2.469 billion. 

Additionally many have wondered and continue to wonder, what technology does Compass have that no one else has? Compass has produced a new system to produce CMA's and comps as well as a highly-efficient, IDX style a website that allows you to search all public real estate listings across all brokerages and markets that Compass covers. Critics hold that both CMA's and Comps need actual human input and assessment to be accurate. Those in support of Compass claim that the technology is so great that you will not need agents because the internet will take care of everything. How can you run a home inspection of a 30 year old home without being on site then close out a final permit that was left open to make sure that deal closes? What attorneys will be used to hash out each deal? Part of the real estate sales experience is having a trusted broker helping a buyer or seller with what is probably one of the largest financial transactions of their entire life, it cannot easily just be "automized" with VC money. There is so much more that goes into real estate deals than those not in the industry possibly understand. Compass is definitely onto something when it comes to the home search and connection with an agent, but time remains to tell how automated anyone can make the actual buying and selling process. 

A statement by Rob Lehman, Compass' Chief Revenue Officer, to the tune of “every company that’s going to succeed in industries in the future is going to have to be a hybrid. We are both a tech company and a brokerage and we let the market ascribe the value,” essentially throws it out there that the company is not a true tech company and a traditional brokerage that claims their technology is worth more than other brokerages, hence the extreme valuations. While investments into technology do not seem to be making waves throughout the industry, Compass' investments into branding and agent poaching are quite visible.

Where Compass has gone, they have gone with success, including Miami, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, the Hamptons, Aspen, Boston, and Washington D.C. They have expanded into 10 different markets and recruited over 2,000 agents who all are backed by some of the industries' cleanest and best branding. In the markets they have expanded to, Compass has acquired some of the finest listings and top agents including Leonard Steinberg, Rick Teed and Butch Haze. For more and more millennials and younger real estate buyers and renters, Compass is becoming a powerhouse go-to name amongst brokerages and websites to browse real estate.  

Additionally, that would lead one to wonder, when will the investors require Compass to show a profit? Will they need to raise more money in the future, if so will they be able to justify an even larger valuation? Compass claims that it is backed by "patient capital," and the firm is expected to go IPO at one point, but how long will Compass test their patience before investors start asking to see a return? Will it even be possible? Bigger companies that are already successful in all the markets Compass is gunning for are valued at less than Compass. Everyone is focusing on will Compass fail, but maybe the question that should be asked, is did Compass fail or mislead their investors, or have they just perfected and modernized the hyper-competitive real estate brokerage industry? 

South Miami Votes Against The Zyscovich Architects-Designed Proposal To Redevelop The Shops at Sunset Place

After a year of developing plans with Zyscovich Architects to redevelop the Shops at Sunset Place with the addition of a hotel and 2 residential rental buildings, the South Miami City Commission has voted 3-2 against the project. PROFILEmiami first reported in October 2016 that Federal Realty Investment Trust, Comras Company and Grass River Property had acquired the aging Sunset Place mall for $110 million and and were planning a major redevelopment to reenergize the property. In October 2017 we reported that the Zyscovich Architects-designed proposal would include the addition of a 17-story hotel with 182 hotel rooms, and two 14-story residential rental buildings with 442 units total. That proposal was ultimately killed by the City of South Miami's Special Planning Board which was under pressure from worries that the project would open the door to immense development in South Miami. Mayor Philip Stoddard and Vice-Mayor Bob Welsh voted yes, while others voted against it. 

Ability by Acierto Closes on $14 Million Construction Loan For Bijou Bay Harbor

Ability by Acierto just closed on a $14 million of construction loan for Bijou Bay Harbor, their new luxury condominium development on Bay Harbor Islands. The Miami-based LV Lending is providing the financing. Ability by Acierto is led by Juan Carlos Gonzalez and the developer broke ground on the 41-unit building located at 9521 East Bay Harbor Drive in December 2016. Ability by Acierto recently hired Pordes Residential to take over sales of the project where units range from 900 SF to 2,100 SF and pricing ranges from the $600,000 to just under $2 million for each of five penthouses. The developer also recently reduced deposit requirements from 50% to 30%. Bijou Bay Harbor will be a 9-story building and was designed by Revuelta Architecture International with interiors by Adriana Hoyos. Amenities will include a poolside lounge and bar, rooftop lounge, gym, outdoor entertainment area with fire pit and pool as well as bay access for boating and water sport.