When it comes to getting the party started, Miami usually takes the cake. This year seems to be no exception, despite the looming rebounding economy, as developer David Edelstein, responsible in part for the W South Beach and is featured in Haute Living’s Art Basel edition cover story, notes that the W South Beach has recently closed condo sales at staggering prices.
Miami’s winter season is upon us and locals know what that means. Tourists flock to the Magic City to experience warm weather, Art Basel, Art Miami, and numerous other events taking place in Miami over the course of the next few months. When it comes to selling condos on the beach, it looks like the party has already begun in Miami, as developer David Edelstein reports the W South Beach hotel-condo building, his latest ultra-luxury project, has recently closed sales of condos for very optimistic prices just months after its grand opening.
Edelstein specifically points to one 2,700-square-foot unit at the W South Beach which closed just two weeks ago for $7.25 million, or $2,685 per square foot. Just prior to that sale, a 2,965-square-foot unit sold for $8.1 million, or $2,732 per square foot; impressive numbers for an economy that continues to struggle through the recession of last year. Edelstein is extremely optimistic when it comes to predicting the W South Beach’s upcoming condo sales as well, as he says, “We think it will be a huge year for Art Basel, and one of the greatest sources of condo sales are hotel guests,” which he definitely has access to with the hotel completely sold out all week during Art Basel with rooms ranging from $659 to $7,200 per night. Edelstein says he has already signed deals for about $500 million worth of condos in the new South Beach W location, closing on about $100 million to date.
Mark Zilbert, of Zilbert Realty Group, specializes in the condo market says, “We have not had enough time to see W South Beach’s impact over the long term, but it’s a very popular spot.” Prices at the modern chic hotel start at around $1,400 per square foot for smaller units, quickly making the hotel-condo building one of the newest and priciest spots on the beach. Other extremely prominent South Beach condo buildings are also stepping up their game though, with many of them reaching New York City equivalent prices. Just next to the W South Beach is the extremely luxurious Asian-inspired Setai Hotel and Residences where some units are listed for around $1,200 to $1,400 per square foot. Despite the fact that, overall, prices in Miami are down 30 to 40 percent from their peak, they haven’t changed that much from the spring. The only difference now is that people are coming out of the woodworks and actually buying.
Zilbert notes that he does see more condo interest from New York-based buyers that he has in the last three years combined. “There is clearly a market for five-star oceanfront properties, and these buyers don’t shop around a lot. They want what they want.”
Edelstein sums it up best when it says, “Over at W South Beach, everything up to this point has been spring training. The real season starts now.”
Via: New York Post
