An 18-story oceanfront condo tower in Miami Beach with only 10 full-floor residences, which started receiving occupants last month, could be seen as a bellwether for this market’s development and sales environment.
The building, called GLASS, was one of the first new residential developments to be completed in the City of Miami Beach in almost five years, and the last high-rise to be built in the desirable South of Fifth neighborhood because of zoning restrictions.
Rene Gonzalez Architect designed GLASS, whose construction was started in December 2013.
Its design is representative of the low-density approach of its developer, Terra Group. “We could have built up to 45 units on this site,” says Terra’s president David Martin, who owns the 14-year-old company with his father Pedro. “But our belief that ‘less is more’ in real estate, coupled with the design of Rene Gonzalez and Raymond Jungles [who did the landscape design], has delivered a stronger finished product.”
The first five floors of GLASS are common areas that include the lobby, pool, and fitness center. The building’s amenities include an onsite estate manager, pool and valet services, housekeeping and maintenance, 24-hour security, and a resident beach club. The building’s elevator, designed by artist Ivan Toth Depeña, contains an interactive installation that mimics the transition from water to sky.
Each of the residence floors offers an all-glass 360-degree view. With compositional use of fritted patterned glass, the building’s exterior blends into the atmosphere by reflecting and capturing the natural landscape.
Living room in a residence at GLASS.
Terra Group confirmed that all 10 units had been presold prior to construction, and those sales were closed in late October and early November. The selling price averaged around $2,700 per square foot, and the units (excluding the penthouse) range from 3,977 sf to 5,400 sf (including outside terraces).
South Florida Business Journal reports that GLASS’s three-story, 7,000-sf penthouse recently sold for $20 million. The founding family of Ohio-based Majestic Steel Properties paid $7.3 million and $7.9 million, respectively, for two units in GLASS, according to the Real Deal, which tracks real estate news in South Florida.
Miami Beach, which during the last recession was awash in unsold condos and townhouses, appears to be back on the saddle again in terms of residential building. The Real Deal reports that with the completion of the GLASS project, developers have constructed 48 new condo buildings with more than 3,715 units east of I-95 in the tri-county South Florida region since 2011. Developers have announced plans to build 11 new condo buildings with nearly 150 units in the South-of-Fifth neighborhood alone.
Related Stories
Multifamily Housing | Jul 8, 2021
As homelessness becomes more visible, building shelters presents opportunities to AEC firms
C.W. Driver Companies and XL Construction have just completed transitional housing projects in California.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 7, 2021
Make sure to get your multifamily amenities mix right
One of the hardest decisions multifamily developers and their design teams have to make is what mix of amenities they’re going to put into each project. A lot of squiggly factors go into that decision: the type of community, the geographic market, local recreation preferences, climate/weather conditions, physical parameters, and of course the budget. The permutations are mind-boggling.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 30, 2021
A post-pandemic ‘new normal’ for apartment buildings
Grimm + Parker’s vision foresees buildings with rentable offices and refrigerated package storage.
Resiliency | Jun 24, 2021
Oceanographer John Englander talks resiliency and buildings [new on HorizonTV]
New on HorizonTV, oceanographer John Englander discusses his latest book, which warns that, regardless of resilience efforts, sea levels will rise by meters in the coming decades. Adaptation, he says, is the key to future building design and construction.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 23, 2021
COVID-19’s impact on multifamily amenities
Multifamily project teams had to scramble to accommodate the overwhelming demand for work-from-home spaces for adults and study spaces for children.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 22, 2021
New apartment community breaks ground in Bethesda
KTGY is designing the project.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 14, 2021
Baccarat Residences Brickell set to rise in Miami
Arquitectonica is designing the project.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 9, 2021
MVE + Partners completes One Museum Square
The luxury apartment community is located in the heart of Los Angeles.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 6, 2021
Multifamily Amenities Survey 2021: Get the latest data on 131 key features for apartments and condos
Download the 2021 Multifamily Amenities Study.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 3, 2021
Student Housing Trends 2021-2022
In this exclusive video interview for HorizonTV, Fred Pierce, CEO of Pierce Education Properties, developer and manager of off-campus student residences, chats with Rob Cassidy, Editor, MULTIFAMILY Design + Construction about student housing during the pandemic and what to expect for on-campus and off-campus housing in Fall 2021 and into 2022.