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 | Aug 23, 2020
Designing affordable housing on odd urban lots in LA
"Misfit parcels" could be the key to providing more affordable housing in Los Angeles, say two experienced multifamily housing designers.
Multifamily Housing | Aug 16, 2020
TCA Architects specifies Engineered Floors products for 304-unit apartment complex in Tracy, Calif.
TCA Architects specified Lewis Rigid Stone Polymer floating plank and Lewis Gold 100% Solution-Dyed high-performance fiber carpet for Harvest in Tracy, Calif.
Multifamily Housing | Aug 3, 2020
71-unit 100% affordable housing development breaks ground in Mountain View, Calif.
Van Meter Williams Pollack is designing the project.
Multifamily Housing | Aug 2, 2020
Stantec-designed 17 West mixed-use development completed in Miami Beach
Stantec-designed 17 West mixed-use development completed, with first Trader Joe's in Miami Beach.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 31, 2020
Railings manufacturer VistaPro launches its new website
VistaPro Architectural Railing Solutions launches new website.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 29, 2020
Multifamily construction proposal activity sees modest rebound in Q2 2020
Among the firms that work in the multifamily sector, 31% said that proposal activity increased in the second quarter, while 24% said it decreased.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 29, 2020
San Francisco’s Millennium Tower fix approved, moving forward
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger will be the engineer-of-record for the fix.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 27, 2020
Putting 'home' at the heart of affordable housing
Home is a powerful thing. It’s the place that forms you, a guiding set of relationships, memories, and experiences that, for better or worse, make you who you are.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 20, 2020
Abandoned 15-story high-rise becomes mixed-use luxury apartment building
Kimmich Smith Architecture designed the project.