Mario Chalmers purchases Drake’s condo in Marquis

By Samir Patel on March 12th, 2012

Forbes and various other media are reporting that celebrity rapper Drake has sold two combined units in Marquis Condo to Miami Heat starting Point Guard Mario Chalmers. The sales price? $2.5 million. The two units totaled 5,475 square feet of living space on two levels offering 20 foot ceilings in the living area. Drake originally purchased the units for a combined $1,903,000 but spent additional money to upgrade the units. Drake even managed to turn a profit despite the doom and gloom stories you’ve heard about Downtown Miami over the last few years. And good for you Mario Chalmers. Think about all the gas you will be saving by just walking to work. Marquis Condominium is located at 1100 Biscayne Boulevard in Downtown Miami just 5 blocks from the American Airlines Arena and across the street from the currently under construction Museum Park. Chalmers purchase a 49th floor unit in the 63 story tower. Marquis Miami Condo

What type of view will Mario be coming home to from now on? Take a look at the photos we took back during construction of the building:
Marquis Miami Condo
Marquis Miami Condo
Marquis Miami Condo

Resorts World Miami Plans Revealed

By Samir Patel on September 15th, 2011

Resorts World Miami

Yesterday The Genting group unveiled its vision for their Resorts World Miami project and the Miami Herald wrote about it. This soon was picked up by many other outlets and this massive project is being touted as one of the most important developments in the history of Miami and Florida. See the full article here.

The projected $3 billion master plan calls for four hotels, two condominium towers, more than 50 restaurants and bars and a luxury retail shopping mall. The futuristic design of the project is courtesy of Arquitectonica (known for Icon Brickell, Marquis amongst other prominent local projects). Arquitectonica co-founder Bernardo Fort-Brescia says “This will put Miami on the map and make it a destination.”

Resorts World Miami will contain an estimated 5,200+ hotel rooms, 1,000 condo units, 50 restaurants, lounges, bars and nightclubs and approximately 60 luxury shops. One of the most important features will be convention and meeting space totaling 750,000 square feet which should draw business from other current venues. As being a resident of the area I can’t wait until this project becomes a reality. Until then we can enjoy the renderings.

Resorts World Miami
Resorts World Miami
Resorts World Miami

You can also find a great video introducing the project on the Resorts World Miami website: http://www.rwmiami.com

Resorts World Miami Announced – Miami Heralds’s Building Sold for $236 Million

By Samir Patel on June 1st, 2011

In the last week Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. sold the Miami Herald’s building and land including 14 acres to Genting Malaysia Bhd. for a whopping $236 Million.

According to Mike Speller, President of Resorts World, the future of the lots are expected to become a mixed-use entertainment development with a combination of hospitality, convention, restaurant, retail, residential and commercial uses. The project would create tens of thousands of jobs and be a large draw for tourism.

Here is a video by Chuck Fadely from the Miami Herald on the sale:

Brickell CitiCentre Project in the News

By Samir Patel on April 28th, 2011

The Miami Herald has reported that the Brickell CitiCentre project planned by developer Swire Properties (the same Swire which built most of Brickell Key) is moving forward on development. This project would be a great benefit for residents in the area of Brickell Miami. The article by the Herald goes on to state that the project would create 1700 new jobs and has the backing of Mayor Tomas Regalado.
The project which would be designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica would include restaurants, a hotel, office towers and apartments or condominiums, spread over a four-block area connected by bridges and covered walkways. Construction could begin by end of 2011. Swire purchased the land in an all-cash deal some time back.

Read more: More information on Brickell CitiCentre at the MiamiHerald.com

I also found a video online by local new broadcaster NBC6:

View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.

The LeBron James Effect on Downtown Miami Real Estate

By Samir Patel on August 16th, 2010

Photo of American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami

Unless you have been living under a rock in the U.S. you have no doubtedly heard that National Basketball Association top free agent LeBron James has chosen to ‘take his talents to South Beach’. In reality he will be playing home games at American Airlines Arena which is in Downtown Miami (and not South Beach). The Arena sits at NE 6th Street and Biscayne Boulevard. To the South of the Arena is the entrance to the Port of Miami and Bayside Marketplace. Between a block and three blocks to the North of the Arena sit four condominium buildings: Marina Blue, 900 Biscayne Bay, Ten Museum Park and Marquis Condominium.

Soon after LeBron James’ signing with the Miami Heat, one of my clients from Switzerland asked if LeBron James’ move would have an impact on Miami Real Estate. My answer was simple – Absolutely! It will be tremendous for the Downtown Miami area. Season Tickets for the home games had immediately sold out. There will be more winning by the team. Additionally there will be more national television exposure for the team and a side benefit would be more exposure for the City of Miami. Think about the aerial video during the telecasts. So far the team is expected to be Nationally televised 30 times (out of 82 total regular season games). That is a huge number and will likely increase as they will be expect to go through 4 rounds of the post season.

Today it was anounced that 3 retail spaces across from the Arena at MarinaBlue Condominium had been resold. The spaces were purchased by a Sunny Isles Beach investor who paid $2.1 Million for 5,100 square feet. The space is expected to be converted to a restaurant and bar, with possibly a microbrewery. I remember showing a client the full commercial package at Marina Blue in 2008. At the time it was being offered for over $14 Million for roughly 40,000 square feet. Oh do I wish I had a crystal ball back then.