Author: JD
Miami’s $50 Million Penthouse Boom
Five years ago, the housing market was in such bad shape in Miami that developers stopped building. Today, 94 towers are under construction–three featuring penthouses with price tags of $50 million or higher. Two with similar list prices have already gone into contract. Before the current $50 million penthouse boom, Miami’s highest-priced home traded hands for $47 million when a Russian acquired an Indian Creek compound back in 2012. That deal is, in fact, still the highest closed sale on record–and was for a 30,000-square-foot single-family home set on two acres, not an apartment. To date no condominium has closed anywhere near that record price. The highest recorded condo sale for Miami is the $34 million paid for two triplex penthouses–spanning a 16,271 square feet across three levels–at The Residences at Miami Beach EDITION, the hotel-condominium by Studio 54 cofounder-turned-hotelier Ian Schrager. But neither record will stand much longer. Faena House, a luxury tower designed by starchitect Norman Foster, is under contract for a figure north of its $50 million list price; it’s practically common knowledge in Miami that the 18,253-square-foot duplex penthouse fetched $60 million, though that can’t be confirmed until the deal closes. Regardless, Faena has been a big hit, selling out to buyers including Lloyd Blankfein, Larry Gagosian, and Leon Black. The penthouse buyer remains a mystery. Now, more developers are trying to ring in similar sales. In addition to the three listings of $50 million or more, a fourth luxury penthouse is now listed at $49 million; three more have price tags of $40 million. “When the owners of these properties see and hear what something has sold for, everybody thinks theirs is the best–so the numbers go on accordingly,” explains Jill Eber, half of the power broker duo The Jills. Developer Ian Bruce Eichner is the latest to get into the game, announcing in early January that his four-floor penthouse at the Continuum South Beach 2 is for sale with a price tag of $50 million ($4,519/sf). The apartment was built more than a decade ago, in 2002; its price tag reflects a $5 million (optional) overhaul by high-end Miami-based interior decorator Steven G. The Faena Group, too, is trying to capitalize on its own success. In November the company announced it would list a penthouse in the former Saxony Hotel, now known as the Faena Hotel Residences Miami Beach, for $55 million ($5,624/sf). The 15th– and 16th-story duplex will reportedly have 9,780 square feet, with six bedrooms and five full- and four half-baths, plus interior design by Hollywood’s Baz Luhrmann, director and producer of “Romeo and Juliet,” “Moulin Rouge” and “The Great Gatsby.” Developer Don Peebles has priced his Bath Club Estates penthouse at $50 million ($5,435/sf). The 9,200-square-foot triplex penthouse comes with its own private pool, and tops a building that has only 13 residences. Separately, Peebles is marketing two second- and third-floor duplexes as a single 18,000-square-foot mega complex, listed together for $44 million. Douglas Elliman’s Chad Carroll and Chris Leavitt, stars of Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing Miami, share the listing. In addition to the $50 million (list price; $2,739/sf) penthouse at Faena House, two penthouses priced similarly at the Mansions at Acqualina have already sold, though the buyers and exact prices remain unknown. First marketed as “Palazzo d’Oro” by the Trump Group (no relation to Donald Trump), the 46th and 47th floors were combined into a duplex and listed for $55 million. When a buyer wanted just the 47th floor, the developer repackaged the 45th and 46th floors as a separate duplex penthouse, “Palazzo di Ricchezze,” which was listed for $50 million (at 15,000 square feet, that would be $3,333/sf). That unit has also sold. How many massive $50 million penthouses can the Florida market absorb? Brokers say definitely more. “There are not that many luxury penthouses on the market,” says Craig Studnicky, principal at International Sales Group, which is selling the Echo Brickell condominiums for developer Kevin Maloney’s Property MarketsGroup. “There are eight or nine more of these to buy right now.” Brokers say that global economic instability—plus New York’s cold winter weather—will take care of the priciest units that are still up for grabs. Hedge funders from New York as well as South Americans, Asians, Russians, and Europeans looking for safe harbor for their money make up the ultra-high-end pool of buyers. “We’ve seen a general trend of people looking for larger apartments,” says Jeff Miller, the Zilbert International Realty agent who brought the buyer to the Faena House penthouse. “A lot of our clients have asked us to help them acquire the apartment next door.” His gets inquiries from Brazilians, Venezuelans, Argentines, Italians, Russians, Turks, and Americans, many from New York. Over the past decade, Miami has gained attention as a destination that can attract the world’s rich, thanks to its luxury high rises, beach climate, and attractions like the Art Basel Miami festival. Knight-Frank’s ranked Miami 7th in its 2014 annual global cities list, based on economic activity, quality of life, influence and political power, and the number of ultra-high net worth people who live there. Developers have also brought in famed “starchitects” like Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid in an attempt to attract high-end buyers to their buildings. “We have buyers coming in from all over the world, whether it’s political unrest, or capital flight, or people coming from up north for income tax reasons,” adds Jill Hertzberg, the other half of The Jills. “Miami Beach has become the land of opportunity.” This is a marked change from the height of the housing downturn, when building in South Florida simply dried up. The first condo tower to sell after the recession was billionaire Jorge Pérez’s Apogee Beach. Pérez, CEO of the Related Group of Florida, required buyers to put up 80% before the sale closed (which happens when the unit is completed and delivered to the buyer)—a previously unheard-of figure. But in the fall of 2011, the condos began selling, averaging just under $500 per square foot. Schrager’s EDITION followed (units are now being delivered), as did starchitect Richard Meier’s Surf Club, and Norman Foster’s Faena House—the development that has set the bar in terms of sales. Now, the Trump Group, which developed the Acqualina Resort and Spa on the Beach and the Mansions at Acqualina, will price its 13,000-square-foot penthouse in its next development, the South Tower of the Estates at Acqualina, at $40 million ($3,077/sf). A 10,500-square-foot penthouse at PMG’s Echo Brickell in downtown Miami recently upped its list price to $40 million ($3,810/sf) from the original $37 million. Starchitect Zaha Hadid’s 15,700-square-foot penthouse at One Thousand Museum, also in downtown Miami, was bumped up in price from $45 million to $49 million ($2,866/sf) in November. Finally, the 10,000-square-foot penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton Residences Miami Beach is also listed at $40 million ($3,333/sf). As condo prices have risen, so have the number of Miami-based realtors: from 24,000 in 2009 to 35,000 at end of 2014, says Peter Zalewski, a former journalist who tracks condo projects and sells the data via his consulting firm, CraneSpotters.com. Since 2011, 316 South Florida condo towers–with some 40,600 units in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties–have been announced, according to Zalewski. Developers have completed 20 condo buildings with nearly 1,200 units, and another 94 towers with 11,600 units are under construction. “I am still bullish on the South Florida preconstruction condo market as I think a number of these projects simply won’t get built for a number of reasons including the amount of information that is currently available,” Zalewski said via email. It’s not just condominiums setting record list prices in South Florida. At $139 million, Le Palais Royal in Hillsboro Beach (halfway between Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton) is currently the most expensive home for sale in Florida, and the third-highest listing in the country. Higher price tags still belong to the Hamptons’ Briar Patch Estate, which is listed for $140 million, and to Jeff Greene’s $195 million Beverly Hills spread, Palazzo di Amore.
Victoria’s Secret Angels Superbowl Commercial
I LOVE THIS CAMPAIGN “The Super Bowl is the single best opportunity for Victoria’s Secret to remind a global audience that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner,” said Victoria’s Secret CEO Sharen Jester Turney.
5 Social Media Tips For Small Business
By Mario Armstrong Social media is a great way to get the word out about your business. But if it’s not delivering results, take a step back and see if you’re following these best practices. 1. Communicate your uniqueness Too many businesses are trying to be too many things. Instead, focus on what makes you unique and incorporate that into your social media strategy. That means communicating how your value proposition to customers is different from competitors, of course, but more importantly it means having a personality! If you’re building your business around your personal brand, don’t be afraid to let your real self shine through. And if your whole company is using social media, establish editorial guidelines and an editorial voice that feels real and has a personality that everyone on the team can understand and bring to life. 2. Stop selling Just because you can sell doesn’t mean you should — or at least, don’t use social media strictly to sell. For example, I recently met with a real estate agent who wanted to be known as the go-to expert agent for his community. He feels he knows the community better than any other agent. He lives there, has a family, and is involved in the community through things like local youth sports. But when I saw his Facebook page, it was littered with images of available listings — and nothing else. Not one thing on his page demonstrated that he knew the community. Instead he demonstrated that he was an expert at uploading listings in his area — and any service can do that. I noticed he was getting no engagement, so I told him stop thinking like an agent and begin thinking like a resident. For example, when he told me about the local yogurt spot that’s popular in his community, I told him that was a perfect opportunity to create a community “insiders” post. I suggested he take a photo of himself having yogurt and post it to Facebook asking for engagement from locals: “I love Jimmy Yogurt shack, my fave flavor is banana cream, what’s yours?” Then every fourth post or so, he could include a marketing message with an available property and explain why it’s great for that community. In other words, he can become the go-to expert agent by being the person who evangelizes the neighborhood rather than real estate. 3. Tell a story with images Images are your secret weapon in breaking through the clutter of social media. Images are an incredible way to say a lot, quickly and easily, in a way your followers can easily react to. Multiple images and collages are especially great for saying a lot without words. For example, a baker could show me one image that actually contains four separate images: ingredients, the mixing, the finished cupcake, and someone smiling and holding a half-eaten cupcake. You get the idea. Images can tell a story. They’re also easy to digest, like and share. Think about how huge Instagram is. 4. Show us with video People don’t have to imagine as much with video, so it’s another great way to communicate your uniqueness and tell stories while making content that’s super shareable. Recently a bike store owner approached me about expanding his business and mentioned he was creating a blog to help show why they are the best at what they do. A blog is a great way for a business to drive site traffic, but when I went to his blog it was static. There were a few articles like “how to fix a flat tire on your mountain bike,” but it didn’t have regular updates that help drive readership and search engine optimization. He didn’t have the kind of content that differentiated their bike shop. So I told him to shoot video. For example, take video of the workers in the store and tell me about them. I want to know the story and what makes them experts. Show off a bike designed for super diehards — not just recreational cyclists — so we can experience the skills and expertise of his team. But I also told him to keep it casual and avoid a hard sell. “Here’s Jim who works in repairs. Jim, what’s the most common repair you have to make?” But then you might notice his sandwich is half-eaten and you ask him what he had for lunch. In other words, shoot quick videos that help show his expertise but also make him human and tell me more about him. Creating a human connection is a great way for potential customers to remember you. Imagine a customer who walks into the shop and says, “Hey Jim, I saw that video, great tip and by the way did you ever finish that sandwich?” That’s instant credibility – especially if customers are wondering whether he cares more about fixing bikes than finishing his lunch! 5. Do A/B testing If you aren’t getting results, try experimenting with your content in a systematic and scientific way. Study your content and what seems to resonate, then try different variations and see what gets engagement. Remember to only try to test one “variable” at a time; otherwise you won’t know what’s making the difference. Mario Armstrong, Digital Lifestyle Expert, is an Emmy Award winning tech commentator for the TODAY show, CNN, HLN, and Fuse. An entrepreneur by nature, Armstrong made his passion his career by quitting his day job and founding Mario Armstrong Media. Follow Mario at @MarioArmstrong. This story previously appeared on AT&T Business Circle.
Alessandro Michele Named Gucci Creative Director
Gucci and parent company Kering on Wednesday appointed Alessandro Michele creative director of the Italian luxury brand. He will succeed Frida Giannini, who departed last month from the Italian fashion and leather goods house. “After a considered and thorough selection process, Alessandro Michele has been chosen to assume the role as Gucci creative director, based upon the contemporary vision he has articulated for the brand that he will now bring to life,” said Marco Bizzarri, president and chief executive officer of Gucci. “Alessandro and I are fully aligned on this new contemporary vision needed by the brand and we will be continuously inspired by that new identity in our respective roles and duties.” Michele, 42, joined Gucci in 2002, and became Giannini’s deputy in 2011 when he took over the leather goods, shoes, jewelry and home collections. He is also the creative director of Gucci’s porcelain brand, Richard Ginori. He previously worked at Fendi as a senior accessories designer and studied at Rome’s Accademia di Costume e di Moda. François-Henri Pinault, chairman and ceo of Kering, added “Throughout its history, Gucci has always created attention and excitement through its innovative and distinctive products and collections as it has become Italy’s most renowned fashion house and one of the most iconic, and prominentluxury brands in the world. Alessandro Michele has both the qualities and the vision necessary to bring a new contemporary perspective to Gucci and lead the brand into an exciting new creative chapter of its history.”
Alexander Wang Debuts a Furniture Collection With A $8,800 Beanbag Chair
American fashion designer, renowned for his urban, chic, trend-setting styles has jumped on the furniture design bandwagon. Alexander Wang has debuted a three-piece furniture collection for Italian brand Poltrona Frau. The creative director of French house Balenciaga has unveiled the new collection comprising of a brass-footed beanbag chair in inky black shearling, a second version in leather and a companion bar cabinet, wrapped in squares of jet-black shagreen, that opens to reveal jagged brass shelves. True to his signature style, the 30-year old designer has effortlessly blended luxury with street-style. Giving his creations a Wang-touch, the $8,800 beanbag chair’s base stands on nine sides unlike the usual symmetrical eight. Also the bar is crafted to swivel on luggage-style wheels. Emphasizing the urge to add oomph to everyday product, the designer elucidates about designing the beanbag chair. Wang spoke about it to Wall Street Journal, “It’s banal, an everyday item. We always had them in the TV room. But I like to recontextualize what is banal, what is luxurious. To make it with Poltrona, that just completely changes it. And yet at the end of the day, it’s still a beanbag chair.” He added “I love that.” Always keen to try his hand in furniture, Wang has, over a period, developed liking for exotic finishes and the furniture designed by Karl Springer, Milo Baughman and the likes.
Unvaccinated People Should Avoid Disneyland, State Health Officials Warn
California state health officials are advising all unvaccinated people to avoid Disneyland indefinitely due to an outbreak of measles. The respiratory disease spread throughout the historic theme park at the end of December and has since plagued nearly 59 people in California, 42 of which contracted the virus at Disneyland, NPR reports. State epidemiologist Dr. Gil Chavez advised all unvaccinated folk to steer clear of the magical Anaheim acreage, exhorting parents of infants and young children to avoid the park. “If you are not vaccinated, stay away from Disneyland,” Chavez said. “It can be very serious with devastating consequences.” READ MOREDisneyland-Linked Measles Outbreak Has Sickened 70 People Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease caused by a virus. Once contracted, the infected will develop a rash all over the body and further complications including fever, pneumonia, diarrhea and coughing can ensue. The majority of those infected were not vaccinated and varied in age from 7 months to 70 years old. The outbreak is suspected to have been spread by an infected, unvaccinated foreigner visiting the park in December or a Californian who contracted the disease abroad.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
You want to be camouflage? Go ahead. Blend in. But we want to be that twinkle in the sky. And you might not be able to see that star now. But it’s daytime. Wait till it gets dark.” – @pharrell