Miami Real Estate Today: June 2015

Monday, June 22, 2015

Inventory Rapidly Decreasing at Brickell City Centre

Inventory Won't Last too Long at BCC

There are still fabolous units at Rise and Reach at the Brickell City Centre.

Call me now to schedule a complete presentation of any project in Miami. For Reservation please contact me at 954.254.6085 or email me at JuanSolerRealtor@gmail.com Time is always of the essence but much more in Pre-construction. Don't miss this window of Opportunity!

To Buy, Sell or Rent Properties in Miami go to http://www.JuanSolerRealtor.com

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Miami Office Vacancy Rate at 14.9%

Miami Office Market Activity

According to the Miami Association of Realtors' Realtor Commercial Alliance, Miami's commercial vacancy rates continue to rank among the lowest in Florida, leading to more local investment from global companies and investors.

Miami's vacancy rates for office (14.9 percent), industrial (5.3 percent), retail (6.3 percent), and multifamily (4.4 percent) are the lowest among major cities in Florida, according to a May 2015 Commercial Outlook report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Reis, Inc., a leading provider of commercial real estate market information. Each of Miami's commercial sectors are performing better than the U.S. average, except for multifamily which is 0.1 percent lower. The national vacancy rates in May were 15.6 percent for office, 8.4 percent for industrial, 9.6 percent for retail and 4.3 percent for multifamily, according to NAR and Reis.

"One of the world's top global cities, Miami has become a launching pad for new industries," said Barbara Tria, the 2015 Miami Commercial Alliance President. "Technology companies and other businesses are moving to Miami largely because of the region's top-tier cultural offerings, outdoor lifestyle, and affordability compared to other major cities around the globe."

Miami Office Market

Miami's 14.9 percent office vacancy rate in May ranks as the 21st lowest out of 82 major U.S. cities, according to the NAR and Reis report. New York leads the nation at 8.9 percent. Statewide, Miami's office vacancy rate is performing better than Florida's major cities. The Sunshine State's other major metropolitans had the following rates: Fort Lauderdale (18.6 percent), Jacksonville (20.4 percent), Orlando (16.5), Palm Beach (16.5) and Tampa (19.7). The national average is 15.6.

South Florida's growing, multilingual workforce is one reason for its low office vacancy rate. Miami-Dade County added 33,700 jobs across several sectors from April 2014 to April 2015, a 3.1 percent increase, according to job numbers released May 22. Miami had the third-largest job gain in Florida behind Orlando and Tampa. Miami's unemployment rate from April 2014 to April 2015 decreased by 0.7 percentage points, to 6.2 percent from 6.9 percent. * Report by World Property Journal & Miami Association of Realtors.

To Buy, Sell or Rent Properties in Miami go to http://www.JuanSolerRealtor.com

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

$750 Miami WorldCenter Marriott Marquis Revealed

$750 Miami WorldCenter Marriot Marquis Unveiled

Miami Worldcenter Phase I is officially slated to break ground in the third quarter now that the city cleared approval last Monday. Phase I includes the Paramount Condo and the 765,000 Sqf Mall that serves as the foundation for the project. After receiving approval to break ground for Pahse I, the developers have unveiled the plans for the Hotel and Expo center. Here is the news in an article published by the Real Deal.

More than 600,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, 1,800 hotel rooms and $750 million. Developers MDM Group, architects and community partners gathered on Tuesday to reveal plans for the Marriott Marquis Miami Worldcenter Hotel & Expo, slated to be the largest hotel in South Florida when it opens in the fall of 2018. The expo center fronts the four large, curved towers that are “very dramatic and vertically oriented,” John Nichols, CEO of Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates, told The Real Deal. At night, the horizontal strips on the development will light up. NBWW is the architect on the project. “Many don’t realize how big it is,” Nichols said, citing the Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s 1,500 rooms. Exhibit space will include a 100,000-square-foot exhibit hall ground floor, a 65,000-square-foot main ballroom, a 45,000-square-foot junior ballroom, 390,000 square feet of other meeting space, and a 10,000-square-foot, 1,500-seat lecture hall — all for a total of 610,000 square feet. The hotel will be located within steps of Miami Worldcenter’s shopping mall, which will include a Bloomingdale’s a and Macy’s. The 27-acre development, led by Nitin Motwani and Art Falcone, is within a quarter of a mile of proposed All Aboard Florida and Tri-Rail stations. “All Aboard Florida is the linchpin,” Nicholas said. “This whole area is going through a massive change. We’re excited to be around it.” Developers received approval from the city of Miami for the first phase, which will include the 765,000-square-foot mall, the 470 unit Paramount Miami Worldcenter condo tower and a newly announced apartment tower. Miami Worldcenter Associates will begin seeking building permits, with plans to break ground on the first phase later this year. “This project is not only transformative to downtown Miami, but to the region as well,” Joe Herndon, director of development for MDM Group, said on Tuesday. “This development rivals, in scope and magnitude, major hotels and convention centers on a global [scale].” The hotel and expo center will generate the need for an additional 2,400 hotel rooms in the area, Herndon said. Bill Talbert, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the development will complement, not compete, with the planned Miami Beach Convention Center renovation and expansion, which includes an 800-room hotel. “These are complementary. Miami Beach has four halls, this has one. There are some folks who want to be in a downtown environment,” Talbert said. The Marriott brand, he said, “is the No.1 brand in this community. Marriott sells.” The hotel will offer 1,800 rooms on levels six through 54, and valet parking for 1,094 spaces. “This property will be distinguished by the fact that it’s a Marriott Marquis, one of our most distinguished brands. When you mention Marriott Marquis to meeting planners, they know what that means,” Tom Papelian, senior vice president of hotel development for Marriott International, told TRD. The hotel and expo component is expected to create more than 1,300 permanent jobs, $175 million in annual revenue and $14.8 million in annual city and county tax revenue through 2045. RTKL is the interior design firm for the project, and Coastal Construction is the general contractor, according to a fact sheet. Coastal Co-President Tom C. Murphy said the company is actively involved in about 20 projects in South Florida, including Faena and Faena House, Surf Club Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences, Porsche Design Tower and Fendi Chateau. * The Real Deal.

To Buy, Sell or Rent Properties in Miami go to http://www.JuanSolerRealtor.com

Miami Sales Prices of Condos Up 3.1% in April

Miami Properties Sales Prices Continued Rising

Medium Sales Prices of Condos Increased 3.1%

Single-family home prices, which again increased in April, remain at affordable 2004 levels despite more than three years of consistent year-over-year increases. Condo prices also increased in April 2015, marking 46 months of growth in the last 47 months. The median sale price for single-family homes increased 7.0 percent, up to $260,000 in April 2015 from $243,000 in April 2014. The median sale price for condominiums increased 3.1 percent in April to $199,000 from $193,000 a year ago.

Condos Selling at 93.1% of Asking Price

The average percent of original list price received for single-family homes was 94.6 percent, down a negligible 0.1 percent from a year earlier. The median number of days on the market for single-family homes sold in April 2015 was 43 days, equaling last year's figure. The average percent of original list price received for existing condominiums was 93.1 percent, a 0.5 percent decrease. The median number of days on the market for condominiums sold in April 2015 was 63 days, an increase of 14.5 percent compared to the same period in 2014.

To Buy, Sell or Rent Properties in Miami go to http://www.JuanSolerRealtor.com

Friday, June 12, 2015

Miami Beginning to Develop as A New Tech Cluster

Miami in the Initial Stages of Becoming a New Tech Cluster

Arguably the weakest factor in grading Miami as of the top global cities of the immediate future was the lack of Industry development. That narrative has been lately changing as more and more industries and startups are emerging in Miami. I myself am a first hand witness of such change as I am hoping to close soon on a 10-year office lease of more than 21,000 sqf in Downtown Miami. Commercial, Industrial and technological activity is undoubtedly increasing in Miami bringing along more job opportunities and establishing the city in a whole new level of recognition and attractiveness. The World Property Journal published this article validating this phenomenon of technological expansion in Miami. Here’s the article.

Miami's technology companies and startups alike are now driving strong growth and increased leasing activity in South Florida's commercial markets.

According to CBRE, growth of office space leased, the tech sector in South Florida is outperforming the market as a whole; it accounted for about 369,000 square feet of new leases and expansions in 2014, more than twice what it recorded in 2013.

Key South Florida Tech Sector Commercial Market Highlights Include:

A growing millennial population (a younger workforce is considered a robust contributor to the growth of tech talent pools)

▪ Its gateway to Latin America status and international business community

• Business-friendly tax climate

• Lifestyle to rival most other U.S. markets

Over the same period, expansions and new leases for all other sectors, taken together, declined slightly. Put another way: while the total amount of leased space in the South Florida office market increased at a more or less steady rate, growth in space leased by tech firms accelerated considerably. CBRE also recorded a 225% increase in new leases and expansions by co-working spaces, which cater to early stage tech companies, during the same period.

These include two leases signed late last year: CBRE arranged a 40,000-SF lease for WeWork, which provides entrepreneurs, freelancers and small businesses with business space, at 350 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach; and Pipeline Workspaces, a national high-design shared office space concept, signed a lease for 14,000 square feet at 95 Merrick Way, part of The Alhambra property in Coral Gables.

"There's a lot of energy around the tech sector in Miami right now and while it's still in its infancy, we are seeing some early indicators of a tech cluster forming," said CBRE Florida Director of Research and Analysis Quinn Eddins. "We've tracked a couple foreign digital media companies that signed office leases in Miami last year, for example. And Miami's millennial population is growing, which we know is a robust contributor to the growth of tech talent pools. The eMerge conference has really put Miami on the map for tech and it's exciting to see where all this will go."

The eMerge Americas tech conference now being held this week in South Beach Florida, has a number of nationally recognized business executives, tech investors, government leaders, celebrities and entrepreneurs that include former U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, Miami Heat NBA star Chris Bosh, music icon Pitbull and event founder Manny Medina, who both celebrated the closing of the NASDAQ stock market on national TV with CNBC broadcasting live coverage of the event all day with TV anchors Michelle Caruso-Cabrera and Melissa Lee.

Also in attendance as a panelist at eMerge Americas was Seattle-based online real estate brokerage firm Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman, who says technology is having a significant impact on the real estate industry nationwide. Kelman said, "Technology really enables real estate agents to leverage it to be far more productive, informative and efficient."

Kelman further told World Property Journal, "Technology is also helping online property listing sites to migrate from a basic property 'search function' into handling parts of the actual transaction itself such as online lending." When asked if technology will ever replace the role of the agent in the transaction, Kelman says: "No, technology and people are both needed in the transaction to help provide the best consumer experience when buying or selling a home - it's a true balance of people and technology needed in the equation."

On the commercial market side, Diana Parker, CBRE Senior Vice President, Office Brokerage tells World Property Journal, "There has been a significant increase in inquiries from new-to-market tech companies exploring office locations throughout Miami-Dade. Tech firms, in general, tend to have different needs than office tenants in more traditional industries. Their employees tend to be on the younger side, millennials, and their workplace routines are less orthodox - they don't always keep predictable hours and they like to blur the lines between work and play. Amenities like a fitness center, communal spaces, public transportation, restaurants, and of course high-speed WiFi all factor heavily in location decisions. To lure these tenants, landlords need to create a special kind of environment. For example, the new owners of The Landing at MIA, one of the Class A office properties CBRE represents, are investing heavily in providing all the above mentioned amenities and creating an entirely unique workplace experience - imagine a "Google-style" campus in the heart of Miami. There's a lot that goes into creating a tech hub, but having the right kind of office environment is one piece of the equation."

Largest tech sector leases in South Florida in the last 12 months:

1. Ultimate Software Group, a software publisher, signed a 97,178 SF new lease in Weston Park of Commerce in Broward County's SW Broward submarket.

2. Digital Latin America, an internet publishing and broadcasting firm, signed a 35, 031 SF new lease in Miami-Dade County's Airport/Doral submarket

3. Unified Physician Management, a software publisher, signed a 21,000 SF new lease in Palm Beach County's Boca Raton submarket

4. Quantum, a computer systems design firm, signed a 7,567 SF new lease in Miami-Dade County's Airport/Doral submarket * World Property Journal

To Buy, Sell or Rent Properties in Miami go to http://www.JuanSolerRealtor.com