I was on the phone with a friend the other day and we were both talking about how grateful we are that we live in Miami/South Florida. Our main reasons were for the cultural diversity, the environment, the vibrancy of the city and people, and the ease with which you can travel anywhere in the world.
Traveling is one of my favorite pastimes, but I always love coming home. If you don’t love where you live and work, now is the time to consider a move. I invite you to come to Miami and see why so many people and companies are relocating to South Florida.
New Restaurants from Groot Hospitality Coming to Coconut Grove
New Restaurants from Groot Hospitality Coming to Coconut Grove
You can’t open a newspaper these days without reading about another company that is either relocating or expanding in South Florida. From hedge funds and private equity firms to tech companies, Florida’s business friendly environment is luring people to move here. The Miami-Dade housing market has surged, with total home sales up 16.2% year-over-year in October. Miami single-family luxury home sales transactions over $1,000,000 increased a whopping 122.1% year-over-year in October.
What does this increase in the housing market mean to commercial real estate? Although the virus has had an effect on hotels, restaurants, offices, and other businesses, which in turn bodes poorly for the real estate these businesses occupy, the number of people relocating here will eventually translate into increased demand for commercial real estate. I currently have investors looking for second generation restaurant space, which, amazingly enough, is not as easy to find as news headlines suggest.
So, now that you know about 832 Granada Groves Ct., let me introduce you to 401 A Street in Saint Augustine Beach. This is the experience where I identified my fear, labeled it completely irrational, found the help I needed to get through it, and purchased this investment property. As you will see, the jump from Granada Groves to A Street was long. I hope you don’t take as long as I did. I am here to tell you if you do, you will miss out on a ton of great opportunities.
So, after Granada Groves Ct., my husband and I stopped actively looking for investment properties. We weren’t ready, the market was too hot, we couldn’t afford it, all of the excuses. Whatever. We finally got back into the discussion in 2014 and decided we would combine our investment property with a second home idea, so we started looking in St. Augustine Beach.
After we lost several properties in a competitive market, a friend of ours told us that she had biked by one that they were getting ready to put the sign on. I called the listing agent, asked her to FaceTime me so I could walk through the house, and we put an offer on it, $1,000 over asking, not subject to financing, sight unseen. Wait, what? Was I setting my self up to scare myself out of another deal? Absolutely not. We knew the market well, had run the numbers, had a pre-approval, had a good size deposit, reserves etc. I knew exactly where the house was, it was newer construction so less maintenance and we were feeling good. Our offer was accepted, I drove up for the inspections, had the “this feels right feeling”.
The house was only a couple of years old, so it sailed through inspections, my friend already had friends who wanted to rent it, things were moving along. Right before the end of the inspection period, the what if’s creeped in and I started to lose sleep. My husband tried telling me everything was fine, we were prepared, it was going to work out, he was rational. Still, I am the one who does the family finances, so I told myself if it didn’t work out, it would all be my fault that we were bankrupt and homeless (see a theme here?). Anyway, we made it through the inspection period, but now my fear kicked in full steam, wild-horse stampede mode. What if it doesn’t appraise? We won’t get the mortgage (not true)! We will have to pay all cash thereby draining all of our savings (also not true)! Those of you who know me, know that I am fiscally conservative, I am a Questioner (read The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin), I research and prepare. Yet I, almost always calm, cool and collected, was losing sleep over a purchase the felt right. I was barely functional due to lack of sleep. I backed into someone’s really nice car and that is what made me get a grip. After exchanging insurance cards with a really nice and understanding gentleman, I picked up the phone, called a great friend and relative who I knew could help me. The conversation went like this: Me “Hi. I need to ask you a question and your answer has to be ‘Yes'”. Him “Okay. What is the question?” Me “The question doesn’t matter, your answer just has to be ‘Yes'”. Him TOTAL SILENCE, but I could hear him thinking, “She’s lost her mind. How am I going to say yes when I don’t know the question” so Me “Do you trust me” Him “yes” Me “Would I ever ask you to do something that was illegal, unethical, or that would hurt you, your family or anyone” Him “No” Me “So if I ask you a question can your answer be yes” This time he didn’t even hesitate “Yes”. Me “Thank you. Good-bye”. I didn’t even ask him the question. I just knew that he had my back. I went home, slept soundly, and we closed on the house, which appraised OVER our offer.
Back in May, the National Association of Realtors released “Case Studies of Repurposing Vacant Malls.” Although none of them were in Florida, the case studies, and Morgan Stanley’s warning that 30-35% of U.S. shopping malls could close permanently, got me to thinking about what some of our local shopping malls have done to not close or have to repurpose.
New Restaurants from Groot Hospitality Coming to Coconut Grove
My favorite one of the moment is CocoWalk. Purchased in 2015 for $87.5 million by Federal Realty Investment Trust, Grass River Property, and Michael Comras, the property is currently undergoing a major renovation turning it into a modern, mixed-use center, with office, retail and entertainment. I am especially looking forward to the offerings by Groot Hospitality
I am not one of the people who believe retail is dead. I only think it is changing, from old and passive to new and exciting. As always, those with a vision like the new CocoWalk group, will bring the change required to revive and renovate commercial buildings that may be affected by the pandemic.
Yesterday, during Beth Azor’s Rockstar Book Club, we discussed the book ‘Indistractable‘, by Nir Eyal. In it, Eyal discusses the difference between external triggers (think social media, e-mail notifications, knock on the door by a colleague) and internal triggers (such as boredom, stress or fear) and how these triggers can lead us to either traction or distraction. The former moves us forward toward achieving our goals and the latter leads us away from them.
If we focus on the negative side of anything, we are vulnerable to distraction and, chances are, our outcomes will be negative. Many authors have discussed how we are hardwired to see things from a negative perspective. It is what has allowed us to survive and evolve. However, we can change the way we think about our triggers by identifying them, and coming up with several methods of dealing with the triggers. One of my favorites, was the identity pact. Here, you change the wording from a negative context (I can’t eat meat, I am not an athlete, I have to exercise) to a positive one (I am a vegetarian/vegan, I am athletic/active, I exercise). By doing so, you will define yourself or the situation positively vs negatively and that will change your mindset. Saying “Remember to” vs “Don’t Forget To” is similar.
This is not a new concept, but especially now, during a worldwide pandemic and when negative news and behaviors bombard us, I find it is worth remembering and practicing. What does this have to do with real estate? If your goal is to invest in real estate, open a business or expand or pivot a current one, avoiding the distractions and focusing on your goal will ensure that you can say, “I am a real estate investor/business owner”.
Commercial real estate is different from residential real estate in so many ways, starting with finding it! Residential real estate has local MLS, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, residential real estate company websites, and plenty of social media posts, pictures, and video.
Commercial real estate has always been a bit more elusive. Investors either relied on their network/word of mouth, commercial agent, or driving neighborhoods and knocking on doors. Commercial agents who didn’t have properties that met their investors’ criteria also relied on their network/word of mouth, driving neighborhoods and knocking on doors.
With the advent of the internet and rise of social media, real estate investors have become more efficient in their search for property and millennials are driving the demand for more information and data. As a result, there is a lot of money being spent on gathering commercial property data and developing new, on-line methods of marketing, some of which can be very expensive.
MIAMI Commercial, the commercial division of MIAMI Realtors, saw the need to provide both agents and the public with a transparent way of searching for commercial and investment property and, in September 2019, launched The South Florida Commercial MLS.
This platform takes all properties, excluding residential which are already on public platforms, that are listed in MIAMI Realtors MLS and allows the public to search for free, without registering or providing any contact information. It is intuitive and the searching public can choose to search in English, Spanish, or Portuguese, a variety of currencies, or in square feet or square meters.
The numbers relating to the public site for November are as follows:
4,064 listings
3,039 users
2,068 new users
25,087 page views
Argentina, Venezuela and China were the top four countries outside of the U.S that searched the site and the top three U.S. States outside of Florida were California, Texas, and North Carolina.
Searching for commercial property in South Florida? Your search just got a bit easier.
Renovation is nothing new to investors who look for value-add properties. Sometimes a fresh coat of paint, new fixtures, or an exterior update are all that is needed for a new owner to be able to boost rents.
Renovated Office Building on Red Road in South Miami, FL
I have read several articles lately about re-purposing buildings, and there is a great example of one in Coconut Grove. Touzette studios designed a mixed use office and retail building out of a parking garage.
Previous parking garage being repurposed to office – Mary Street, Coconut Grove, FL
The Shoppes at Sunset Place and Cocowalk are a combination of all three.
Construction of new office space at CocoWalk – Coconut Grove, FL
The other day I went into Marshalls and saw a whole display with purses. I thought it was a bit strange, since this particular display was front and center and quite a bit away from the other racks full of purses. As I looked closer, there was a sign that read Vegan Purses. Now it made sense. Marshalls was making it easier for vegan shoppers to identify purses that coincide with their vegan values.
Apparently, many businesses applied Forbes’ advice in Here’s Why You Should Turn Your Business Vegan in 2018. Although some industry leaders and innovators started well before 2018, the trend has definitely increased and become more visible this year. The number of vegan restaurants in Miami continues to grow with Planta opening and joining a list of other vegan eateries.
In addition to retailers and restaurants, other businesses are also finding a niche with vegan consumers. One of my favorite local designers, Deborah DiMare, is a leader in the vegan design space and her interiors, pictured here, are gorgeous.
So, in answer to my original question “Is Veganism Going Mainstream”, I think the answer is: “It’s already it already has”.
Spacious, open kitchen in Country Club Estates home
Spacious, open kitchen in Country Club Estates home
Looking to buy a home in Country Club Estates in Aventura, Florida? Then you need to call Cindy. She has sold 4 properties in the last two months; two of which never made it into the Multiple Listing Service and were sold off-market.
Country Club Estates, a luxury enclave of 80 single-family homes, is the only community of it’s type located on the prestigious Turnberry Golf Course. This private, gated community of luxury homes is an oasis in the heart of Aventura. Also known as Aventura Estates, this enclave is a wonderful place to call home due to both its size and location.
Cindy not only sells a lot of the homes in this luxury community, she also lives in the community and sits on the homeowner’s board, which gives her great insight into what is going on in the neighborhood. She loves living and selling in Country Club Estates because, “It is the only luxury single family home community in Aventura where we live and vacation all year long!” If you want more information on the lifestyle here, call her at 305-469-3222.
As reported in Vizzda’s Quarterly Report For South Florida Commercial Real Estate, the total dollar amount of multi-family sales in Miami-Dade County rose to $232,943,000 in the second quarter of 2018, up from $196,115,503 in the first quarter. This is approximately half of the $462,372,302 worth of sales in the second quarter of 2017.
The largest transaction was for Sundance Village Apartments, a 304 unit complex at 11325 NW 7 St., which closed for $65,600,000 or approximately $215,789 per unit.
What will third quarter activity look like? Stay tuned for our next report or subscribe to our blog, so you don’t miss it. Mill Creek Residential just closed on a 127 unit apartment complex in Dania Beach for $37.2 million. Will it make the top 5 list of largest transactions in 3Q2018?
