Amazing views from this beautiful apartment at the Verona in Deering Bay. Amenities available include: small and large boat marinas, golf, tennis, restaurant, pools, gym and peace and tranquility. Proximity to downtown Miami, airport, Coral Gables, South Miami, University of Miami, Baptist Hospital, Pinecrest and Dadeland and the Falls shopping centers make this the perfect location to call home.
The Coral Gables/South Miami area is so lucky to have two great cupcake places to choose from. Many of you have probably already heard of or tried Misha’s Cupcakes. The red velvet cupcakes are amazing and her cakes made out of individual mini-cupcakes are works of art as well as being convenient for parties…no plates or wasted cake.
A couple of blocks away on Sunset Drive is Buttercream Cupcakes and Coffee. Although they don’t make mini-cupcake cakes and their minis have to be special ordered, they have a larger variety of flavors. Their chocolate peanut butter cupcakes are amazing. Try both of these neighborhood places and let us know which one is your favorite.
Two Methods of Eating Cupcakes
The 59 Annual Beaux Arts Festival of Art is this Saturday on Sunday at the Lowe Art Museum on the University of Miami campus.
This event counts towards on of the New Year’s Resolutions For South Floridians.
As part of November’s Miami’s Celebrate Architecture + Design 2009, the Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables Home Tour is offering a self-guided tour today from noon to 4 with a lecture reception at 10:45 a.m. at Hava Head, a 1936 home built for Charles Baker. Tickets can be purchased at the start of the tour at 4320 Santa Maria Street for $30.
According to Forbes’ America’s Most Expensive ZIP Codes, South Florida luxury real estate is not faring too badly, compared with states like California. Granted, California has more expensive ZIPS according to the statistics used by Forbes and almost all of those ZIP codes show a decrease in price, but still, only four South Florida ZIPs made the top 500 list and only one, Fisher Island’s 33109 made the top 100 list.
Others on the list included Key Biscayne 33149 at number 199, Coral Gables 33146 at number 363 and Miami Beach 33154, which includes Indian Creek Village, Bay Harbor Islands, Bal Harbour, and Surfside, at number 494.
These South Florida cities have a high inventory, which will put a downward pressure on prices. The only city that did not see a decrease in it’s median home price was Coral Gables.
On Wednesday, July 28, at 9:00 a.m. the City of Coral Gables Commission will hear the first reading of an ordinance that would create a new and separate Fire Rescue Assessment Fee, which is currently collected from ad valorum taxes. There does not appear to be a guarantee that the current millage would decrease by the same amount of the new fire fee, so property taxes would increase and property owners would be paying twice for the same level of fire service.
Contact your Commissioners and let them know what you think.
A recent Forbes article rated Coral Gables, FL as one of the fastest moving luxury neighborhoods in terms of days on 
market. Forbes’ rating system, which is based on the 500 most expensive zip codes, is better than other housing indexes which cover too broad of an area to give an accurate picture of what is happening in a specific neighborhood, but their assessment also has some flaws. For example, for Coral Gables, which was rated number 5 by Forbes, the zip code they used was 33146. Don’t get me wrong, 33146 is an expensive zip code, but Coral Gables, which extends significantly further South from the better known business and restaurant district which is their formal downtown, has 7 zip codes! Based on an MLS search today, there were 69 Active listings ranging in price from $13.5 million down to $395,000 in the 33146 zip code. 14 of those listings were waterfront. However, there were a total of 261 Active MLS listings in the Gables, South of US 1. The most expensive listing was $49.5 million and was in the 33143 zip code, which also had higher closed sales prices. Having Forbes rate Coral Gables the 5th fastest moving luxury market, with an average of 66 days for the top 10 zips vs 115 days average for the whole 500 index, is great news for Coral Gables, but it doesn’t tell the story for luxury real estate in the Gables. There were several zips and luxury price ranges which had significantly longer days on market. When pricing your luxury home for sale or making an offer on your purchase of one, make sure you check with a local luxury expert.
Head over to the John Martin’s Irish Pub and Restaurant for the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, a huge block party with live bands and several food stations. The fun starts at 5 p.m. until midnight at Salzedo Street between Miracle Mile and Giralda Avenue. REMEMBER to wear green!
Head over to the John Martin’s Irish Pub and Restaurant for the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, a huge block party with live bands and several food stations. The fun starts at 5 p.m. until midnight at Salzedo Street between Miracle Mile and Giralda Avenue. REMEMBER to wear green!
Can’t wait for St. Patrick’s Day? Then plan on spending Saturday, March 14 enjoying Irish music, dance and food, at the Annual St. Patrick’s Day Irish Festival in Coral Gables.