I drove by The Underline’s Brickell Backyard, the first phase of 9 phases, and am excited to see that construction has started. This ambitious project will convert 10 miles and 120 acres of unused space under the existing MetroRail into a vibrant linear park. In the process, it will transform the real estate along the 10 mile corridor as well.
If you do, congratulations! Warehouse is currently the most sought after asset class in South Florida. So many of the older warehouse areas, such as Wynwood, have been re-imagined into vibrant neighborhoods and the warehouses have been replaced with new offices, condos, and retail space. In an area where PortMiami and Miami International Airport are top international freight gateways, warehouse space is critical. I have buyers for both large and small warehouses.
NAR’s annual conference was held in Boston earlier this week, and there were several takeaways for those of us who buy, sell and own commercial real estate. Like the light shining forth to the Prudential building pictured above, Florida’s economy is strong and the future for bright.
Remember the movie Something’s Gotta Give starring Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves? Well this is nothing about that movie other than I thought of the title today while out on my morning run. It does have to do with Labor Day, however.
Although I normally run shorter routes during weekdays, I decided I would go on one of my longer routes along Old Cutler Road. What a mistake that was! In addition to being extremely dark at 5:45 a.m., the traffic was horrific! I couldn’t cross the street anywhere there wasn’t a traffic light, which I am sure made all of the commuters extremely unhappy. For the longer part of my run, I thought about where those commuters lived versus where they worked, what they were sacrificing, if anything, having to get up so early to get to work, do they have another choice other than sitting in traffic at the crack of dawn? So what do all of these questions have to do with real estate? A lot, I think.
Quality of Life was the first thing that came to mind during my musings. What quality of life do the commuters have? I know several people with long commutes, including my husband. We live in Pinecrest but he commutes to Port Everglades. We have considered moving, but love our neighborhood and he says he would rather commute and love where he lives than have a shorter commute and not like where he lives, but the truth is traffic is getting worse, his commute times are getting longer, and he has already been doing this commute a long time. Something’s Gotta Give.
Popularity of Live, Work, Play Communities – Places like Aventura, Downtown Miami/Brickell, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, Downtown Dadeland, have all been growing because people want to be able to minimize their time in traffic. Savvy developers, urban planners, and city officials, have been building condos and mixed use developments to meet the wants of a commuter weary public. The negative side of this development and the demand, is that prices in most of these areas have gone up so rapidly, that they are no longer affordable and residents of Miami-Dade County pay more than (**(% in housing. Teachers, firefighters, police and many service providers were probably sitting in that traffic. One of my friends is a teacher. She lives in Palmetto Bay, but commutes to her job at Beach High? Would she take a teaching job closer to home if she could get one? Does MDCPS consider an employees commute time/contribution to traffic, when they assign that employee to a school? A vibrant community needs to include affordable housing options or offer wages to compensate. Something’s Gotta Give.
Other topics that I thought about include the importance of having transportation and work options close to home as well as affordability, taxes, and mixed use neighborhoods, not just buildings. But those are all topics for other blogs.
Do you have a horrible commune? Do you have public transportation options? If you did, would you use them? Would you live closer to your job if it was affordable? Would you like to work closer to where you live if you could find a job? If you feel like sharing your answers, please do. If not, at least give the questions some thought and think about what your quality of life is versus what it could be if you didn’t have to spend so much time commuting.
As predicted by Baum+Whiteman, experts at creating destination-dining attractions, 2018 has been the year for plant-based dining and Miami is no exception. Ranked number nine on PETA’s 2018 Top Ten Vegan Cities, Miami has a diversity of vegan restaurants.
In addition to the more informal dining options such as Choices, Eden and Eden, and Glam Vegan, there are some pretty upscale options as well. Plant at Sacred Space is one of my favorites and you can’t beat the beautiful location.
Since Food and Beverage continue to be the retail darling in many centers, if you are a landlord looking to bring traffic to your space, or if you have a unique setting, consider a restaurant such as one of these top vegan restaurants in Miami as a tenant.
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?
Affordability has become a real estate hot topic over the last several years and is going to continue to be one for at least the next 5 years. As both millennials and baby boomers age, their demand on residential and commercial real estate are driving up prices at a time when incomes are close to stagnant and definitely not keeping pace with rising construction and real estate prices.
With boomers living longer and opting to age in place and millennials’ ability to work remotely due to advances in technology, cities and states that remain affordable to these two age groups should fare well and be considered for potential investment properties.
In Florida, some of the cities that have made “affordable best of” lists include:
In South Florida Miami and Hialeah: made Quicken Loans’ list of Most Affordable Big Cities in America
Tallahassee: on Realtor.com’s America’s Most Affordable Outdoorsy Cities 2018
Palm Bay and Port Saint Lucie both made Realtor.com’s list of America’s Most Affordable Beach Towns 2018 edition
According to Livability.com, the six most affordable places to live in Florida are Kissimmee, Palm Coast, Cape Coral, Palm Bay, Orlando, and Gainesville.
Cape Coral was also picked as one of the cheapest places where you’ll want to retire.
Although not all of Miami is affordable, according to Zillow the median home price in Miami-Dade County is $296,400, so there are pockets where both residential and commercial real estate is more affordable than in the higher priced areas, better known areas of the county. These pockets still have room for appreciation over the next 5-10 years.
Commercial real estate is booming in South Beach. In addition to the recently completed Marriott Residence Inn on 17th Street near West Ave., the Finvarb Group is building what will be a Kobi Karp designed Kimpton Palomar Hotel, right at the cross roads of Alton Road and Dade Boulevard, at the entrance to the hot Sunset Harbour District.
Just across Dade Boulevard and also designed by Kobi Karp, Saber Real Estate Advisors is building a retail development that will house Michael’s Craft store and a 160 seat restaurant.
In addition to the hotel and retail developments, 17 West, a mixed use project by Turnberry Associates is also coming to the immediate area and is bringing Trader Joe’s to the neighborhood.
In a sign of Florida’s continued attraction as a place to visit, live, work and invest, the National and Miami Association of Realtors 2017 Profile of International Activity states that foreign buyers purchased $153 billion of residential properties last year, approximately $50 billion more than in 2016. Though purchases were made throughout the U.S., Florida, Texas, California, New Jersey and Arizona accounted for 54% of the sales.
Out of Florida’s $24.2 billion of residential purchases by international buyers, South Florida accounted for $7.1 billion. Although the majority of these buyers were from South America, France and Italy were also in the top buying countries followed by Canada, Israel, Mexico, Russia and Switzerland. Increasing the diversity of South Florida’s population is great news and great for business! The top purchasing country in Miami-Dade was Venezuela 12%, in Broward it was Canada also with 12%, and in Palm Beach County Canada accounted for 31% of all international purchases.