💸 Billionaire Change of Address

🌴 Happy December!

Lots to share from the South Florida real estate week that was: Home prices forecast to climb (more!) in ‘24; Miami Heat forward scores a cool luxury condo; more room for croissants; and yet another briefing on Miami’s newest billionaire. Let’s go!

Jeff Bezos Brings His Yacht, Wants an Office

It’s been less than a month since Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced he’s moving to Miami after 29 years of living in Seattle.

This week, he submitted the billionaire’s version of a change-of-address form:

He brought his 417-foot yacht.

And his company is seeking to lease a substantial chunk of Miami’s premium office space.

🛳️ Bezos’ vessel, Koru — which means “new beginnings” in Maori — is the largest sailing yacht in the world, according to Oceanco, the company that built it. It’s so big, in fact, that it doesn’t fit in the section designated for superyachts at Port Everglades.

So Koru is docked alongside two 600-foot oil tankers and, at one point, a cruise ship.

It costs $137,000 a day to upkeep the $500 million yacht. Plus $2,400 daily to dock at Port Everglades, reports Luxury Launches.

🏢 While Bezos’ yacht is settling in, Amazon —where he remains executive chairman — is on the hunt for 50,000 square feet of office space in Miami.

That’s a sizable demand in a market where there’s now less office space available for lease than there was in 2019, before the pandemic, according to brokerage CBRE.

Amazon has 400 employees in South Florida, dispersed across several co-working spaces, according to published reports. The company is seeking its first direct lease.

🏢 A lease that large would be no problem in most other urban office markets, where commercial space is going begging. But it’s a tougher lift in Miami — where financial and legal firms have snapped up much of the prime offerings.

“Given the unprecedented demand levels, it is unlikely any upper echelon space lingers on the market,” CBRE said in its most recent market report.

Miami’s newest office building may be fully leased with corporate tenants. But there’s always room for croissants.

New York City’s French bakery chain Maman, which is expanding south along with its customer base, announced this week that it’s opening a fourth location in South Florida.

Maman signed a lease for a 2,590-square-foot space at 830 Brickell, the newly-built office tower in Miami’s Financial District that’s attracted legal and finance firms including Citadel, Microsoft, Thoma Bravo, and Kirkland & Ellis.

The eatery will open at the end of 2024, according to Brand Urban, the retail brokerage and advisory firm which represents Maman in its growth plans.

The French bakery and cafe with 31 locations will add as many as 10 new shops in Florida over the next few years, Brand Urban advisors said in an interview with Highest & Best this month.

Three other locations coming now are in Miami and West Palm Beach neighborhoods heavy with high-end office development —and with relocated New Yorkers who are familiar with their baked goods.

🏠 Median Home Prices in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale metro area are projected to rise 5% next year, according to a 2024 forecast by Realtor.com.

🏠 Nationally, home prices are trending in the opposite direction: down 1.7%

🏠 Silver lining for the budget-conscious: rents are down a bit in the Miami metro area. The median monthly costs of leasing an apartment fell 1.6% in October from a year earlier to $2,475, according to Realtor.com

🏠 Could be because a wave of new apartment construction is giving renters choices. This year, 20,906 newly built apartment rentals will be added to the Miami metro market, according to RentCafe. That’s fourth place in the U.S. for new apartment deliveries this year.

🏠 But the cheapest rent is none at all: 25% of Miami-area millennials, ages 26 to 41, live with parents or a family member of a different generation, according to a report by RentCafe. That’s a slightly higher share than in San Francisco, where it’s 23%.

Miami Heat Player Buys Miami Cool Condo Seeking $4.6 Million

Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson purchased an apartment listed at $4.6 million in a yet-to-be built condo development in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood, according to the project’s developers.

The 29-year-old New Hampshire native agreed to buy a 3,000-square foot, 3-bedroom apartment at Villa Miami, a planned waterfront tower with its own helipad, dock — and its very own New York-based restaurant group.

Major Food Group, owners of celebrity sighting dining spots like Carbone and Miami’s private ZZ’s Club, is bringing its brand to the project, overseeing all its culinary offerings and experiences, plus the design of a chef’s kitchen in every residence.

“Imagine MFG touching every part of your day,” promises the project’s website. “Arrive home by helicopter; spend the day unwinding in the building’s Mediterranean spa or skimming across the bay by boat; stop by a wine tasting in the members’ lounge, and revel late into the night at the city’s best new restaurant, which just happens to be downstairs.”

The 58-story tower, slated to start construction next year, is being developed by Miami-based firms Terra and One Thousand Group.

 

That’s it for today!

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