Dolce & Gabbana is Now a Condo in Miami

Also: Messi is not my neighbor; a NYC Office landlord comes South

Dolce & Gabbana, Now In Miami Condo Form

The Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana will have its own branded tower on the Miami skyline.

The luxury designer is partnering with JDS Development Group on a 90-story skyscraper, with a pledge to add “glamour and grace” to each of its 259-condo units and a five-star hotel.

Glamour and grace don’t come cheap. Condo prices at the tower— where the smallest unit will be a one-bedroom — start at $3.5 million, according to a company statement. The most expensive residence will list at over $35 million. Sales at the project, at 888 Brickell Ave., will start next month.

Dolce & Gabbana bathroom at 888 Brickell (Photo: LL&Co)

JDS has a pedigree in tall towers, having co-developed an over-1,400 foot condo on Manhattan’s Billionaires’ Row, as well as Brooklyn’s highest building. Miami’s 888 Brickell, planned to rise to 1,049 feet, would be the highest allowed in the city by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Dolce & Gabbana will have its imprint in all matters of design and delicacy. It will design the interiors of each apartment, down to the wood, stone and furniture selections. And it will curate an on-site restaurant.

“The idea is to just show up, and everything is taken care of,” the firms said in a statement. “From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep, every whim and desire is anticipated.

888 Brickell, Dolce & Gabbana (Photo: Recent Spaces)

NYC Office Landlord Tops Out New Office Building… In Miami

L&L Holding Company, owner of prime Fifth and Park Avenue office towers in Manhattan, announced that it’s topped out construction of a new office building in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.

Structural work is now complete on the 12-story boutique building, which will offer 266,000 square feet of new office space, according to a statement yesterday by L&L and its development partners, Oak Row Equities and Shorenstein Properties. The office is part of a 1 million-square foot mixed-use project called Wynwood Plaza, that includes a rental apartment tower, shops and restaurants.

Claure Group, also an investor in the office project, will establish its headquarters across the entire 8th floor of the new building, taking up 25,400 square feet.

Personal injury law firm Weitz & Luxenberg will open its first office in Miami on the second floor, with 18,000 square feet.

The office building is expected to be complete in early 2025.

Wynwood Plaza office under construction (Photo: Shoootin)

Messi is Not My Neighbor

So Lionel Messi is not my neighbor. Inter Miami’s new soccer star ended his search for a suburban home this week with the purchase of a waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale for $10.75 million, the Real Deal reported.

The Broward County house has nearly 10,500 square feet, 8 bedrooms, and spans 170-feet of waterfront, so that passing boaters can admire the Messi family’s taste in real estate. And it’s within easy commute to DRV PNK Stadium, Inter Miami’s temporary home until 2025.

The sale puts an end to the real estate guessing game that my soccer-loving family and neighbors in Palm Beach County have been playing ever since Messi began his home search — something that went like “Hey, did you hear he’s looking nearby?” Rumors of chauffeured car sightings in fancy neighborhoods, alerts to pricey local homes that suddenly went into contract— all of it fed musings that he might soon be spotted at our local Publix or at some HOA meeting.

Anyway, the sellers of the house he actually bought — at 91 Compass Lane — got more than a brush with fame. They sold the home for 19% more than what they paid for it just 16 months ago. Good goals.

91 Compass Lane (Photo: MLS/Redfin)

Florida, Now 50% More Expensive

It’s not just Messi’s home that got costlier within a short time frame. Nearly every market in Florida saw — at minimum — 50% price leaps since the pre-pandemic period.

Jonathan Miller, CEO of appraiser Miller Samuel Inc., compiled some handy data, comparing median prices in the second of quarter of 2023, to the same period in 2019.

It might make you pine for time travel backwards.

In Boca Raton, the median home price jumped 62% since 2019. Naples saw an 84% increase. And in Palm Beach, the median home price more than doubled to $2.4 million.

Florida home prices — then and now

Have you heard? More news of the week:

  • Train to Mickey: Brightline will begin rail service from Miami to Orlando on September 22. (Palm Beach Post)

  • Hedge fund Citadel’s relocation to Miami is driving a shortage of luxury homes (The Next Miami) 

  • Affordable housing in a Boca parking lot: An affiliate of New York’s Macquarie Capital filed plans for an apartment project using the Live Local affordable housing act. (South Florida Business Journal)

  • Miami is the most competitive rental market in the U.S. A single apartment vacancy draws about 25 renters. (RentCafe)

  • Uh-Oh? Miami financial and tech firms are offloading office space in the sublease market (The Real Deal)

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