🛥 Billion Dollar Bay Boom

In partnership with

Happy Sunday Highest & Best! Today we’re talking launches and levies. Here’s the rundown:

🙋 Miami voters approve a $2 billion island transformation
😲 Florida property taxes are surging
⚓ Fort Lauderdale’s high roller harbor plans

Let’s get to it!

This Miami Island is Getting a Makeover — With Voters’ Blessing

The voters have spoken.

Watson Island, a diamond-shaped land mass that connects Downtown Miami to Miami Beach with an elevated roadway through it, will soon become one of the city’s biggest redevelopment sites.

Miami voters overwhelmingly gave the go-ahead this week for two major construction plans that would bring hundreds of condos, hotels, office space, retail and a waterfront promenade to the 86-acre, city-owned island in the middle of Biscayne Bay:

🏝 Nearly 59% of voters approved the sale of 5.4 acres on the Island’s north side to a private development group for $135 million. That group, Ecoresiliency Miami, will build a pair of condo buildings, with a combined 600 luxury units. The developers — a partnership between Terra and ESJ Capital (which owns the animal theme park Jungle Island) — would also build a 13-acre public park.

🏗 On the island’s south side, 62% of voters approved the sale of 3 public acres to Merrimac Ventures (the developer of Miami Worldcenter) and BH3 Management for a project called Watson Harbour. The partnership will pay at least $25 million for the site, at 888 MacArthur Causeway, upon which they plan a 40-story hotel with up to 105 luxury condos on top.

And they’ve got voter permission to build a second hotel, with up to 350 rooms, plus offices and retail on seven other acres that Merrimac and BH3 lease from the city. The green-light from voters commits the developers to also contribute $9 million for affordable housing elsewhere in Miami and create a public promenade along Watson Island’s waterfront. ⚓

All told, that’s about $2 billion worth of development approved for the island, according to the Miami Herald.

⏪ Catch up on recent Highest & Best issues:

• Office Sours?, Oct. 26, 2024

• Leaping Listings!, Oct. 18, 2024

• Milton and Milestones, Oct. 11, 2024

Start learning AI in 2025

Everyone talks about AI, but no one has the time to learn it. So, we found the easiest way to learn AI in as little time as possible: The Rundown AI.

It's a free AI newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the latest AI news, and teaches you how to apply it in just 5 minutes a day.

Plus, complete the quiz after signing up and they’ll recommend the best AI tools, guides, and courses – tailored to your needs.

Sign up to start learning.

Florida’s Big Boom…. in Property Taxes?  

Sky-high home insurance rates get a lot of heat for making Florida housing unaffordable. But surging property taxes also share some blame.

Florida is home to three of the five major U.S. metros where property tax bills rose the most since 2019, according to a report by brokerage Redfin.

😲 In Miami, the median monthly property tax bill jumped 48% since 2019 to $367, the brokerage said. The increases were higher in Jacksonville and Tampa, where property taxes rose 60% and 57% respectively.

Blame the newcomers?

 🧐 An influx of new Floridians since the pandemic has sent home prices skyrocketing, amid record demand to buy. And while costs have eased from their peak, assessed home values—the foundation for property tax calculations—remain higher than they were in 2019, according to Redfin.

🏋️‍♀️ Florida’s growing population has also increased the burden on government services, like schools and roads, compelling some municipalities to raise taxes. Throw inflation into mix, as those public services now cost more too, Redfin said.

👋 The property tax burden might push some Floridians to leave, Redfin estimates. In a survey by the brokerage, 21% of homeowners and renters living in Florida say they plan to move in the coming year, in part to seek relief from high property taxes.

See Redfin’s full property tax report here.

Fort Lauderdale’s Nautical Glam Moment

Could Fort Lauderdale be America’s answer to Monaco? Or perhaps a place where life mimics the feel of an Italian yacht?

Why not both? 🤷‍♀️

Two glitzy new developments were unveiled this month in the city already known as America’s yachting capital. And the lofty visions abound:

🛳 Miami’s Related Group is re-imagining Fort Lauderdale’s largest marina, Bahia Mar, as a “Mini Monaco.” Think towering condos (starting at $4.4 million), a posh hotel for the see-and-be-seen crowd, a beach club and upscale shopping—all balanced on 40 acres of land and water, with plenty of space for yachts.

“Fort Lauderdale — and South Florida in general — has been waiting for a true destination that has a Monaco-like feel,” said Nick Perez, president of the condominium division for Related Group, told CNBC. “We have the deep water marina, we have the restaurants, but we don’t have this five-star resort that encompasses everything.”

The $2 billion development, to be built with Tate Capital and Rok Acquisitions, will graciously send off the old DoubleTree hotel on the site and replace it with a 200-room St. Regis. The marina will offer yacht slips for vessels up to 350 feet long — for those times when 300 feet just isn’t enough.

⌛ The project is scheduled to open sometime in late 2029, CNBC reported.

🛳 Next up: "Riva Residenze,” billed by its developers as "the superyacht of waterfront residences,” and designed to evoke the life of a seafaring tycoon—minus the pesky waves or risk of queasiness.

The 20-story waterfront tower, branded by Italian yacht maker Riva, will have 36 residences starting at $3.5 million and climbing to the double-digit millions for two 8,800-square-foot penthouses, according to the developers.

Homes at the project, at 3019 Harbor Drive, will have the style sensibilities of a superyacht designer, including chrome finishes and custom leather stitching. Of course, there’s also a private marina, with six slips for yachts up to 65 feet.

The venture behind the project include local firms WellDuo, Vertical Developments and GCF Development.

That’s it for today!

Like what you’re reading? Send it to a friend.

Or send Highest & Best directly to your inbox by subscribing here: https://highest-and-best.beehiiv.com/subscribe