🫣 Markdown Madness

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Happy Sunday Highest & Best! Here’s a rundown of the real estate week that was:

😲 Florida tops nation in condo discounts

🦎 A fresh iguana restaurant?

💸 Crypto twin billionaires coming to Wynwood

🚨 Bankruptcy auction for this new Miami office

🙌 Miami’s biggest-ever affordable housing plan

Let’s get to it!

Florida Leads U.S. in Condos Sold Below Asking Price

If you're shopping for a condo discount, Florida might be the place to start.

Nationwide, 68% of condos that sold in February did so for less than their original asking price, according to a report this week by Redfin. It was the highest share for that month in five years.

In Florida, the discounts ran even deeper.

🏆 Florida leads the nation in condos sold below list price, accounting for 8 of the top 10 U.S. cities where the whittling was the largest. Here's how the markdowns stack up, based on sales data from February:

😕 Fort Lauderdale: 92% of condos sold below the original asking price.

😲 West Palm Beach: 91% of condos sold below the asking.

 😬 Orlando: 85% sold below asking price. And meanwhile: the number of new listings jumped 31%.

🫣 Miami: 93% of condos sold below asking price. (Except here, the asking prices actually climbed 7.9% year over-year).

The condo market has been cooling rapidly across the U.S. Rising insurance premiums and stricter safety regulations have driven HOA fees higher, making condo ownership less attractive, Redfin said.

In Southeast Florida, most condo listings are in buildings over 30 years old—and they’re feeling the squeeze of a new state law requiring long-deferred structural repairs. As steep special assessments pile up to cover those costs, many owners are racing to sell, flooding the market with supply just as buyer demand is cooling under the pressure of rising expenses.

“A lot of senior citizens on fixed incomes can no longer afford their monthly payments,” Tim Harper, a Redfin agent in Orlando, said in the report. “And a lot of other condo owners just want to move because they’re tired of dealing with rising HOA fees and special assessments.”

Below is a chart, by Redfin, of the metros with the largest share of condo listing discounts:

⏪ Catch up on recent Highest & Best issues:

• Boca’s Big Bet, March 29, 2025

• The Big Bounce, March 18, 2025

• Fresh-Squeezed Condos, March 8, 2025

Big Tech Has Spent Billions Acquiring AI Smart Home Startups

The pattern is clear: when innovative companies successfully integrate AI into everyday products, tech giants pay billions to acquire them.

Google paid $3.2B for Nest.
Amazon spent $1.2B on Ring.
Generac spent $770M on EcoBee.

Now, a new AI-powered smart home company is following their exact path to acquisition—but is still available to everyday investors at just $1.90 per share.

With proprietary technology that connects window coverings to all major AI ecosystems, this startup has achieved what big tech wants most: seamless AI integration into daily home life.

Over 10 patents, 200% year-over-year growth, and a forecast to 5x revenue this year — this company is moving fast to seize the smart home opportunity.

The acquisition pattern is predictable. The opportunity to get in before it happens is not.

INVEST BEFORE BIG TECH MAKES THEIR MOVE

_{Past performance is not indicative of future results. Email may contain forward-looking statements. See US Offering for details. Informational purposes only.}

Iguana Open a Restaurant? Brokers Did Too

Gotta respect the hustle.

Last week, Fort Lauderdale’s Berger Commercial Realty nailed the perfect real estate April Fools’ prank, and in the process, proved just how hungry brokers are to chase a lead.

In an email blast to its contacts, the brokerage announced the launch of “I Wanna Iguana,” a restaurant concept seeking multiple South Florida locations for its “free-range” lizard cuisine.

The vision? “Always fresh” iguana delicacies, just like grandma used to make. Menu items would include: iguana stew, iguana tacos, Kentucky Fried Iguana, and iguana smoked ribs. (Which raises the question: do these critters even have ribs? OK, I Googled it—yes, they do.)

The future restaurant would consider retail space of all sizes, preferably near canals and Florida Power & Light easements, where daily catches are plentiful, the pitch materials said.

More than two dozen brokers eagerly responded with potential locations, from Coral Gables to Palm Beach, according to Berger broker Calder Alfano, who shared the story on LinkedIn.

“Unfortunately, those listing agents and diners will have to go elsewhere for free-range iguana,” he wrote, revealing the prank.

Well played.

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Crypto Twins Double Up in Wynwood

Gemini—the cryptocurrency exchange founded by billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss—is placing its next bet on Miami’s office market.

The New York-based firm signed its first South Florida office lease, taking nearly 9,000 square feet at 545wyn in the Wynwood neighborhood, according to the building’s leasing brokerage, Blanca Commercial Real Estate.

Gemini will move into two suites on the third floor of the 10-story office building by May, joining a tenant roster that includes Sony Music, PwC, and MIAX, the latter of which opened South Florida’s first-ever trading floor last year. (Blanca agents also note: a third suite on the same floor, with a balcony, is still available!)

Gemini’s arrival “speaks volumes about Wynwood’s evolution from an arts district to a magnet for top-tier technology and creative companies,” Juan Ruiz, vice chairman of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, said in a statement.

While tenants from outside the the region have generally pulled back on finding Miami office space, Wynwood’s had a good run lately, especially from tech and finance firms setting up regional hubs.

Amazon made headlines earlier this year with an over 50,000-square-foot office lease — the largest ever in Wynwood — at nearby Wynwood Plaza, less than a mile from Gemini’s new home.

(545wyn was completed in 2020 by Chicago developer Sterling Bay).

Elsewhere in Wynwood, a Bankruptcy Auction Looms

The Gateway at Wynwood is finding out that shiny new Miami architecture doesn’t always equal stable cash flow. The property (delivered in 2021) is now facing a potential sale at a bankruptcy auction.

The Gateway’s owner, New York’s R&B Realty Group, stopped making payments on a $113 million loan in 2023. A judge later ordered the building sold to cover the debt, which now totals $111.9 million (with interest and fees).

In a bid to stall foreclosure and sort out the mess, the owners filed for bankruptcy last year. And so far, it’s not the comeback story they hoped for.

The core issue: the building isn’t fully leased, and it would cost another $10 million in commissions and other improvements to get it there, according to court filings cited by the South Florida Business Journal.

With no luck refinancing the loan or securing new investors, a sale of the Gateway is back on the table. “The status quo is no longer acceptable,” the debtors said in court filings.

The potential auction would include the 14-story Gateway (with 195,000 square feet of offices, 25,000 square feet of retail, and 490 parking spaces) at 2916 N. Miami Ave., plus a nearby building housing a Chase Bank branch.

A hearing on the proposed bankruptcy sale is scheduled for May 1.

Miami Just Said Yes to Its Biggest Affordable Housing Project—Ever

🏗️ Miami-Dade County just greenlit the largest affordable housing plan in its history.

In a unanimous vote last week, the County Commission approved the $3 billion Little River District—a 63-acre redevelopment that will bring more than 5,700 affordable and workforce housing units to Miami’s Little River and Little Haiti neighborhoods.

The county entered into a 99-year lease with SG Holdings (a joint venture between Swerdlow Group, SJM Partners, and Alben Duffie) to transform a mix of county-owned public housing sites and nearby private parcels into a new, pedestrian-friendly community. Current public housing residents on the site are guaranteed the right to return to new units at Little River District—without any increase in rent, according to the developer.

Alongside the thousands of apartments, the project will include: 370,000 square feet of retail (anchored by Home Depot and BJ’s), a developer-funded $35 million Tri-Rail station, and 250,000 square feet of public green space.

Miami-Dade officials project the county will generate about $9.5 billion in revenue (through annual ground lease payments and developer fees) from the new community, the development group said.

Construction kicks off in 2026, with an estimated timeline of eight years to complete the project.

That’s it for today!

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