New York couple buys US$47 million penthouse in Miami St Regis

[MIAMI] A New York couple will pay US$47 million for a penthouse at a St Regis-branded condo building in Brickell, Miami’s financial centre, extending a boom in South Florida luxury home prices. 

The price point is just shy of the condo record for mainland Miami, said Nick Perez, president of the condominium division at Related Group, which is developing the St Regis Residences, Miami, with Integra Investments.

A pair of penthouses at the planned Mandarin Oriental residences went under contract for a record US$49.9 million each in March. 

A rush of wealthy newcomers seeking lower taxes has been raising the ceiling on high-end real estate in Miami, which has recently been outpacing traditionally pricier markets such as New York and San Francisco in ultra-luxury sales.

There have been 24 home sales over US$30 million in the greater Miami market this year, compared to two in 2019. 

“A lot of people love our weather, and mainly love our no state income tax – that’s a huge benefit we have here in the luxury space,” noted Perez, the son of billionaire Jorge Perez, who founded Related Group. “Our very top-of-the-market projects are outperforming the rest of our portfolio.” 

The two-floor penthouse, to be used as a family home, has five bedrooms and 10,000 square feet of interior space. It also comes with a rooftop deck with a private pool, spa and outdoor kitchen.

About 80 per cent of the condos at the St Regis have been sold, generating about US$900 million in sales, said Nick Perez, adding that a US$28 million sale is also closing. 

With 152 units, the building designed by architectural firm Robert AM Stern will have a residents-only restaurant with room-service options, plus amenities including a waterfront infinity pool and a private marina on Biscayne Bay. The project is scheduled to be completed next year. 

SEE ALSO

A Silicon Valley enclave topples Miami island as the most expensive US ZIP code

Brickell lies in Miami’s urban core and has become the epicentre of “Wall Street South”, with firms like Citadel, Thoma Bravo and Apollo Global Management establishing major offices in the neighbourhood.

Billionaire Ken Griffin is developing Citadel’s future headquarters across two blocks in a Brickell development that will include a skyscraper office building, a hotel and apartments. 

While several condo sales have topped US$50 million on Miami Beach and the exclusive Fisher Island enclave, Brickell and downtown condos generally haven’t commanded prices at the very top of the South Florida market. 

Now, as New York City rolls out a new tax on highly valued second homes, Brickell-area developers are targeting the ultra-rich with a crowded pipeline of branded luxury condos, betting that buyers will pay top dollar to be in one of the city’s most walkable neighbourhoods with a high concentration of premier office towers.

Perez said that the pool of buyers started out as half foreign and half domestic, but more recent sales have skewed heavily toward buyers from the northeastern US.

Most customers are planning to live in Miami for at least a substantial portion of the year, rather than using the condos as investment properties or rarely-visited vacation homes.

“It’s not going to be your typical Miami building that’s empty half the year,” he added. BLOOMBERG