Miami’s newest luxury condominium towers are tapping into a surge of domestic buyers fueled by the city’s desirable quality of life, lower business and living expenses, and Florida’s tax-friendly policies. At Missoni Baia and Una Residences, two new luxury towers under development by OKO Group and Cain International in Miami, approximately $74 million in sales have been completed in the last 60 days. The vast majority of units sold have been purchased by domestic buyers, reflecting the influx of new residents pouring into South Florida from cold weather and tax-burdened states.
This recent surge in sales from domestic buyers is the latest example of how business and wealth migration is fueling the South Florida condo market. The pandemic, coupled with people and companies looking to relocate from major U.S. cities – specifically in the Northeast and Midwest regions – to tax-friendly states with reduced business and living expenses, is enticing out-of-state residents to make the move to South Florida, with this trend expected to continue throughout 2021.
According to a recent report by brokerage ISG World, domestic buyers have taken over as the leading source of new condo purchases in Miami and Fort Lauderdale during the pandemic, with only 3.9 percent of recently completed units remaining unsold in December 2020. The latest statistics support that fierce competition and ballooning prices for single-family homes in South Florida are driving buyers toward condominiums instead.
“We’ve just had our best month of sales, and we’re seeing demand for condos intensify as the inventory of single-family homes continues to dwindle and Miami’s newest residents put emphasis on low maintenance, high-touch service and amenities that only a condo can offer,” said Vanessa Grout, CEO of OKO Real Estate, the sales and marketing arm of OKO Group. “Now that remote work has become so prolific and many people can work from wherever they choose, we’re seeing buyers from cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco making the move to South Florida. They’re attracted by our lifestyle, our diverse culture and business community, and an overall quality of life.”
Now under construction, Missoni Baia and Una Residences are being developed by a partnership between OKO Group, one of South Florida’s most active and successful luxury development firms helmed by international real estate mogul Vladislav Doronin, and Cain International, a privately held investment firm with over $6.3 billion in real estate equity, debt and leisure business investments led by Jonathan Goldstein.
“This accelerated sales momentum reaffirms our strong belief in Miami’s innovation, culture and lifestyle and its future as a global gateway city. We are extremely pleased with the progress across our Miami portfolio and look forward to delivering two world-class developments to the city’s residential market and welcoming their residents in the near future.” said Jonathan Goldstein, CEO of Cain International.
Designed by Hani Rashid of Asymptote Architecture, Missoni Baia is a 57-story luxury residential tower now rising on Biscayne Bay in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood. As the Missoni brand’s first-ever residential project, the Italian fashion house is incorporating its trademark colorful design palette and Missoni Home furniture collection into the tower’s vibrant interiors, including all public spaces and amenity areas. The waterfront tower’s 249 residences range from one- to five-bedroom layouts measuring between 776 and 3,788 square feet in size. Units are priced from approximately $950,000 to upwards of $9 million. Construction of the 649-foot-tall tower is well underway and is expected to be completed in late 2021.
The 47-story Una Residences tower, designed by internationally renowned Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), is situated on Miami’s waterfront in the city’s picturesque and private South Brickell neighborhood. Private elevators open up into the glass tower’s 135 spacious residences, which range from two- to five-bedrooms and measure between 1,100 to 4,786 square feet in size – with all units boasting unobstructed views of the Atlantic Ocean, Biscayne Bay and the Miami city skyline. Units are priced from $2.2 million to $7.4 million, with two ultra-exclusive penthouses with private pools priced up to $21.6 million. Construction of the 579-foot-tall tower is underway, with completion expected in 2023.
Additionally, OKO Group and Cain International are developing 830 Brickell, a class A-plus office tower also designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, currently under construction in the heart of Brickell’s Financial District. OKO Group’s plans to bring an Aman Hotel & Residences to Miami Beach were also recently approved by the City of Miami Beach. Construction of the ultra-luxury development is expected to start this year.
Cain International was recently appointed to lead the strategic reposition of the famed Delano hotel in Miami’s South Beach, adding to the firms growing hospitality footprint across global gateway cities. Cain’s additional US hospitality investment assets include the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and the Raffles Hotel and Residences Boston Back Bay. The firm has also partnered with OKO Group on the financing of the Aman Hotel & Residences in New York City’s historic Crown Building.
