7 New Residential Towers Proposed For Barrier Island In Miami-Dade County

Developers are proposing seven new residential towers - at least four projects of which are slated to be condominiums - in the barrier island city of Bay Harbor Islands in Northeast Miami-Dade County, and in the process have boosted the total number of proposed towers to at least 92 in South Florida since the real estate crash began in 2007, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com. 

The seven proposed residential towers - ranging in height from six- to nine-stories tall - represent a combined 55 floors with nearly 370 units to be built on a series of islands located between the wealthy barrier island enclave of Bal Harbour and the mainland city of North Miami, according to town of Bay Harbor Islands records.

With the four new proposed condo projects slated for Bay Harbor Islands, at least 13,450 condo units have been announced for the tricounty South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties as of Dec. 11, 2012, according to the Preconstruction Condo Projects list compiled by the licensed Florida brokerage CVR Realty™.

Some five years after the South Florida condo market began to stall, the new 23 Biscayne Bay condo tower has already been completed in the tricounty region and 14 other highrises - Aventura's Bellini At Williams Island; Greater Downtown Miami's 1100 Millecento Residences, Brickell Citicentre (two towers), BrickellHouse, and MyBrickell projects; Hollywood's Apogee Beach; Key Biscayne's Oceana (two towers); Miami Beach's Residences At Miami Beach Edition; Palm Beach County's 4001 North Ocean project; and Sunny Isles Beach's Chateau Beach, Mansions At Acqualina and Regalia - are under construction as the post-crash development era gains momentum, according to a new CondoVultures.com report.

CondoVultures.com has recently completed its profile of condo trends in the third quarter of 2012 in the seven largest coastal markets in the tricounty South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.   

The Condo Vultures® Market Intelligence Report™ published a seven-part weekly series that analyzed the markets of Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Hollywood / Hallandale Beach, Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach, Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach, and Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island.

Fueled by investors primarily from overseas, less than 2,900 new condo units remain unsold from a supply of nearly 49,000 units created since 2003 in South Florida’s seven largest coastal markets of Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Hollywood / Hallandale Beach, Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach, Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach, and Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island as of November 5, 2012, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.

The total number of unsold new condos does not include any of the more than 8,000 units that were purchased in bulk transactions by investment groups that plan to one day resell the units at a premium, according to the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database™. 

A majority of the newly proposed condo units are not expected to be completed until 2014 when the unsold developer inventory from South Florida's last real estate boom and bust is projected to be sold. 

In Bay Harbor Islands, plans call for the proposed Club At Bay Harbor with 42 units, Edgewater with 41 units, Harbour Park with 20 units, and the Ivory with 41 units to be condominiums, according to government records. 

It is unclear if the proposed Bay Harbor Residences with 60 units, Island House with 93 units, and Royal House with 72 units  - all of which are scheduled to be discussed at the Bay Harbor Islands Planning and Zoning Board Meeting on Dec. 18, 2012 - are slated to be built as rental or condominium towers, according to government records.  

During the last real estate boom in South Florida, several rental towers were converted into condominiums prior to completion or shortly thereafter, industry watchers said.

It is unclear how many of the other proposed towers could get built in the short term as construction financing is challenging - and expensive - to secure, industry watchers said.  

To overcome the obvious financing hurdle, most of the newly proposed projects are requiring prospective buyers to commit to deposits - to be paid in phases - of as much as 80 percent of the preconstruction contract price, industry watchers said.

During the most recent South Florida condo boom, preconstruction buyers were generally asked for deposits of about 20 percent, industry watchers said.