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January 06, 2006
Icon Las Olas Pre Construction Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate
Icon Las Olas
Reservation deposits to begin mid January 2006 with an expected sellout in 1 or 2 days.
Located on the old Hyde Park market site on the New River at 500 E Las Olas Blvd.
1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments.
Call 305-936-2489 if you want an opportunity to reserve one of these most sought...
Icon Las Olas has been approved for 278 units in luxury high rise building of 42 stories. It is located on the old Hyde Park Market site at 500 East Las Olas Blvd, next to the Stranahan House and on the New River.
There are 1, 2 & 3 bedroom units available, ranging in size from 844 sq ft, 1 bedroom, to 1,925 sq ft, 3 bedroom.
We expect Icon Las Olas will sell out within a day or two. Call us to discuss how you may be able to reserve one of these apartments!
Icon Las Olas
500 E Las Olas Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Price Range: $500,000 - $1,500,000
Completion Date: 2009
Developer: Related Companies
Icon Las Olas is the much anticipated 42-story luxury condo to be built at 500 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Formerly the site of Hyde Park Market along the New River, this is no doubt the best location in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
One side faces Las Olas Boulevard, another a public space and historic landmark, and to the south it faces the water and Riverwalk, the breezy walkway connecting all of the new waterfront condominiums and office buildings downtown.
When completed in 2008, the shape, location and size of this tower will certainly make it an icon, a visual symbol of the City of Fort Lauderdale, in much the same way that the Arch symbolizes St. Louis and the Transamerica Tower symbolizes San Francisco, for generations to come.
Such a distinctively shaped tower will add a new dimension of grace to our downtown skyline and bring 272 glamorous new residences to fashionable Las Olas Boulevard.
The distinctive four-fronted, football shaped tower will offer a pool on the eighth floor and a hot tub on the roof.
The ground floor will welcome owners and guests into a stylish lobby and provide 15,000 square feet of high-quality retail space for boutique shops on the boulevard. Expect two restaurants, one on the River and one at the plaza as well.
Along with the large oval swimming pool, echoing the oval shape of the tower, the eighth floor will provide a club/party room, fitness center, lush bamboo garden and a beautiful water fountain.
To maximize views, the first six floors of the building will be a seven-story garage.
When completed, it is planned to reach a height of 455 feet, taller than recently completed River House by three feet, making it the tallest building downtown.
It was designed with an "abundant use of glass, stucco and aluminum" that help link it visually to the River House Luxury hi-rise condo several blocks to the west.
This project was delayed for years because of legal wrangling over the proximity of the site to historic Stranahan House, one of the oldest structures in the area and a vestige of the city's past. It once served as as a post office, bank, trading post, town hall and home to Frank Stranahan and Ivy Cromartie, two names central to local history.
Given the amount of wrangling that took place to get this project approved, it could be the last luxury hi-rise condo we'll see in Fort Lauderdale's downtown for some time to come.
If you have been waiting for a pre-construction opportunity, this is it. Preliminary floorplans are available now.
Pre-construction prices are anticipated to start at only $600 to $650 per square foot.
Register Now to be first to receive price information when it is available, and first to reserve choice residences at Icon Las Olas. In the first round of pre-construction sales, you will be able to reserve a unit with a minimum deposit of $50,000.
This is a project of the Related Group, the well respected developer responsible for Aquazul and Las Olas Beach Club among other noteworthy condominiums in Fort Lauderdale.
In Miami this dynamic private company has quite literally changed the skyline, pioneering the downtown condominium movement while creating pedestrian friendly environments. According to the Miami Herald (04/18/05), Related's stated 2004 revenue of over $2 billion.
Word has it that the developer will include a public space and "an eight-story historic mural, photograph or mosaic" on the wall facing the historic landmark according to the news report.
Related Group has taken remarkable steps to preserve or improve the character of the areas surrounding their buildings, including purchasing land across from Aquazul for a Botanical Garden and lighted tennis courts.
In developing Las Olas Beach Club, they retained the facade of the historic Lauderdale Beach Hotel, incorporating it into the design of the new structure.
Register Now for price and floorplan information when it becomes available, and be among the first to reserve residences at Icon Las Olas.
Icon Las Olas has been designed by Sieger Suarez Architectural Partnership of Miami. The redeveloped site will include a public plaza on Las Olas Boulevard in front of the Stranahan House, which will make the landmark visible and part of an attractive public space.
Check back here for the sure-to-be-breathtaking renderings of the interior spaces at Icon Las Olas luxury condominium.
And watch this website for the latest on new construction in Fort Lauderdale as new projects come on line.
For more information regarding the above web blog, please call Dean or Bonnie Isenberg at 305-936-2489 / 800-819-5466 or visit us on-line at A-Realtor.Com
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 07:04 PM | TrackBack
Porto Vita Condos In Aventura / Porto Vita
Located on the Intracoastal, Porto Vita is rising majestically on the last and choicest site immediately north of Turnberry Isle in northern Dade County, a meticulously designed and impeccably crafted luxury community the likes of which South Florida never before has seen. A world apart from the everyday, Porto Vita offers a world of grace, tranquility and good taste where discriminating residents may indulge their appetite for life.
At the heart of Porto Vita stands the opulent Villa Grande, inspired by classic Italian renaissance architecture and meticulously crafted by old world master artisans to stand as a testament to those who can, and do, live life on a grand scale.
Within a short walk of every residence is the exclusive Villa Grande Club, a treasured jewel that is removed from the rest of South Florida and the world.
Created by internationally renowned architect Gian Enrico Fabro, a foremost expert in the field of historic Italian restoration, the Club is a masterpiece of grand art and sophisticated pleasure. Fabro and his staff scoured the Italian countryside for more than a year to assemble the precise antiques, materials, finishes and master craftsmen needed to imbue the Villa Grande with authenticity and grandeur unparalleled anywhere else in the world.
The Villa Grande’s graceful, timeless design is accented by polished, imported marble, rich Italian walnut and authentic antiques, transforming its welcoming sun-baked stucco walls and warm terra-cotta barrel tile roof into a sanctum of supreme privilege. An interior of exquisite Venetian stucco, painstakingly applied -- inch-by-inch -- by an Italian expert, beckons members to luxuriate in the splendor within. Sheltered from care, enraptured by beautiful imported objects d’art, Porto Vita residents are surrounded by relaxing ambience that regenerates the spirit of Europe’s golden age.
Recreational and leisure amenities reveal the true dynamics of a community, and nothing says more about the talents and achievements of its resident members than the Villa Grande Club at Porto Vita, South Florida’s most exclusive residential enclave.
Broad, sweeping terraces open to the tranquil paradise that is Porto Vita, inviting the lush outdoors into Villa Grande’s epicurean formal dining room and enchanting casual dining area. Members may relax in the impeccably appointed rooms, enjoy their meals outside under clear, deep blue and starlit skies, or create an intimate gourmet experience in the Club’s private dining room. The nearby cozy piano bar, sports lounge and card room, with rich walnut wall paneling and wood-beamed ceilings invoke the sense of warm well-being found in traditional old world pubs.
Residents may refresh body and spirit with state-of-the-art cardiovascular and Cybex weight equipment and fitness amenities in tastefully appointed exercise and aerobics rooms. Ornate men’s and women’s saunas, steam rooms, whirlpool grottos accented by Italian tiles and adorned with delicate frescos, and social rooms invite members to linger in their private paradise that includes amenities such as massage and personal training. Those who choose the outdoors are welcomed into a superb tennis complex, or may simply relax poolside, serenaded by the sounds of lightly cascading water from a charming, Atlantean fountain.
A very personal domain, the 35,000 square-foot Villa Grande Club is the most exclusive club of its kind in the world, reflecting the stature and good taste of every Porto Vita homeowner. The centerpiece of a grand and varied social life, Villa Grande’s luxury and gracious amenities are owned by its resident members, preserving for all time the standards of excellence that have earned Porto Vita acclaim as The Ultimate Limited Edition Lifestyle.
For more information regarding the above web blog, please call Dean or Bonnie Isenberg at 305-936-2489 / 800-819-5466 or visit us on-line at A-Realtor.Com
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 06:53 PM | TrackBack
Today's News From The "I-Team" Miami Florida Real Estate
Today's Top Real Estate News
Provided by Inman News
Posted by South Florida Realtor at 06:42 PM | TrackBack
Investors are unknown factor in 2006 real estate market
While housing and finance industry economists say they don't expect the real estate boom to turn to doom and gloom this year, they do say that the record run-up in housing prices and sales has run out of steam, and 2006 should be an above-normal year but probably won't make the record books.
There is an asterisk for these predictions: How real estate investors react to this downturn could foil the forecast and potentially be devastating for the housing market and overall economy, economists said during an economic outlook presented Thursday by the Homeownership Alliance, a national coalition of housing and finance organizations.
While housing has been an economic boost over the past several years, this year the housing market could be a slight drag on the national economy, the Homeownership Alliance economists generally agreed.
"It's difficult to follow the strongest year ever," said David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors trade group, which has about 1.2 million members. "The boom is obviously winding down. That's what we're all saying and observing." Existing-home sales should drop about 4 percent to 5 percent this year, compared to the 2005 levels, Lereah said, and new-home sales should drop about 5 percent to 6 percent year-over-year.
Price drops are possible in some "very, very hot metro markets," he added, though "it's very difficult to know which markets they will be right now." Nationwide, though, Lereah expects home-price appreciation to be up about 6.1 percent this year, compared to a rise of 13 percent in 2005.
As for investors, Lereah said, "Investor activity is by far ... the biggest risk that the housing sector is going to face this year, because investor activity had gotten to levels that we had never seen before. And we are in uncharted territory." Speculators who bought properties to flip quickly may be left at a loss, as interest rates are rising and the market is in transition from a seller's market to a buyer's market.
David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders trade group, said, "I think the biggest risk would be for investors not only to stop investing, but to move those units back onto the market in large volume, and that could create a bigger problem. This is kind of new to us," he said, adding that it's a "major uncertainty" where investors would put their money if they pulled it out of the real estate market.
"All of us will be observing keenly," Lereah said. In March 2005, the Realtor trade group released a study that showed a high level of investor activity in the housing market: 23 percent of all homes purchased in 2004 were for investment, and another 13 percent were vacation homes.
Frank E. Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac, said rising energy prices also have the potential to disrupt the overall economy and could potentially lead to higher-than-expected increases in the mortgage rate.
The panel of economists said they expect the Fed will soon stop its trend in raising the federal funds rate, which they expect will level off at about 4.5 percent to 5 percent this year.
There will likely be no quick solution to affordability problems in markets where home-price appreciation has outpaced income growth, though 2006 may see income growth more in-line with price gains, economists said.
Nothaft said that areas that have experienced 20 percent or more appreciation for the past several years and have also had high levels of investor activity may be at particular risk as the housing market cools. Investment activity in Las Vegas, for example, has accounted for close to 40 percent of purchase activity, he said. "What will happen in Las Vegas in the coming year? It's very hard to say."
Refinancing activity should be down about 14 percent to 15 percent this year compared to 2005, and that should lead to lower consumer spending relative to refinancing cash-outs, he said.
Nothaft also said he expects the share of adjustable-rate mortgages to tail off in 2006, from about 30 percent of the overall share in 2005 to 25 percent of the overall share, and he also expects declining activity in interest-only and other unconventional mortgage products as there is "more regulatory scrutiny and pressure on lenders."
Seiders estimated that new-home sales, which increased about 6.7 percent in 2005, should drop about 6.6 percent this year, while existing-home sales should drop about 4.8 percent this year.
David Berson, chief economist for Fannie Mae, said he predicts an 8 percent drop in new- and existing-home sales this year, with home-price appreciation of about 3 percent. Berson said his forecast is down largely because of a high level of investment activity in the real estate sector.
"Our data ... suggests that the investor share of the market has been at record levels and rising ... and the investor share has effectively doubled over the past three or four years. Investor demand is always more volatile than other housing demand," he said. Investors appeared to pull out of some markets toward the end of 2005, he said, and that trend could continue this year.
Overall, though, the housing market still looks good, he said. "It's still not a bad year for housing -- just not the record year we've had for the past couple years," he said.
For more information regarding the above web blog, please call Dean or Bonnie Isenberg at 305-936-2489 / 800-819-5466 or visit us on-line at A-Realtor.Com
Click Here To E-Mail The “I-Team”
Click Here To Request More Information About The Above Web Blog
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