New 18-Story Condo Tower Planned For Ocean Drive Site In South Beach Published on 7/1/2012 8:31:25 PM 
A private equity group is reviving plans to construct a condo tower on the famous Ocean Drive in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach as the coastal market increasingly shows signs of recovering from the dramatic South Florida real estate crash that began in 2007, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.
The proposed 120 Ocean Drive project - originally dubbed the Kallisto - is envisioned to be an 18-story condo tower with 10 units immediately north of the popular steak restaurant Prime One Twelve, according to the Preconstruction Condo Projects list from the licensed Florida brokerage CVR Realty™.
The developer - a entity controlled by the Boston-based Congress Group - purchased the three-parcel site with a combined 17,250 square feet of land for $8 million in October 2005, according to Miami-Dade Property Appraiser records.
CondoVultures.com profiled South Florida new unit sales by project in the first quarter of 2012 in the seven largest coastal condo markets in the tricounty region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
Beginning the week of April 16, 2012, the Condo Vultures® Market Intelligence Report™ published a seven-part weekly series that analyzing new condo sales trends in 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.
South Beach is a 24-block long neighborhood in the barrier island city of Miami Beach that stretches from South Pointe Drive north to 24th Street, the Atlantic Ocean west to the Venetian Islands, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To South Beach™.
Developers created 37 projects with nearly 5,600 units in the South Beach neighborhood during the South Florida real estate boom beginning in 2003.
Prior to the real estate boom, South Beach - a historical district with a large number of Art Deco, low-rise structures - had 110 condo projects with 10,800 units.
As of March 31, 2012, buyers have purchased about 5.7 million square feet of condo space for nearly $3.4 billion, representing an average price of more than $590 per square foot, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.
The newly announced 120 Ocean Drive - which was originally proposed before the South Florida real estate market tumbled a few years ago - increases the number of proposed condo towers in South Florida to 46 with nearly 7,900 units in the tricounty region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach as of July 2, 2012, according to the Preconstruction Condo Projects list.
Fueled by investors primarily from overseas, less than 3,900 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 March 31, 2012, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.
As of July 2, 2012, at least nine condo towers - Hollywood's Apogee Beach; Miami's Brickell Citicentre (two towers) and MyBrickell projects; Key Biscayne's Oceana (two towers); Sunny Isles Beach's Regalia; Aventura's Bellini At Williams Island; and Palm Beach County's 4001 North Ocean project are under construction, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.
In the second quarter of 2012, construction was completed on the 23 Biscayne Bay tower, marking the first newly conceived condo project built since South Florida's condo crash that began in 2007, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.
It is unclear how many of the other proposed towers could get developed 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.
It is important to note there are various stages to a residential real estate transaction in South Florida.
A transaction begins when a property is made available for sale and ends when a title is conveyed from one party to another party as a result of the recording of a deed with the local government.
As part of the process, a property typically goes under contract and into a due diligence phase by which a deal can be canceled.
The CondoVultures.com new condo sales report is based on completed transactions where a deed is recorded and taxes paid as a result of the sale.
Condo Vultures® LLC is a real estate consultancy and marketing company based in the 225 Midtown Building at 225 NE 34th St., Suite 209B, Downtown Miami, Florida, 33137. Condo Vultures® LLC can be reached at 800-750-0517.
Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports to stay informed on the latest market trends and to find out about our various Condo Vultures® Seminars. Looking for a property at a deep discount? Take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or view our Video Library. Looking for bulk projects direct from developers or lenders? Visit the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database™. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™, Official Condo Buyers Guide To South Beach™, Official Condo Buyers Guide to Sunny Isles Beach™, Official Condo Buyers Guide to Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach™, Official Condo Buyers Guide to Hollywood / Hallandale Beach™, Official Condo Buyers Guide to Downtown West Palm Beach™, and Official Condo Buyers Guide to Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach™, are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.
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