Oren Alexander
The oral history of Miami’s residential boom over the past two years should be told in Spanish or Portuguese. Buyers from Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina and, of course, Brazil have taken Miami’s once-empty “condo canyon” and turned it into a bustling metropolis. But as these foreign buyers looking for second, third or even fourth homes — and armed with cash to boot — have plunked down millions in Miami, they have brought up prices dramatically.
For example, the median sales price of condos in Miami in September represented a 28.4 percent increase over the same period in 2011, according to data from the Miami Association of Realtors.
So the activity and the renewed interest in Miami as a place to live and invest have led to a series of never-before-seen prices, topped by the $47 million sale of 3 Indian Creek — the largest residential transaction in the history of Miami-Dade County.
The home, which was built on spec by developers Schlomy Alexander and Felix Cohen, was sold by Alexander’s son, Oren, with contributions from brokerages One Sotheby’s International Realty and Pulse International Realty. (For more on Alexander and other New York brokers who are now selling Florida properties, see “Southern exposure.”)
Jonathan Lief of Aventura Real Estate was the selling agent on the deal. The property had been listed by Coldwell Banker’s Jill Eber and Jill Hertzberg.
Indian Creek was the center of Miami’s luxury sales activity this year, with the top three sales on the list, according to data prepared by real estate brokerage and consultancy Condo Vultures.
The home has a 100-foot pool, a rooftop “sky bar,” 10 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms.
Indian Creek Island might hold the crown for exclusivity among Miami Beach’s already elite island communities like Star Island and Palm Island.
The second-highest sale was the $38.4 million deal for 14 Indian Creek, handled by Jorge Uribe of One Sotheby’s International Realty. That home, which was built in 2002, has around 17,700 square feet and 400 feet of water frontage.
And the third-highest sale was of the nearby 19 Indian Creek Drive, which moved for $18.56 million thanks to the aforementioned Eber and Hertzberg.
Together, One Sotheby’s and Coldwell Banker had the biggest presence on the top five deals list, involved in six of the 10 “sides” on those deals as listing agent or selling agent.
(Several other local sales were not featured on the list as they were not on the MLS; those include the off-market purchase by singer Julio Iglesias of 7 Indian Creek for $15.2 million and Calvin Klein chairman Barry Schwartz’s sale of his lot at 9 Indian Creek for $19.2 million.)
Miami Heat president (and former Heat and New York Knicks coach) Pat Riley made the list when he sold his home at 180 Arvida Parkway in the exclusive Gables Estates community in Coral Gables for $16.75 million. (Riley still owns his condominium at Apogee South Beach.)
Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell’s Audrey Ross was the listing agent and Dennis Carvajal of One Sotheby’s represented the buyer.
Rounding out the top five was the sale of a condo unit at Continuum South Beach, which moved for $16.2 million in a deal handled by Continuum South Beach Realty’s Macarena Gomez on the listing side, with Cervera Real Estate’s Luciana Barreto bringing the buyer.
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