Blueprint:Miami

Miami Amongst Top 50 Most Expensive Cities On The Planet

Human resources consulting giant Mercer released their annual cost of living survey, detailing the most expensive places to live on our growing-ever-more-crowded planet.  We can take great pride in the list this year: Miami has finally made the Top 50 list, coming in at #39, up from #57 last year.  New York is the most expensive city in the US, surprise surprise, and the 10th most expensive worldwide.

The rankings are based on prices of housing, transportation, food, household goods, clothing, and entertainment. 

Of the other US cities on the list, Miami was barely edged out by Chicago (#38--dang it!)  and got spanked by Los Angeles (#29) and San Francisco (#34).  All four US cities were ranked lower on the list last year.  It's becoming more expensive to be an American, apparently.

Morning News Roundup

News roundup:

• If you're not getting married, but you buy property together, what you need to know about co-ownership. What's love got to do with it? Well, nothing, really. Get it in writing! [Urban Trekker]

• Mortgages are on their way up. Will that stop people from moving to South Florida and buying property? No, this area doesn't play by the same rules as the rest of the US. But that won't stop reporters from whining about it. [Realty Times]

• Buying a house is starting to turn into a high-priced version of opening a new bank account. Sellers are offering incentives such as art work, trips...new canoes (?)...should we hold out until the signing bonus for a new house is another new house? Two-for-one! [Real Estate Journal]

• Cher's house is for sale again. Someone else already owns it, but it doesn't seem like he ever lived there, so it's alright to still call it "Cher's house." Why such a fast turnaround? Because those Key Biscayne house values are outrageously high. [Miami Herald]

One Hot Property: The Cricket Club

Perhaps it's odd to begin a property tour with the washroom, but with a bathtub like this, we couldn't resist.  You can buy this tub, as well as the rest of this property at The Cricket Club, and live in the splendor of a 2-storey penthouse with views of Biscayne Bay and the city.  Who doesn't need three kitchens?

Built in the 1970's, The Cricket certainly did see some wild times back in the heyday, with a lounge and an underground nightclub (now used as storage). It has recently had some work done--correction, a lot of work done--to give the place a face lift, and many of the units are new from floor to ceiling.  That means new counters, new fixtures, and no more shag carpeting...  although the 1970's mylar wallpaper will be missed.

For an online video tour of The Cricket Club's Penthouse 10, click here.

Generators Guarantees Give Grief

The New Miamian writes about her frustration over buildings that claim to have emergency generators, ready to save the day after hurricanes sweep through and knock out the power--but the generators usually supply electricity only to elevators and a few common-area lights.  Translation: people in condos are screwed just like everybody else.

Back when The Cricket Club (1800 NE 114th St) was built, in Miami's party heydey of the 1970's, architects connected the lounge to a separate generator...so even if the electricity gets knocked out, the bar can still make ice.  At last!  Finally, a building with proper priorities.  Who needs air conditioning when a stiff cocktail can cool you from within?

Kick Yourself 101: If Only You Hadn't Sold That House

Not to be completely nosy--but after spending all day looking up home values for every single person you know, it's pretty clear Zillow.com is a true obsession.  Just punch in any address, and click--there's a satellite picture of your ex's house, and a general value of how much it's worth.  Granted, it doesn't take into account all the work you put into it before its last reappraisal...the landscaping you planted, the Spanish tile you put down...maybe that's just me.

It's also fun to look up not-so-great neighborhoods that are ripe for development, and see the shocking real estate values--considering the buildings there now are roach-infested slums. For instance, click on the image above:  it's the neighborhood around 35th and Biscayne Blvd, right up against the (noisy) highway, where the nicest establishment is a Pollo Tropical.  Later we'll all line up later to kick each other, in our angst for not owning any of this land ourselves. 

You can also use Zillow to look up the home values for famous TV/movie homes, such as The Osbourne's LA mansion, or the infamous too-good-to-be-true "Monica's loft" in Friends.  Price?  Yeah, a lot.

Zillow, via Curbed

Get Your Morals Away From My Shopping Center

We live in Miami, right?

Just checking.

The Herald recently published a long, tabloid-esque exposé on the sordid past of real estate developer Mark Siffin, who has undeniably-positive notions for the burgeoning Performing Arts Center neighborhood.

Siffin wants to take some of the land around the PAC and (gasp!) not build condos--instead, build something for the people to do. (And maybe put in a parking lot, so people who are going to the PAC have a place to park?...because there isn't any parking built yet?...just an idea.)

The scuttlebutt: it seems Siffin had a few indiscretions with, oh I don't know, heroin trafficking or something. Oops. And the Herald's article blathers on as if it matters. Last time I checked, the real estate industry wasn't exactly a bastion of the moral and the chaste. Is this really the best the Herald can do?

Blah blah blah, the guy led a wild life. So did half the people in Miami. We have become too obsessed with Googling every name we see to drag out every little mishap. If he is the only one with the brains to realize something needs to happen before another condo goes up around the PAC, then let the man build his building. That neighborhood needs something besides a couple of fancy theaters. As long as we don't see Siffin on any Dateline stories about pedophiles.

Developer brings big plans, colorful past [Herald]

Enviro-Friendly Developments: Can Miami Compete?

On the list of awards that no one in Miami will win: The Florida Association of Realtors is holding it's annual Environmental Awards competition, the "ENVY" Awards, honoring developments that support environmentalism while still providing sexy digs for its residents.  Al Gore must be so excited.

FAR gives the awards to developments that make "the most significant contribution toward building in harmony with Florida’s sensitive environment" and "best preserves Florida’s natural quality of life."  And by "natural quality of life," they mean the actual environment, not the quality of life of the 7,000 people who move to the state every day.  Considering the fact that Miami is currently sticking buildings on every inch of available land in the city to the point there is barely any room for weeds to grow, and speed boats have mowed over all the manatees like a giant game of Whack-a-Mole, our city is not exactly a paragon of environmental consciousness.  But it would still be fun to try.

Deadline for submissions is July 7, 2006.

Flatiron Buiding

The proposed Flatiron Building, designed by Enrique Norten, is apparently planned for Brickell Village, based on this artist's rendering of the neighborhood. A Blueprint reader recognized the buildings on the street, and remembered the sign from years past that trumpeted the developers' desire to plant the behemoth on the tiny strip of land, proof that no speck of dirt in Miami is sacred ("and there shouln't be a f***ing high-rise in Brickell Village in the first place!" says the reader).

Despite our reader's discontent at seeing high-rise development in his once-lowslung neighborhood, it goes without saying the construction of this Flatiron Building would be more exciting than the preservation of the Sears "Tower" at the Performing Arts Center. Okay, that wasn't exciting at all, no one cared in the slightest. Nonetheless, these are the kinds of buildings, built by celebrity architects, that become tourist attractions in themselves. (What would that name be? "Celebritect?" "Archilebrity?") One can only dream of what those corner offices would be like. The views! BTW: Speaking of celebrity architects: where is our Frank Gehry museum?

Celebrity architects [IHT]

RELATED: Take a tour of Enrique Norten's fabulous architecture here. [Slate]

Chicago to save Miami's bubble

Doomsday real estate "bubble" soothsayers can take a big breath, thanks to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange: last week they announced plans to begin selling futures contracts based on home resale prices, giving skittish homeowners a chance to protect themselves from the threat of a real estate market crash.

Here's how it is supposed to work: say you have a home in Miami, where real estate prices have skyrocketed over the past several years. Since all good things must come to an end, you worry that there's too much construction, prices will fall, and your home will depreciate in value (translation: you'll "lose equity"). What to do, intrepid homeowner? Buy a futures contract to protect yourself.

Before you start hearing the voice of Charlie Brown's teacher, wah waaaah, wah wah wah waaaaah, allow me to explain a few things about what futures are: