Monthly Archives: May 2007

The two acre Grand Bay Club clubhouse property on Key Biscayne in South Florida has been purchased by Fortune International Realty.

“Obviously, we were attracted to the piece of property. It is important for us to acquire waterfront property when it is available.” said Fortune Principal Edgardo Defortuna.

It is unclear what will be the ultimate fate of the property, while for the moment the private club with its 450 members will continue to operate normally.

It is a possibility for Mr. Defortuna to combine the Grand Bay Club property with the adjacent Sonesta Beach Resort, which is currently owned by him. There was a recent approval of a redevelopment of the Sonesta property with 165 residential units in four to five towers.

“If the opportunity to put [Grand Bay and Sonesta] together and have the club as an amenity comes up, we will analyze that,” Mr. Defortuna said. “For now, we are prepared to run and improve the club.”

Want to be a condo flipper? Concerned about condo conversions?

Well, the good news is that buyers of converted condominiums are going to be getting better contractual protections.

The bad news for real estate investors interested in condo flipping is that it’s going to be harder to rescind contracts before closing.

What does this mean for consumer protection?

“We realized that in condo law, there are strong protections for buyers of condos that should be in place for conversions as well,” Florida senator Gwen Margolis said. “Additional disclosures are needed,” she said. “These are not brand-new buildings. The buyer needs to know what condition the unit is in. Engineers have to stand by their reports.”

What this bill does is that it will insure tighter scrutiny of conversion inspection reports. Before this bill passed, there was no remedy for the condo purchaser. Developers who convert their apartments to condos will now have to establish a converter reserve fund for deferred maintenance and capital expenditures.

What does this mean for condominium flippers?

Condo flippers will now have more difficulty in proving that a developer violated contract terms. Although a developer is obligated to give a good-faith estimate of updated unit costs, the differences between the estimates and actual costs will no longer equal a material modification.

“If you’re a flipper and you want your money back, you may not like the bill”, Pete Dunbar, former chairman and a member of the state’s Condo Advisory Council, said. “People who intend only to flip have to find a way out. Now the question becomes what constitutes a material modification?”

North Miami is getting an update.

A new zoning code for the 80 year old city looks to improve the look of North Miami real estate for its residents with one major change: maximum height of buildings.

Why does North Miami need this change?

Long ago, in the 1970′s, a restriction was put in place to limit the height of buildings to four stories and 25 units per acre. North Miami citizens saw the big nine-story buildings in Biscayne Boulevard and didn’t want that for their town. Although this helped them maintain their more small-town feel (only 60,000 residents) it has drastically hurt their ability to grow with the times and the rest of South Florida. “People thought Biscayne Boulevard was going to become a canyon,” North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns said. “But the restrictions in the old plan have caused the city of North Miami to become stagnant while surrounding communities like Aventura and Sunny Isles have experienced good growth.”

So what are you going to be seeing in North Miami?

Big buildings. 110 feet high buildings to be exact. They can be 10 stories if a residential tower and 8 stories if a commercial property. Mixed-use development will also be found in North Miami – this means multiple story structures with retail business space on the ground floor and apartments or offices on the upper floors.

Is there any sort of partnership involved?

Boca Developers has been granted a 200-year land lease in exchange for $35 million a year in income to North Miami. Mayor Burns says this will be funding the North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency. Another $25 million will be given by Boca Developers for renovation and expansion of the North Miami library and a new Olympic training facility.

Anything else being updated by this new plan?

It’s going to be updating the more than 30-year-old park plan – focusing on buildings and facilities.

How will this affect the North Miami population density?

Currently North Miami has a citizen size of 60,000. This new plan projects a population size of 80,000 in 2025.

“We’re proud of the residents we have, and we’d like to help them,” Mayor Burns said. “We want to be a community where people are proud to live.”