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CasaDecor 2007 Opens in Downtown Miami

Posted on November 14, 2007 | 1 Comment

From the Miami Herald:

More than 50 spaces decorated by interior designers, architects and students can be explored by the public during the nearly six-week run of CasaDecor ’07, an unusual ”show house” housed in a parking garage in downtown Miami.

The exhibition opened Thursday night with a gala to benefit DIFFA, Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, and will remain open until Dec. 16.

History of CasaDecor

Since its inception in 1985 in Buenos Aires, CasaDecor has been transforming abandoned landmarks, municipal buildings, churches and castles in Europe and Latin America into decorated show houses where the public can view the latest design trends and technologies.

In 2006, CasaDecor transformed the venerable Miami Women’s Club into four floors of designer rooms.

Visitors to this year’s show house will be greeted by a whimsical sculpture created by lighting designers Suzy and Phillip Stapleton. Suspended from the ceiling in the entry, the sculpture is constructed from old auto, plane and boat parts plus a 1936 Cadillac hood ornament.

The couple also created two large, colorful chandeliers made from mosaics from Trend USA, an international tile manufacturer based in Florida. The chandeliers grace the restaurant just left of the entrance.

CasaDecor a.k.a. Casa Mosaic

In fact, CasaDecor might be dubbed ”Casa Mosaic” as mosaic tiles are used lavishly throughout the 30,000-square-foot first-floor space in the parking garage. The space is owned by Paco Martinez, an actor who has played in many films with Clint Eastwood. The exhibition also includes 20,000 square feet of gardens.

The show house includes lofts, apartments, bathrooms, studios, libraries and hotel suites. In one luxurious bathroom designed by Renata Pfuner the mirrors above the twin lavatories are TV screens. If you get bored combing your hair, you can watch the news.

Designer Fanny Haim created an all-white hotel suite that includes a spa. Designer Billy Blanco’s library has a trio of curving chandeliers and shelves that lean diagonally. In a spa dubbed Earth and Water, designers Rudy Hernandez and Norma A. Galella used tile that mimics wood for the multicolored floor.

Students from the SCAD Savannah School of Art & Design created a bar with a large round chandelier consisting of dozens of suspended light bulbs in many sizes and shapes.

Jefre Figueras Manuel, an Orlando-based landscape designer, created the garden master plan for CasaDecor. The outdoor spaces are connected with a unifying diagonal canal, beginning with Manuel’s Lexus Hybrid Living Sculpture Garden. At the entrance to the show house, the centerpiece of the space is a Lexus RX 400th hybrid luxury sport utility vehicle.

Architect Chad Oppenheim has created a whimsical secret garden filled with unexpected treasures. The space blends lush vegetation with luxurious comfort and features baroque exterior furniture.

Perhaps the most colorful exhibit is one by architect Luis G. Pons, who created a children’s playroom with inflatable turquoise, orange and yellow beach balls that he glued together to form chairs and lounges. He fashioned large chandeliers for the outdoor space from children’s blue inflatable swimming pools.

More than 60 designers, architects, manufacturers and sponsors are involved in CasaDecor ’07, plus students from Florida International University, Miami Dade College and the Miami International University of Art and Design.

Designers presenting at CasaDecor

Luis G. Pons, Aponwao Design; Juan Carlos Arcila-Duque, Arcila-Duque Furniture Interiors; Mariel Hautoux and Fabienne Carmine, Art & Maison; Cristina Souza and Joanna Tamer, Avant Design Group; David G. Blanco and William Jurberg, Billy Blanco Designs; Consuelo Castaneda; Cristobal Gabbaron; David ”Lebo” Le Batard; Dimitri Tolstoi; Doug and Gene Meyer; Douglass Lodmell; Fanny Haim & Associates; Garcia Caridad & Asociados.

Also, Miguel Garcia Caridad; Daniela Saliba, Homaison Interiors; Humberto Poidomani; Iran Issa-Khan; Juan Carlos Rosas, JCR Design Studio; Jefre Figueras Manuel, Jefre Design; Rodolfo J. Hernandez and Norma A. Galella, Leo A. Daly;

Max Strang Architecture; Osirys Mendez, Mendez International; Cristina Canton, Peter Nedev, Elizabeth Cardona, Nikolay Nedev, NC-Office; Hugo Mijares, One D+B Miami; Chad Oppenheim, Oppenheim Architecture + Design; Paulo Brida and Jack Lonetto; Marlene M. Liriano, Lilia Gonzalez and Pat Bosh, Perkins + Will.

Also, Renata Pfuner and Eduardo Busso, Pfuner + Busso Design; Piret Johanson, Piret Johanson Design; Glenn Wallace Jr., SCAD Savannah College of Art and Design; Filippo Bertoncello, Simonetta Bussandri; Stapleton & Stapleton; Kay Witte, Sebastian Eilert and Carl Hildebrand, XO Living; Marcos Zucaratto, Zucaratto Design.

IF YOU GO

CasaDecor ’07′s official address is 1444 Biscayne Blvd., but the entrance is on Northeast Second Avenue between 14th and 15th streets. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is $22.50 for a single day and $55 for unlimited admissions. There is a parking lot adjacent to the building as well as parking in the building above the first-floor exhibition space. It will remain open until Dec. 16.

For information, call 888-882-2349 or visit www.casadecor-usa.com.

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Downtown Miami’s Skyline Looks To Be Stretching Skywards

Posted on October 30, 2006 | 2 Comments

Out of the rubble of Old Miami is emerging the new face of Miami, a dense, steel-and-glass forest of condominium towers.

The rate of expansion is breathtaking. More than 114 major projects are under construction in the urban core of Biscayne Bay. Across Miami, developers are proposing 61,000 new condominium units, more than eight times the number that has been built during the past decade.

One of the projects planned is the tallest skyscraper in Florida, a 74-story behemoth, taller than any residential building south of Manhattan, with almost four million square feet of retail space (imagine two Aventura Malls side by side) and parking for upwards of 100,000 cars.

“You have a wave of development underway here in Miami that is unprecedented, bigger than anything, bigger than Hong Kong in the boom years of development,” said former Portland councilman Charles Hales, a transportation consultant working on a plan for a Miami streetcar line.

Downtown Miami Skyline in 2004Where is the money to fund these real estate projects coming from?

Money is arriving from places such as Latin America, New York, and Europe. The push for this money coming to Miami is due to numerous market forces converging at the right time – interest rates being slashed, cheap dollar, and a worldwide obsession with Miami among the wealthy and “chic”.

What does this mean to the downtown Miami area?

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and Miami Commissioner Johnny Winton are hoping that this boom can reverse downtown Miami’s long decline. The plan is to convert the long decaying streets into a hip, working urban hub with a strong and vibrant street life.

“Just five years ago we were broke; we had zero development,” Winton said. “I’m going to bet you that when we’re done – I don’t know when that will be – historians will identify this as the most significant and rapid transformation of an American city.”

What does this mean to the rest of Miami?

This boom not only is remaking Miami’s skyline, but also the streets, the neighborhoods, and the population. This boom, if it stays on track, will offer a different Miami – more congested and urban but also with a more cosmopolitan feel and most likely wealthier, due to high condominium prices.

How will this affect business in downtown Miami?

As residents move into the downtown area, businesses, shops, restaurants, services, and retailers will follow.

“It becomes a self-reinforcing cycle,” said Neisen Kasdin, a land-use lawyer and former Miami Beach mayor. “Yes, there will be a large segment of temporary residents, but as the city continues to grow as an international business city, it leads to the continued growth of a permanent community.”

“We used to sit here and say, ‘Someday,’” said Miami Planning Director Ana Gelabert-Sanchez, alluding to the city’s long-frustrated hopes for a downtown revival. “Well, someday is here.”

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Condo-Hotels: Questions and Answers

Posted on September 2, 2006 | 12 Comments

What is a condo-hotel?

A condo-hotel (also known as a condotel or hotel-condo) is a building that is used as a condominium and a hotel. The building is created as a hotel but the units are sold to people who want to own a piece of real estate in a popular resort area and enjoy the amenities and convenience of a top-notch hotel with the bonus of rental revenues. The real estate investor that owns a condo-hotel unit can now rent this room out as a standard hotel room and receive a stream of income from their investment. When you buy this unit, you own a portion of the hotel property. You buy that hotel suite and you receive a deed for it. This means that your hotel suite is all yours. Apart from the actual unit, you also own an undivided portion of all the common areas of the hotel (lobby, hallways, pool area, gym, etc).

Condo-hotels are usually given to the buyer fully-equipped and fully-furnished to the buyer as a complete real estate turn-key property investment. Note that in a condo-hotel real estate investment, you also enjoy hotel services as part of ownership – services such as room-service, maid service, massage services, hotel nightclubs, and more.

So let’s say I buy a condo-hotel unit for rental income purposes. How do I manage the rentals?

Most condo-hotels have an onsite hotel rental program that manages your property. You are usually free to choose your own rental service, but remember to ask your Realtor to check the contract! Your room is then rented out to hotel tenants and you share in the rental revenue.

What is the standard split of the room revenue that a unit owner shares with the hotel?

Owners usually keep 35 to 40 percent of the rent generated by the room.

Besides the cost of actually purchasing the unit, are there any ongoing costs with owning a condo-hotel unit?

Condo-hotel units, like other condominium units, usually have a monthly maintenance fee attached to them. For example, at the Nicky O South Beach, the maintenance fee is $1.60 per square foot (of your unit). So a 400 square foot unit would have a monthly maintenance fee of $640. All utilities are usually paid by the condo association and/or hotel, including insurance. Besides the maintenance fee, your only other costs would be property tax (assessed each November) and interest on your loan (if you borrowed funds from a lender to finance your unit).

What’s a typical occupancy rate and daily rate for a hotel in the Miami Beach area?

For example, the 194-room Delano luxury hotel in Miami Beach posted an occupancy rate of 72 percent in 2005 with an average daily rate of $474.

Why would a developer create a condo-hotel instead of just creating a hotel?

Creating a hotel costs a lot of money. When development costs go up, hotel development costs can make developing new hotels difficult (especially in such a high development cost area such as the South Florida area). Since the developer is now selling the units as individual condominiums, the development cost burden now shifts in large part to the real estate investors who are now becoming condo-hotel owners.

Are there any condo-hotels in the South Florida area?

Luxury Condtel Opening in the Miami Beach area Nicky Olivia Hilton, daughter of Richard Hilton and Kathy Richards (and heiress of part of the Hilton Hotel chain), has created the Nicky O South Beach, located on 940 Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. The focus of the Nicky O South Beach is on design and designers. Nicky Hilton has commissioned some of the world’s top designers to create hotel suites in their style. Even the hotel staff will be dressed in designer clothing. Designer Roberto Cavalli will be creating the 5,000-sq. foot penthouse in this South Beach hotel in a gold theme that mimics his retail stores. The Nicky O condo-hotel units start at $500,000.
Economical Condohotel in the Grove The Mayfair Hotel & Spa is a 179 suite condo-hotel in the bustling Coconut Grove area of South Florida. Each Art Nouveau-style rooms is unique with private, furnished terraces including Japanese spa tubs. The outdoor courtyard is the prime location of the hotel, with fragrant orchids, botanical gardens, etched wooden doors, and stained-glass windows welcoming the hotel guests. Located on 3000 Florida Avenue, the Mayfair suites range in size from 400 to 970 square feet and range in price from $200,000 to $500,000.
Cheap Condominium-Hotels in South Beach Florida The W Hotels South Beach Residences, located on 22nd Street and Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, has condo-hotel units starting at $800,000.
Hotel-Condos in Fort Lauderdale Florida for Sale and Rent The Atlantic Condo-Hotel, located on 601 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd in Fort Lauderdale, is a 15-story oceanfront condo-hotel with 124 units starting at $470,000.

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