St Regis Brickell

3. The Pedigree and Experience of the St Regis Brand

St. Regis is an established hospitality brand. This condo offers all the services commonly seen in a St Regis hotel such as their signature spa, Tea Room, and the Cognac room. It has the St Regis amenities and butler services but does not have the hotel element in the building. Hospitality-branded Condos have historically performed very well in Miami. With a pedigree of experience, they proved to be more economically resilient than other condos. Take St Regis in Bal Harbour, the Ritz Carlton in Sunny Isles, or the Four Seasons in Brickell or Surfside. St Regis is not branded just for the sake of branding but provides a superior experience to the residents in service and amenities. Their performance is a testament to that.

Below I have provided a graph showing the past performance of the hospitality brands against the general market. If you track their appreciation in percentage, you will see that the increase of these buildings exceeds competing buildings without a brand name. Furthermore, some ‘non-hospitality’ branded condos that entered the market with a brand name as part of their selling strategy performed the worst.

Another advantage of the St Regis brand is that the brand will not allow for cutting corners. The team behind St Regis in Brickell is one I highly regard and one that enjoys a proven track record. However, we all know construction costs have increased considerably and value engineering is one way to save money. In the case of St Regis, the brand cannot afford anything less than perfection.

4. Primary Residences and Well-Considered Floor Plans

There are no cheap seats on this condominium floor plan. With that said, the front two-facing units are the most desirable and expensive. Every floor offers four residences. The smallest residences are still expansive (the two-bedroom units measure 2,600 SF). There is no abundance of small units in the condo, which is the case in many other Brickell condos. This tower will cater to a high-end buyer and is, therefore, more likely to be bought by primary residents comparable to investors. As a result, there will be a higher ratio of end-users in the future and fewer renters. Ask me for data on rental-dominated condos against more primary condos. I can show you how the two differ in appreciation performance.

The floor plans embrace the modern way of living with lots of open spaces, a great flow, and a large social area that enjoys expansive water views from the moment you enter. Quick note, unrelated to floor plans, the 4+ bedroom residences will get 3 parking spaces with additional valet service. Maybe not important to some, but unique for the Brickell market to get that many parking spots with a unit.

What Floor Plan Do I Prefer?

If you ask me about my preferred floor plan the answer is the B line. Important to know is that in Miami, the Southeast units tend to be most desired as they are facing the water and receive more sunlight. The B-Line is such a South East facing floor plan. In addition, it has a deep east-facing terrace and an additional terrace facing south. You need to be over the 20th floor to clear the neighboring condo in the south and enjoy unobstructed views.

I would also recommend the A-line, however, I heard last week that the entire line is sold out. They have not even broken ground and the entire line is sold!

The Importance of Views

With our guidance, we can help you understand the views. This WILL AFFECT FUTURE VALUES. Why? Because direct water view units are in much lower abundance than partial or city view units. Consider New York, as a much older city, buildings with views over the Hudson or Central Park have seen incredible increases in value because their views have remained the best. Increasingly the neighborhood gets denser, so you will find fewer and fewer of these. We use our drones to show clients what the views will be like from any elevation. Below a certain floor level, the views drastically change on both front and back.

Buyers who combine units to create even larger residences are also potentially making a wise decision. An unusually high number of unit owners have already opted for this at St Regis. Larger units are hard to come by in Brickell. Over time I have seen many units sell as combinations and the subsequent staggeringly high appreciation. Consider our combined 87 Park units (1102/1106), which we sold for $21,000,000 – 25% more than the owner originally paid.

5. The Location of the St Regis Brickell Miami

St Regis Brickell will be built on one of the last waterfront lots that are available in Brickell. The residences are located in the South part of Brickell. This part of Brickell, in my opinion, is much better than being in the core of Brickell. St Regis allows easy accessibility to the center of it all but without the limitations of the heavy traffic. Many residents that live in the center or close to the infamous bridge experience heavy traffic in peak hours making it harder to enter or exit the financial district. Brickell remains the best location if you like a vibrant city core and is excellent for those working in the financial sector.

5 A. The Marina. Miami condos with a private boat dock are very scarce. If you want to live in a condo that offers a marina/yacht club, this is the condo for you. The St Regis Residences offer pick up and drop off service for yachts up to 100 ft. In addition, residents can charter a yacht in the private yacht club. For now, it is not clear yet, whether the marina will have slips for sale/rent, how many they will have and what size of vessel can be docked.

6. The Lack of Large, Luxury Residences in Brickell

The word ‘luxury’ in Miami Condo marketing has been applied too casually for many years. In truth, Brickell is NOT home to that many luxury condos! In my opinion, St Regis is the first new legitimate ultra-luxury condo since the Four Seasons Brickell. Built-in 2004, the Four Seasoned delivered exclusivity, elegant floor plans, and luxury amenities. Before this, it was Bristol and Santa Maria. These projects, although still very desirable, are now very dated. The fact is, St Regis is a brand new condo and the first one to fill the demand for luxury condos in Brickell, making it unique. If you want to know how I define true luxury, please give me a call. My opinion is from years of feedback and conversations with luxury owners and buyers.