While Florida real estate might be a bit dodgy currently, new projects are still launching. The Magnolia Private Residence Club is located in Seacrest Beach, Florida in the Florida panhandle. The residence club has 17 three-bedroom residences (1,775 square feet). Amenities include protected boardwalk access to the beaches, on-site concierge service, fitness center, club-owned bicycles, game room, business services, pre-arrival grocery stocking service and a rooftop deck with a heated pool, spa and grills.
The club is a residence club in which the property tax and insurance costs are shared among he owners. Owners can visit as often as they like booking both fair in advance and short notice vacations. There is no limit to the amount of use. If some owners visit their Club less often, other owners can visit more. You pay only the published housekeeping fees whenever you vacation at your Club on a space available or short notice basis. A three-bedroom residence at Magnolia starts at just $159,000 for a one-eighth share.
You don't necessarily have to have the top penthouse to have the ultimate in luxury. This "lower" penthouse on Fisher Island Drive in Miami has some of the most striking interior design I've seen in Miami. The four-bedroom penthouse is over 8,000 square feet. The interior design by Lorraine Letendre is a pleasing mix of spare and luxe combining contemporary art and a neutral palette with details like French Oak wood cabinetry and goat skin paneled doors. This home has the most amazing man's closet I've ever seen. There is also a large balcony to take in the ocean views. This home is listed at $13.9 million.
Just how much is the Trump name worth? The plaintiffs in a lawsuit by buyers of luxury condominiums say that condos in buildings that carry the Trump name are worth 36 percent more than units in similar building without the name. The lawsuit was brought by around 80 condo buyers who are suing the developers of the Trump Towers complex in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. for using the Trump name to attract buyers. As Law.com reveals, the suit says that Trump's name can only be used temporarily and could be changed once the buildings are completed. Based on this information and a fear that the condos will be worth less without the Trump brand, buyers are asking to cancel sales contracts worth over $100 million and to have around $20 million in deposits returned. The name Trump appeared on the promotional material but not on any of the condo documents or purchase contracts. Donald Trump, who is not named in the suit, has been quoted as saying that he was "honored" by the lawsuit doubtlessly because it backs up his own decades-long campaign to turn his last name into a valuable brand.
The refined Reach Resort in Key West, which boasts the area's only private natural beach, just unveiled a $37 million makeover placing it in the top rank of Keys getaways. The revamp, led by the award-winning Looney & Associates design studio, brings a fresh, contemporary, boutique hotel feel to one of Old Town Key West's longstanding favorites. Located near that great Southernmost Point Guest House for sale that we told you about recently, the Reach beach is just seven miles from the only living coral reef in North America.
Rolled out in phases over the last few months, the final step of the revamp was just completed with the opening of an outpost of New York's popular Strip House restaurant. Designed by David Rockwell, the saucy steak joint with an haute-burlesque theme - think of a restaurant run by a demure Dita Von Teese -- is becoming a popular export. As we reported recently a Strip House also just opened in San Juan's chic Condado Plaza.
Today' estate in Miami Beach, Florida (thanks, designer) was once home to Cher and has also served as a temporary residence for Janet Jackson and Julio Iglesias. Cher bought the property in 1993 for $1.5 million and rebuilt it. She sold in 1996 for $4.35 million to Barry Schwartz, former chairman and CEO of Calvin Klein who sold to real estate developer Todd Glaser and investment partner Armin Mattli, president of Clinique La Prairie, the Swiss spa/hotel/medical center ten years later. The property was completely redone and then rented to Janet Jackson last year for $85,000 a month, followed by Julio Iglesias and then Douglas Cramer, executive producer of the TV series Dynasty. The home which once featured in Architectural Digest, has six bedrooms, cabana and gym, two-car garage and dock.Details include a large inner courtyards, archways, rosette windows, keystone columns, a two-story living room, formal dining and large media rooms and a lap pool. The kitchen has double sub-zero stainless steel refrigerators, Traulsen wine cooler, huge white marble island and Wolf gas stove, also opens to wide covered terrace. The master suite has a walk-in closet, private covered terrace overlooking pool and wide views, and a 3rd story living room with large covered terrace overlooking water. This home is listed at $14.9 million which seems a bit ambitious for the current market even though it is a beautiful home.
Forget the winery fantasy for a moment, let's return to the bed and breakfast fantasy. Imagine owning this piece of real estate and being the owner of a small inn in Key West, Florida. The Southernmost Point Guest House is located on Duval Street in the heart of Key West's tourist area near the official southernmost point of the Continental United States. The historic mansion is on a corner lot with gardens leading to the pool, parking, trellised patio and a wide porch that wraps around the building. There are 10 bedrooms and eight bathrooms and seven spacious apartment units in two buildings. According to the Southernmost Point Guest House website, some of the apartment condos are for sale for $650.000. This beautiful spot is listed at $4.25 million.
The name Ft. Lauderdale may be inexorably linked with the phrase "Spring Break," but that could be about to change now that the dingy Marina Marriot is getting a $60 million glamour injection. Full renovations on the newly-christened Ft. Lauderdale Grande Hotel & Yacht Club will be completed next month. The interiors are refreshing, stylish and modern, not to mention well-insulated from the frat boy set.
Meanwhile, a branch of Manhattan restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow's chic China Grill has already started serving guests lucky enough to snag one of the soft-opening suites. This is Chodorow's first outdoor waterside space; he'll also run the hotel's in-room dining operation. The restaurant overlooks the 33-slip inlet marina for yachting and diving enthusiasts, and a beautifully-redesigned pool area with cabanas and an outdoor fire pit. Check out the Photo Gallery for a preview.
I've mentioned before that the real estate auction market in Florida is heating up as more and more people need to get rid of houses in a hurry. Now some of the biggest newest mansions are hitting the black at reduced prices. Case in point, this 12,000-square-foot home in Jupiter, Florida. This five-bedroom overlooks the Loxahatchee river and has a 125-foot dock with 160 feet of water frontage. The property also includes a three two-car garages, a two-bedroom guesthouse and there is a large pool overlooking the river and a gazebo with an outdoor kitchen and barbecue. Inside it's classic Florida gigantic with a double-height foyer with a massive chandelier and marble staircase with wrought-iron railings. The home has a large gourmet kitchen, octagonal breakfast room, master suite with a private balcony. The home was listed at $6,995,000 but a court order has forced an auction at $4.5 million or lower on April 19.
For the next couple of weeks we will be checking out some homes in the most expensive zip codes in the United States, up today, 33924. This zip code brings us to Captiva Island, Florida a spit of land stretching into the Gulf of Mexico. This tranquil and warm area has a median price of $2,060,000 with an appreciation rate of 382% since 1990.
Captiva island is reached by car via the Sanibel Causeway and Sanibel-Captiva Road. Its location makes it a bit of a hurricane magnet and the island was damaged in 2004 when Hurricane Charley rolled through. That doesn't stop people from building some huge houses though. Case in point, today's estate, a large three-story home with six bedrooms. The overall decor relies far too much on the beige but the home does have a salt water aquarium, gourmet kitchen, elevator, arched gallery, marble floors and big mahogany double doors. The swimming pool includes a spa and an area for in-water dining and most importantly a short walk brings you directly to the Captiva Isand's famously beautiful white sand beaches. This property is listed at $10,900,000.
Gallery: Most Expensive Zip Codes, 33924, Captiva Island, FL
For the next couple of weeks we will be checking out some homes in the most expensive zip codes in the United States, up today, 33037. This zip code lands us in Key Largo, Florida, an island paradise in the upper Florida Keys archipelago . This getaway famous for tourism diving and sport-fishing has been celebrated both in a Humphrey Bogart movie and a 1980s pop song by Bertie Higgins. This tropical vacation spot has a median price of $2,740,000 with an appreciation rate of 385% since 1990.
Today's estate isn't the most expensive one for sale in the area but it exemplifies the more luxurious side of Key Largo real estate. The property has both a five-bedroom main house and a guest house. The two-acre retreat on the water has tropical landscaping, a dock and a pool and spa. There is a large gourmet kitchen a double-height great room and plenty of windows and veranda space. One particularly nice detail is the loft which has a spiral staircase leading to a roof sun deck. This home is listed at $5,395,000.
Gallery: Most Expensive Zip Codes, 33037, Key Largo, FL
Need more proof that Florida's real estate market is in deep trouble? Here it is, both Sotheby's Realty and Coldwell Banker are making moves on the real estate auction front. Sol Sotheby's International Realty and Nestler Poletto Sotheby's International Realty have announced they will hold their first luxury property auction for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties on March 28 in Fort Lauderdale, putting more than $200 million in high-end properties on the block. Most of the properties will be sold to the highest qualified bidder with no limiting conditions or amounts.
The same company that is working with Sotheby's, Daniel DeCaro Real Estate Auctions, is also helping Coldwell Banker Real Estate Florida with auctions. They now offer clients the option of auctioning off their homes in Central Florida rather than selling in the traditional manner.
My mother, who moved to Florida last year from Massachusetts, says that in Florida everyone's home looks like a furniture store. That's definitely true of today's estate, an extravagant 12,000 square-foot home located on 7.8 acres in Ocala, Florida. The home has six bedrooms total including a large master suite. The home includes a chef's kitchen that leads to a family room with a beverage center, wine cellar, computer station and walk-in pantry. Outdoor areas include a pool, a lanai with a double-sided fireplace, tennis court and an outdoor kitchen. The upstairs left wing is an entire floor dedicated to entertaining with a game room, card room, billiards/family room, media room, exercise room, 1.5 baths and beverage center built from an air balloon basket. The upstairs right wing has three bedrooms and can serve as guest quarters or the children's wing. The manor office has 30 foot ceilings, double-sided fireplace, a built-in library with special ceiling treatment and opens to covered lanai. The main guest suite is secluded and private on the first floor. No pictures of the bedrooms or baths on this one but I suspect they are just more of the beige same. This home is listed at $5 million.
One man making the most of his post football career is the Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka. Ditka, who launched a wine brand in 2006 and has Mike Ditka restaurants, is now opening two Mike Ditka Resorts in Orlando, Lighthouse Key Resort and Spa and Runaway Beach Club Resort.
Lighthouse Key Resort & Spa is a gated resort community with two-, three- and four-bedroom lakefront villas. The villas have stainless steel gourmet kitchens, private lanais, large master suites, separate dining and living rooms, in-home washers and dryers, and the latest in high definition, flat screen entertainment as well as a 42 inch television in each villa's great room. There is also a 4,600-square-foot European-style spa, a heated zero-depth entry freeform swimming pool, resort-style pool and hot tub, health and fitness center, 50-seat movie theater, billiards room, game room, meeting facilities, a grand clubhouse, deli and gift shop, business center, meeting space, poolside bar and high speed wireless Internet service throughout the resort.
Runaway Beach Club Resort will have one-, two- and three-bedroom villas and loft villas each with a gourmet kitchen and dining room, flat screen TVs and DVD players. The grounds include a heated "Key West" zero-entry family pool with water features for kids, a heated "South Beach" adult pool and tanning deck, a 24-hour professional fitness center, indoor basketball court, whirlpool spa, clubhouse/reception center, and complimentary shuttle service to the Walt Disney World theme parks.
Ditka will be in Orlando Feb. 27 to unveil the new resorts to the media.
Some homes in Sarasota, Florida strive for spare and modern design. This is not one of those houses. This is the other kind of Sarasota house, a lavish new construction designed to catch the eye of the high-end shopper. Records show that the property on Sarasota Bay was buy for under $1.5 million back in 2003. The home was developed by Laughlin's Luxury Lifestyles and built by Triangle Construction and is a lavish 14,243 square foot residence. Believe it or not, the listing says this one is a certified green home. There are five bedrooms and the finishes include lots of marble and travertine as well as exotic woods including Brazilian cherry, teak and bamboo.The grounds include a large pool and spa and a dock and boat lift. It's been on the market for a while, check out this press release from August 2006 that says that Sky Sotheby's Realtors Laura Brady and Stuart Mattison "personally commit to spending upwards of $50,000 over the course of the first year, of which 5 percent goes to photography and copywriting, 20 percent goes for the launch event, 15 percent goes for Internet ads, 30 percent goes for direct mail and brochures, 25 percent goes for print advertising, and the balance goes for odd and ends." It looks like the home was previously priced at $10,850,000 but it is currently at $9.950,000. Although it was built in 2006, the extreme extravagance already makes it seem like a relic of an earlier, more optimistic time.
This year's Naples Wine Festival didn't top last year's record of $15.6 million but $14 million isn't too shabby in this economy. The Florida festival always brings the big spenders. Tickets to the festival cost $7,500 per couple but the real money, which is all donated to less fortunate families and children, comes the extravagant auction items. Some of the high-end wine lots included $190,000 for a three-liter bottle of 1990 Vega Sicilia, plus a visit to the winery, $220,000 for a case of 1961 Bordeaux and $240,000 for six magnums of Screaming Eagle cabernet and two commemorative Harley Davidson motorcycles and gear. The festival also always features high-end cars. This year Mr and Mrs Monte Ahuja bid $450,000 for the rights to own the first U.S.-delivered Bentley Brooklands coupe. The auction also features walk-on parts in television shows, front-row seats at fashion shows and trip to the Oscars. Perhaps what's most amazing about this event is that all that money comes from just 500 guests bidding on over 70 lots. Over eight years the auction has raised nearly $70-million for children and families.
Just how much is the Trump name worth? The plaintiffs in a lawsuit by buyers of luxury condominiums say that condos in buildings that carry the Trump name are worth 36 percent more than units in similar building without the name. The lawsuit was brought by around 80 condo buyers who are suing the developers of the Trump Towers complex in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. for using the Trump name to attract buyers. 
