Epic Unloads 14 Downtown Miami Condos At 32% Discount

MIAMI, FL--Developer Ugo Colombo's (top right photo)  luxury Epic West condominium (top left photo) in Downtown Miami has unloaded 14 units in bulk at a 32 percent discount off of the project's $556-per-square-foot average sales price, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

This deal ranks as the highest price paid per square foot for a block of at least 10 units in Greater Downtown Miami, according to Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database™.

A trio of entities - two based in the British Virgin Islands and the other in Coral Gables - purchased a combined 14,600 square feet of space for $5.5 million, or $378 per square foot, in separate transactions that closed on June 30 and Aug. 12, according to the report based on Miami-Dade County and Florida Secretary of State records.

The bulk discount is even deeper if a 2,500-square-foot unit on the 45th floor, which was part of the purchase, is excluded from the acquired package, according to the report based on a recent Condo Vultures® White Paper™.

"This is an example of value-oriented buyers paying a premium in terms of bulk pricing for a superior product," said Peter Zalewski, (top left photo) a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

 "The immediate challenge will be generating a healthy annual return on the rent until the units can be retraded. Despite the obvious risk, the buying group was so impressed with the product that it returned within 45 days of its original transaction to buy more units."

Built in 2008 on the north bank of the Miami River, Epic West is a 54-story tower mixed-use project with 342-condominium units, a hotel, retail space, a marina, and several restaurants including London's acclaimed Zuma, in the heart of Downtown Miami, according to the report based on the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami™.

The project's Italian-born developer established a reputation in Miami for luxury condos based on his success with the Bristol Tower (lower left photo)  in 1993 and the Santa Maria condominium (lower right photo)  some years later.

Before the bulk deal, the project had slowly sold about one-third of its inventory since December 2008 with prices ranging from $400 to more than $1,000 per square foot, according to the licensed Florida buy-side brokerage Condo Vultures® Realty LLC.

With this bulk deal, there have now been 21 transactions in Greater Downtown Miami representing more than 1,900 units and 2.7 million square feet at an average of $215 per square foot, according to the report.

Overall, bulk buyers have transacted more than 60 condo deals in South Florida since July 2008, accounting for more than 5,500 units with 6.5 million square feet for an average price of $237 per square foot, according to the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database™.

Developers constructed some 22,250 new condo units in Greater Downtown Miami between 2003 and 2010, effectively tripling the amount of inventory that had been constructed in the four previous decades, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami™.

At the end of the second quarter, there were 5,000 unsold developer units in Greater Downtown Miami, which stretches from the Julia Tuttle Causeway south to the Rickenbacker Causeway, Interstate 95 east to Biscayne Bay.

The average price per square foot for a new unit in Greater Downtown Miami at the end of the second quarter was $333, according to the licensed Florida sell-side brokerage CVR Realty™.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com