Fort Lauderdale is done being the middle child of South Florida luxury development.<\/p>\n
Staking a claim to the wealth Miami and West Palm Beach have captured until now, the city is entering a new phase of real estate ambition \u2014 rolling out branded towers, remaking marinas for megayachts and pricing condos at levels that would shatter local records.<\/p>\n
Some of the region\u2019s biggest developers are leading the charge. A partnership that includes Miami\u2019s Related Group is building a \u201cmini-Monaco\u201d at Bahia Mar, the city\u2019s largest marina, with plans for a $2 billion project that will bring a St. Regis hotel and residences, where a $3 million condo is the starting price. The marina itself is being remade for superyachts, with slips for vessels up to 350 feet \u2014 a nod to a seafaring lifestyle that routes between Monaco and St. Barts.<\/p>\n
Change is in the air (and sea) at the Bahia Mar marina \u2014 including a new St. Regis Hotel & Residences. ArX Creative<\/p>\n
Nearby, a condo tower branded by Italian yacht maker Riva will bring 36 boutique residences, capped by a penthouse that could list for as much as $30 million \u2014 double the city\u2019s current $15.4 million condo sale price record. At the under-construction Andare Residences, set to become the city\u2019s tallest condo tower, a 46th-floor penthouse is listed at $16 million, a price that could also break the current record.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Galleria mall was acquired last month for $73 million, with developers led by Russell Galbut\u2019s GFO Investments planning a luxury makeover of the 1980-built property that Saks Fifth Avenue left nearly two decades ago. And there\u2019s a 45-story Viceroy tower, promising high-rise beach club living for affluent downsizers, with over 200 units, the priciest at $7 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the yachting capital of the world and there are very expensive and high-quality single-family homes \u2014 but what about those who don\u2019t want to live in single-family homes?\u201d said Miki Naftali, whose New York-based Naftali Group is building the Viceroy as its second South Florida condo project. \u201cThere is no real alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n
The influx of wealth to South Florida since COVID has redefined what qualifies as luxury in Fort Lauderdale. In the second quarter of 2020, a \u201cluxury\u201d condo \u2014 the top 10% of the market by price \u2014 was any unit that sold at $950,000 or higher, according to appraiser Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman Real Estate. <\/p>\n
A Viceroy tower will rise 45 stories. Hayes Davidson<\/p>\n
Compare that with the second quarter of this year, when the threshold for condo luxury was any unit selling at $1.45 million or higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In September, buyers signed contracts for 16 condos in Broward County priced between $3 million and $4.99 million \u2014 up from just one a year earlier, Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman data show. Condo deals at $5 million and above also spiked, with six contracts signed compared to only one in September 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fort Lauderdale condos priced above $5 million are part of \u201ca niche that hasn\u2019t been fully served,\u201d said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Developers are eager to fill that void, designing homes for yacht owners and jet-setters who prefer turnkey living to sprawling estates.<\/p>\n
Buy at Bungalow East to access house charter yachts. Merrimac Ventures<\/p>\n
Merrimac Ventures\u2019 Bungalow East is offering residences priced between $2 million and $7 million, each with private elevators and access to yacht charters, for those who don\u2019t want the hassle or expense of owning a boat, managing partner Dev Motwani said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another project takes the nautical theme further. Vertical Developments spent two years persuading Italian yacht maker Riva to lend its name to a 20-story boutique tower with units starting at $3.5 million, according to Fernando de Nu\u00f1ez y Lugones, the firm\u2019s CEO. <\/p>\n
Condos at Riva Residenze will span from 2,000 to over 4,000 square feet, with interiors inspired by Riva\u2019s yachts (one of which will be docked in front of the sales gallery).<\/p>\n
Italian yacht maker Riva is building 36 residences. Courtesy of Riva Residenze<\/p>\n
Amenities include a cinema, a wine room and up to eight marina slips available for residents to purchase. A two-story penthouse of over 8,000 square feet is also planned, with an asking price between $25 million and $30 million, de Nu\u00f1ez y Lugones said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not in a market that is price sensitive, because you are dealing with the richest people on the planet,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Early marketing of the units has taken him to yacht shows in Palm Beach and Monaco and, so far, buyers have committed to about 18% of them. Construction begins next year.<\/p>\n
At Bahia Mar, the redevelopment will replace the aging DoubleTree with a 200-room St. Regis hotel topped by 79 furnished condos, plus four stand-alone residential towers also branded under St. Regis. Several penthouses across the development (some with private rooftop pools) will start at $20 million, said Nick P\u00e9rez, president of Related Group\u2019s condominium division, which is developing the site with Tate Capital and Rok Acquisitions.<\/p>\n
A condo at the St. Regis-branded property will start at $3 million \u2014 penthouses begin at $20 million. ArX Creative<\/p>\n
Of the units currently for sale \u2014 about 160 between the hotel and the first stand-alone tower \u2014 about 25% are under contract, ahead of a broader marketing push planned during this month\u2019s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, P\u00e9rez said. Several buyers of the furnished hotel residences are yacht owners who purchased them for their crews to use while their vessels are in port, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The redevelopment also reimagines the waterfront itself, adding 88,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, a public park, a pedestrian promenade and a marina retrofitted to berth superyachts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fully stand by what I said about making it \u201cmini-Monaco,\u2019 \u201d P\u00e9rez said. \u201cYou know, that South of France vibe, if you will. I think we can easily replicate it here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fort Lauderdale is done being the middle child of South Florida luxury development. Staking a claim to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[20221,28,249,251,250,20222,480,107],"class_list":["post-26994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-condos","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-luxury-development","tag-real-estate","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}