Lofty ambitions: from downtown Miami to Delray Beach, a new wave of loft condominiums has entered the South Florida real estate market. But just what is a loft? these non-traditional spaces are as varied as their neighborhoods—and prices

South Florida CEO, June, 2004 by Catherine Mcelrath

Currently, all of the units at The Loft Downtown are reserved--not surprising with prices that started at $99,000. And while the square footage of the units might be limited--and the ceilings, at 10 feet, are barely high enough to qualify--the idea of living in a real, downtown "loft" is alluring. In fact, the success of The Loft Downtown prompted The Related Group's development of The Loft Downtown Phase 2 (or simply "Loft 2"), a 35-story, 496-unit building that is scheduled to break ground later this year. Again, the concept is affordability, with smaller units (square footage ranging from 620 to 1,153 square feet) starting in the low $100s. In a Disneyesque twist, the building will include a tempting feature for tired commuters: the Metromover train is literally at the doorstep, running through the building Monorail-style.

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* LOFT PIONEERS

Related is not the loft pioneer in Miami's urban core, however. That accolade goes to developer Lissette Calderon. Across from downtown, on the south side of the Miami River, Calderon is working on making the Brickell Village neighborhood a hot address by developing the already-open 21-story NeoLofts and the 100-unit NeoVertika.

NeoLofts, with 199 units, is touted in company literature as being "a combination of the best of New York and Miami." NeoVertika, the second project from real estate wunderkind Calderon, is already 95 percent sold, with "flats"--single-level spaces--starting at $160,000, and two-story loft apartments with 20-foot ceilings starting at $250,000. But forget those prices; what's left for sale ranges from $420,000 to $755,000. a little out of range for the average downtown wage slave.

"When we launched NeoLofts, we were completely sold out by the time we broke ground in May 2002," says Calderon. "Obviously, there was an unmet demand for urban, trendy living with a lot of volume, light, and space."

Beyond Miami's immediate downtown, along the Biscayne corridor and in fringe neighborhoods such as Wynwood, other developers are searching out the soon-to-be hot properties for lofts. One of the cuttingedge real estate firms is Majestic Properties, a prominent South Beach broker which has moved across the bay to both represent loft developers and develop its own lofts. "Obviously, we had run out of land on the Beach," says Jeff Morr, president and CEO of Majestic Properties. "I looked at the Biscayne Boulevard corridor and Miami Beach, and I liken it to New Jersey and Manhattan."

The projects Morr represents have taken the loft concept to a new level. from industrial grit to light-filled spaces that are glass-walled and futuristic. Most, such as ICE, ICE II and 10 Museum Park, have been designed by Chad Oppenheim, the Miami architect who has made a name for himself as one of leading proponents of loft spaces. Renditions of the interior spaces of his lofts are the stuff of Mount Olympus fantasies, with languorous, lovely young people in vast spaces that have extraordinary views of the bay and city beyond.