Miami Condo Colossus Is Monument to Excess
"...instead of representing a triumph for Mr. Perez, 59, Icon Brickell
has become a symbol of the excesses of the building boom in downtown
Miami. Since 2003, 83 towers with nearly 23,000 condo units have been
added to the downtown skyline, from fancy Brickell Avenue through the
more modest Biscayne Corridor, causing an oversupply of epic proportions
in this city of 400,000 people.
As of Dec. 31, almost 45 percent of the new condos remained unsold, according to Peter Zalewski, the owner of Condo Vultures Realty, who represents investors seeking to buy condos in bulk and rent them out until the market recovers.
Related has had disappointing sales at two other twin-tower condo developments near its new project: the Plaza, with 1,000 units, and 500 Brickell, with 633 units.
But they pale next to the performance of Icon Brickell, where condos were listed at $400,000 to $800,000. “It could very much be that his masterpiece will also be his downfall,” said Jack McCabe, the chief executive of McCabe Research and Consulting in Deerfield, Fla..."
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