Every New York luxury developer wants to build a shiny tower in South Florida, it seems.
Many of these industry titans have sought to build skyscrapers for ultra-wealthy condo buyers in Brickell or Miami Beach. They chose established neighborhoods, near other luxury edifice.
But Miki Naftali has a different approach. As usual.
The developer is setting his sights on two areas long viewed as an afterthought to high-end builders: Downtown Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Naftali said he selected Downtown Miami’s Worldcenter development to build his 67-story condo tower because of walkability. It was one of two places Naftali viewed as truly “walkable” in Miami, the other being South of Fifth in Miami Beach.
“The developer that designed it thought about an urban environment where every building, every lobby, every entrance to a building is directly at the same elevation as the sidewalk,” said Naftali at The Real Deal’s South Florida forum in Miami on Thursday.
Fort Lauderdale is more of a surprise. It is a place that does not have the cachet of Miami or Miami Beach. But Naftali is seeking to construct a two-tower, 47-story and 45-story apartment project with 936 units in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village; the project will be branded by luxury hospitality brand Viceroy and will launch sales in a few weeks.
“There is not as much inventory or competition in Fort Lauderdale,” said Naftali. “Yet, there is a lot of demand and money.”
Fort Lauderdale resident and CEO of OneWorld Properties, Peggy Olin, agreed. “Miami is getting very built and overpriced,” she said at the panel.
Naftali wants to bring the high-end product his firm is building in Manhattan to South Florida.
“The quality that we are accustomed to seeing in New York will be very appreciated here,” said Naftali.
He added that in New York, his firm pushes subcontractors to deliver higher quality of luxury design.
Finding subcontractors that can deliver the same level of work in South Florida is an obstacle.
“There are just not enough of them,” said Naftali. “It’s a real challenge, but if you put together a big team to make sure the quality is there, eventually you will get there.”