Wanted To Start A Thread On The Design District And All The Projects North Of 36th Street Causeway Hope Everyone Cooperates And Posts Pictures and Renderings On Buildings.

Please Revisit This Thread And Post New Information.

http://www.multihousingnews.com/multihousing/reports_analysis/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000519122

Researchers Fear Miami Bubble May Burst

JUNE 01, 2004 -- Despite Miami developers' belief that overbuilding is not a significant concern in the condo marketplace, some are warning it probably should be. According to Greg Willett, vice president of research products at M/PF Research Inc., a number of factors within the Miami market are quite troubling.

"We actually have significant concerns that the Miami multifamily sector is getting overheated. While significant demand from retirees and households seeking second homes is not dependent on job growth, the economy isn't expanding at a rate that suggests absorption should be anywhere close to the figures seen currently," he said.

Willett added that the market could quickly get in trouble if, as reported, many of the condos are being purchased by investors, rather than owner-occupants. "Those condos could end up as rental stock very easily, either because the owners are trying to generate some income or because they are unable to resell the units a few years down the line," he said.

Also, the prices being paid for rental product by condo converters are too high for the fundamentals to work if condo sales cool and those projects have to revert back to apartments, Willett said.

"Miami could be one of the country's riskiest markets right now," he added. "The potential reward is great if everything falls into place, but the danger of a bubble there looks much greater than elsewhere."

Yet despite these assertions, players here are confident the market has no need to fear the specter of overbuilding.

"For the last two years, people have been throwing out the word 'bubble' and have had some concerns about the market, but condos, whether they are new construction, conversions or existing units, seem to be selling at a very good pace," said Michael Mulhall, director of Florida development for GDC Premier Communities.

Believe it or not, the Miami area would be seeing even more development on the condo front than it already is—if not for a number of factors keeping everyone who wants to build from doing so.

For one, the surge in condo development has tied up the area's good general contractors and subcontractors, creating a squeeze on the construction end. And construction costs have jumped significantly. As China continues to gobble up the world's supply of steel, prices for the common building material have skyrocketed.

"We've heard that as much as a 35 percent increase in hard costs over the last six months has been noted by developers," said Marc deBaptiste, a principal with Apartment Realty Advisors in the national brokerage firm's Boca Raton, Fla. office.

Further restricting additional building from developers who believe the market could still absorb many additional new condos: Land prices now range from $50,000 to $150,000 per unit.

"Are there worries of oversupply? Yes, but there are a lot of factors that help mitigate that. Namely the constraint on good sites, the constraint on good general contractors and the constraint on good [land] prices," Mulhall said. "Those factors make it tough to get too many deals out there done now."

With the cost of land and materials high and headed higher, developers have had to push up per-unit prices on condos. But even in a market so filled with construction cranes, the market has been accepting of this upward shift.

"Luckily, unit pricing has been able to move up to keep things going [despite higher land and construction costs]," said Mulhall. "There doesn't seem to be a ton of resistance to increases right now."

Case in point: GDC's 193-unit Alaqua, construction of which will begin in June, has already sold 145 of its units priced from approximately $350,000 to $500,000.

Architect Chad Oppenheim
Urbana Develpoment

has cantilevered rooms with cross brace steel structure stands at about 242.8 ft total

Rundown on Height =

one ground floor at 14.6 ft tall
4 parking levels at 8.6 ft tall each
pool level is on 6th floor at 10.8 ft tall
levels 7-23 are 10.8 ft tall each

Location

building is right behind picadilly garden 3 storie building and
next door to Aria in the design district

Miaballinboi Has Pics to Post Soon...

WOW...Please Post!!

here they are thnx to rx
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/BallinBoi316/1020/cube.jpg http://mywebpage.netscape.com/BallinBoi316/1020/cube001.jpg http://mywebpage.netscape.com/BallinBoi316/1020/cube002.jpg http://mywebpage.netscape.com/BallinBoi316/1020/cubearia.jpg http://mywebpage.netscape.com/BallinBoi316/1020/overall.jpg

Here are renderings of the revolutionary Cube project!



http://img98.exs.cx/img98/2041/rend.gif


http://img98.exs.cx/img98/8919/rend2.gif


http://img98.exs.cx/img98/728/rend5.gif


http://img98.exs.cx/img98/7335/rend4.gif


Here's a wider version


http://img98.exs.cx/img98/646/rend3.gif

^lol i beat u to posting them!

well its about time ive been sitting on these renderings since last thursday after i went to the vip party. it should be anounced soon

haha..oh wow...I didn;t even notice....mine are bigger :bleh: ...j/k

The Biscayne Plaza tower is midway through construction!!


@ 1801 Ne 2nd ct

http://downtownmiami.photomachine.net/tour/albums/DDA/aab.sized.jpg

STREET :) , I Know where that Building is going up on BISCAYNE BLVD and 18 street, Its Past half way NOW, Awesome. :cheers:

Wow, cube is quite the design. It'll be very welcome here in miami.

Everyone :) , Do you really think they can Build something like that CUBE Here in MIAMI, Hurricane Capital of the United States. Those Outside Units won't hold up after a Hurricane, its just not looking right to stand up in the air with nothing holding those outside Units on one side. I just don't see it happening here at that site. Any Opinions on that? :cheers:

well the cube design goes great with the design district but chuck is rite i bet a thunderstorm could destroy it

well the cube design goes great with the design district but chuck is rite i bet a thunderstorm could destroy it

The building is a steel structure very well braced, so don't panic :)

I like the design, is very futuristic :)

Everyone :) , Do you really think they can Build something like that CUBE Here in MIAMI, Hurricane Capital of the United States. Those Outside Units won't hold up after a Hurricane, its just not looking right to stand up in the air with nothing holding those outside Units on one side. I just don't see it happening here at that site. Any Opinions on that? :cheers:

those problems can be solved. you only need to beef up the structure (notice the cross-bracing!). saying you can't cantilever in hurricane-prone areas is like saying you cannot build skyscrapers where you have seismic forces to contend with. people like you keep cities banal.

those problems can be solved. you only need to beef up the structure (notice the cross-bracing!). saying you can't cantilever in hurricane-prone areas is like saying you cannot build skyscrapers where you have seismic forces to contend with. people like you keep cities banal.

wow...aren't you a lovely person...I've read ALL of your 4 posts in the forums and each one just exudes charm and delight! Your positivity is graciously welcomed on Skyscrapercity! :)

i wonder if they charge extra if your condo is hanging,well i guess so you would have agreat view,well back to my pt. hyperion(developers of blue and marina blue planning 3-4 more projects from d.district-cbd.

fyi-dubai has two 1400 ft. towers u/c and were just begging for a 800ft tower

Maybe they have breakaway units that are more affordable. :wink2:

trust me, if ur an architect in miami, im sure the first thing u take into account is hurricanes... the amount of technology they have and dade counties always on ur back about hurricane design, if it got this far, u can b sure that theyre sure it would take a hurricane

NIMBY, GO CRANES !!!, Did you Check out NORTH BAY VILLAGE, Lately, I counted 3 Construction Cranes just on that One Island,NOT Counting the Cranes YET TO GO UP at Bridgewater Condo Tower and that LEXI CONDO TOWER, and the HUGE 360 CONDO TOWER, WOW!!!. :) Its Good to know there's Construction All around MIAMI-DADE County.
If you ever go out to North Bay Village taking the 79th STREET CAUSEWAY, STOP at the PELICAN HARBOR ISLAND First , Make a Right into the PARK and look out Bicayne Bay there and Check out the Great VIEW Of Downtown MIAMI with the Construction Cranes Starting at the BLUE CONDO TOWER and into DOWNTOWN MIAMI. Then Look towards MIAMI BEACH to the SOUTH, That Cluster Of Buildings that look like a Huge Downtown is REALLY SOUTH BEACH from that PELICAN HARBOR PARK, ITS Amazing How Much MIAMI and MIAMI BEACH has Grown in just the Last 5 YEARS !!! :cheers:

hey chuck my bro,i passed by aria yesterday and it looks the same as 6 months ago whats up with it.i've checked everywhere but can't find any info on it.the site is just siting their empty. a couple of months ago i thought i saw rebar laying on the ground but i wasn't sure.

hey chuck my bro,i passed by aria yesterday and it looks the same as 6 months ago whats up with it.i've checked everywhere but can't find any info on it.the site is just siting their empty. a couple of months ago i thought i saw rebar laying on the ground but i wasn't sure.
TRUE Uptown-Midtown :) , ITS still the Same as 6 MONTHS ago, BLAME it on the 4 HURRICANE SCARES, its a DELAY, BUT if you did SEE they have Cleared to the LAND to the EAST of the REBARS LAYING there, I'm Sure you Saw the REBARS Ready to be PUT IN, Well You just missed me , I WAS THERE Friday , TOO, lol. I talked with one man who there just sitting there with his Pick-up Truck that usually Carries 4 Construction Men in his Back Bed :) driving down everyday I-95 to the ARIA Condo Tower Site, and He told Me, You'll see ACTIVE WORK here on this site by THANKSGIVING, and There after. He Told me its OVER 75 % SOLD OUT, and ONLY 1 PENTHOUSE Remaining, This Man must really know alot , to tell me IF I WANTED THAT PENTHOUSE, lol. He said that :weirdo: , after I told him I had over 25 years with the county. :cheers:

whoa your awesome man

i just get really passionate when i see people misinformed. i acquiesce to your criticism. citicizing without adding anything constructive is, perhaps, not too helpful when it makes one unwelcome and, therefore, not heard or respected.

wow...aren't you a lovely person...I've read ALL of your 4 posts in the forums and each one just exudes charm and delight! Your positivity is graciously welcomed on Skyscrapercity! :)

The Biscayne Plaza tower is midway through construction!!


@ 1801 Ne 2nd ct

http://downtownmiami.photomachine.net/tour/albums/DDA/aab.sized.jpg
STREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET, This Building KEEPS going Higher, its PAST 20 FLOORS NOW, Wow, I'm Still Counting the Tower Construction Cranes, 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20, Just in the DESIGN DISTRICT of MIAMI, YES !!!

Hey Guys Whats The Deal With Opus Is It Going Up Or Not

Hey Guys Whats The Deal With Opus Is It Going Up Or Not
HEY Uptown-Midtown, LETS Play a GAME !, its called " LETS MAKE A DEAL "
We'll try to Pick a DOOR for the OPUS TOWER.
DOOR # 1 The OPUS TOWER was a FLOP, Bogus , Never to be BUILT ! :runaway:
DOOR # 2 The OPUS TOWER Site will be SOLD to Homeless People to set up a Fort to protect Tourists from being Mugged :bash: .
DOOR # 3 The OPUS TOWER will Get started Sometime in Late 2009, WHEN its Converted INTO an OFFICE TOWER, lol. :cheers:

God Knows?

It Would Be Stupid If The City Approved Such A Tower
Especially After Paying Millions To Do A Feasabilty Study
To See If I395 Could Be Built Below Grade.

After 10 Months Of Going Before The Board Sometype Of
Zoning Issue Came Up... So Not Sure When They Will Go Before
The Board Again?

It Would Be Stupid If The City Approved Such A Tower
Especially After Paying Millions To Do A Feasabilty Study
To See If I395 Could Be Built Below Grade.
I'm not completely sold on the idea of putting I-395 below grade... I'm concerned about the potential for flooding; especially since our area is so flat and has heavy annual rainfall. Have you ever noticed that I-95, 836, the Palmetto, etc.. are built at least 1 foot or more above grade?

I've seen enough news footage on TV of downtown Houston freeways (built below grade) flooded after a severe rainstorm or tropical storm to be skeptical.

Has anyone seen, read, or heard this issue being addressed?

thatll b taken into account, im sure theyll have lots of drainage, this is miami, things like that are expected and accounted for, like hurricanes, not houston where that was a pretty freak thing, if they spend the millions of dollars to plan this out, theyll definetly make sure to spend the million or two to put in sufficient drainage

doesnt texas always flood? plus they get 88 days a year of 90 degree
temperature or above.

anyways the onllly reason it was built above grade is becuase of water
runoff to avoid doing costly drainage but florida has been adding drainage
wells for the last few years alot of areas have improved and no longer flood
and even when they flooded we never saw anything over 2 feet of water
over in texas towns turn into rivers and the cows wash away no wonder
they are mad cows. id be mad to if i was washed away.

I'm not completely sold on the idea of putting I-395 below grade... I'm concerned about the potential for flooding; especially since our area is so flat and has heavy annual rainfall. Have you ever noticed that I-95, 836, the Palmetto, etc.. are built at least 1 foot or more above grade?

I've seen enough news footage on TV of downtown Houston freeways (built below grade) flooded after a severe rainstorm or tropical storm to be skeptical.

Has anyone seen, read, or heard this issue being addressed?
YES TIVO :) !, And THIS IS TRUE, THE BOSTON CENTRAL ARTERY TUNNEL, Has Had OVER 200 LEAKS :bash: in THIS 15 BILLION :weirdo: Dollar United States INCOME TAX DOLLARS, YOUR DOLLARS :bash: !!!, Since they OPENED the Tunnel Early LAST YEAR, Everyone IS Pointing FINGERS at who's FAULT, The Tunnel Now HAS LANES CLOSED to Control THE LEAKS.
I say AGAIN :) and AGAIN, :)
THIS 1-395 PROJECT IS DEAD :bash: , and Is a TOTAL LOSS of Doing STUDY's and that PORT OF MIAMI Truck TUNNEL going from WATSON ISLAND to the PORT is ALSO DEAD :bash: . Lets End this DREAM :bash: and Put the Money to some MORE LANES on I-95, THATS MY Opinion, I know others will think Different. :)
BUT There will NEVER in MY LIFETIME here In MIAMI BE another TUNNEL Built Here in Miami-DADE County, OTHER than the VEHICLE Tunnel that GOES under the 12 - 30 RUNWAY at Miami International AIRPORT !!! :cheers:

ouch chuck, u coulda put it a little gentler, that stung man

^lol so we do got a tunnel? at MIA,

they shoulda made the us1 a tunnel under the miami river when they re did it a couple years back or make it taller cuz now it still opens and closes , even for a tiny boat!

SORRY NIMBY :) and Everyone ELSE :) , I'm JUST Telling the TRUTH :) , as a Resident and Worker for Miami-Dade County, Enough Is Enough !, We Now have a New Maimi-Dade County Manager :) That Has and IS going to STOP all this Nonsense Spending on DUMB TUNNEL PROJECTS :bash: , and Spend the Money in More NEEDED AREAS !!! :cheers:
I say, GO CARLOS ALVAREZ !!!. :cheers:
And MIAbalinboi :) , TRUE about the Brickell AVE Bridge openings , There's just too many times of opening for small boats, BUT a Tunnel there ALSO would have BEEN DEAD :bash: before of thinking of ONE to go next to all those TALL Buildings there or being built there. WE are on LOW :) Land and thats the LOWEST we're going to GO, Its alot of RAIN here during the Rainy season and WE have Hurricanes to deal with too with Flooding. :cheers:

chuck the ftlauderdale tunnel sits right under the river and its been around
for quite a few years now older then me and im 29 and ive never heard of it leaking or having any problems?

so dont write off tunnels hey nyc has tons of them everywhere and no leaks
bostons problems are due to mis-management and faulty contractors
just like our performing arts center

bottom line is when you put this big jobs out for bid
the county elects the cheapest and doesnt really look into backgrounds as thouroughly as they should have... if they would have awarded the job to someone else they would have opened the pac six months ago...

but hey buy cheap shoes dont complain about the corns

hopefully the board will learn that paying the extra 10-20-30-40-50 million will save them in the long run a few 100s

i think its better that the pac isn't opening yet,because if it would of opened it would be empty, because not alot of people live in the area.now when all the condos are finished the pac should see attendance rise.

construction differences in tunnel boaring make a huge difference...



http://www.ciobinternational.org/openArticle.asp?ArticleID=4586

http://www.bigdig.com/thtml/gw_sw.htm

Boston Central Artery remains exposed to elements until tunnel cover is completed
25 November 2004



In fact, say Bechtel Parsons in their rebuttal, the 1997 report of the Waterproofing Task Force was not confidential and was made available to the State Inspector General's office a year ago.

"From the very beginning", they said, "the State chose a state-of-the-art construction method known as 'slurry walls' to make it possible to build tunnels within the extremely tight space constraints posed by the existing artery, adjacent buildings, utilities, the subway system and other obstacles. Concrete walls built in this way inevitably leak more than tunnels that are built and sealed in broadly cut trenches.

"State experts joined B/PB engineers on the Waterproofing Task Force that recommended tough measures to ensure high quality waterproofing throughout the project."

On the allegation that water entering the tunnels makes them unsafe or structurally unsound, B/PB pointed out that the inflow is readily managed by permanent pumps and drains that catch and divert the water safely.

"Much of the water inflow will end when construction is complete and tunnel openings are sealed. The grouting program to seal water leaks is also part of the construction schedule and should be substantially complete, along with the rest of the project, by the summer of 2005. It has already achieved a substantial reduction in leaks.

September breach 'a localized incident'
"The I-93 wall breach [in September] was quickly repaired; project engineers and an independent expert hired by the State have agreed on a permanent solution that can be implemented within weeks. Inspecting and making any necessary repairs to the few additional suspect panels should take a few months at most."

Residents of Morningside fighting back against highrises:

http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2004/11/29/story8.html

i find that stupid why because this project is on biscayne blvd close to were all those crappy motels are with the hookers walking around,this area could use some improvement because right now its being left behind by all of miami.most of these projects around this area is being put up in bad areas and their height is an average of 100ft/.its biscayne blvd not some small road

Uptown-Midtown :) , Good Point, Everyone :) !!!, The Wife and I are leaving tomorrow for the WINDY CITY of Chicago, We hope to see some snow, My Wife has never seen the white stuff, I was born in it, lol.We''l be back on the 13th,Keep up the good work ,here. See ya ALL Then, And Yes, We're kind of crazy , just going up this time of year , just to see snow. :cheers:

have fun chuck, hopefully theres a 1000 footer when you come back lol

have fun chuck, its a great city, im actually goin this weekend, im i was born there too, hells ya chitown boys, and guess wat, the bears won 2 day! against the vikings, woulda been sweater against the packs, but they got their asses handed to em by the eagles, so its a happy day across the board

but im also a fins fan, and i went to the game today, gainst the bills, most depressing thing ever, shit feeley, hes gettin better... but watchin the learning curve sux

hey it wasn't feeleys fault it was fielder,i think fielder has a voodoo doll


well 3 of feeleys picks weren't his fault

True Street :)

have fun chuck, hopefully theres a 1000 footer when you come back lol
TRUE MIAballinboi :) , I HOPE so, lol. :cheers:

lol ur back and theres no 1000 footer lol,