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As waterfront land dries up, developers rush to Miami River

The Miami River — once a polluted, industrial backwater known as a favored route for smugglers — is today teeming with developers who want to build on what is practically the city’s last remaining waterfront land.

“It’s the new waterfront for Miami,” said Nelson Stabile, a principal at the developer Integra Investments, which invested in two vacant river lots during the recession and flipped them at a profit of more than $21 million last year. “If you want to be near the urban core of Miami, it’s becoming impossible to find waterfront properties.”

Near the delta where the river meets Biscayne Bay, developers plan to build ultra-luxury condo towers with units at multimillion dollar price points rivaling waterfront Brickell and Miami Beach. Further inland, large mixed-use projects and rental buildings are being designed for locals amid the boatyards, shipping terminals and bait-and-tackle shops of what has long been a “working” river.

The latest residential project, called One River Point, is an ambitious venture to bring ultra-luxury living as far west on the river as it has ever been. The project’s two 60-story towers will be designed by internationally known architect Rafael Viñoly

Shahab Karmely, founder of New York-based KAR Properties, paid more than $60 million last year to assemble three vacant parcels on the river’s north bank west of the Miami Avenue Bridge near the existing Mint, Ivy and Wind condo towers.

Compared to other global cities including New York, London and Hong Kong, land in Miami is still cheap, even if it may not feel that way to local developers, Karmely said.

The 350 units at One River Point, Karmely said, will rival those on the beach for luxury and design with 10- and 12-foot ceilings, large terraces that are one-third to one-half the size of the unit’s interior, and views spanning the river, bay and city skyline.

They will range from $850,000 to $12 million, with penthouses priced even higher. Units will start at $850 per square foot — higher than the average price in Brickell for new construction (about $620 per square foot) but slightly lower than the $870-per-foot average price in Miami Beach.

“The old view was that if it’s luxury, it has to be on the sand,” Karmely said. “But today, luxuries are urban. We are moving Miami’s center of gravity to the west.”

The towers will include the amenities that have become standard for Miami’s wealthiest residents: poolside café with butler service, private club with a media room and cigar lounge, and building concierge.

Private elevator landings and a robotic parking garage are also planned, along with an 85-foot waterfall near the site’s public riverwalk. The project, which has an address at 24 SW Fourth St., is scheduled to open in 2018.

One River Point’s second phase, on two lots set slightly back from the river, are slated to include a hotel, less-expensive condos, rental apartments and retail.

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ttp://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/biz-monday/article23356026.html#storylink=cpy