Miami condo buyers ask ‘Where will I park my yacht?’ — and developers race to respond

Serge Ojeda is sailing into a new chapter of his life with swanky new toys: a $25 million boat and a $31 million tricked-out Miami condominium unit with private boat slip that is free for a year.

Ojeda, who runs private equity firms investing in renewable resources globally, is negotiating a deal for the tricked-out triplex penthouse in Fontainebleau Development’s 54-story Turnberry Ocean Club Residences. The Sunny Isles Beach pad includes six bedrooms and 9½ bathrooms, spanning 10,750 square feet indoors and 8,615 square feet outdoors. The building houses 154 three- to six-bedroom units between 2,900 square feet and 10,750 square feet. They run for $5.5 million and $31 million.

Access to the marina and his own boat slip at the Turnberry Isle Country Club are must-haves for the executive, who is purchasing a 180-foot boat, and relocating his two holding companies to Miami from Brazil, where he has his primary residence.

“Miami will be my second, it not my first, base,” Ojeda said.

In a city where the demand for water access and private boat slips is greater than the supply, condo developers are clamoring to provide boat slips — and other marina services — at their projects in a bid to appeal to potential buyers of their multi-million dollar apartments.

Miami

In early January, developers Integra and Related Group brought to market their first penthouse at the St. Regis Residences, Miami. The $45 million duplex with 10,000-plus square feet of indoor space and a 2,842-square-foot indoor/outdoor roof deck comes with a perk: the opportunity to buy a boat slip.

The St. Regis Residences, in Brickell, features five boat slips at a private marina for purchasers of the larger units in the 50-story building. The project also features space for boat pick-ups and drop-offs.

The tower will have 152 condo units, including two stand-alone garden villas. The homes will range from two to six bedrooms, and 2,600 square feet to over 10,000 square feet, with prices from $4 million to $45 million.

While boat slips are limited within the municipality, the developers are hoping to get a variance to extend the dock length to 200 feet with a total of 16 slips, a spokesperson said.

Nick Pérez, president of condo development at Related, said the marina is a “big draw from a sales point of view,” and the slips are a “tool to sell” the larger units.

Related is also developing The Residences at Six Fisher Island on the private island of the same name, just south of Miami Beach. The 11-story, 50-unit project, with spreads between three and eight bedrooms and 3,800 to nearly 16,000 square feet, includes up to four slips. Apartment prices range from $15 million to $90 million.

Ivan Chorney, an agent from Compass, is working with a client who wants a Miami condo unit with one, or even two, slips. The client is “laser-focused” on the St. Regis and Vita on Grove Isle, the agent said. For the buyer, “it’s about the proximal access,” Chorney added.

But less-focused buyers are spoiled for choice.

CMC Group is developing Vita at Grove Isle, on a private island in Coconut Grove. It will rise seven stories, with 79 condos with panoramic views of Biscayne Bay, ranging from 2,500 to 6,800 square feet. Vita will feature three- to four-plus-den-bedroom condos, and even bigger penthouses; prices will run from $5.7 million to $19.5 million. But here is the key: It features 85 slips with dockmaster and marina concierge.

Another full-service marina will be available to owners at Regency Development Group’s La Maré Residences on Bay Harbor Island. The two-building boutique property (33 units in one building and nine in the other) is currently under construction and will have 17 slips, two of which will be for drop-off/pick-up, said Michael Troyanovsky, managing partner and VP of marketing and sales at Regency. Prices for the slips range from $350,000 to $500,000, he said, while apartments ranging from 1,600 square feet to 4,300 square feet are asking up to $8 million.

“In South Florida people are so passionate about boating, so when they can see their boat from their window, walk out, and in 30 seconds be on their boat cruising off, their eyes light up,” Troyanovsky said.

Gary R., who is in the medical industry and asked to remain anonymous, “was sold instantly” when he was in La Maré sales gallery and saw “the scale models with boat slips,” the buyer said in a statement via Troyanovsky.

Bay Harbor has become a major hub for this product and Bay Harbor Towers is yet another new building that will have a private marina. The nine-story, 44-unit condo will have 13 boat slips at the edge of the property. Slips will go for about $10,000 per foot, the project’s developer, Ari Pearl, founder and CEO of PPG, said. Units are asking about $1,600 per square foot.

There’s already plenty of interest and Chorney represents a buyer in Bay Harbor Towers, who requires a boat slip as part of the deal. The client is purchasing a $4.5 million unit along with a $400,000 boat slip there, the agent said.

Also on Bay Harbor Island, VDA Origin Miami is building Origin Residences by Artefacto with a private marina. The seven-story condo will comprise 27 two- to four-bedroom homes ranging from $1.5 million to $3.5 million. There will be eight individual boat slips, as well as a slip for transient pick-ups and drop-offs, according to Jesse Ottley, president of development sales at Cervera Real Estate, which is selling homes for Origin. The boat slips, which are “immediately outside” of their homes, will go for around $360,000 to $400,000, he said. That feature, he said, has “been part of our positioning.”

Jonathan Landau’s eponymous development firm launched sales a few months ago at its Indian Creek Residences & Yacht Club, an eight-story, nine-unit condo project coming to Bay Harbor Islands. Apartments start at 3,200 square feet and go up to 5,463 square feet, with prices from roughly $5.6 million to $12 million.

“Boating as a lifestyle had not previously been integrated well in waterfront projects on the island,” Landau said.

The yacht club and private marina feature five individual slips, one shared slip and dockmaster concierge services. Prices for the slips rose to $1 million from $500,000 in early January, the developer said, due to demand.

Beyond Miami

It’s not just in Miami that condo developers are souping up their boating bona fides. Some buildings are even purchasing their own “house yachts” exclusively for residents’ use.

Related Group is building the 28-story, 92-unit Waldorf-Astoria Residences Pompano Beach, with two- to five-bedroom residences ranging from $2.5 million to $5.9 million (excluding penthouse units). The building will come outfitted with 20 for-sale boat slips and direct water frontage.

The developer also has in the works the 10-story (with three-story, low-rise) Rosewood Residences Hillsboro Beach, a 92-unit condo complex in Hillsboro Beach, with two- to five-bedroom homes spanning 2,800 to 6,400 square feet (and intracoastal units ranging from 1,930 to 4,100 square feet). Prices start at $5.5 million, and there will be 15 individual boat slips.

Savanna is erecting Olara in West Palm Beach, a 26-story, 275-unit condo that will offer three boat slips and a private dock. A hobby fisherman, Christopher Schlank, president and co-chairman of Savanna, plans to designate one of the house boats for deep-sea fishing.

“We wanted to completely eliminate any hassles and upkeep associated with boating for buyers, so we’re offering house yachts and a seafaring concierge to facilitate seamless maritime excursions for everything from fishing expeditions to day charters to Palm Beach Island,” Schlank said in a statement.

Witkoff and PPG Development are developing Residences at Shell Bay, which abuts the water in Hallandale Beach. Its 108 residences range from 1,000 to 4,500 square feet, and $3 million to $12 million, according to Alex Witkoff, co-CEO of Witkoff.

The project offers 48 all-season boat slips at the private yacht club at Shell Bay, which is on the 150-acre property, minutes from the condominium. The development will have two 60-foot house yachts available for homeowners to charter, and a few of the slips will be available for drop-off and pick-up, per PPG Development’s Pearl.

“A marina is one of the most important amenities that you can have,” Pearl said. “Everybody wants to show up in a boat.”