Amanda Lepore in the Moore Building! Photo by DominoArts.com

New life is coming to a faded neighborhood landmark as contemporary glass walls replace the concrete bunker-style façade of the once-upscale Omni Mall. The vast —

1.5 million square feet — complex is being transformed into the 375,000-square-foot Offices at the Omni from 1501 to 1645 Biscayne Blvd. at the southern end of the mall, while 300,000 square feet of big box retail is planned for the northern end at 1702 Biscayne Blvd. The hotel (soon to be flying the Hilton flag) parking garage and Art Institute of Miami are to remain in the complex.

After eight years of ownership, Argent Ventures has announced a gut-redevelopment plan that will provide Class A office space, accessed from a private professional lobby on the third floor. With up to 75,000 square feet on a single floor, the five-story building can offer the largest contiguous office space in Miami-Dade County. Parking is at a luxuriously high ratio for an urban building — more than 2,000 covered spaces in the adjoining seven-floor garage; the Omni Metromover station is just across a walkway bridge directly connected to the building.

Miami architectural and planning company Robin Bosco is in charge of the overall exterior design and Arquitectonica is designing the building’s interior spaces.

In the booming Miami office market, rents for Offices at the Omni are $36 per square foot, inclusive of operating expenses. According to John Marshall, director of office leasing for Cushman & Wakefield, the exclusive leasing agents, the project is attracting interest from creative, entertainment and “cool” companies. The anticipated completion date is early 2009.

Moore Partying

A few miles north of Omni, the Miami Design District has almost completed its transformation into a chic urban neighborhood spearheaded by Craig Robins, developer, art collector and guru of hip. The Moore building and Garden Lounge, an icon of the district at 4040 NE Second Ave., came to life last week with a bang as hundreds of guests partied away — (and parking enforcement officers had a field day — all evening!)

The event was to launch the Moore Building and Garden Lounge as an event venue through Bridge House Events, part of the hospitality division of Robins’ Dacra Development, in partnership with Barton G., the Miami-based international events, catering and restaurant concern. 

The four floors of arcaded spaces in the 1921-vintage Moore Building were a crush of Miami’s party people tackling the multifaceted offerings while grooving to the beat of DJ Lee Orr, working from an elevator-like DJ booth that moved from floor-to-floor. Elastika, the building’s signature sculpture installation by noted artist, architect and designer Zaha Hadid set the theme for two performance artists in white unitards positioned on the first and fourth floor who were connected by a tubular sleeve. They cavorted on their respective floors, always stretching their connection. More offbeat, mind-stretching and eye-popping entertainment came from Amanda LePore, the high-profile transsexual who is David LaChapelle’s muse. She exhibited her modeling expertise in three vignettes accessorized by three hunky male models in white boxers: a fashion photo shoot, the preparation of her toilette at her vanity and a great bare-breasted reveal, nude except for the sleeves, which she thought more tasteful.

Barton G.’s offerings at the many food stations included Arctic Seared Igloo Style Catches, Miami Style Ceviche shots served in “oyster cocktails,” carpaccio à la carte and Tuscan antipasti topped off with decadent vanilla and chocolate milkshake martinis garnished with even more decadent toppings. What other U.S. city celebrates real estate and lifestyle with such mind-stretching panache?

Spectrum

Another report in an occasional series highlighting the range of asking prices for a roof over your head in Miami-Dade. This week we check out condominiums for sale in northeast Miami-Dade. Note asking prices are not always the same as selling prices!

Coming in at the affordable level are units in Bayview Palms, a 338-unit condo conversion at 1805 Sans Souci Blvd. A typical 1/1.5 unit of 738 square feet including balcony, on floors 2, 3 and 4 is priced at $139,990, ($189 per square foot)

The five-story, newly-renovated building is located just east of Biscayne Boulevard, at the Miami end of the Broad Causeway (NE 125th Street) from Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside and Bal Harbour and close to the Sans Souci Tennis Center. Building amenities include a gym, resort-style pool and 24-hour camera security system. Developers, the Paramount Companies of Florida, have a sales office on-site.

 Across Biscayne Bay at 6365 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, a 1,775-square-foot, three-bed, two-and-a-half-bath unit on the 12th floor of Akoya is priced $1,099,000 ($628 per square foot). The southeast corner unit has direct ocean views north and south of Miami Beach as well as spectacular city views from the wraparound terrace.

The unit has Brazilian hardwood floors throughout, Mexican glass mosaic tile inlaid in the hallways, a custom Italian kitchen and luxury bathrooms. Building amenities include a gym, tennis court, pool, putting green, valet, concierge and 24-hour security. Designed by architects BCArchitects and built in 1997, “this magnificent home is fantastic value,” says listing agent Melissa Rubin of Platinum Properties International, headquartered in Coral Gables.

Swap Meet

You could compare it to a dating site, making matches according to what home sellers and buyers are offering and want. But then it becomes hard-headed business with the very old-fashioned method of bartering — though with a little more sophistication than Peter Stuyvesant trading beads for Manhattan island.

The company SwapYourHouse has a Web site, www.swapyourhouse.com, that claims to be reinventing the way to buy and sell real estate. Initial browsing and listing a home is free, but fees, starting at $29.95, kick in at different levels. Users enter the criteria to find each other and negotiate all details of the sale or trade on their own terms. SwapYourHouse also has an “Assist Your Move” search engine that pulls up an extensive list of information and contacts in another city to help with relocation.

Helen Hill is a freelance writer specializing in real estate and lifestyle topics.

Please send news items on Miami-Dade real estate to hhill@miamisunpost.com. Comments? E-mail letters@miamisunpost.com.