Miami architect Chad Oppenheim — founder and principal of Oppenheim Architecture+Design, a firm known for creating world-class projects for such clients as Morgans Hotel Group, Marriott, Hyatt, Starwood Capital, The Setai Group and KOR — just became the seventh member of the prestigious international design team selected for Dellis Cay, a private island surrounded by a coral reef in the British West Indies’ Turks and Caicos Islands.

Each member of the design team, which includes Zaha Hadid (London), David Chipperfield (London), Piero Lissoni (Milan), Kengo Kuma (Tokyo), Shigeru Ban (Paris and Tokyo) and Carl Ettensperger (Singapore), will design one of seven zones spread across 209 acres. Oppenheim will design an exclusive collection of villas on Dellis Cay, which is located adjacent to Parrot Cay and accessible by private boat from the main international airport on the Turks and Caicos island of Providenciales.

The exclusive, 560-acre private island will provide a luxury living experience with unparalleled service and innovative design in the hotels and residences at the Mandarin Oriental Dellis Cay. Developers envision villas built over the water with a spa, marina, library, resort boutiques and landscape design complete with infinity-edge swimming pools, sundecks, tennis courts and a beach club. The O Property Collection, founded by Dr. Cem Kinay and Oguz Serim in 1995, will develop Dellis Cay. ENKA Construction Company is scheduled to break ground on Dellis Cay later this year.

A geography refresher: The Turks and Caicos Islands are located 575 miles south of Miami and comprise eight major islands, as well as numerous uninhabited and protected cays. The surrounding pristine waters, featuring the third largest coral reef system in the world, are the playground of humpback whales, dolphins, turtles and manta rays.

 

Upscale Addresses

For anyone in the real estate market, it pays to know the most expensive blocks in the country. Forbes magazine contracted California-based data provider Reply! to map and measure the 100 most expensive properties in cities throughout the United States using property records, tax records and an algorithm that calculates a home’s market value based on neighborhood trends. Forbes then compared, and confirmed, the findings with the experiences of real estate professionals in those cities before releasing its list of the 10 most affluent cities in America.

The Miami area ranks No. 9, behind Boston, Chicago, New York, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, but ahead of Washington, D.C. It’s priciest location: Leucadendra Drive, north of Arvida Parkway, a small island loop and home to the posh Gables Estates. Find the full list at www.forbes.com.

 

Spectrum

As part of an occasional series highlighting the range of asking prices for Miami-Dade County homes, here’s a look at some Miami Beach condominiums for sale. Note: Asking prices are not always the same as selling prices.

A newly renovated, Art Deco waterfront building in mid-Miami Beach is offering 19 condos mostly priced from the high $100s to the high $200s. (A large penthouse tops the price range at $679,000.) The Whittier Condo at 4035 N. Meridian Ave. is located a few minutes from the beach, the 41st Street shopping area and the Julia Tuttle Causeway to Miami. A one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit offers carpet throughout, ample closet space, a new kitchen with butcher-block countertops and stainless steel appliances. The bathroom is marble and fitted with new fixtures, and there’s central air conditioning, of course. All of this is packed into 745 square feet and priced at $269,000, or $361 per square foot. Although the building includes front call-box entry, coin laundry room and free street parking for residents, gated parking spaces, dock space and boat lift space can be purchased for extra money. The listing agent is David Hunt Solomon, of LenCor International Properties, in Miami Beach.

Farther south in Miami Beach — about as far as you can go without falling into the ocean — is the landmark South Point Towers at 400 S. Pointe Drive. There, a two-story, 2,228-square-foot penthouse with 20-foot ceilings in the living area is priced at $2.7 million, or $1,200 per square foot. It has three bedrooms, each with a private terrace and full bathroom, plus another half-bath; its wraparound terrace offers direct views of the ocean and downtown Miami. The building includes a pool, spa, sauna, gym, tennis courts, a business center, concierge and valet parking. “It’s like living in a private home with all the amenities,” said listing agent Marie Josée Trincaz, of Keller Williams’ Miami Beach office. “Watch the cruise ships leave the port from your terrace — this residence has the most desirable view in South Beach.”

 

Buzz

Some new Miami developments are being recognized throughout the world. Downtown’s Icon Brickell won CNBC’s International Property Award last week and Jorge Perez, founder and CEO of developer The Related Group, picked up the award in London Designer Philippe Starck and Miami-based architectural firm Arquitectonica are other big names on the Icon team.

On another note, South Florida homebuilder Landmark Custom Homes announced a new guarantee program to provide a safety net for buyers whose homes don't maintain their values. One year after a buyer closes on a new home in Equus, an upscale residential equestrian community in western Palm Beach County priced from $1 million to $1.8 million, Landmark will automatically order two independent appraisals on the property. If the appraisal is lower than the purchase price, the builder will refund the difference up to 10 percent. Is this the start of a trend or just a PR exercise?

In other news, the demolition of the 1950s Queen Elizabeth Apartment Hotel at 6644 Indian Creek Drive in North Beach has begun and, Regatta 2, the waterfront boutique condominium planned in its place, is now in the contract phase, according to G&D Developers and The Weintraub Companies. Its façade will be incorporated into the 115-unit building, which will meld ultra-contemporary design with MiMo architectural elements. The new Regatta, one of few Miami Beach buildings with its own marina, should be completed in March 2010.

Please send news items about Miami-Dade real estate to hhill@miamisunpost.com.