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CasaDecor will show off the creativity of
internal design from Nov. 9 to Dec. 16 in this groovy
painted warehouse. |
In a couple of weeks, Miami will welcome a
major international design event back for the second year.
CasaDécor ’07 will
transform an empty 50,000-square-foot warehouse at
1444 Biscayne Blvd., near
downtown, into a dream design showcase from Nov. 9 to Dec. 16.
According to Javier Sanjuanbenito, president of CasaDécor,
the international event, which started in Buenos Aires in 1985,
“will bring together top manufacturers, decorators, architects
and interior designers who are interested in exploring new
trends and values as they reinvent the traditional home with
imagination.”
The
reinvented space will show off the creativity of more than 60
top international designers (local names include Luis Pons,
Doug and Gene Meyer, Fanny Haim, Max Strang, Michael Wolk, Chad
Oppenheim, Osiris Mendez and Hugo Mijares) as they create
dynamic, stylish environments in replicated lofts, apartments,
studios, libraries and gardens.
Design
and architecture students at Florida
International
University, Miami Dade
College and the Miami International University of Art and Design
will gain hands-on experience working with the professionals
during the construction phase. Some Miami
Dade
College students also are designing The Reading Room, one of the
CasaDécor spaces. Others are participating in a design
competition to create a room concept that examines the
relationship between environment and society, including a new
understanding of technology and contemporary living. The winning
team will be invited back next year to design a space.
In
addition to talks and special exhibitions, the event will offer
grand dining in the Ocean Club Restaurant, featuring a
special menu by the restaurant’s executive chef and co-owner,
Carlo Donadoni.
CasaDécor will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday through Friday, and
11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on
Saturdays. Admission is $22.50 for a single day and $55 for an
unlimited pass. For more information, visit
www.casadecor-usa.com.
No
fancy name needed
Miami
Beach architect Les Beilinson of Beilinson Gomez
has been designing modern structures in the spirit of MiMo for
decades, so it’s not surprising that his new Seven Townhomes
in South Beach
blend well into the neighborhood. The gated development at
734 Michigan Ave.
features two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath, loft-like townhomes
ranging from 1,130 to 1,660 square feet. Each home features
28-foot-high ceilings, private rooftop terrace and an indoor
parking space. Prices range from $499,000 to $889,000; Josh
Stein of Majestic Properties is handling sales.
Green
jewels!
Many
Miami residents may not recognize the name Silver Bluff,
and even fewer may know it was the name of a short-lived city
that merged with Miami in 1926. Nowadays, though, Silver Bluff
refers to a neighborhood bordering U.S. 1 across the highway
from Coconut Grove. Now Stone Group Developers and
Laureti Holdings are developing the 17-townhome
Emerald Village
at 2651 S.W. 23rd Ave. near the Metrorail station.
The three-bed,
two-and-a-half-bath homes will offer 2,268 to 2,536 square feet
of living space on three floors with private rooftop terraces.
The units will feature landscaped front yards and two-car
garages. And each comes WiFi-ready with hurricane-impact windows
and doors, high-efficiency water heaters and air conditioners.
Construction is
expected to begin this month with completion expected in early
2009. Prices range from the mid-$600,000s. On-site
sales are being handled by Robert Thorne of Prestige
International Real Estate Group.
Hard
drive
A
recently released Bizjournals
report about
commuting should boost potential sales of new condos in Miami’s
urban core. Urban living close to office and business centers
offers an enticing alternative to being stuck in
bumper-to-bumper traffic during the daily treks to and from
suburbia.
For
areas with the worst commuting times in the morning rush hours
before 9 a.m., New York City ranked at the bottom, followed by
Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago and Miami-Fort Lauderdale all
among the bottom l0.
In South
Florida, the average home departure time is 7:21 a.m. and, of
our estimated 1,665,987 morning local commuters,
33.4 percent
get to work in 15 to
20 minutes, according to the report. But 27.3 percent of drivers
(probably those stuck on Interstate 95, the Palmetto and I-595)
have a 30- to 44-minute morning commute. Another 10.3 percent
drive for 45 minutes to almost an hour to get to work. As for
means of getting to work, 81.9 percent of
South Florida
commuters drive to work alone, while 10.7 percent carpool. Only
3.7 percent of workers commute by public transit and a puny 1.7
percent of commuters walk to work.
Ground activity
There
are two aspects of Biscayne Landing, the largest new
community east of I-95. One, which has received plenty of press,
is that Boca Developers is trying to find the most
efficient method of cleaning up the underground contamination of
the former landfill site. The other is that, when it’s
completed, the 200-acre project in North Miami will be a
national model for smart growth and sustainable development. The
community will encompass 6,000 residential units and feature a
town center with a 180,000-square-foot ultramodern Class A
office building, a modern boutique hotel with 200 guest rooms,
and nearly 300,000 square feet of specialty retail. More office,
retail space and leisure activities will be introduced into
future phases of the community.
A group
of 55 landscape architecture students and faculty members from
Florida International
University and the University of
Genoa
in Italy
recently participated in a nine-day workshop charrette to
develop ideas for a 35-acre park on the south side of the
200-acre site.
Hopeful
Homeowners facing foreclosure may find help in a new program
called Hope Now. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
and HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson recently announced the
initiative, which brings together foreclosure prevention
counselors, mortgage services and other mortgage market
participants to assist those facing default. Hope Now will
provide comprehensive and credible information about resources
available in the marketplace that will allow at-risk borrowers
to keep their home by restructuring the terms of their mortgage
or pursuing other options. For more information, log on to the
National Association of Home Builders’ Web site at
www.nahb.org, or contact any of NAHB’s 800-plus state
and local homebuilders associations for details.
Coming up
On
Thursday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m., the Broward Real Estate
Investors Association will hold its monthly meeting at
The Signature Grand, located at 6900 State Road 84 in Davie,
off of I-595 and east of University Drive. Charles Simon
(aka “The Bulldog”), a specialist in landlord/tenant law, will
speak on the touchy subjects of how to avoid trouble with
tenants and how to get rid of problem tenants.
Admission is $5 for Broward REIA members and $10 for members of
the Miami-Dade, Boca and Palm Beach chapters. The cost for
others is $20 (spouses are admitted free). For more information,
call 954-318-6042 or 866- 375-7771, or log on to www.breia.net.
Please send news items on Miami-Dade real estate to
hhill@miamisunpost.com.
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