Groundwork
by Helen Hill

Miami Woman’s Club (circa 1925) is slated for a design makeover withCasa Décor.

Home Sharing

Fractional ownership is no longer a novelty in South Florida. The Fairfax at 18th Street and Collins Avenue in Miami Beach is one of the newest developments to offer buyers the opportunity to own a part of the property. The original hotel is currently undergoing extensive renovation into a luxury 53-suite boutique resort, with high-end fractional ownership suites available for sale in deeded quarter-ownership real estate interests. Included in the fractional ownership program are memberships that entitle residence owners access to the rooftop, including a private dinner club and pool, a private beach club, health club and spa. A range of other services is also available at the Fairfax, as well as reciprocal use of other properties in the exclusive international Registry Collection.

Restaurateur and developer Larry Levy is teaming up with designer Todd Oldham and Chef Tony Mantuano, James Beard award winner, from Chicago’s noted Spiaggia Restaurant to create the Fairfax and Enoteca Spiaggia, the first expansion of Levy Restaurant’s 23-year-old Spiaggia eatery. Their goal is to offer a complete lifestyle experience that combines innovative design and fine dining. Spiaggia, Italian for ‘beach,’ is the basis for the hotel and restaurant’s color palette, which features a mix of neutrals, honey-colored woods and ‘pops’ of wave-crested blues. Italian tiles and veneers, inspired by the Amalfi Coast, add to the color palette. Oldham has worked closely with Mantuano, even going as far as measuring the entrees that will be served in Enoteca Spiaggia, to design plates and cutlery for the restaurant. Oldham is also designing a coral bar that will serve a selection of Italian artisan mozzarella cheeses. Fractional sales are due to begin next month, and the Fairfax is scheduled for a fall 2007 opening.

Coveted Collins Avenue

Not so many years ago, savvy real estate investors could purchase several blocks of rundown Collins Avenue in South Beach for a proverbial song. Scott Robins was an early developer who saw the neighborhood’s potential; he launched his real estate career by buying the dilapidated Hotel Webster at 1220 Collins Ave. in the late ’80s for $475,000. He rebuilt the 1935 vintage hotel into an Art Deco gem with a 51-room hotel and mixed-use building with some major tenants. The Webster also brought urban cachet to South Beach with cavernous two-story lofts on the top floors (ranging from 2,300 to 2,800 square feet each) designed by architect Juan Lezcano.

Last month Robins sold the 18,000-square-foot Hotel Webster for $4.6 million. Last year, Robins sold the adjacent parking lot for $2.5 million. New owners 1220 Collins Avenue, Inc. will use both properties for upscale retail on the ground floor –they are bringing their luxurious Parisian fashion store to the Webster – with luxurious residences on the second and third floors.

Melissa Dunn was the listing broker for Scott Robins, and Seth Gadinsky of Gadinsky Real Estate represented the buyers.

Vote the move

Would you choose to live in South Florida if you couldn’t decide which of 250 towns across the continental United States would be the best place to enjoy life? Maybe not, if a Web site set up by Danny and Nina asking for advice on where they would most enjoy living, is anything to go by. (Coral Gables got three votes and Fort Lauderdale, 23, while Miramar has 82, but to date the Magic City has scored zilch.)

The site was conceived by Danny de Zayas, 23, a Miami native who moved to New York for college and stayed on for a couple more years with girlfriend Nina Barry, 26, who was born in Moscow and raised in Colorado Springs, Colo. The duo set up the Web site last month asking anyone (via the Internet) to vote on where exactly they should relocate to. After a million votes come in, the couple says they will move to the town with the highest number. So far the places ranking highest (chambers of commerce please note) are Fort Collins, Colo. with 125,978 votes (66 percent of the total so far) and Jacksonville, Fla. with 30,077 votes (16 percent). After that Florida trails behind other cities around the country – Tampa Bay has 40 votes, Orlando has 20 and Sarasota a mere seven. The site is free and requires no registration or personal information to vote. People (my guess: with too much time on their hands!) can vote as often as they like for any place on the list: www.dannyandnina.com.

Record breaker

Last April Groundwork wrote about Michael Capponi, Miami’s high-profile hospitality entrepreneur, venturing into real estate. He launched The Capponi Group, specializing in the construction and renovation of high-end, luxury, single-family homes. Now five months later, Capponi has set a Miami Beach record for the highest price — $4.3 million — ever on the books for an existing, non-waterfront property. (Erin Henry of SOL Sotheby's International Realty was the listing agent.)

The renovated three-story, 9,600-square-foot home on a 13,000-square-foot lot at 2501 Bay Avenue on Sunset Island II has seven bedrooms, four full bathrooms, two powder rooms, a large formal dining room, and a loft-like living room with 25-foot ceilings and bay views.

There’s a separate family room with mahogany built-ins, an entertainment complex with a large movie theatre, a wine cellar, wet bar, billiard room and gym. The house also boasts a six-car garage, maid's quarters, his and her walk-in closets, a gourmet kitchen and a swimming pool. Sounds like the perfect place for living the Miami Beach lifestyle.

Coming Up

Nov. 10 – Dec. 17. Casa Decor Miami ’06. The historic Miami Woman’s Club, 1737 N. Bayshore Drive, is being transformed into a showcase for a slew of big-name interior designers, architects and fine artists including Santiago Bernal with Sylvia Naziazeni, Michael Wolk, Alfredo Brito, Marcos Zucaratto, Sam Robin and Jeffrey Thrasher. The 60 spaces will feature apartments, homes, lofts, studios, libraries, a full-service restaurant, lounges, rooftop gardens, staircases, terraces and even a complete hotel on the upper two floors.

Open daily to the public from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and for special events and private viewings in the evenings. General admission is $20 with a VIP multi-admission package offered at $45. Information: 305-373-3700 or www.casadecor-usa.com.

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.