Groundwork
By Helen Hill

Artist Perez Celis with his painting of the Bank of America Tower. Photo by Brett Hufziger/vipevents.biz.

Beach Beat

Drum roll for a new development coming off the drawing board and onto the market in these interesting times. With a Collins Avenue location in mid-Beach between the ocean and Indian Creek, Oview is separating itself from other projects with 20 units that are each two stories high with 18-foot-tall impact-resistant glass windows in the living area.

For a change, the units in the eight-story building are not being pitched as lofts, but more like luxury townhomes with a “flex-build” program that invites buyers’ input on design and layout of their units — which they can even combine if they wish. Units range from 709 square feet to 3,500 square feet, and four of the upper units come with private rooftop terraces. Amenities include a top-of-building sky deck with ocean views, pool and barbecue area, all the usual fine finishes, lots of marble, granite, stainless steel appliances, etc. plus round-the-clock valet and security. Prices start at $535,000 and go up to $1.6 million for combined units. AND, an ambitious buyer can purchase all 20 units for a cool $15 million. Now that would be a knock-’em-dead home or family compound!

Miami architect Kobi Karp designed Oview and Mark Zilbert of Zilbert Realty Group is handling sales for the project.

Art Base Cometh

Is it possible that Miami Beach won’t need Cirque du Soleil when it’s got Art Basel? Some of the hype emanating from various sources is billing the world’s most important fine art fair as an extravaganza of circus-like proportions. Yes, there is an influx of many thousand well-heeled visitors coming to look at and buy artworks. Some may even contemplate acquiring a second or third home in the Magic City, but by all accounts the so-called “chic and artistically enlightened jet setters” now heading south are not the once-anticipated developers’ dream. Reports are that developers who in past years spent the bulk of their marketing budget at Art Basel time are scaling back with events that enhance the art scene and not just condo sales figures.

Here is a brief review of some art events with a connection to the world of real estate:

Hamburg-based Blue Capital GmbH, one of Germany’s largest sponsors of closed-end real estate mutual funds and other investment products and owners of the iconic I.M. Pei’s Bank of America Tower at International Place in downtown Miami, launched the 3rd Annual Art Week Kickoff reception by illuminating the 47-story façade in horizontal bands of colored light. The event, produced and curated by Hope International, brought the light show, international artists, designers, musicians and performers and the unveiling of a painting of the landmark building by renowned Argentine artist Perez Celis. At street level, Art + Fine Art Gallery is presenting the work of contemporary young artist, Jama from Cuba and there's a .museum, Museu Brasileiro da Escultura (MUBE) presenting Os Onz — Futebol e Arte, a Copa da Cultura, on world tour, having started in Germany during the World Cup and making its American debut in Miami before moving on to Japan. Up in the Sky Lobby and Terrace, an exhibition of works by a roster of international artists will be open to the public through Friday, Dec. 8.

The Scope Sculpture Garden, which is devoted to showing large-scale sculpture that explores humanitarian, political and environmental issues, will be on display at Flamingo South Beach, 1504 Bay Road, Miami Beach. The featured project is Marie Lorenz’s Let Me Go My Own Free Way, based on her two years transporting people around New York using the tides and currents in the harbor, taking people along familiar routes — to work or places they went every day. By the second year of her “Tides and Currents” project, she concentrated on taking people to places accessible only by boat, such as islands or unreachable spots along the coast. For –scope Miami, Lorenz will perform a version of the Tide and Current Taxi in Miami called The Waters Let Me Go My Own Free Way, where she will ferry people across Biscayne Bay from the Flamingo South Beach Sculpture Garden. The Sculpture Garden also features some massive works in media ranging from steel to corrugated polycarbonate to cast dirt.

A Miami landmark, the Freedom Tower features Carlos Alfonzo: Extreme Expression, 1980-1991, its inaugural exhibition of paintings, sculpture and works on paper by the renowned Cuban-born artist (1950-1991). Curated by New York-based Julia P. Herzberg, the show will include 48 works on view from Dec. 7 to 10. The exhibition is organized by Juan P. Loumiet; the Terra Group, a Miami-based development firm; and the Freedom Square Foundation, established by the Terra Group to support the cultural projects of the Freedom Tower.

Kubik, an art-inspired condominium bordering Miami’s Design District, has invited four students from the Design and Architecture Senior High School to create a piece of art on site, an abacus of hand-painted cubes. The students began the painting, entitled The World is Kubik, at school and will complete it during the Kubik event. The piece features canvas squares depicting male and female faces of various ethnicities, on an abacus of four squares across and five squares down. The work will be launched on Dec. 9 at 5582 NE Fourth Court, in the courtyard of 55th Street Station, at an event to raise awareness for DASH and the MIART Foundation, whose goal is to establish a Miami-based Art Fellowship Program.

Buzz

If you think Florida real estate prices have hit the heights, try buying a custom doghouse to go with your pad. Not intended for errant spouses but as luxe lodgings for the family pet(s), Doggie Mansions’ designer doghouses are priced from $10,500 to $25,000 and up. The West Palm Beach company (headed by a veteran Palm Beach real estate agent) builds doghouses in any architectural style, to mix or match with the big house. Pooches can pose in Mediterranean mansions, Key West/Bermuda-style cottages (pastel-colored walls with clapboard-style doors and wooden shutters) and even urban brownstones or canine condos (with façades painted to look like the real thing!). The homes come with doggie-operable windows and doors, faux finish walls and the works in furnishings – couches, rugs, toy chests, lamps and art work, not to mention flat screen TV and DVD player, etc.

There’s also a line of fully furnished “kiddie mansions,” to cater to the two-legged darlings as well as four-legged friends. A company press release sums it up nicely: “These homes make the ideal holiday gift for any dog-lover or parent who wants their children and pets to be pampered in style.”

Georgia Peach

Just a reminder that there’s a wide world of real estate development outside South Florida: The Related Group, expert at redefining the local skyline of South Florida, is building big in Buckhead, Atlanta. Plans call for an urban community on some 16 acres with 3,860 residential units – including nine condo towers and 28 townhomes, plus 10,000 square feet of commercial space. The residents can live, work and play, steps away from the area's offices, shops and restaurants. Miami-based Arquitectonica is designing the development.

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.