Edgewater property demand puts pressure on Developers!

The land demand in Miami’s Edgewater area is driving up property prices to the point where some notable local developers are questioning the viability of planned condo projects in the bayside neighborhood. Carlos Rosso, president of the Related Group’s condominium division, cited the recent land buying binge by Russian mining oligarch Oleg Baybakov as a concerning example while participating in a panel discussion during Forbes LATAM’s South Florida Real Estate Forum on Wednesday. “Compare what we paid for land in Edgewater to what the Russian developer has paid recently and prices have more than doubled,” Rosso told the audience of about 100 real estate professionals and invited guests at the EPIC hotel in downtown Miami. “He will need to sell [units] at $1,000 a square foot to make money.” Since February, Baybakov has spent nearly $39 million for five properties in Edgewater totaling about two acres. His first deal was for a 37,462 square foot building at $21 million, or $560 a square foot. According to a recent condo survey by the Miami Downtown Development Authority, Edgewater is downtown Miami’s fastest growing market, with 1,900 new units in development. Some developers are turning to nearby neighborhoods which haven’t gotten as much attention as Edgewater, like the Omni area. During the forum, NR Investments principal Nir Shoshani discussed his company’s decision to develop a 37-story condo tower called Canvas at 1630 Northeast First Avenue, near Braman Motors.