New condo project slated for Miami’s Upper East Side

Miami Herald BY NICHOLAS NEHAMAS

nnehamas@miamiherald.com

Developers are launching sales for an eight-story condo tower in Miami’s Upper East Side, the trendy neighborhood along Biscayne Boulevard that has barely been touched by South Florida’s luxury condo boom.

The 105-unit project, at 5700 Biscayne Blvd., will include 45,000 square feet of commercial and retail space on the ground floor, as well as an infinity pool, fitness studio and tavern. Prices start at $600,000 for a 1,120-square-foot one-bedroom apartment and go up to $2.7 million.

Boulevard 57 is launching at a difficult time for the condo market. Slowdowns in Latin America and Europe have hurt the foreign buyers who’ve fueled the boom. Developer Hector Torres of Unitas Group Development said Boulevard 57 will be geared towards locals. That’s despite a 50 percent deposit structure that many brokers say appeals more to foreign than domestic buyers. Americans tend to prefer buying homes with financing rather than cash. Torres think that’s no longer the case today.

“A lot of the domestic buyers are paying that today in other developments,” Torres wrote in an email. “The demand is strong. Buyers love the walkability of the neighborhood, the schools and the proximity to downtown Miami [and] Brickell.”

One Sotheby’s International Realty is handling sales. Sieger Suarez Architects will design the building.

Previous developers have tried and failed to build on the site. A project called Kubik was originally planned for the 2.3-acre parcel on the west side of Biscayne Boulevard in 2008 but was held up as neighbors protested its 12-story height. Those developers then sold out to the Green Dragon Group for $15 million in 2014 before Unitas took over the project the next year. This is the group’s first development.

Despite a renaissance of new restaurants, hotels and bars along Biscayne Boulevard in Miami’s MiMo District, the Upper East Side hasn’t seen much new residential development.

One exception is Baltus House, a Related Group project near the Design District that opened last year. Farther north, at 7880 Biscayne Blvd., developers are turning the old U.S. Immigration Naturalization Service building into a mixed-use project with 324 condo units called Triton Center.