Miami Beach is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. top Florida architects Beach has always been one of America’s finest beach resorts for almost a century, and the city is often referred to under the umbrella term of “Miami,” despite it being a separate municipality, making Miami and Miami Beach two separate cities. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,933, of which 55.5% of the population was foreign born.
For prospective Miami real estate investors, it would be nice to know that a new Miami Beach condominium development has made it into the top 10 places mentioned in Forbes’ feature story “Where We Want To Live In 2006.” The list includes such large development projects, like Donald Trump’s new $125 million Palm Beach estate and Ian Schrager’s nearly-finished Gramercy Park in New York where some $10 million-units are on offer. Canyon Ranch Living, a upscale new real estate development in Miami Beach makes the cut because of its deluxe spa services in a 70,000-square-foot Canyon Ranch Spa as well as the elegant amenities, common to the 10 listed, that take luxury living further into a hedonistic fantasy land.
If one compares the skyline of Miami Beach just 10 years ago with how it looks today, you probably would fail to recognize some of the city’s districts, other than the art-deco strip or the beach, since most of the skyline today is still littered with construction cranes working on various real estate developments. However, most would say that there has been quite a slowdown; or is the property market just taking a bit of a rest after the flurry of new projects?
A lot of new Miami Beach real estate developments are ongoing at the famous South Beach district, also known as SoBe, or The Beach. This is one of the most popular areas of Miami Beach. Topless sunbathing is allowed on certain designated zones of the beach. Before the TV show Miami Vice made the area popular, SoBe was under urban blight, with vacant buildings and a high crime rate. Today, it is regarded as one of the richest commercial areas on the beach. Miami Beach, particularly Ocean Drive of what is now the Art Deco District, was also featured prominently in the 80’s Al Pacino movie, Scarface. Lincoln Road is a famous worldwide for its great outdoor dining, bike riding, rollerblading and shopping facilities.
Residents, both full-time and seasonal visitors, have nearly taken over Miami Beach, thus lifting housing prices into the heavens and demanding more services that tourists never did before. Miami Beach’s full-time population jumped from almost 88,000 in 2000 to more than 93,500 in 2005, according to data provided by the city. Seasonal residents have risen from 14,339 to more than 20,000, and the population is not the only thing swelling: The median household income in the city was up $31,420 in 2005, up from $27,322 in 2000.
“The growth right now has been higher than previous historic standards, but I think clearly the demand is there,” according to Kevin S. Crowder, the city’s director of economic development. Demand for everything from goods and services to entertainment to million-dollar condominiums continues to rise, according to most Miami Beach business owners.
