700 Euclid Avenue
If you're a happy tenant living in one of the 240 units on South Beach recently inhaled by Boardwalk Properties FL for $59 million, sorry to be the bearer of bad news -- you might have to find a new home.
The new owner tells the Miami Herald he plans to renovate the 15 older Art Deco apartment buildings and hike the rent by up to 50 percent. It's a record multi-housing deal in South Beach. Naturally they'll shift away from the working-class tenants who currently occupy them towards "people who drive Porsches" and don't want to live in high rises.
"It's true that instead of having taxi drivers and sous chefs, you'll end up with younger attorneys, people who work in the Design District, people who work downtown," said Adam Walker, who runs Boardwalk, a private company that owns about 700 apartments in Miami Beach and Bay Harbor Islands. "These are people who drive Porsches and are drawn to Miami Beach but don't want to live in high rises."
One thing Walker might not have considered is the willingness of these Porsche owners to park their vehicles on the street, which is a necessity accompanying many of the buildings sold.
The sale is disturbing because while South Beach has its faults - the traffic, the constant construction, and the already booming prices - the magical island shouldn't be the exclusive home to the affluent. There's no other neighborhood in South Florida quite like it, presenting not just superb walkability and fantastic people-watching but a vibe distinct from the rest of Miami, housing all sorts of people from various backgrounds and offering a true island feel.
The Miami Herald put together a map showing the locations of the 15 apartment buildings included in the sale, located between 7th street and 15 street in the heart of South Beach. We listed the addresses down below.
700 Euclid Ave.
715 Michigan Ave.
951 Jefferson Ave.
1017 Jefferson Ave.
1025 Meridian Ave.
1135 Eighth St.
1226 Drexel Ave.
1251 Euclid Ave.
1326 Pennsylvania Ave.
1348 Drexel Ave.
1455 Euclid Ave.
948-952 Meridian Ave.
1336 Pennsylvania Ave.
1440 Euclid Ave.
1110 Pennsylvania Ave.
Boardwalk is aiming to renovate five buildings a year. They'll be redoing roofs, repainting, and overhauling interiors with new appliances, AC units, counter-tops and flooring.
· South Beach apartments sell for record-breaking $59 million [Miami Herald]