Strategic Properties Slates Condo Groundbreakings

MIAMI-Strategic Properties Inc., a year-old, locally based developer, is planning to break ground by the end of the year on two mixed-use condominium projects within 10 miles of each other in the city. Both projects are expected to take 16 months to finish, which would place completion at the first part of 2006.Urbanea Residences will be located at 1520 S.W. 37th Ave. Plans call for this project to consist of 100 condo units plus 7,000 sf of retail space. An existing shopping center at the site will be torn down, says developer Henry Pino, founder and president of Strategic Properties. A tenant at the shopping center, Gilbert’s Bakery, will close at that site for a little more than a year, then plans to lease or buy 3,000 sf of the retail space at Urbanea, Pino says. The other 4,000 sf of retail space planned is still available for sale at about $275 per sf, he adds.

With the project being developed near the Coral Gables border, “The idea is to sell Coral Gables’ style with Miami prices,” Pino says, contending Coral Gables is more upscale.

The other project, Unika Residences, is being developed at 4300 Biscayne Blvd. Plans call for 164 units overlooking Biscayne Bay. In addition, Strategic Properties plans to convert an existing 42,000-sf office building there into office condos, Pino says. The office space was about 70% sold to a mix of attorneys, real estate companies and mortgage firms. Unika Residences also will house Strategic Properties’ headquarters, Pino says.