Soft Miami Condo Market Has Developer Eyeing Opportunity in Boca

EAST BOCA RATON, FL—Veteran developer Inigo Ardid says that market conditions in Miami have prompted his firm to take advantage of a unique opportunity here.

Ardid, co-president of Key International, says his firm and partners Integra Investments and Wexford Capital will begin marketing its 32-unit ultra-luxury condominium project in East Boca Raton later this year. Key International and Ingtegra acquired the 3.2-acre property at 725 S. Ocean Blvd. last summer from an affiliate of Blackstone. The Key International executive says he hopes to begin construction on the $85-million, four-story project by the end of 2019.

His firm has recently completed the 50-story, 389-unit 1110 Brickell apartment tower and the 230-unit 400 Sunny Isles and expects to complete the twin-tower, 425-unit The Harbour in North Miami Beach in September of this year. All of these projects were all but sold out at or near completion.

While those are indeed impressive project sales, Ardid relates that sales were based on demand in greater Miami from two years ago and that market conditions have changed since then and has thus prompted his firm to embark on its first residential condominium project in Boca Raton. The fact that Miami has seen approximately 11,000 new condominium units hit the market in the last two to three years has cut into demand for new product, he notes.

“The market in Miami has been soft and we began looking outside of Miami,” he says. Ardid, who has been involved in more than $4 billion worth of development and has built more than 2,600 residential units, adds that the waterfront parcel Key acquired in Lake Boca is the last development site in that area.

Combining the uniqueness of the property along with the fact that existing condominium prices in Boca Raton are high, he believes, “If you brought new product (to market) the numbers just made sense.”

He says the units, while technically condominiums, will be more like luxury homes that will offer privacy, beach access, and 18 boat slips. The property is located adjacent to the Waldorf Astoria Boca Raton Resort and Club. While pricing has not been set as yet, Ardid says each 4,000-square-foot home will be priced in the “multi-millions.”

“It will be a very high-end project,” Ardid says. “You are talking about delivering the best product that Boca has seen.”

Key International is also involved in hotel, retail and commercial office projects in South Florida and elsewhere. He tells Globest.com that he expects to break ground on a 175-room Marriott oceanfront hotel project in Fort Lauderdale later this year and will start work on a 185-room Embassy Suites hotel in St. Augustine and a 250-room as yet un-flagged hotel in Deer Park, FL. Earlier this year, Key International spent approximately $32 million to acquire the 130-room Hampton Inn in Destin, FL.

He adds that in addition to completing a host of project currently under construction, the firm will likely break ground next year on a 600-unit garden apartment project in Delray, FL.