your (south Florida) dream neighborhood


jpaul1

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if, let's say tomoroow you wake up with unlimited money cash, which south Florida neighborhood would you choose for your living (or secondary residence)

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I would want that house where that poor neighborhood kid got killed helping Gina bring in the groceries in "Fruit of the Poison Tree". The one in the cul-de-sac.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/20251-NE-25th-Ave-Miami,-FL-33180_rb/44072443_zpid/

I'm not sure of the name of the area, but the address is 20251 NE 25th Ave. Here it is in 2019:

 image.thumb.png.bbb5f0dda381c254134c1b5fd8026843.png

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Fun question jpaul1!

No one is interested in living at the Atlantis in Brickell?  I’ve seen a few listings and they look interesting.  The views are amazing even if they might need some updating.  Those of you wanting the 80’s Vice look wouldn’t even have to do that to some of the units that haven’t been renovated.  I would love such a second home (don’t want that climate for my primary residence), provided I could slip a sailboat nearby as I do at my place here in Long Beach.  

Edited by pahonu
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On 12/8/2022 at 3:29 PM, Dadrian said:

One of the islands (Star, Palm, Habiscus, etc.) 

even knowing that it would be pretty difficult to own a big garden in most of these. I ask because for me greenery is crucial. I mean really important

On 12/8/2022 at 5:44 PM, airtommy said:

Stallone's former mansion which is next to Vizcaya:

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/sylvester-stallone-miami-home-slideshow

  • overlooks Biscayne Bay
  • 14 acres- maybe the largest lot in Miami
  • very close and accessible to Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, Brickell, and Key Biscayne

the garden is amazing. but apparently he bought it in the early days

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1 hour ago, jpaul1 said:

even knowing that it would be pretty difficult to own a big garden in most of these. I ask because for me greenery is crucial. I mean really important

the garden is amazing. but apparently he bought it in the early days

Star Island has very large lots compared to the others so a sizable garden is possible.  It’s basically a ring of properties surrounding the oval road.  Many lots are double the standard (though still large) lots.  The now gone 42 Star Island home by Walter De Garmo was on a standard lot and had the potential for lots of foliage.  It largely had open lawns with trees along the perimeter walls, but there was certainly lots of room for beautiful gardens.  You can see the greenery in the neighboring lot in the third photo.

Reconsidering your original question, it would have been wonderful to restore the original home if I had the money.  I effectively did so digitally with my SketchUp model.

BD21D4AB-9F40-4594-A168-A235E89ADB82.jpeg

B2439D20-29C1-4D55-A5EB-18C8ABD2D7D8.webp

009BA31F-E5D1-4694-BAB0-D07A9774DDE1.webp

C48F1812-29E5-4BDF-8BA1-8043F44B3970.webp
 

Edit:

Here are Google Earth images of the island and the new estate at 42.  It has very little greenery but surrounding homes are very lush.  All the lots are sizable and some are huge.  That’s just a monster of a house for that property, far too large for what is a large property.  It’s just a giant block.  

B0DCBD47-4B36-4D26-BACA-02BAAFFB9862.png

76CADB17-D7EC-4537-9EE2-634335F465AE.png
 

E1F7298B-73DF-4C38-9937-9E3CBD6CBE60.png

Edited by pahonu
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3 hours ago, pahonu said:

Star Island has very large lots compared to the others so a sizable garden is possible.  It’s basically a ring of properties surrounding the oval road.  Many lots are double the standard (though still large) lots.  The now gone 42 Star Island home by Walter De Garmo was on a standard lot and had the potential for lots of foliage.  It largely had open lawns with trees along the perimeter walls, but there was certainly lots of room for beautiful gardens.  You can see the greenery in the neighboring lot in the third photo.

Reconsidering your original question, it would have been wonderful to restore the original home if I had the money.  I effectively did so digitally with my SketchUp model.

BD21D4AB-9F40-4594-A168-A235E89ADB82.jpeg

B2439D20-29C1-4D55-A5EB-18C8ABD2D7D8.webp

009BA31F-E5D1-4694-BAB0-D07A9774DDE1.webp

C48F1812-29E5-4BDF-8BA1-8043F44B3970.webp
 

Edit:

Here are Google Earth images of the island and the new estate at 42.  It has very little greenery but surrounding homes are very lush.  All the lots are sizable and some are huge.  That’s just a monster of a house for that property, far too large for what is a large property.  It’s just a giant block.  

B0DCBD47-4B36-4D26-BACA-02BAAFFB9862.png

76CADB17-D7EC-4537-9EE2-634335F465AE.png
 

E1F7298B-73DF-4C38-9937-9E3CBD6CBE60.png

still overpriced for what it offers. yes you have the Miami/Florida hype/craze, but i know places where for the same price you can have wonderful giant forests. far more attracting to my eyes. i'm just giving my personal opinion here. if people love these lots, good to them. You know what i would do with these eventually. plant my sailboat in front of it, demolish every building, and plants trees, and flowers. and set an hamoc

Edited by jpaul1
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56 minutes ago, jpaul1 said:

still overpriced for what it offers. yes you have the Miami/Florida hype/craze, but i know places where for the same price you can have wonderful giant forests. far more attracting to my eyes. i'm just giving my personal opinion here. if people love these lots, good to them. You know what i would do with these eventually. plant my sailboat in front of it, demolish every building, and plants trees, and flowers. and set an hamoc

I was just responding to your initial question about South Florida neighborhoods that would be nice to live in.  There is hardwood hammock in the area, but the largest tracts of forest in the state are in the north and to a lesser extent the central region.  If large forested areas is what you’re looking for, South Florida probably isn’t your best choice.

Plus, you’re going to need hundreds of millions of dollars to buy up all that land in Miami and demolish all the buildings to replace with trees and flowers!  :eek: Star Island, for example, has only 34 properties on it, valued at more than a quarter of a billion.  

Can I ask how you would have your sailboat in a forest?  I don’t think I understand that comment.  Part of the value of these properties is the water access.  That’s not just hype or a craze.  Waterfront property is a fixed commodity and demands a higher price.  

The same is true here in Southern California.  My townhouse on the marina is a small two bedroom now valued at a million dollars, but I can walk downstairs and get on my sailboat in about two minutes and be in the bay and out into blue water in less than 25 minutes.  Plus the climate is a beautiful Mediterranean one.
 

I could also buy a place about 2-3 times the size about 30-40 miles inland and near some of the beautiful forested areas of the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains.  Of course most of the jobs would be the same 30-40 mile commute away and I want no part of that.  I also couldn’t be at the ocean in less than an hour, likely more with traffic.

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where did you get these 250M number, because

total surface 35 ha = 3 770 000 Sq.Ft

average selling price in 2022 5 250$/ Sq. Ft. x 3 770 000 = 20 billions

average properties selling values (2022. inferior to 2021)

median selling price 30M$ x 30 = 900M

all properties aren't 30M worth, but still we are far from the 250M you're saying

and i'm not talking about the flooding insurance which is mandatory into that area, who ranges from 500 to 2000 a month. so again everyone does what he/she likes, but, i'm not sure i would be interested into such of 'waterfront access' myself

about the thing i said above i was just talking of making a parcel an anchoring point. with nothing on it except greenery. a bit like Crockett and his marina, but with more trees

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6 hours ago, jpaul1 said:

where did you get these 250M number, because

total surface 35 ha = 3 770 000 Sq.Ft

average selling price in 2022 5 250$/ Sq. Ft. x 3 770 000 = 20 billions

average properties selling values (2022. inferior to 2021)

median selling price 30M$ x 30 = 900M

all properties aren't 30M worth, but still we are far from the 250M you're saying

and i'm not talking about the flooding insurance which is mandatory into that area, who ranges from 500 to 2000 a month. so again everyone does what he/she likes, but, i'm not sure i would be interested into such of 'waterfront access' myself

about the thing i said above i was just talking of making a parcel an anchoring point. with nothing on it except greenery. a bit like Crockett and his marina, but with more trees

I read a few years ago, around the time 42 was razed, that the home values on the island totaled about that amount.  I added the “over” because I’m sure they have risen.  I meant total value of all the properties, not for each home. :eek:
I should have added the word total.  Oops!

I get your point now about having the boat slipped at the property and just keeping it green.  The tough part about that, if you wanted to live in a forested area as you described, is that you would be a long way away from the boat in South Florida.  All the large tracts of forest are north of Orlando.  

One thing I have learned about boat ownership over the last 20+ years is that if you or the boat are too far from the water, as in on a trailer far away or in a slip far from you, then it gets used much much less than you think it will.  I’ve talked to so many boat owners in my marina over the years who have told me they weren’t using it as much as they thought.  It’s an expensive endeavor if you only sail a few times a year.  
 

Then there are the boat owners who live here like me l, that I see all the time.  I’ve made many friends that way, by chatting as we do routine maintenance or the like.  We’ve sailed on each other’s boats and had many wonderful days on the water.  It’s not just been sailboats like mine either.  A couple of neighbors have cigarette boats that I’ve been on, and one has a classic wooden yacht from the 30’s.  It’s named Blanche and is beautiful!

 

The Miami area and Saratoga on the Gulf side are listed as the top two areas in the US for flooding risk from sea level rise.  SoCal is not nearly as low lying as Florida though does suffer from beach and cliff erosion which affects the structures on them.  We also have flood insurance but nothing near those numbers.  We live in a complex that has parking at the ground level with all the units above.  I think that plays a role in the cost.

Edit:

I’ve been thinking about the kind of setting you would like.  There are a couple of spots in California where you could live in a mountain environment and be pretty close to the ocean and a marina for a boat.  :thumbsup:
 

The Santa Ynez Mountains in Santa Barbara county are right up near the coast.  In fact, the city of Santa Barbara is in the narrow strip of land between them.  You could slip your boat in the city marina and in less than 30 minutes be up in the mountains.  Unfortunately it’s also one of the most expensive areas to live in the  region.  The same circumstances are true for the city of Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz Mountains further north, though the climate is much cooler than Santa Barbara, which is part of SoCal.

What’s the nearest bay or marina near you?

Edited by pahonu
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Whoops, I misread the topic!  Favorite neighborhood, not favorite house.

#1 is Key Biscayne.  It's less stressful, being removed from the hustle & bustle of Miami.

#2 is Coconut Grove because the dense tree cover makes the long hot summers more bearable.

 

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On 12/8/2022 at 4:44 PM, airtommy said:

Stallone's former mansion which is next to Vizcaya:

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/sylvester-stallone-miami-home-slideshow

  • overlooks Biscayne Bay
  • 14 acres- maybe the largest lot in Miami
  • very close and accessible to Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, Brickell, and Key Biscayne

Hey that house has the same Victorian (presumably) marble statue of The Dying Gladiator as I have! No other similarities though....

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