PERLA MIAMI LUXURY REAL ESTATE: Top 5 biggest condo projects approved in Miami this past year

Renderings of Melo Group's Aria on the Bay project Renderings of the Aria on the Bay condo project at 1770 North Bayshore Drive

#1 – Aria on the Bay, Edgewater

Melo Group’s massive Aria on the Bay project topped our list as Miami’s biggest condo project approved over the last 12 months. Plans for the 53-story tower include 647 units that range in price from $400,000 square feet to more than $12 million for its three-story penthouses.

In December, Melo announced more than $200 million in sales at the project, which has already begun construction. In addition to the residences, Aria will house 20,000 square feet of commercial space for offices, retail and restaurants.

The developer scored $95 million in construction financing in August, and the tower is expected to wrap up in 2017.

A rendering of CMC Group’s Brickell Flatiron project

#2 – Brickell Flatiron, Brickell

Next on the list is Ugo Colombo’s Brickell Flatiron at 1001 South Miami Avenue. The 64-story tower will be the tallest residential tower planned south of New York City, with 549 units that start at $465,000.

Colombo’s company, CMC Group, purchased the site where it is building Flatiron for $21 million in 2013, and scored approvals in November 2014. Businesses at the site like Baru Urbano began closing early this year to make way for construction.

The project is expected to start construction by the end of 2015, with a completion date set sometime in 2018.

Renderings of Hyde Midtown in Miami

#3 – Hyde Midtown, Midtown

Hyde Midtown, the third biggest project coming to Miami, broke ground last month and has sold close to 70 percent of its 410 units. The project is being developed by a partnership between the Related Group and Dezer Development, which is also working on the Porsche Design Tower.

The two companies partnered in 2013 to build the project at the corner of Midtown Avenue and 34th Street. Approvals came in November 2014. In addition to the residences, Hyde will house 60 hotel rooms and a pool terrace on the seventh floor. Units still available at the project range in price from $359,000 to $2 million. Hyde is expected to open in the second quarter of 2018.

Renderings of Paraiso Bayviews, one part of the four-tower Paraiso project in Edgewater

#4 – Paraiso Bayviews, Edgewater

Paraiso Bayviews, one of four Paraiso-branded towers being built by the Related Group in Edgewater, is Miami’s fourth biggest project currently underway. The 44-story tower will house 388 units when it’s completed in 2017, and the developer has announced that more than 85 percent of its residences have sold so far.

Prices at the tower range from the mid $500s per square foot to the mid $600s per square foot. The Paraiso complex as a whole will have 1,400 units split between four towers, three of which are under construction.

Renderings of Brickell Heights

#5 – Brickell Heights West, Brickell

Brickell Heights West, our final contender and Miami’s fifth largest condo project, is one of two towers at the Brickell Heights development at 850 South Miami Avenue. So far, 23 stories of the 47-floor tower have been built. The developer said 85 percent of the project’s 332 units, which are priced from $400,000 to more than $1.5 million, have been sold.

Related Group, the project’s developer, broke ground last year and scored $160 million in construction financing for both towers in April 2015. The towers are expected to open in 2017.

TRD Researcher Will Parker contributed reporting.

Data used for this story comes from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The Real Deal pulled approvals for all condo projects approved for marketing in Florida between October 2014 and October 2015, and ranked them based on unit size. The ranking covers only individual towers.