Miami condo king Jorge Pérez battles to survive real estate slump

Rising from city bureaucrat to billionaire builder, Jorge Pérez became the great American success story, Miami style. The Cuban immigrant made the South Florida skyline his canvas, erecting high-rises from Miami to West Palm Beach.

But not one of them can compare to his latest creation, the ICON Brickell, a sumptuous $1 billion glass-and-concrete city within a city that includes three soaring towers, a pool the size of a football field, 1,640 condos, a boutique hotel and five restaurants.

It is Florida's most spectacular condo, Pérez's masterpiece, his legacy.

And, now, it may be his undoing.

Real estate firm owner gets $1.375M in Miami Beach

David Shtrax sold a two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 100 S. Pointe Dr. in Miami Beach to Inna Khon Societa, LLC, for $1.375 million on Dec. 9.

Shtrax paid $2.2 million for Unit #2703 in Nov. 2006. The 42-story development at 100 S. Pointe Dr. was built in 2002.

Shtrax is owner of Macro Investment Group, a real estate investment firm based in Nevada.

There were 1,524 sales in Miami Beach in 2008, with a media sales price of $380,000.

Home values likely won't rebound until mid-2010

Despite a spike in sales in South Florida, the area probably won't see a bottoming out of single-family home prices until mid-2010, says Brad Hunter, chief economist with West Palm Beach-based Metrostudy.
"Yes, there are more transactions occurring," he said. "The problem is really that the increased sales — that is predominantly short sales and distressed sales — it's not really a situation that's bullish for home prices."
Mr. Hunter joined Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors; Michael Y. Cannon, executive director, Integra Realty Resources; and Peter Zalewski, owner/broker of Condo Vultures Realty, at the State of Real Estate forum presented by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce on Friday.

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