Apartments for 5-Star SLS Brickell Tower Nearly Sold Out, Before Construction Begins

Most of the customers are cash-paying Latin American investors, developer Carlos Rosso says

Long before any excavators or cranes get to work, buyers are already calling SLS Brickell home.

“From the moment that we announced that we are doing something with SLS and Philippe Stark, people were really excited,” said Carlos Rosso, the condo division president at The Related Group. “Obviously we were overwhelmed by the speed (in) which we sold the units. I wish we would have done 100 more units. We would have continued selling.”

The developer is selling luxury living, and he doesn’t need the actual building to do it. In just three months, The Related Group sold nearly 100 percent of 453 upscale South Miami Avenue apartments, ranging from $500,000 to $2.5 million.

Only 16 units are left on the penthouse floors. It will be two years before the five-star tower – containing a hotel and condos – hits the Miami skyline.

This will be the first time residences will be attached to the brand, which has locations in South Beach and Beverly Hills.

“It’s a hip place it’s a place where things are really happening, where you see people coming in and out of the lobby from the restaurants,” he added.

Rosso says most customers are cash-paying Latin American investors. Buyers are required to put 50 percent down before they get the key.

Paul Lobosco, a local and real estate broker, has already put his money in the game – scooping up a one-bedroom penthouse.

“If I’m going to take a risk putting 50 percent of my money down, this is the only place that I would do it,” he said.

Lobosco is also banking on the new Brickell CitiCentre – a high-end shopping center set to open in 2015 – and the health of the latest condo rush to add value to what will be his second home in Miami.

“It’s beyond growing now, it’s taken off, and I don’t think it’s going to slow down,” he added.

Construction is set to begin in early 2014. The grand opening is expected in January 2016.