The high-end One Thousand Museum condominium designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid, with distinguishable curved columns often described as an exoskeleton, has proved popular among well-heeled buyers since opening earlier this summer.

At least nine condos at the 84-unit tower sold to eight buyers since July 1 for prices starting at over $4 million per unit, according to Miami-Dade County deed records. The true number of sales is thought to be way above that, as 60% of the condos reportedly have sold, according to real estate publication The Real Deal.

The buyers’ pool includes an Ohio private equity firm and an attorney from Kentucky who lost his candidacy for the U.S. Democratic Senate and also is a nursing homes mogul.

The sales at the 62-story tower aren’t surprising given continued demand amid slowing new development. Developers have hit the brakes on new projects, likely waiting to launch them at the start of the next cycle in 2020, resulting in a “supply shock,” according to a report by Miami real estate marketing and sales firm ISG World.

From the nearly 20,000 units built since 2012 east of Interstate 95, from Miami’s Coconut Grove north to Fort Lauderdale, 89% have been sold, according to the ISG analysis of the 2019 condo market. This means just 2,101 remained available when the report was updated in May, although fewer than 600 of these units are completed, and the rest are in construction or pre-construction.

The Buyers

Most recently, N.E.T. Holdings LLC paid $4.55 million for unit 3001 at One Thousand Museum on July 24. The limited liability company is managed by Guy de Montulé, according to state Division of Corporations records.

De Montulé is listed as the head of the rice division at Netherlands-based agriculture and food processing firm Louis Dreyfus Co. B.V., which also focuses on food shipping and finance.

Mason, Ohio-based private equity firm Blue Loop Capital LLC, which invests in businesses and technology, paid $6.4 million for unit 4501 on July 19.

An affiliate of Italian investment firm executive Francesco Rovati paid $6.3 million for unit 2501 on July 15. Rovati, who is on the board of directors of Milan-based independent asset management firm Hedge Invest, is listed in state records as president of the unit buyer, 2501 OTM Corp.

W. Bruce Lunsford, a Democrat from Kentucky who lost a bid to unseat U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, paid $6.3 million for unit 3601 on July 24. Lunsford held various posts in Kentucky’s Democratic Party, including treasurer and deputy development secretary. He also co-founded in 1985 health care company Vencor Inc., which was renamed to Kindred Healthcare LLC. Kindred has extended-stay hospitals and also offers home health care, hospice, acute health care and rehabilitation services, according to its website.

ZH Holdings Group LLC paid $12.76 million for units 5701 and 5702 on July 17. The limited liability company is managed by United Arab Emirates-based investment firm Orion Investment Holdings, which also offers consulting to private companies.

The identity of the other buyers is less clear.

Noval Florida Holdings Inc., managed by Fritz Dupuy, paid $5.3 million for unit 2301 on July 19; Kessef Investments LLC paid $4.55 million for unit 3201 on July 24; and the Shirley S. Vangeloff Revocable Trust paid $4.7 million for unit 2001 on July 23.

The Tower

Hadid, who is the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, designed One Thousand Museum in her signature futuristic style defined by curving features.

The tower rises to 707 feet amid a canyon of other skyscrapers in downtown Miami, dwarfing the Miami Freedom Tower.

One Thousand Museum, named for its location at 1000 Museum Blvd. fronting Biscayne Boulevard, received a temporary certificate of occupancy June 28.

It has over 30,000 square feet of amenities, including outdoor pools, an indoor infinity-edge pool, a gym, a spa, a movie theater that also can be used for lectures and presentations, and a sky lounge. It also has a vault with safety deposit boxes for residents.

The rooftop is designed to accommodate a private helipad that will open once the Federal Aviation Administration grants approval.

Townhouses are on floors 10 to 14, half-floor condos are on floors 15 to 49, and floors 50 to 59 have the full-floor penthouses. The first seven floors comprise the podium, which includes the lobby and some of the amenities; floors eight and nine comprise the gym and spa; and floors 60 and 61 have the aquatic center and sky lounge, according to the building’s website.

The tower developers are prolific real estate figures Louis Birdman, Gilberto Bomeny, Gregg Covin and Kevin Venger.

Hadid was born in Iraq and studied architecture in London, eventually becoming a British citizen. She died in March 2016. The tower was two years into being developed.

One Thousand Museum is the only residential skyscraper she designed in the Western Hemisphere.

Instant Insights /

Zaha Hadid's One Thousand Museum Skyscraper Records Top Dollar Sales

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