GAME ON
ShareAmenities are a given in any luxury development, but these days a pool, a gym, and even a world-class spa aren’t enough to satisfy the needs of elite buyers looking to call South Florida home. At the Estates at Acqualina, a $1.5 billion residential project in Sunny Isles Beach (slated to open in 2020), upscale living means a property that’s also a one-stop shop for all your action, adventure, and entertainment desires. The Trump Group (no relation) hired Reddymade Architecture and Design to create Villa Acqualina, a 45,000-square-foot residentsonly amenity complex. Forget about keeping up with the Joneses; this place would make the Jetsons feel at home. “Wealthy people love to be pampered,” says developer Jules Trump. “This is the treatment that they are accustomed to. I don’t think it matters whether they’re from India or Connecticut; they love the pampering idea.” The key, according to Trump, is to design an environment that residents never need to leave—which is why Villa Acqualina will include facilities like a movie theater, bowling lanes, an ice-skating rink, a salt room
in the spa, and even a twostory nightclub. “With the level of client we serve, it’s very important that they be entertained,” he says. “They don’t want to go to a public ice rink. As we’ve learned over the years what people like, we add and we test and see what’s around the world that’s attractive to people.” Taking the concept of amenities to a dynamic new level, the Estates will also be home to a soccer field, basketball courts, a FlowRider for surfers, and a Formula One racing simulator that received an unsolicited seal of approval from a racing legend. “Emerson Fittipaldi was here one day,” Trump says. “He and his son were on the simulator in the Mansions [an adjacent property at Acqualina] for two hours. They enjoyed it tremendously. It gives a very real experience.” For the developer, these perks (which also include a cigar room, an intimate wine room, and a new spin on the office dubbed the Wall Street Traders Club) amount to a $100 million expense—and that isn’t even counting the neighboring Acqualina Resort & Spa, a AAA Five Diamond facility that residents will have full access to.
The combination makes the Estates tough to duplicate. “I don’t know that others will follow,” Trump says. “It’s expensive. There are very few places that will go to the extent of having a five-star hotel and five-star amenities.
You don’t have to do this to sell apartments, but we want to provide the finest.” For Trump, the living experience begins the second a resident walks through the door, which is why he enlisted Karl Lagerfeld to design the
lobbies. “At first we thought, ‘How different can a lobby be?’ But he did something amazing. People are not just impressed by the name, but the sheer beauty of it. Walking in each time will be an experience.” And living
there will be extraordinary.
