Estates at Acqualina breaks ground with skydivers, a marching band and 25 Rolls-Royces
ShareThree skydivers parachuted onto the sand as a marching band played “The Champion” alongside 25 Rolls-Royces — all to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Estates of Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach Thursday evening.
The luxury condo project, developed by the Trump Group, will include two 50-story towers with a total of 247 units at 17895 Collins Avenue. The south tower will have 154 units, and the north tower, where construction is currently on hold, will have 93 units.
Sales launched in 2015, but since March, they have been stronger than during any other period, said developer Jules Trump, who is of no relation to the president.
“We set targets with the Bank of the Ozarks [the project’s construction lender] to reach a certain goal by November,” Trump said. “In fact, we reached this target this past April.”
The developer has presold nearly 100 units worth $550 million, representing 65 percent of the tower, said Michael Goldstein, president of sales. “Once the Golden Strands went down, sales took off like a rocket,” he said, referring to the timeshare building purchased by Trump that was demolished earlier this year.
Condos range from 2,917 square feet to 9,000 square feet, and from three to seven bedrooms. Prices start at $4.2 million, up to $14.5 million, and $32 million and $36 million for the two penthouses. The project will be to the north of the Trump Group’s Mansions at Acqualina and Acqualina Resort & Spa.
“We’re seeing most of the business from the Northeast — people moving out of New York, New Jersey, and making Florida their primary residence,” Goldstein said. About 60 percent of sales are from the Northeast, with the remainder from Latin American countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and the Dominican Republic.
A sales and marketing team just returned from Sao Paulo, and will also visit Bogota, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Quito and Mexico City by early June.
Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Chanel, Fendi and his eponymous brand, is designing both towers’ lobbies at the $1.5 billion luxury development, marking his first residential interior design project in the United States.
The project will include Villa Acqualina with 45,000 square feet of amenities, including a spa and fitness center, restaurant and Circus Maximus, a floor of amenities that will include an ice skating rink, bowling lanes and a movie theater, as well as a Wall Street Trader’s Club room. The 5.6-acre development will have gardens, multiple infinity pools, a FlowRider for surfers, a basketball court, bocce court, dog park, soccer field, and a beachfront restaurant.
More than 200 brokers, residents, city officials and others attended the groundbreaking event that spilled out from the sales gallery and terrace to the sand below. Construction is now beginning on the foundations of the both towers, as well as the amenity deck. The south tower’s foundation is expected to be completed by the end of the year, with top-off by December 2019 and completion a year later.
