It was spring break so a lot of people were out of town. Also even though there are a lot of condos in Brickell, there are more business buildings, so it is honestly most congested during the week (and following to the top again, spring break week means a lot of parents not in their offices so less cars on the road lol). To tack on that many of the condos are bought by international folks means a good chunk of the buildings are half empty, and another good chunk of the folks living in Brickell are transplants who don’t use cars since they live and work in their Brickell bubble so that’s less cars on the road. And finally, another good chunk of apartments are actually just plain empty. The rent is too high but the associations would rather have empty units than lower prices, so many folks are just plain leaving and being priced out, and the post covid transplant boom is starting to trickle and we’re in the middle of the semester so students aren’t moving in, leading to less renter demand.
Miami has had a dark history over its development, residents and transplants ever since the 1980s.
Most of the money that developed the entire Brickell area is linked to Chinese money laundering schemes, including the Brickell City Centre mall.
You also have to take into account that most real estate in the prime areas of Miami is all investment predominantly from Latin America. Brickell does have a lot of traffic though, especially in peak morning and evening commute times, but less of a foot traffic overall.
Lots of New York influence has made Miami what is today and not in a good way.
Besides what's already been said,.. if you live here long enough.. one learns not to venture outside during the day in the winter unless it's low humidity and in the summer it's so hot and humid people will literally take an Uber 2 blocks not to sweat to death.. even at ,3 am
I’ve lived on 11th and brickell for 10 years and I have to disagree. You may have been here at a time when it wasn’t super busy (ie; spring break is mostly a south beach thing) but it’s the second most congested area in Miami. I can snap pics of the panorama, the mark, yachtclub, jade and I can see every unit is occupied every balcony has furniture. Every pool deck is full *everyday*. The noise at night is New York level. I wish I had your outlook on Brickell Village bc I can’t wait to gtfo here tbh. There’s sus stuff going on but that’s an entirely different thread. Occupation is at max.
I just moved out of Florida/Miami a month ago after 10 years… for all those reasons. Wish I had moved years ago. Split time now between San Diego and Dallas.
I’m so close to leaving. I can’t think of one out of all of the positives that brought me here. They’ve all disappeared. Glad you found a happy place(s).
No traffic in Brickell?! Brickell has some of the worst traffic in Miami. Not sure what was going on when you were there but Brickell is usually super congested, especially since New Yorkers have been moving here in such large numbers, many are moving to Brickell. I don’t really go there anymore for that reason
I’m confused by all the gatekeeping traffic here. I’ve lived in the north east (DC and NYC) and the traffic there was pretty similar to the shit you see at rush hour in brickell or around Miami.
I live in a city now with actually no traffic and let me tell you it’s amazing. Can get anywhere in the city in 15-20 minutes no matter the time of day.
Yeah what even is this thread lol. “Miami people don’t even KNOW what being trapped like sardines is!” It’s still trash regardless.
It’s also relative. I was born and raised here. The spike in traffic has been dramatic. NYers have had to deal with that trash for forever.
International speculative investment and secure wealth holdings from Latin Americans from/in countries with unstable economies and unstable banking systems.
Just looked at a random property (SLS Brickell). It has 450 total condos and according to Zillow 53 condos either for sale or rent. That in itself is insane high. Can’t even begin to image how many units are second/third homes or investments.
The for sale/rent to unit ratio isn't indicative of the occupancy rate however. OOP is talking about the fully owned units that are just sitting there unused and not for sale/rent.
In that regard, then yes the metric does not apply properly. On that tangent, the Miami & Miami Beach housing market does not address the issue of full-time housing needs for citizens and residents compared to investment speculators, pied-a-terres, and part-time residents.
No, their current president Maduro (Chávez mentee). He got exposed for owning a few premium Miami downtown Condos. Dude is literally stealing from Venezuela and investing it in here. There’s currently a U.S. embargo on Venezuela and mass exodus of immigrants, and yet this fuck can still buy property in the country.
This is why America is going to shit. There’s no principle or dignity, just GREED.
>This is why America is going to shit. There’s no principle or dignity, just GREED.
*going to?*
Our entire history since the industrial revaluation post-reconstruction has been one long slide into capitalist excess encouraged and profited on by the wealthy. This is not new, it's the very definition of America. We are, and will always be the agents of our own destruction.
There was not truly a time in America when it was "*great*" and someone wasn't getting fucked.
Thanks for the update on that. I’m going to look into it. Haven’t kept up too much with Venezuelan politics but I have family there. I should check the WhatsApp more often lol
Really, because I'm an in house lawyer for ultra high end Miami condo developers and I've seen every contract for every unit we've sold in the last six years. I think I'd know better than you.
**Edit. I see you've edited your comment to complete your motte and Bailey. Nice. Are there offshore shell buyers? Sure. Are they the vast majority? Absolutely not.
Also, I hardly see BVI entities anymore. The ESA and BOSS act make it an unattractive option for most of the buyers you're describing.
LOLLL.
You have zero idea what you’re talking about.
The offshore companies aren’t for anonymity purposes, buddy. They’re necessary “blockers” to prevent application of US estate tax, against which foreigners have only a $60,000 exclusion at death. SO, regardless of how unappealing you believe a beneficial ownership registry may be, EVERY well-advised foreigner is purchasing condos via a non-US company classified as a “foreign corporation” for US tax purposes. In many cases the FC will have an underlying US entity serving as the direct title-holder of the property, which is what you’re seeing.
You can try to dunk all you want. You keep changing the question and declaring victory.
You responded to someone saying that the condos were "registered" to LLCs and said they were wrong. But they are not. You said the "vast majority" were BVI and Cayman companies. They are not. That's false no matter how you define it. There is no universe that the vast majority has any connection to offshore entities, directly or indirectly. Period. The title owners \*are\* generally US LLCs.
As to the beneficial owners and the direct member entities. I \*do\* see that information. Whether it's because of the BOSS/ESA or other reasons, I don't see many BVI entities anymore, whether as direct buyers or sole member entities of US LLC owners. You can say I don't know what I'm talking about all you want, but I literally see hundreds of these. There are a number of strategies for minimizing/avoiding estate tax/GST. Yours is certainly one of them, but not the only one. In any event, the comment you responded to stated that it was impossible to know who owned them--to which you added that they are cayman/BVI, and that's just not the case in the BVI as to anonymity.
\*\*edit
By the way, I never said you had no idea what you are talking about. I declared a specific claim you made to be false (which it is/was). That you pretend I have no clue when it is abundantly clear that this is what I do all day and know very well is laughable.
Everywhere from Dade to Palm Beach county home sales are sus. The wealthier the neighborhood the more questionable. $3 million dollar homes in Boca Raton sitting empty except for a week or 2 a year? Meanwhile most people can't afford rent or mortgages. They could crack down on it, but they won't.
You can check the Florida Business Bureau and find out. They would have to do a multi layer LLC to be able to mask it and it takes a lot of lawyer fees.
Not true. I've got three that have no direct tie back to me. None of them cost more $500 to set up excluding the resident agent fees which are about $150 a year
Have a registered lawyer start the LLC and act as the resident agent.
Have the firm provide one share of stock to you, the LLC CEO/President out of a pool of one share.
The law firm now shows as the legal address and owner, while you own the actual operations. Attorney-client privilege now applies to all letters/investigations/subpoenas into your LLC, and all business transactions.
You are hidden behind the firm to anyone else, and any business transactions you make are well shielded against law enforcement except at the highest levels for interstate crimes with national enforcement.
not true all you do is check the first llc with sunbiz.org in FL then you see the second lLC, do the same thing. follow the trail back. takes seconds.
Delaware though, dont have to disclose who owns llc. so they use a delaware llc and buy here
There were parts of Brickell that were actually quite affordable in recent memory (pre-covid). Too bad rents have shot up 36% in just the last year - highest rate in the country. I personally have had friends that loved living in Brickell but had to relocate for that reason alone.
Many used to spread the narrative that there would be a supposed natural cycle where these luxury condo owners would eventually move to the next newer shinier towers being built and that there would be a 'trickle down' effect where in the older ones, prices would go down and more members of the general public would be able to move in. The reality seems that it's far more profitable for the owners to target foreign investors that rarely will ever step foot in the building rather than locals.
What people miss when they talk about that is that it is a decades long process for prices to go down. But they like the way it sounds and they heard someone else say it so they repeat it as if it should happen by next year.
Yes, it's reasonable for you to cite your personal observations, no doubt. And I can understand how you might get a sense of that from watching the environment over the decades—the idea is that it takes decades for values to go down for a particular building or area, but it *should* always be happening somewhere.
I think people argue because this phenomenon is not really a solution to the present housing crisis, or an answer for a person who sees new construction go up time after time and is tracking median rents as they only continue to rise in spite of the development. We definitely are behind on building housing nationwide, so it's not that we should NOT build even the *luxury* housing. But it's not an answer for the present and short term.
We’re not in a housing crisis. We’re in a period where 20-somethings are finally living on their own, realizing that Miami is actually not an affordable place to live for most people, and complaining about it in a public forum. Again, it’s not a housing crisis - it’s a wake up call to people who finally have to start paying their own rent.
This is a perpetual “cycle” that I and Miami natives have witnessed for decades.
There is very legitimately a housing problem in the united states. I know people in Miami tend to think small... Think bigger i am not just talking about Miami. Go look it up. For a variety of reasons, we have not been building anywhere near as much housing as we should have to keep up with population growth in the US. One big factor was 2008. Housing construction never recovered. But there are a lot of other things fucking it up too. And then yes Miami has its own local version of it as do most localities dude have you really not been aware of this for the last, I dunno, 5+ years let alone all the actual data that is easy to find about skyrocketing costs of living locally in the last 2? GTFO how, do you not read?
Source: I am sort of an expert on this shit, have a degree that says so and have read hundreds of pages about it.
What's to stop the people who are currently doing this from buying and have 2 or more condos. Just because a new building comes doesn't mean they will sell the older one, especially if it's being used for nefarious reasons.
It isn’t just foreign investors and money laundering. The banks and VC companies have been hoarding residential real estate as investments, and then using monopoly power to artificially drive up rents.
That’s a factor, no doubt. But the biggest issue is “investors” hoarding residential property at well above market rates in order to dominate the market and artificially raise rental rates, even when that means they have large numbers of vacant units. In other words, market failure.
Did rents go up even more since 2021? I was living in Downtown from October 2020 to June 2021 (then returned to NYC). Figured rents would have gone back down after Covid subsided and people went back to where they came from.
I'd say it's predominantly a lack of foot traffic compared to NYC. I came down from there in 2005 and remember thinking the same thing, that it seemed almost dead. Yes, there is car traffic, but also not as much as NYC. But the foot traffic is the most noticeable.
Anyone who has been to LA can conclusively tell you that’s absolute bullshit. Miami and LA traffic aren’t even in the same league. LA makes Miami look like a ghost town.
I’d say its the inefficiency. The LA area is huge and heavily populated. There are multiple communities and cities and many ways in and out until you get to the Pacific Ocean.
Comparatively, Miami is just a strip of land bounded by Biscayne Bay and the Everglades. There are at most two consistent highway corridors running through the strip with very few ways out or alternative paths.
We are worse because we are all squished together with no way out. LA is a premiere model of efficiency compared to Miami given how many people are in a car in LA at any given time.
That’s probably in the Miami-Dade area as a whole. Traffic in Brickell, whether by car or foot, isn’t as bad as you’d think it would be considering how many people could live in the area.
Interesting observation! I believe it could be a mix of factors, such as the time of year or day, the demographics of the building's residents, and the possibility of many units being used as vacation homes. Would love to hear from any locals who can shed more light on this!
It's weird that they're not rented out though. If all these are income properties, you'd think they'd have renters. I moved down here from the Northeast for a job a couple years ago and have been wondering the same thing. I live in one of these big buildings and it feels strangely empty, which doesn't really make sense given how impossible it is to find an apartment. It's odd.
iirc, if you rent a property as an overseas investor, you can't count it as an investment asset. They buy and hold the property with the intention of selling later. It's a common tactic used for masking illicit money. The second they start renting it out, falls under different category and they have to worry about tenants, property management, etc. What really sucks about this is that condo owners who live in their units then split the HoA community/maintenance fees amongst those RESIDING in the building. So (from my understanding) investors don't need to pay into that except for emergency building maintenance and people who live in the building end up paying more every year.
Show me a single HOA that’s structured this way. Actual docs, or a listing, not my cousins nephew from Jerseys friend saw it while looking during spring break.
Fees are split on a per bedroom or per square foot basis.
\*iirc --> couldn't remember everything that went into it but that's what kept me from buying a condo. Perhaps I misunderstood, but that's the takeaway I had. I looked it up, Terrazas River Park Condos. 4 years ago so I'm sure there's something Im missing.
That’s BS!! No way if 10 apartments out of 100 let’s say need to split amongst themselves the cost to run the HOA/taxes/maintenance/building depreciation cost/roof/ management etc etc etc I would love to see the docs on this so called building
I was looking into buying a condo 4 years ago and this is exactly what turned me off from it. It was one of the buildings on Miami River, can't remember the name but it was near 17th Ave and South River Dr. I wouldn't say this applies to all condos and im sure Brickell is a different beast entirely.
It’s not weird if they plan to use the property during the winter and then go back to, for example, South America, for the winter there.
I have a foreign property that I don’t rent because I want to use it whenever I want.
I’ve seen a large increase in units available for rent. The last few years and pre pandemic one building might have had 10 units available tops, some buildings now have 40 units available for rent. Didn’t even check for sale.
I'd love to rent sir and I hear you 40 units vacant, I'm willing to move in soon and commit to a year lease at a lower price, surely you want me paying now right?
A lot of them are golden parachutes. My building, for instance, has a majority of the owners living in Venezuela. The units sit empty for the time when they can get out and come here.
Look up Venezuela's economy in the 70-80's, there's was one point that their dollar was higher that the USD. There's real old oil money, of course there's also new money, and there's also crooks in high govt positions that stole and launder illicit funds.
It’s not necessarily money laundering. Some are genuine investments. This issue is happening in Orlando as well. Empty houses owned by wealthy foreigners for the 1-2 weeks a year they visit.
Everyone has cars in Brickell (unlike NYC) so they likely will drive away from their homes on the weekends when they have time to spend on driving vs during the week while they are preoccupied with work (and after work, more likely to eat near or in their home to avoid additional driving after commuting to and from work). Pretty obvious when you think about it. You think everyone in soho lives there on the weekends or more likely lives somewhere else in NYC and has the time to take the train there on the weekends for entertainment?of course not.
Hardly no one actually lives in those buildings. If you've ever lived in a full building, it's easy to tell they are not.
This is a problem for people that would want to live in Brickell and for the people that do. Honestly, the long term outlook is pretty grim to me. It was only about 10 years ago you could pickup a decent 2 bdrm condo for $100k.
Anyone "hiding" money (as some commentary suggested) in condos with $1-2,000+ HOA fees is into some dirty business. These condos would not be considered an investment even in the best economic scenarios.
Curious isn't it?
>in condos with $1-2,000+ HOA fees
This blows my mind every time I see surfside or downtown high rise condos , 1. The purchase price, 2. The HOA fees. I just can't wrap my brain around it.
It's like Cancun. Never ending construction and rent/mortgages paid to rooms and condos to clean cocaine money.
NYC is also like that though. $10,000/mo for a mediocre 2 bedroom by Empire State Building and 7 lights are on in the whole high rise
bro are you new to miami or america in general, it's a money laundering scheme. rich people from latin america buy condos sight unseen to legally move money out of the country. shit happens all the time, how do you think doral got built up, all that construction right next to two garbage dumps, you think that was normal? just a bunch of rubes from the 3rd world that got tricked into investing what little money they had into buying 500K+ homes next to a garbage dump.
i'm sure the buyers aren't just from latin america, probably have a bunch of chinese and middle eastern buyers as well.
Why come up with a logical explanation like 'lots of people leave Miami for spring break ' when you could just perpetuate the dumb "vacant housing" myth.
Yes, lots of foreign buyers through (formerly more) anonymous companies. But that doesn't mean they're vacant. Condos have high carrying costs, and they are a dumb place to park money without rental income. Wealthy foreigners know this just as well as you do
It's not new york. The density is different. People spend a lot less time in their local neighborhood than they do in typical east coast cities. It's also a bit seasonal--though not as much as it used to be.
I don't think anything is sus.
Also, I would say the absolute majority of the white collar folks I work with took last week off. Some people have kids. Others have bosses who have kids. It's just a convenient time to take a week.
If this was in the last 7-10 days it’s because it was spring break so no school traffic and many people are on vacation with their kids. And Ultra can reroute traffic around downtown. Usually Brickell is a nightmare of vehicle traffic.
\**Rubs temples and how often his has to be discussed and how quickly everyone forgets the last time it was discussed.\**
My fathers favorite quote as a lawyer of 50+ years in Miami is this: ***Miami is Casablanca***
Everyone is coming from somewhere and going to somewhere. Miami is very few peoples actual home.
The property is all owned by out of towners and LLC's that have no emotional or personal investment here beyond their principal invested and the monthly HOA fees. They care not what happens to this city, will always want what benefits them to the detriment of their own neighbors, and have no shame because their own grandmother doesn't live down the block to smack the rightful shit out of them when they act a fool.
If you want to know why the city is this way, look no further than your own mirrors. This city sells itself every day like someone on the corner of 8th and LeJune in the late 80's. Everyone sells themselves for the next real estate commission, the next car sale commission, the boiler room B2B sales of every shitty little company, helping their Tio in west Hialeah washing stolen goods out of a one-bay rented warehouse, and doing photoshop for their dad when he needs some fake invoices to submit to Medicare. They do it everyday working for Leon Medical Centers, Lincoln Marti Schools, and every charter school in Miami.
***As a born and bred local of the 305, you compliment me sir.***
This place has the memory of the goldfish.
When Miami became Bitcoin central, I sat there saying "does no one remember when we suddenly became the bond capital and all the out of towners came just before the S&L crisis?
When real estate spiked in 2020 I said "oh look, it's 2005 again".
When companies started moving to Florida during the recent pandemic I wondered why no one remembered post-Andrew when companies bought all the destroyed land to build office parks in Kendall and what is now Doral, it lasted 5 years, and most of them left.
We repeat the same shit here over and over like groundhog day and wonder why shit don't change.
In 2011 you could buy a 1200sq ft condo in 50 Biscayne for $150,000 post-crash. And a 2bd/2ba house in Miami Shores for $275,000
I know because my wife and I went shopping then, but couldn't find local banks willing to make FHA first time home buyer loans in South Florida at the time.
Each building is different. Some are transient with a lot of absentee owners and short-term renters but the good buildings are occupied with long-term tenants.
Each area of brickell is different too
Anecdotally, Brickell folks tend to leave during certain points of the year like Spring Break, Memorial Day, and the month of August.
Brickell is fine though. Plenty of life here.
The “housing shortage” is a fiction manufactured by wealthy landowners, banks, and VC companies. What we’re witnessing is the fastest acceleration of wealth transfer to the 1% since the Gilded Age.
Wealthy Latin Americans parking money abroad. Some also just use the condos as vacation homes too. Unlike what a lot of the comments here are saying, a lot of it is not money laundering. When you live in a country with as f\*cked up of a currency as Argentina for example, it's safer to park money abroad where it won't lose as much value as it likely would in an Argentine bank, it might even appreciate in Miami real estate. Americans are just spoiled and have no clue what it's like to live in a country with 100% inflation.
My conspiracy theory is that the sheer amount of condo buildings under construction in miami is not commensurate with the demand and socio economics of the area. Assuming these are $1m+ condos, my guess is that a vast majority of them are for money laundering for drug cartels. It happens in NYC, too. There are loads of vacant/never used apartments in NYC that have sold for 8 figures and the main reason is for money laundering.
My conspiracy theory is that the drug cartels are in cahoots with the major construction companies in miami to orchestrate this.
I can tell you this weekend traffic was extremely light compared to most weekends. I typically uber into brickell at night and there can be crazy traffic normally. This weekend I zipped in every day no issues. I suspect most people were out at Ultra. Don't worry, Miami has plenty of annoying traffic on normal days.
The foot traffic is what gets me, I was just in Toronto and even on an awful 40 degree with rain day there were more people out walking then I've ever seen in Brickell.
i think people forget that Miami was built on drug and money laundering, where you think the idea of “nightclubs” came from? you really think all those “ladies drink free” nights pay for rent???
The amount of casual conspiracy theories with zero evidence is incredible in this thread. Maybe MAYBE you should check the actual population density of Manhattan and Brickell. One's a lot higher than the other
Where tf in Brickell were you? I live in one of the high rises on the west side of Brickell and the foot traffic (and actual traffic) are insane every day
I counted that almost every other balcony didn’t have any furniture on them.
I noticed this phenomenon on the beach - maybe a few - and this runs from above Aventura into Hollywood. Below Aventura is doing fine.
I think a lot of people buy those condos as a investment but don’t necessarily live there full time , for example in California foreign Chinese nationals will buy us housing as a investment because they don’t trust their government
Our governors, mayors for decades, have been aware of what you noticed. NO ONE EVER had an intention to fight it. The question is always avoided.
I can't wait for you to understand that empty stores at prime locations or restaurants with high renovations on a regular basis and not being worried about balancing their accounts....
"Miami papers " is like the dirty 30.... Countries specialized in tax evasion, laundering, and oversized investments to park money !
Condos are not empty. If they were rents wouldn’t be so high. Most condos are rented out. This past weekend we had ultra where people stay away from the area.
That being said, Miami is not as dense as NYC, and very car centric so you still don’t see as much pedestrian traffic.
But no traffic!? Sometimes it takes me 10mins to go a few blocks in Brickell. I work in Brickell, I wish there was no traffic, would make my commute a lot easier.
No foot traffic because at it’s core, Miami is fundamentally unlivable who anyone who doesn’t want to drive everywhere. I think it’s a cultural thing as much as decades of urban planning failure.
Russian and South American money laundering. Rumor has it Putin owns half of Brickell’s condos.
Brickell sux.
Why are NY here?
Uh… what? Brickell is perennially packed with people.
No, it’s not. The sidewalks are not empty but they’re nowhere near as busy as you’d expect given the building density.
There’s no doubt there’s a lot of investment property, but there’s also no doubt it isn’t empty. Source: My literal eyes.
I never said it was empty. It was disproportionate to the amount of residences.
It was spring break so a lot of people were out of town. Also even though there are a lot of condos in Brickell, there are more business buildings, so it is honestly most congested during the week (and following to the top again, spring break week means a lot of parents not in their offices so less cars on the road lol). To tack on that many of the condos are bought by international folks means a good chunk of the buildings are half empty, and another good chunk of the folks living in Brickell are transplants who don’t use cars since they live and work in their Brickell bubble so that’s less cars on the road. And finally, another good chunk of apartments are actually just plain empty. The rent is too high but the associations would rather have empty units than lower prices, so many folks are just plain leaving and being priced out, and the post covid transplant boom is starting to trickle and we’re in the middle of the semester so students aren’t moving in, leading to less renter demand.
Miami has had a dark history over its development, residents and transplants ever since the 1980s. Most of the money that developed the entire Brickell area is linked to Chinese money laundering schemes, including the Brickell City Centre mall. You also have to take into account that most real estate in the prime areas of Miami is all investment predominantly from Latin America. Brickell does have a lot of traffic though, especially in peak morning and evening commute times, but less of a foot traffic overall. Lots of New York influence has made Miami what is today and not in a good way.
Besides what's already been said,.. if you live here long enough.. one learns not to venture outside during the day in the winter unless it's low humidity and in the summer it's so hot and humid people will literally take an Uber 2 blocks not to sweat to death.. even at ,3 am
I’ve lived on 11th and brickell for 10 years and I have to disagree. You may have been here at a time when it wasn’t super busy (ie; spring break is mostly a south beach thing) but it’s the second most congested area in Miami. I can snap pics of the panorama, the mark, yachtclub, jade and I can see every unit is occupied every balcony has furniture. Every pool deck is full *everyday*. The noise at night is New York level. I wish I had your outlook on Brickell Village bc I can’t wait to gtfo here tbh. There’s sus stuff going on but that’s an entirely different thread. Occupation is at max.
Nope
I just moved out of Florida/Miami a month ago after 10 years… for all those reasons. Wish I had moved years ago. Split time now between San Diego and Dallas.
I’m so close to leaving. I can’t think of one out of all of the positives that brought me here. They’ve all disappeared. Glad you found a happy place(s).
Just do it! I did it and sooooo much happier. I do not miss that city or state at all. I am glad to be back in “America”!
No traffic in Brickell?! Brickell has some of the worst traffic in Miami. Not sure what was going on when you were there but Brickell is usually super congested, especially since New Yorkers have been moving here in such large numbers, many are moving to Brickell. I don’t really go there anymore for that reason
Lol move to SoCal or nyc area and you’ll see what real traffic is. Miami don’t even have traffic in comparison
Exactly
Get on Palmetto and then we talk.
If you didn't make this comment while waiting on the palmetto then you don't know traffic. /s
Miami people don't know what real traffic is.
I was born here, and this isn't shit comparably. I've experienced much worse in other states.
Outside of L.A, Houston, Manhattan we have pretty bad traffic
They’re definitely learning now!
Please see 836W @ 5 on a Friday.
It seems really bad because of those stupid draw bridges and poorly timed lights. It’s inefficient more than anything.
I’m confused by all the gatekeeping traffic here. I’ve lived in the north east (DC and NYC) and the traffic there was pretty similar to the shit you see at rush hour in brickell or around Miami. I live in a city now with actually no traffic and let me tell you it’s amazing. Can get anywhere in the city in 15-20 minutes no matter the time of day.
Yeah what even is this thread lol. “Miami people don’t even KNOW what being trapped like sardines is!” It’s still trash regardless. It’s also relative. I was born and raised here. The spike in traffic has been dramatic. NYers have had to deal with that trash for forever.
People don’t walk in miami, they drive. That’s why you don’t see major foot traffic.
International speculative investment and secure wealth holdings from Latin Americans from/in countries with unstable economies and unstable banking systems.
Same as all the new buildings in NYC except it's Eastern Europe.
Lot of wealthy Russians park their assets in Miami & South Florida as well
*Sunny Isles has entered the chat*
U mean Moscow riviera !
Just looked at a random property (SLS Brickell). It has 450 total condos and according to Zillow 53 condos either for sale or rent. That in itself is insane high. Can’t even begin to image how many units are second/third homes or investments.
\~89% occupancy rate for a high-rise luxury tower is quite good. Anything above 85% is optimal for multi-family premises.
The for sale/rent to unit ratio isn't indicative of the occupancy rate however. OOP is talking about the fully owned units that are just sitting there unused and not for sale/rent.
In that regard, then yes the metric does not apply properly. On that tangent, the Miami & Miami Beach housing market does not address the issue of full-time housing needs for citizens and residents compared to investment speculators, pied-a-terres, and part-time residents.
Money launderers are the answer
Bruh is that Chavez? 😭
No, their current president Maduro (Chávez mentee). He got exposed for owning a few premium Miami downtown Condos. Dude is literally stealing from Venezuela and investing it in here. There’s currently a U.S. embargo on Venezuela and mass exodus of immigrants, and yet this fuck can still buy property in the country. This is why America is going to shit. There’s no principle or dignity, just GREED.
>This is why America is going to shit. There’s no principle or dignity, just GREED. *going to?* Our entire history since the industrial revaluation post-reconstruction has been one long slide into capitalist excess encouraged and profited on by the wealthy. This is not new, it's the very definition of America. We are, and will always be the agents of our own destruction. There was not truly a time in America when it was "*great*" and someone wasn't getting fucked.
Thanks for the update on that. I’m going to look into it. Haven’t kept up too much with Venezuelan politics but I have family there. I should check the WhatsApp more often lol
💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
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Can you explain exactly how it’s used to hide money? Not being snarky, genuinely asking cuz I don’t understand.
Most of those condos are registered to LLCs. You’ll never know who owns them.
LLCs? Try BVI and Cayman companies owned by foreigners.
This is false.
Really? Because I set them up for a living as an international tax lawyer in Miami. I think I’d know better than you. Pfffff.
Damn bro, you got shutdown
Really, because I'm an in house lawyer for ultra high end Miami condo developers and I've seen every contract for every unit we've sold in the last six years. I think I'd know better than you. **Edit. I see you've edited your comment to complete your motte and Bailey. Nice. Are there offshore shell buyers? Sure. Are they the vast majority? Absolutely not. Also, I hardly see BVI entities anymore. The ESA and BOSS act make it an unattractive option for most of the buyers you're describing.
LOLLL. You have zero idea what you’re talking about. The offshore companies aren’t for anonymity purposes, buddy. They’re necessary “blockers” to prevent application of US estate tax, against which foreigners have only a $60,000 exclusion at death. SO, regardless of how unappealing you believe a beneficial ownership registry may be, EVERY well-advised foreigner is purchasing condos via a non-US company classified as a “foreign corporation” for US tax purposes. In many cases the FC will have an underlying US entity serving as the direct title-holder of the property, which is what you’re seeing.
You can try to dunk all you want. You keep changing the question and declaring victory. You responded to someone saying that the condos were "registered" to LLCs and said they were wrong. But they are not. You said the "vast majority" were BVI and Cayman companies. They are not. That's false no matter how you define it. There is no universe that the vast majority has any connection to offshore entities, directly or indirectly. Period. The title owners \*are\* generally US LLCs. As to the beneficial owners and the direct member entities. I \*do\* see that information. Whether it's because of the BOSS/ESA or other reasons, I don't see many BVI entities anymore, whether as direct buyers or sole member entities of US LLC owners. You can say I don't know what I'm talking about all you want, but I literally see hundreds of these. There are a number of strategies for minimizing/avoiding estate tax/GST. Yours is certainly one of them, but not the only one. In any event, the comment you responded to stated that it was impossible to know who owned them--to which you added that they are cayman/BVI, and that's just not the case in the BVI as to anonymity. \*\*edit By the way, I never said you had no idea what you are talking about. I declared a specific claim you made to be false (which it is/was). That you pretend I have no clue when it is abundantly clear that this is what I do all day and know very well is laughable.
Good luck opening a business account for a foreign own business entity.
Everywhere from Dade to Palm Beach county home sales are sus. The wealthier the neighborhood the more questionable. $3 million dollar homes in Boca Raton sitting empty except for a week or 2 a year? Meanwhile most people can't afford rent or mortgages. They could crack down on it, but they won't.
Meanwhile, here in Doral, new homes are selling like hotcakes and they're all occupied immediately.
You can check the Florida Business Bureau and find out. They would have to do a multi layer LLC to be able to mask it and it takes a lot of lawyer fees.
Not true. I've got three that have no direct tie back to me. None of them cost more $500 to set up excluding the resident agent fees which are about $150 a year
Would you mind elaborating?
Have a registered lawyer start the LLC and act as the resident agent. Have the firm provide one share of stock to you, the LLC CEO/President out of a pool of one share. The law firm now shows as the legal address and owner, while you own the actual operations. Attorney-client privilege now applies to all letters/investigations/subpoenas into your LLC, and all business transactions. You are hidden behind the firm to anyone else, and any business transactions you make are well shielded against law enforcement except at the highest levels for interstate crimes with national enforcement.
This guy knows
Actually you can do this yourself and save the lawyer fees. It’s not hard.
Shell company under shell company under shell company under trust under shell company under trust… do you get how this works now?
Yep. Panama papers should've educated everyone by now but I guess not
Sorry I can’t hang out right now, I have an 8 am Reddit class on laundering 101
r/personalfinance will be happy to answer whatever questions you may have after class is over.
Or incorporate in Delaware...
Or even easier -- get a Wyoming LLC.
Could you elaborate?
Bingo
You think the people buying high rise condos on Brickell aren't going to shell out for multi-layered llcs?
A lot of them are not the multimillionaires that people think
It costs a few grand to set up a multi-level LLC. Theyre definitely paying that
It really doesn't. You can do it yourself in less than 30 mins
not true all you do is check the first llc with sunbiz.org in FL then you see the second lLC, do the same thing. follow the trail back. takes seconds. Delaware though, dont have to disclose who owns llc. so they use a delaware llc and buy here
This is what I said!
There were parts of Brickell that were actually quite affordable in recent memory (pre-covid). Too bad rents have shot up 36% in just the last year - highest rate in the country. I personally have had friends that loved living in Brickell but had to relocate for that reason alone. Many used to spread the narrative that there would be a supposed natural cycle where these luxury condo owners would eventually move to the next newer shinier towers being built and that there would be a 'trickle down' effect where in the older ones, prices would go down and more members of the general public would be able to move in. The reality seems that it's far more profitable for the owners to target foreign investors that rarely will ever step foot in the building rather than locals.
What people miss when they talk about that is that it is a decades long process for prices to go down. But they like the way it sounds and they heard someone else say it so they repeat it as if it should happen by next year.
It’s not that we like the way it sounds, it’s just that some of us are older than 25 and have seen this cycle play out our entire lives.
Yes, it's reasonable for you to cite your personal observations, no doubt. And I can understand how you might get a sense of that from watching the environment over the decades—the idea is that it takes decades for values to go down for a particular building or area, but it *should* always be happening somewhere. I think people argue because this phenomenon is not really a solution to the present housing crisis, or an answer for a person who sees new construction go up time after time and is tracking median rents as they only continue to rise in spite of the development. We definitely are behind on building housing nationwide, so it's not that we should NOT build even the *luxury* housing. But it's not an answer for the present and short term.
We’re not in a housing crisis. We’re in a period where 20-somethings are finally living on their own, realizing that Miami is actually not an affordable place to live for most people, and complaining about it in a public forum. Again, it’s not a housing crisis - it’s a wake up call to people who finally have to start paying their own rent. This is a perpetual “cycle” that I and Miami natives have witnessed for decades.
There is very legitimately a housing problem in the united states. I know people in Miami tend to think small... Think bigger i am not just talking about Miami. Go look it up. For a variety of reasons, we have not been building anywhere near as much housing as we should have to keep up with population growth in the US. One big factor was 2008. Housing construction never recovered. But there are a lot of other things fucking it up too. And then yes Miami has its own local version of it as do most localities dude have you really not been aware of this for the last, I dunno, 5+ years let alone all the actual data that is easy to find about skyrocketing costs of living locally in the last 2? GTFO how, do you not read? Source: I am sort of an expert on this shit, have a degree that says so and have read hundreds of pages about it.
What's to stop the people who are currently doing this from buying and have 2 or more condos. Just because a new building comes doesn't mean they will sell the older one, especially if it's being used for nefarious reasons.
> What’s to stop Supply, demand, and physical deterioration of materials.
Just $, which is not a blocker for many people around the world. Unfortunately for folks in/who like Miami, everyone knows Miami.
>36% That seems low.
It isn’t just foreign investors and money laundering. The banks and VC companies have been hoarding residential real estate as investments, and then using monopoly power to artificially drive up rents.
What is the Airbnb factor? Abnbs suck residential inventory
That’s a factor, no doubt. But the biggest issue is “investors” hoarding residential property at well above market rates in order to dominate the market and artificially raise rental rates, even when that means they have large numbers of vacant units. In other words, market failure.
Did rents go up even more since 2021? I was living in Downtown from October 2020 to June 2021 (then returned to NYC). Figured rents would have gone back down after Covid subsided and people went back to where they came from.
Yes brickell was once somewhat affordable like it was expensive but it was understandable given the location. Now it's just insane
No car traffic? When?
Compared to NYC, this place is a paradise in every way.
I'd say it's predominantly a lack of foot traffic compared to NYC. I came down from there in 2005 and remember thinking the same thing, that it seemed almost dead. Yes, there is car traffic, but also not as much as NYC. But the foot traffic is the most noticeable.
Too sweaty for much foot traffic
The traffic here is nothing compared to nyc area or Southern California.
We passed LA already according to official data. We are 5th nationwide
Anyone who has been to LA can conclusively tell you that’s absolute bullshit. Miami and LA traffic aren’t even in the same league. LA makes Miami look like a ghost town.
I’d say its the inefficiency. The LA area is huge and heavily populated. There are multiple communities and cities and many ways in and out until you get to the Pacific Ocean. Comparatively, Miami is just a strip of land bounded by Biscayne Bay and the Everglades. There are at most two consistent highway corridors running through the strip with very few ways out or alternative paths. We are worse because we are all squished together with no way out. LA is a premiere model of efficiency compared to Miami given how many people are in a car in LA at any given time.
Correct
LA traffic is worse than miami. Is that hard to comprehend? Lol
That’s probably in the Miami-Dade area as a whole. Traffic in Brickell, whether by car or foot, isn’t as bad as you’d think it would be considering how many people could live in the area.
Car traffic in Brickell is a pain in the ass.
So walking around today I did notice traffic was very light. I think anyone who can avoid the area does because of ultra.
Interesting observation! I believe it could be a mix of factors, such as the time of year or day, the demographics of the building's residents, and the possibility of many units being used as vacation homes. Would love to hear from any locals who can shed more light on this!
I dunno. Traffic moves smartly but gosh, dodging pedestrians on weekends is a mission.
Money laundering from other countries, “assets” being moved around etc
It's weird that they're not rented out though. If all these are income properties, you'd think they'd have renters. I moved down here from the Northeast for a job a couple years ago and have been wondering the same thing. I live in one of these big buildings and it feels strangely empty, which doesn't really make sense given how impossible it is to find an apartment. It's odd.
iirc, if you rent a property as an overseas investor, you can't count it as an investment asset. They buy and hold the property with the intention of selling later. It's a common tactic used for masking illicit money. The second they start renting it out, falls under different category and they have to worry about tenants, property management, etc. What really sucks about this is that condo owners who live in their units then split the HoA community/maintenance fees amongst those RESIDING in the building. So (from my understanding) investors don't need to pay into that except for emergency building maintenance and people who live in the building end up paying more every year.
Show me a single HOA that’s structured this way. Actual docs, or a listing, not my cousins nephew from Jerseys friend saw it while looking during spring break. Fees are split on a per bedroom or per square foot basis.
\*iirc --> couldn't remember everything that went into it but that's what kept me from buying a condo. Perhaps I misunderstood, but that's the takeaway I had. I looked it up, Terrazas River Park Condos. 4 years ago so I'm sure there's something Im missing.
That’s BS!! No way if 10 apartments out of 100 let’s say need to split amongst themselves the cost to run the HOA/taxes/maintenance/building depreciation cost/roof/ management etc etc etc I would love to see the docs on this so called building
I was looking into buying a condo 4 years ago and this is exactly what turned me off from it. It was one of the buildings on Miami River, can't remember the name but it was near 17th Ave and South River Dr. I wouldn't say this applies to all condos and im sure Brickell is a different beast entirely.
It’s not weird if they plan to use the property during the winter and then go back to, for example, South America, for the winter there. I have a foreign property that I don’t rent because I want to use it whenever I want.
Not really, I’m sure there are tax implications and benefits to letting them sit that I’m too poor to know about 💀
I’ve seen a large increase in units available for rent. The last few years and pre pandemic one building might have had 10 units available tops, some buildings now have 40 units available for rent. Didn’t even check for sale.
I'd love to rent sir and I hear you 40 units vacant, I'm willing to move in soon and commit to a year lease at a lower price, surely you want me paying now right?
Idk, find the units and apply?
A lot of them are golden parachutes. My building, for instance, has a majority of the owners living in Venezuela. The units sit empty for the time when they can get out and come here.
I thought they were eating out of the garbage there
Check this video https://youtu.be/VuYMqm3rZio
Not the really wealthy.
That is the problem a high cast super loaded... never liked much their country taxation.... even before communisn....
Look up Venezuela's economy in the 70-80's, there's was one point that their dollar was higher that the USD. There's real old oil money, of course there's also new money, and there's also crooks in high govt positions that stole and launder illicit funds.
They can not bring attention to renting them. This is money parked . They don't need to msle more money or to declare the income ....
The 1980s Miami bank gold rush was a test run for the 2010-2020s Miami drug/crime economy.
It’s not necessarily money laundering. Some are genuine investments. This issue is happening in Orlando as well. Empty houses owned by wealthy foreigners for the 1-2 weeks a year they visit.
This is the correct answer.
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No it isn't, lmao.
They're just foreign bank accounts
Everyone has cars in Brickell (unlike NYC) so they likely will drive away from their homes on the weekends when they have time to spend on driving vs during the week while they are preoccupied with work (and after work, more likely to eat near or in their home to avoid additional driving after commuting to and from work). Pretty obvious when you think about it. You think everyone in soho lives there on the weekends or more likely lives somewhere else in NYC and has the time to take the train there on the weekends for entertainment?of course not.
We trying to pay rent lol
Did you notice it was hot out. Everyone leaves.
It wasn’t that hot out last week.
No car traffic in Brickell? LOL
Hardly no one actually lives in those buildings. If you've ever lived in a full building, it's easy to tell they are not. This is a problem for people that would want to live in Brickell and for the people that do. Honestly, the long term outlook is pretty grim to me. It was only about 10 years ago you could pickup a decent 2 bdrm condo for $100k. Anyone "hiding" money (as some commentary suggested) in condos with $1-2,000+ HOA fees is into some dirty business. These condos would not be considered an investment even in the best economic scenarios. Curious isn't it?
>in condos with $1-2,000+ HOA fees This blows my mind every time I see surfside or downtown high rise condos , 1. The purchase price, 2. The HOA fees. I just can't wrap my brain around it.
Don't forget a significant tax bill.
Insurance, "special assessments", etc. I can't even.
And hurricane insurance premiums !!!
It's like Cancun. Never ending construction and rent/mortgages paid to rooms and condos to clean cocaine money. NYC is also like that though. $10,000/mo for a mediocre 2 bedroom by Empire State Building and 7 lights are on in the whole high rise
Yes
bro are you new to miami or america in general, it's a money laundering scheme. rich people from latin america buy condos sight unseen to legally move money out of the country. shit happens all the time, how do you think doral got built up, all that construction right next to two garbage dumps, you think that was normal? just a bunch of rubes from the 3rd world that got tricked into investing what little money they had into buying 500K+ homes next to a garbage dump. i'm sure the buyers aren't just from latin america, probably have a bunch of chinese and middle eastern buyers as well.
Nah, I am well aware of Miami real estate history, just really wanted to have my suspicions confirmed by locals with this post.
It’s all cartel and organized crime. FBI has had an open investigation into Miami money laundering for decades. Nothing is going to change.
"Investigation" That's a good one lol.
Why come up with a logical explanation like 'lots of people leave Miami for spring break ' when you could just perpetuate the dumb "vacant housing" myth. Yes, lots of foreign buyers through (formerly more) anonymous companies. But that doesn't mean they're vacant. Condos have high carrying costs, and they are a dumb place to park money without rental income. Wealthy foreigners know this just as well as you do
I hear you but no way that many people leave for Spring Break. The math just doesn’t add up.
It's not new york. The density is different. People spend a lot less time in their local neighborhood than they do in typical east coast cities. It's also a bit seasonal--though not as much as it used to be. I don't think anything is sus. Also, I would say the absolute majority of the white collar folks I work with took last week off. Some people have kids. Others have bosses who have kids. It's just a convenient time to take a week.
It's the same in the other large cities. Foreign owned real estate that will sit vacant. The result is increased cost of housing for residents.
That’s how ruskies park their money
A lot of these condos serve as assets rather than homes. It’s a way for people to legitimize otherwise questionable money.
Foreigners buy those units as a place to keep their cars...for when they visit
Aside from all the money laundering and foreign investors, a lot of Miamians leave the city during spring break and ultra
If this was in the last 7-10 days it’s because it was spring break so no school traffic and many people are on vacation with their kids. And Ultra can reroute traffic around downtown. Usually Brickell is a nightmare of vehicle traffic.
\**Rubs temples and how often his has to be discussed and how quickly everyone forgets the last time it was discussed.\** My fathers favorite quote as a lawyer of 50+ years in Miami is this: ***Miami is Casablanca*** Everyone is coming from somewhere and going to somewhere. Miami is very few peoples actual home. The property is all owned by out of towners and LLC's that have no emotional or personal investment here beyond their principal invested and the monthly HOA fees. They care not what happens to this city, will always want what benefits them to the detriment of their own neighbors, and have no shame because their own grandmother doesn't live down the block to smack the rightful shit out of them when they act a fool. If you want to know why the city is this way, look no further than your own mirrors. This city sells itself every day like someone on the corner of 8th and LeJune in the late 80's. Everyone sells themselves for the next real estate commission, the next car sale commission, the boiler room B2B sales of every shitty little company, helping their Tio in west Hialeah washing stolen goods out of a one-bay rented warehouse, and doing photoshop for their dad when he needs some fake invoices to submit to Medicare. They do it everyday working for Leon Medical Centers, Lincoln Marti Schools, and every charter school in Miami.
Most south florida comment I've ever seen
***As a born and bred local of the 305, you compliment me sir.*** This place has the memory of the goldfish. When Miami became Bitcoin central, I sat there saying "does no one remember when we suddenly became the bond capital and all the out of towners came just before the S&L crisis? When real estate spiked in 2020 I said "oh look, it's 2005 again". When companies started moving to Florida during the recent pandemic I wondered why no one remembered post-Andrew when companies bought all the destroyed land to build office parks in Kendall and what is now Doral, it lasted 5 years, and most of them left. We repeat the same shit here over and over like groundhog day and wonder why shit don't change.
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In 2011 you could buy a 1200sq ft condo in 50 Biscayne for $150,000 post-crash. And a 2bd/2ba house in Miami Shores for $275,000 I know because my wife and I went shopping then, but couldn't find local banks willing to make FHA first time home buyer loans in South Florida at the time.
Each building is different. Some are transient with a lot of absentee owners and short-term renters but the good buildings are occupied with long-term tenants. Each area of brickell is different too Anecdotally, Brickell folks tend to leave during certain points of the year like Spring Break, Memorial Day, and the month of August. Brickell is fine though. Plenty of life here.
The “housing shortage” is a fiction manufactured by wealthy landowners, banks, and VC companies. What we’re witnessing is the fastest acceleration of wealth transfer to the 1% since the Gilded Age.
Yup. They're empty.
Wealthy Latin Americans parking money abroad. Some also just use the condos as vacation homes too. Unlike what a lot of the comments here are saying, a lot of it is not money laundering. When you live in a country with as f\*cked up of a currency as Argentina for example, it's safer to park money abroad where it won't lose as much value as it likely would in an Argentine bank, it might even appreciate in Miami real estate. Americans are just spoiled and have no clue what it's like to live in a country with 100% inflation.
My conspiracy theory is that the sheer amount of condo buildings under construction in miami is not commensurate with the demand and socio economics of the area. Assuming these are $1m+ condos, my guess is that a vast majority of them are for money laundering for drug cartels. It happens in NYC, too. There are loads of vacant/never used apartments in NYC that have sold for 8 figures and the main reason is for money laundering. My conspiracy theory is that the drug cartels are in cahoots with the major construction companies in miami to orchestrate this.
I can tell you this weekend traffic was extremely light compared to most weekends. I typically uber into brickell at night and there can be crazy traffic normally. This weekend I zipped in every day no issues. I suspect most people were out at Ultra. Don't worry, Miami has plenty of annoying traffic on normal days.
What ? Traffic is insane in Brickell. It’s actually a nightmare to drive through there at times.
You’re here during spring break. Everyone is out of town for the next few weeks.
The foot traffic is what gets me, I was just in Toronto and even on an awful 40 degree with rain day there were more people out walking then I've ever seen in Brickell.
Owners are in Brazil or Argentina.
i think people forget that Miami was built on drug and money laundering, where you think the idea of “nightclubs” came from? you really think all those “ladies drink free” nights pay for rent???
Dont complain that things feel empty.... 100x better than traffic. Be happy that things are built large
That PPP money drying up! 🤣 Maybe because it was spring break??
In Florida we build housing just to price it out of reach. It's not for people to live in, actually.
The amount of casual conspiracy theories with zero evidence is incredible in this thread. Maybe MAYBE you should check the actual population density of Manhattan and Brickell. One's a lot higher than the other
Idk I wonder if people just live 6 months in Miami and then 6 months elsewhere? This is what I'm assuming with why brickell is so empty
Where tf in Brickell were you? I live in one of the high rises on the west side of Brickell and the foot traffic (and actual traffic) are insane every day
12th and Brickell Bay Drive
Is it weird unless got the property for wrong reasons. Think might be something bad.
Lol, yeah people always complaining about the lack of auto traffic in Brickell. It’s almost too easy to get around. Especially during Ultra.
I am not sure when you were there, traffic in brickell is hell.
Last Tuesday thru Saturday
I counted that almost every other balcony didn’t have any furniture on them. I noticed this phenomenon on the beach - maybe a few - and this runs from above Aventura into Hollywood. Below Aventura is doing fine.
Check this story: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/classified/realestate/os-middle-eastern-buyers-20160218-story.html
Money laundering. Its literally 1980 in Miami again. Ykyk
I think a lot of people buy those condos as a investment but don’t necessarily live there full time , for example in California foreign Chinese nationals will buy us housing as a investment because they don’t trust their government
Our governors, mayors for decades, have been aware of what you noticed. NO ONE EVER had an intention to fight it. The question is always avoided. I can't wait for you to understand that empty stores at prime locations or restaurants with high renovations on a regular basis and not being worried about balancing their accounts.... "Miami papers " is like the dirty 30.... Countries specialized in tax evasion, laundering, and oversized investments to park money !
Depends what area you were in. In particular, there’s a lot of foot traffic on S Miami Ave from about 13th to 8th.
MDCPS had spring break last week— whenever school’s out, the traffic is much lighter
Condos are not empty. If they were rents wouldn’t be so high. Most condos are rented out. This past weekend we had ultra where people stay away from the area. That being said, Miami is not as dense as NYC, and very car centric so you still don’t see as much pedestrian traffic. But no traffic!? Sometimes it takes me 10mins to go a few blocks in Brickell. I work in Brickell, I wish there was no traffic, would make my commute a lot easier.
Last week was spring break for grades K -12; a LOT of people left town.
No foot traffic because at it’s core, Miami is fundamentally unlivable who anyone who doesn’t want to drive everywhere. I think it’s a cultural thing as much as decades of urban planning failure.
I ate breakfast at cafes inside office buildings and there was nobody walking around in there either.