Shefaor's projects are some of the most ambitious for their size--Uptown Marina has 216 units and Artech has 234. Prices range from $300,000 to $2 million and each of the projects will have a marina and condo boat slips. The Atrium at Aventura, another luxury waterfront condominium being built at NE 188th Street, recently changed hands. New owners GM Atrium LLC, part of the Gates McVey family of companies, still plan to go ahead with the original design for three atriums topped by a crystal pyramid ceiling. Twin, 12-story buildings will house 192 residences. The largest development going up in Aventura right now is The Venture--a 500-unit seven and 11-story condominium project by The Related Group of Florida, located at the end of NE 188th Street. Those units went for between $179 and $270 per square foot.Roberto Rocha, executive vice president of The Related Group, says the project sold out in just one day. The Venture is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year, and is considered phase one of an Aventura Town Center the city is trying to develop.

The conceptual plan for this town center, according to the city's development director, Joanne Carr, calls for a fountain, a gathering area, a mix of retail and residential buildings, office buildings, restaurants and parking garages. A mixed-use town center coming out of what is now a retail shopping center is a natural development for a city that seemingly grew out of Aventura Mall. It is another step in a growing South Florida trend of merging retail and residential, following in the footsteps of the Village of Merrick Park in Coral Gables and Mary Brickell Village in downtown Miami. Phase one of the Aventura town center required tearing down a vacant theater and moving only a few tenants, says Barry Quiner, vice president of Prudential Real Estate Investors, the current owners of much of the site's retail space. Proposals for future phases involve a redevelopment of Loehmann's Fashion Island a thorny proposal since many existing tenants have leases that extend beyond 2010. According to Quiner, Prudential is already in negotiations with major tenants like Barnes & Noble Inc. and Publix Supermarkets. "Our expectation is that we would come tosome agreement with the major tenants for redevelopment," says Quiner, who notes that there is no timetable for the additional phases. "We are actively pursuing options right now with those major tenants to come up with a workable next phase." For now though, Carr looks to residential projects as a key to plans for the whole area. "The residential was built first to be the spark of the redevelopment of the balance of that site," she says.

Aventura Florida is accentuated with beautiful lush landscaping

THE NEW NEIGHBORHOOD
About 27,000 people already call Aventura home, a number that does not take into account an estimated 10,000 part-time residents who live in the city from Thanksgiving to Passover. According to city officials, Aventura is about 97 percent built out. The bulk of this, says Esslinger Wooten Maxwell (EWM) president Ron Shuffield, is condominiums. He says single-family homes make up only 4 percent of the residential units currently for sale in Aventura. That means that most of Aventura's 27,000 residents live in high-rises, with more on the way. In total, there are currently 16 residential developments approved or under construction in the tiny 3.2-square-mile city, bringing approximately 3,500 new units online over the next few years. Williams Island, a high-end private enclave originally developed by William Trump, also continues to be a focus of condo development, although city officials say nearly all the land on Williams Island has been developed. The 30-story, 210-unit Belle Mare is coming in under the wire, as is Minto Communities' 24-story, 70-unit LaVogue condominium. "Aventura is maturing," says Michael Y. Cannon, managing director of Miami-based real estate analysts Integra Realty Resources. "It's really in its final stages of original development." The city would then turn its attention to redevelopment. "My understanding is that many developers are considering redevelopment of areas, so I think in the next five years, five to 10 years, you're going to see a tremendous amount of redevelopment by developers in key areas," says Aventura City Commissioner Bob Diamond. As Aventura grows-up its population is doing just the opposite. The resident population appears to be skewing younger each year and creating what many see a new demographic. From 1995 to 2000, the average age dropped from 62 to 51 and city officials expect another big drop in the census to come. Once considered a suburban location close to Miami and destination for second home buyers, the city is now transforming into what Cannon calls "a non-suburban urban municipality. Younger buyers] are seeking more of a cosmopolitan lifestyle," says Cannon. "They're looking to work and play in a centralized urban location." With traditional suburban land at a premium, he says, younger buyers are focusing on the benefits of condo living and a centralized location, and "adapting to a new lifestyle." But the beauty of shorter commutes and convenient shopping come at a high price. While the average sale price for new condos in Miami-Dade County rests somewhere around $360,000, Aventura's average is $420,000. And it does not look like it will be coming down. May 2004 saw Aventura's condo market selling at $218 per square foot, a year later the number has jumped to $291. The city has worked to lure young families by founding a charter school, The Aventura City of Excellence School (ACES). But while having an elementary school--and soon a middle school--within walking distance is a draw for some of the young families buying into the area, they may be disappointed to learn that living nearby does not insure their child a desk. The 700 seats, including the sixth grade set to open in the fall, are already full, and the waiting list is approaching 700. But according to principal and city education director Katherine Murphy, the student backup is a case of locals' own failure to believe. "There was no school here when I was hired ... and people had to believe in what I wanted to create," she says. "[People thought] 'maybe I'll wait a year or two and see if Dr. Murphy's vision for the school really is realized.' And they lost out." There are additional private and A-rated public schools nearby, Murphy notes, but they are overcrowded and are not located within the Aventura city limits.

The influx of residents has led to concern about traffic and overbuilding within Aventura city limits. Addressing them is a little complicated, explains Diamond. "In 1999 the city adopted a zoning code that reduced density significantly, however, you still had about 90 percent of the city already built out when the city was formed, then about another 4 or 5 percent, the developers had vested rights that couldn't be interfered with," he says. Those vested rights were granted by Miami-Dade County before Aventura was granted a charter to incorporate in 1995.Credited to Jaclyn Alcantara & Andrea Carneiro

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