Today, I'm excited to share that I'll be attending the second annual Elevate event this December as an industry ambassador. This means I get to ride alongside industry celebrities like Norm Li. (He better be DJ'ing.)
Put on by Zonda, in partnership with Livabl and ARCHITECT Magazine, the event is focused exclusively on "the art of high-rise luxury living." Everything from the overall state of the housing market to how to sell branded residences.
Here's the agenda and here's the list of speakers.
I wasn't able to attend last year, but I heard from a number of industry friends that it was very well done, which is why I agreed to participate this year. That now means I have a discount code you can all use if you'd like to attend -- BRANDONVIP30.
For those of you who like art and culture things, the event also happens to fall right after Art Basel. This was done on purpose, and so now you have at least two good reasons to be in Miami Beach in December.
Here's an unproven hypothesis that you can all challenge me on: many or most people only care about the environment while it is convenient to do so. Said oppositely, once it becomes inconvenient to care about the environment, we tend to start prioritizing other objectives.
The example I have in my mind right now is parking. Now, to be clear, cars are not the best mobility solution for the environment. But let's assume for a minute that you need parking and you have only two available options: below-grade parking or above-grade parking.
The former is worse for the environment. If you were to look at the embodied carbon in below-grade parking versus above-grade parking, it would be higher. So from an environmental perspective, you want above-grade parking.
It also makes for more flexible spaces. It's hard to convert below-grade parking to much else. Again, this strengthens the environmental case, because now you're building something that can be repurposed in the future.
However, unless you're forced to only build above-grade parking (as is the case in Miami), many/most cities tend to shun it. The most common objectives are (1) that it's unsightly, and therefore needs to be wrapped with occupiable spaces, and (2) that it kills street life.
What this suggests is that (1) and (2) are seen as being more important than the environment. And I think this is noteworthy in its own right. But here's the other thing: this is arguably a false dichotomy. I mean, does above-grade parking necessarily kill street life?
The above two street view images are from 1111 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. It's a parking structure and area of the city that I have visited many times. And I have to say, the street life seems fine to me. What do you think?
This is the message that the mayor of Miami Beach, Dan Gelber, delivered this week as it moved to sell $97.6 million of new municipal debt. The proceeds are intended to help the city fund more cultural projects and move away from its "old economic model" of selling Bellinis on Ocean Drive. But it is also a case of Miami Beach flexing its rising property values.
Residential property values across Miami Beach grew by about 125% over the past decade
Between 2019 and 2022, the number of "million-dollar zip codes" more than doubled (presumably these are just zip codes with median home prices above $1 million)
And from 2012 to 2022, the number of high-net-worth individuals in the city increased by about 75% (I wonder how many moved to the city versus just got richer while already living there)
All of this has been good for property tax revenues:
And now the city is leveraging them to invest in culture.
Chart: Bloomberg