Miami, FL
An Architect’s Party Palace Hits the Market in Miami Beach for $33 Million
On a December afternoon, architect Chad Oppenheim served drinks to about 100 guests on the stone motor court of his roughly 8,000-square-foot home in Miami Beach, Fla. Partygoers faced a 23-foot-tall covered courtyard entry, shrouded in a large curtain. Drums began to beat.
When the curtains opened, the guests passed through the courtyard into a darkened living and dining room filled with candles. They pulled back a second curtain to reveal an opera singer gliding toward them in a gondola on Biscayne Bay. Stepping out of the boat, she serenaded them.
The event, a fundraiser for the Wolfsonian-FIU museum in Miami Beach, was one of many bashes Oppenheim has thrown at the house. The property has hosted parties for a Netflix documentary release and brands like Audi and Ferrari, and served as a set in the 2006 movie “Miami Vice.” When it rained during his daughter’s 3rd birthday party, Oppenheim said, he brought the bouncy house inside the open-plan living and dining room, along with real ponies dressed up as unicorns with pink and blue manes, he said.
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But for all the fun Oppenheim has had in the home, he said he is itching for a new project, and has decided to list the Tropical Modern-style waterfront home for $33 million.
The six-bedroom home in the Sunset Islands has 80 feet of waterfront on Biscayne Bay, said listing agent Oren Alexander of the brokerage Official, who has the listing with his brother and colleague Tal Alexander. Measuring about 0.32 acres, the lot has two docks and a pool with a 25-foot-tall outdoor shower, said Oppenheim.
The coral and limestone house is Oppenheim’s primary home with his wife, Ilona Mattli Oppenheim, and their two children. They bought the lot for $1 million in 2001 and spent about $5 million to build the house, completing it around 2003. Then, during Covid, they spent about $6 million refinishing it with natural materials and soft colors, Oppenheim said.
A reflecting pool fed by rain water sits outside the home’s entry. Inside, a media room has a hidden door concealed by a bookcase. But Oppenheim said his favorite area of the house is the primary suite’s private travertine terrace, which has another outdoor shower, a soaking tub, a seating area and roughly 75-year-old Bonsai trees.
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Oppenheim founded his eponymous architecture practice in 1999 and is known for designing the Miami high-rise Ten Museum Park and a Los Angeles home for “Transformers” director Michael Bay. Oppenheim said he also has homes in Aspen, California and the Bahamas.
Single-family homes in Miami Beach sold for a median $3 million in the third quarter, up 7.1% from the same time last year, according to Douglas Elliman. A nearby home on the Sunset Islands recently sold for $32 million in cash, according to the developer. The Sunset Islands are in high demand for their location near shopping and restaurants in Sunset Harbor, Alexander said.
Alexander said he expects prices in the area to continue rising this winter, as the Miami area enters its busy season.
Miami, FL
Designs revealed for Miami-inspired city in the Middle East
A masterplan has been unveiled for a coastal neighborhood in Bahrain which is partly inspired by the U.S. city of Miami.
Bilaj Al Jazayer Beach will span just over two miles of length along Bahrain’s coastline. According to an official release, the mixed-use district will draw inspiration from Miami’s low-rise Art Deco buildings combined with traditional local design.
The walkable locale will feature new homes, hotels, and retail options in addition to public green spaces and “state-of-the-art” amenities.
The city is designed around three main streets, which will be lined with native trees and are intended to encourage walking and cycling across the district.
The site will be flanked by two large hotels, with smaller, boutique hotels positioned at 500-meter intervals throughout, and residential communities nestled in between.
Neighborhoods will incorporate shaded green courtyards and alleyways that the city’s designers say are inspired by Bahrain’s traditional design principles to create cool outdoor spaces.
At the heart of the development will lie a public surf park, featuring wave-generation technology to simulate the experience of a natural ocean environment on land.
The beach links to a network of piers stretching into the sea, forming protective coves to safeguard the shoreline, and a green park will serve to separate the beachfront from the main road.
“We are creating a green and walkable community on the beach, which offers a range of crafted experiences for residents and visitors,” said Gerard Evenden, head of Studio ar Foster + Partners, the firm behind the designs.
“The permeable development features tree-lined streets, shaded courtyards, and a spectacular public park that directly connects with the waterfront. Needless to say, the west-facing district will also offer some of the best sunset views in Bahrain,” Evenden added.
Newsweek has contacted Foster + Partners for comment via email form.
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is a small island nation in the Persian Gulf, situated between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
With a population of around 1.5 million, its economy primarily relies on oil, financial services, and tourism.
In neighboring Saudi Arabia, the first project for the country’s Neom megacity recently opened.
Known as Sindalah, the opening of the “luxury island destination” represented a significant milestone for the project, which has become the world’s biggest construction site as part of an effort by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the nation’s economy.
However, a recent report from human rights organization ALQST warned that companies working with the biggest construction projects in Saudi Arabia, which includes several American firms, run the risk of “political and reputational risks” as the projects face allegations of dangerous conditions and abuse of migrant workers.
The report came amid allegations that thousands of migrant construction workers have died or gone missing since 2017.
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com
Miami, FL
Triple shooting in NW Miami-Dade under investigation
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Miami, FL
Miami-Dade prison inmate sets his cell on fire, investigators say
MIAMI – Florida Department of Corrections officers recently asked Bureau of Fire, Arson & Explosives Investigations detectives to figure out how a 26-year-old prison inmate set his cell on fire.
Correctional officers accused Jeronimo Rosario of setting the fire shortly after 11:05 a.m., on Wednesday inside his locked prison cell at the Dade Correctional Institution.
BFAEI detectives reported Rosario likely removed the protective plexiglass cover from his cell’s light fixture, accessed the electric wires, and burned cloth from a towel.
FDOC records show Rosario has been in prison since March 1, 2023 after convictions of grand theft vehicle, fleeing and eluding police, and battery on police/fire.
Before the fire, Rosario was set to be released from prison on Feb. 2. On Thursday, he was facing charges of preventing or obstructing extinguishing a fire and lewd or lascivious exhibition at a correctional facility.
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