NeueHouse Announces Casa Tua Partnership and Miami Expansion

NeueHouse, the private workspace and cultural home for creators, innovators and thought-leaders, has announced its expansion into Miami, bringing its US locations to a total of five. NeueHouse Miami, in partnership with private members’ club, hotel and restaurant, Casa Tua, will be the second east coast location, alongside NeueHouse Madison Square, located in Manhattan. The build out of the space, located on the border of Midtown and Design District, is expected to be completed by late 2020.

“We are thrilled to bring NeueHouse to Miami in collaboration with Casa Tua to provide the local community with access to the best elevated work and event spaces, as well as refined hospitality and culture, which is true to our shared mission of delivering new and original concepts and experience,” said Josh Wyatt, CEO of NeueHouse. “A leader in art, design and fashion, Miami is an exciting addition for our members and growing community, and we’re looking forward to bringing our combined brand offering to the tastemakers and industry leaders of Miami.” 

To deliver on its hospitality promise and to captivate Miami’s discerning, local creative and entrepreneurial communities, NeueHouse’s Miami location will offer a culinary partnership with Casa Tua. Founded in 2001 by Italian-born visionary Miky Grendene and his wife Leticia Herrera-Grendene, Casa Tua’s flagship property, nestled in a historic villa in the heart of Miami Beach, is part culinary destination, part boutique hotel and private members club. NeueHouse Miami will offer F&B by Casa Tua, providing NeueHouse members their singular approach to soulful Italian cuisine and impeccable service.

“We are excited to partner with NeueHouse for their first Miami venture,” says Grendene. “Both Casa Tua and NeueHouse are committed to offering best in class experiences in each city we operate. Our brands share a similar DNA and passion for developing cultural communities and meaningful hospitality experiences. With this natural synergy, together we will achieve a far greater result through this strategic partnership. We look forward to creating something unbelievable with NeueHouse and supporting the City of Miami’s growth in this emerging cultural corridor.” 

The property is slated to open in late 2020, adding to the list of notable activities, which have taken place in recent months, including a series of cultural events in partnership with Frieze art fair, highlighted by the commission of a notable piece of public art by the iconic Barbara Kruger.

NeueHouse, which raised $30 million in funding in Fall 2018 under the new leadership of CEO Josh Wyatt, continues to innovate across workspace design and hospitality and scaling its cultural programming platform, to deliver a truly differentiated experience to a community of original thinkers and thought-leaders. Both the New York and Los Angeles flagship locations (Madison Square and Hollywood) are at capacity and have waitlists, including the latest luxury private suite product, Eleven Madison Square. 

NeueHouse offers four membership tiers.

Missoni Baia Completes Foundation With Second Concrete Pour

The second part of Missoni Baia’s foundation was recently completed by joint venture partners Civic Construction and Ant Yapi. Over the course of 17 hours, starting at 3 a.m., 3,900 cubic yards of concrete and 810 tons of rebar (the weight of approximately 65 school buses) was poured. This completed the mat foundation for the project.

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HOSTS ITS NINTH ANNUAL REAL ESTATE IMPACT CONFERENCE

On Friday, February 28th, the University of Miami School of Architecture hosted its ninth annual Real Estate Impact Conference, which brought together board members, students, faculty, distinguished alumni and real estate professionals. The invitation-only conference was hosted at the Four Seasons Hotel in Brickell with support from presenting sponsors Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Kislak, and Witkoff. 

More than 650 University of Miami students and alumni, including many South Florida commercial real estate and finance professionals, discussed both threats and opportunities in the market at the multidisciplinary conference.

“Bringing together faculty and students from our schools of architecture, business and law is an important step in tackling today’s complex problems,” said University of Miami President Julio Frenk. “This conference is an excellent example, because real estate is essential to Miami’s economy with an impact around the world.”

Anthony Graziano and President Julio Frenk.

In addition to panel discussions and networking sessions, there were several special programs available to MRED+U, MBA, MSF and Law School students throughout the day. One of the benefits of membership on the University of Miami Real Estate Advisory Boards, which consist of over 100 prominent real estate professionals, is personal contact with the best and brightest students. Advice With Impact was an intimate, morning networking session which was attended by students and sponsors such as IBERIABANK, Plaza Construction, CBRE and Whitman Family Development. 

Katya Demina, Tom Murphy and Alana Fernandez.

University of Miami students were also invited to apply for the premier networking opportunity of the school year: the Swire Scholar Luncheon. Scholars received complimentary registration ($300 value) to attend the conference and participated in a private luncheon with advisory board members from the Architecture, Business and Law schools. David Martin, vice president of retail at Swire Properties, welcomed UM’s Swire Scholar students to the opening luncheon, where they had an opportunity to discuss their studies and career plans with UM’s Real Estate Advisory Board members.

For MBA student Jack Shelgren, the Swire Scholars luncheon provided valuable learning and networking opportunities. “As an intern, I did research and financial analysis, learning about multifamily, office and retail asset types,” he said. “Now, I’m an associate at Freeman Property Group, gaining an entrepreneurial perspective, while working on acquisitions for our clients.”

MRED+U students Nick Nicola and Tanya Rivera with Jackie Touzet.

In the afternoon, top executives from JP Morgan Chase, Ventas and Hines took the stage and provided valuable insight on today’s real estate market. They commented that hospitality services are playing an increasingly important role throughout the commercial real estate market, as employers seek to recruit and retain talented workers. Another emerging trend is the growing demand for medical office properties and senior housing driven by the aging of the U.S. population. Without question, the global spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 poses a threat to global real estate markets, according to Matthew Cherwin, treasurer and chief investment officer of JP Morgan Chase. 

The school also highlighted its Research Initiative, which was introduced in 2018 by Dr. Charles Bohl, Director of the Master in Real Estate Development + Urbanism (MRED+U) Program. “Both the University of Miami and our Real Estate Advisory Boards have made Resiliency a top research priority of immense relevance to South Florida and coastal communities around the world. It is through joint research initiatives like this that our students, faculty and researchers can help us address the big, challenging issues of our day, including the adaptation and development of more resilient buildings, infrastructure and communities,” said Bohl. Professor Mark Troen and students from the MRED+U program presented this year’s findings on stage. 

The 2020 Impact Conference Organizing Committee consists of Andrea Heuson, Charles Bohl, Manuel de Zarraga, Nitin Motwani, Alfonso Munk and Steve Witkoff. Nitin Motwani, Managing Principal of Miami Worldcenter and Chair of the MRED+U Advisory Board, closed the standing-room-only conference by reminding participants that, “The University of Miami Real Estate Impact Conference supports all real estate education at the University, which has become an interdisciplinary powerhouse that blends real estate programs in finance, development, and law with construction management, architecture and engineering.” 

The Grand Hyatt Selected as Flag for New Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel

The development team behind Miami Beach’s new Convention Center hotel announced today that the 800-room property will be operated by Hyatt under the luxury Grand Hyatt brand, when it opens to guests in 2023. Grand Hyatt Miami Beach will create a new hospitality option for visitors attending events at the adjacent Miami Beach Convention Center, which underwent a $600 million renovation that was completed last year, and will anchor the Convention Center District.

The new hotel will become the second Grand Hyatt property in Florida, joining Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. Grand Hyatt hotels are designed to connect guests with iconic experiences, landmarks and cultural touchstones in captivating destinations around the world. Hallmarks of the brand include bold and vibrant design and architecture, elevated amenities and welcoming service that creates moments of more.

The hotel development is being led by David Martin of Terra and Jackie Soffer of Turnberry, whose plans for the hotel were overwhelmingly approved by Miami Beach voters in 2018. The 17-story hotel will be situated at the intersection of 17th Street and Convention Center Drive, within walking distance of the beachfront, Lincoln Road Mall, New World Symphony, The Bass Museum and The Fillmore Miami Beach.

“For years, Miami Beach has served as a global destination for arts, culture, shopping, dining and entertainment, but the City has lacked a true headquarters hotel for top-tier conventions and meetings,” said Martin and Soffer. “South Florida’s first Grand Hyatt hotel will maximize Miami Beach’s investment in its re-imagined Convention Center while bridging the physical gap that exists between the Convention Center District and surrounding neighborhoods.”

 Grand Hyatt Miami Beach will be designed by architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia and his firm, Miami-based Arquitectonica. The development team also includes partner Craig Robins of Dacra, who is the visionary behind the Miami Design District and helped revive Miami Beach’s Art Deco District in the 1990s; Stonehill Taylor, which is designing the hotel’s interior lobby and lounges, ballroom and meeting rooms, hotel rooms and all common areas; EOA, which is designing the pool deck hospitality features of the hotel; and Arquitectonica GEO, which is creating lush pedestrian promenades and landscapes.

Hotel features are expected to include 12 floors of guest rooms offering views of Miami Beach, two floors of meeting spaces and ballrooms that will complement the Convention Center, a resort-style pool deck with panoramic views, and limited retail space that will activate the district at street level. An elevated skybridge will enable event attendees to move freely between the hotel and Convention Center in a climate-controlled, art-filled corridor. 

Plans also include landscaped pedestrian promenades on surrounding streets, bike sharing stations, connectivity with public transit routes, dedicated ridesharing pick-up and drop-off zones, and direct access between the Convention Center and Lincoln Road. The project’s resiliency and sustainability measures include storm water management and reuse, flood risk mitigation, and the use of solar power – all of which are designed to ensure operational continuity during weather events.

“The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) joins Terra, Turnberry and The City of Miami Beach in welcoming the Grand Hyatt Miami Beach as the newly named brand for the 800-room headquarter hotel connected to the Miami Beach Convention Center,” said William D. Talbert, III, CDME, President of the GMCVB.  “Grand Hyatt Miami Beach makes it possible to better compete for citywide conventions which fuel jobs in our community and generates business for all of Greater Miami’s hotels and merchants. We look forward to the hotel ground-breaking which once completed will finalize the Miami Beach Convention Center District.” 

By Katya Demina