Convenient, comprehensive communities are the draw for a visionary commercial real estate pioneer and luxury residential specialist—and their clients.
Dan Hechtkopf and Michael Comras at the offices of Comras Company in Miami Beach.
As Miami matures into a cosmopolis, residents are looking to buy into a sense of place within the city that they can call home. Michael Comras, president and CEO of Comras Company, and Dan Hechtkopf, partner at HH Luxury Real Estate, SBI Realty, explain how the relationship between residential and retail real estate creates a desirable, vibrant community.
Michael Comras: I’ve watched things evolve over the years. In Midtown, to change the vibe we put in restaurants—all different kinds. We took the property next door [to Panther Coffee in Wynwood], put in all new storefronts, and released it out to a series of cafés, galleries, and showrooms. We’re spending a lot of time in Midtown, downtown, Brickell; we’re working on a huge project on 36th Street right up against the Design District, called District 36. The project is a really cool, creative, new showroom space on two levels. It creates a third node for home furnishing by having 60,000 square feet on an entire block at the entrance of the Design District. We’re able to create the critical mass of great retailers, [and from there] you can have a variety of different tenants that all work together to make [a neighborhood have] a better synergy.
Dan Hechtkopf: You’re right. It’s the commingling of residential and commercial. South of Fifth is a great example. The demand for this area is high right now because everything is so convenient. You go home, you walk outside, you walk to restaurants, to shops.
MC: Exactly. The South of Fifth neighborhood is very much like the Sunset Harbour area.
One of Comras Company’s upcoming retail projects in Midtown at 3100 North Miami Avenue.
DH: Eight years ago, Sunset Harbour was nothing. Condos were going for $300,000 for a two-bedroom. They started building all these restaurants, and now it’s this little pocket that everybody wants to be in.
MC: It’s having the right mix of tenants to create a lifestyle and a sense of place. Residential continues to get better—that’s the driving factor. People buying units and spending $1,000, $1,500, $2,000 a square foot want to go to quality places, new restaurants, and new services.
DH: You get the best of both worlds.
MC: Mixed use is really the point of it all. To me, it was all about quality of life. I live three and a half minutes [from my office]. I can go out on the boat, ride my bicycle; I can walk—it’s the best of everything. Comras Company, 1261 20th St., Miami Beach, 305-532-0433. HH Luxury Real Estate, SBI Realty, 1680 Meridian Ave., Ste. 102, Miami Beach, 305-532-7771