In the hopes that it will serve as a powerful incentive to get hundreds of stubborn buyers to close, the Related Group is reducing prices on units in ICON Brickell, a three-tower luxury condominium project in Miami's Brickell district, by a beefy 30%.
President of Related Cervera Realty Services, Alicia Cervera, said the Related Group had reached an agreement with its lenders, which include HSBC, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, to offer the discounts on its Miami condos for sale for buyers with existing contracts.
Cervera said, ``It's a moment that a lot of buyers were hoping and waiting for and it's a very big move on the part of the banks to really bring a good resolution to our existing contract holders''.
Also, on a first-come, first-serve basis, a group of construction lenders has agreed to finance short-term loans on the Miami condos for sale for a limited number of buyers. Cervera said, the loans have fixed interest rates and mature in five years.
The price cuts and lending program represent a turning point for the troubled $1 billion ICON which was considered the peak project the Related's chief executive and chairman, of Jorge Perez. Closings have been delayed for months because buyers have refused to pay full price for pre-sold Miami condos in this down market.
Many developers of Miami condos for sale have been asking their lenders for permission to reduce condo prices, often to levels that require the lenders to take a loss. And many of those same construction lenders are acting as mortgage lenders to buyers having difficulty receiving financing to close.
The ICON’s discount and lending programs are being offered to contract holders in ICON Brickell's Tower I followed by Tower II. A program had not yet been designed for the third tower, which houses the Viceroy Hotel. Almost 90% of the $1 billion project had been pre-sold at the present time, Cervera said.
About 8% of ICON's units had closed by September 30, for an average price per square foot of about $603, a vastly higher amount than many units are being sold for in the current market, according to Condo Vultures.
Contributed by MLR Realty
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