Free Yoga Fridays Comes to UM Life Science & Technology Park

Written by & filed in Community, Events.

Yoga

 

Come enjoy a free yoga class every Friday throughout the summer from 5:30pm-6:30pm

Close the work week with a little relaxation at the UM Life Science & Technology Park, which is offering free yoga classes every Friday this summer. Practice your half lotus and child’s pose during the hour-long class that will surely recharge your batteries just in time for the weekend.

Yoga classes are free and open to the public and will be held on Fridays from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pmat 1951 NW 7th Ave. The classes will be held on the first floor of the Park, which is on the east end of the Health District.

Slip on your yoga pants, grab a mat and make your way to UMLSTP for Yoga Fridays. Classes will be taught by the well-known yoga instructors of Green Monkey.

Once class ends, head over to the restaurants located at the Park for a healthy post-yoga meal. Balans Restaurant and Theas Pizzeria and Café are open until 9 p.m. and Subway until 8 p.m.

Getting to the UM Life Science Park is easy. UMLSTP will offer complimentary parking, or simply hop on the Health District trolley. For driving directions, visit www.umlsp.com.

 

Downtown Urban Living is White Hot; Centro Sells 50% of Units in 60 days

Written by & filed in Condo, Development Pipeline, Market Watch, Residential, Transit, Urbanism.

Centro

CENTRO at 151 Southeast 1st Street in Downtown Miami

The Miami Heat isn’t the only thing that is hot in Downtown Miami.  The downtown condo market continues its white-hot streak too.   According to Centro’s press release:

More than 180 of the 352 units in approximately 60 days, indicating a surge for demand in urban residential real estate in the Downtown Miami market. The sales figures are reflective of the 2012 Miami Downtown Development Authority’s (Miami DDA) annual report, which states the residential occupancy rate downtown is at 95 percent.”

This is a clear indication that there is pent-up demand for urban living. As stated in a recent Urban Land Institute article:

 As they have for decades, Americans are moving toward cities and jobs. And now more than ever, they are willing to settle for less square footage in return for a carless commute, convenient access to shopping and entertainment destinations, and that hard-to-define quality called “place.” Fewer want to own their own home, and many more are looking for affordable options.

These trends, which apply across a broad spectrum of the population, are shaping demand for housing, according to panelists at ULI’s Housing Opportunity Conference, held in Seattle in March.

What is outside—on and off the premises—counts at least as much as what is inside the home itself. Car-free access to parks, cafés, and transit—it all adds up to time and money saved, as well as a desirable way to live.

Add edgy design—as well as affordability —and the result is a perfect housing match for millennials. Also known as generation Y, they are age 18 to 35. Now that the recession is passing, members of this generation are moving out of their parents’ homes and making up a growing share of new households. But what they need and want is different from what their parents sought.

Millennials are saddled with student debt; they are delaying having children; and they are less interested in mortgages and the route to wealth-building traditionally offered by homeownership. The preferences of 20-somethings are defining an emerging housing type called micro-units—which measure under 400 square feet (37 sq m)—and developers and designers of market-rate housing are putting their minds to how to provide them.”

The old is becoming new again and downtown Miami should see considerable upside in terms of new developments and pricing. According to StreetEasy there are currently 238 units for sale in Downtown Miami. I’m a big fan of Downtown Miami and I think it will only get better once All Aboard Florida begins operating passenger rail service between Miami and Orlando.

Several weeks ago I did an interview with Harvey Hernadez, Managing Director of Newgard Development Group,  regarding Centro. You can read the interview here.