Cervera out, Fortune in at OKO’s Missoni Baia tower in Edgewater

Less than a year after hiring Cervera Real Estate to handle exclusive sales and marketing of Missoni Baia, developer OKO Group has cut ties with the brokerage and brought on Fortune International Group in its place, The Real Deal has learned.

Cervera led sales for the 57-story, 146-unit tower planned for 700 Northeast 26th Street in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood. Managing partner Alicia Cervera Lamadrid declined to provide a sales figure, but said that the development’s presales “reflect the market” and that units are under contract.

“Being at the right place at the right time is key. This is a great [project] that’s being done by a phenomenal developer who’s going to do great things in the city,” Cervera Lamadrid said. “Life goes on and hopefully we’ll see this building going up.”

Missoni Baia launched sales in the spring during South Florida’s luxury condo slowdown. Developer Vladislav Doronin even held a cocktail party at his Star Island mansion to create buzz for the condo tower just before Miami Art Week along with Cervera Lamadrid and Ottavio Missoni Jr. of the Missoni family.

“Missoni Baia has had a successful pre-sales campaign led by Cervera Real Estate. Now that we are progressing our other development efforts in the neighborhood it makes sense for us to house all of our marketing and sales activities under one umbrella,” an OKO spokesperson said in a statement.

Prices will continue to average $900 per square foot at Missoni Baia, Fortune president and CEO Edgardo Defortuna said, adding that some units on the lower and higher ends will be repriced. The developer wants to break ground by July, but Defortuna said there’s no definite timeline in place.

His firm will expose the project to markets like Russia, Mexico and Turkey where buyers “weren’t available six or eight months ago,” Defortuna said. He declined to provide a sales figure but said presales were “consistent with pace we were having in this market.”

The condo market has slowed in the past year due to oversupply and currency fluctuations that have affected foreign buyers.

“[OKO] thought that we can contribute, not only with creative marketing ideas, but this project needs great exposure and the market is not like it used to [be] selling 15 to 20 units a month,” he added.

The residential development would mark the first to be branded by the Italian fashion house. Missoni’s home collection and signature design palettes will be used throughout the building’s public spaces and amenities. Asymptote Architecture and Revuelta Architecture will design the project, along with landscaping by Swiss architect Enzo Enea and interiors by Paris Forino Design.  

Fortune will also handle sales and marketing of OKO’s planned project next door at 720 Northeast 27th Street. The developer bought that site last year for $54 million.

Fortune and Cervera are both active in Edgewater. Fortune represents the Related Group’s Paraiso complex, and Cervera handles sales for Biscayne Beach, Aria on the Bay and Elysee Miami.