Little Island Opens in the Hudson River; Miami-Dade’s White-Hot Housing Market

Little Island, an Innovative Pier Park, Opens on Manhattan’s West Side

Little Island, the 2.7-acre undulating park designed by Heatherwick Studio and located at 13th Street and Hudson River Park, is officially open to the public. The innovative pier park rises from the Hudson River on 280 piles and 132 concrete “tulips” that comprise its foundation. 

Signe Nielsen, of MNLA, designed the landscape with varied plantings, including 66,000 bulbs and 114 trees, some of which will grow to taller than 60 feet. 

“Every time I come to Little Island, I’m struck by the same sense of wonder. This is an environment made to surprise,” Nielsen said in a press release. “I wanted New Yorkers to feel delight and excitement around every turn from the moment they set foot here. When you enter from the concrete of the city, you’re immersed in this living, breathing ecosystem full of unexpected corners, hills and overlooks.”

The park, largely funded by the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, also has a 687-seat amphitheater that will host a robust schedule of arts programming. In addition to one-off events, there will also be four artists-in-residence, including tap dancer and choreographer Ayodele Casel. Event tickets will be either free or low-cost. 

Visitors can enter the park freely in the morning (from 6 a.m. until noon) but must reserve timed tickets for afternoons (from 12 p.m. on) through September 30. Reservations are released four weeks at a time on a rolling basis.

Villas at the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach Already Two-Thirds Sold

The Villa Collection at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach, which broke ground and launched sales in February, has already sold 10 of the 15 villas, according to a spokeswoman. The villas, designed inside and out by Piero Lissoni, range from 3,263 to 4,643 square feet and feature three-, four-, and flex five-bedroom layouts with private terraces, two-car garages, fenced yards, and infinity-edge pools. Eight of the residences come with private boat dockage; seven have scenic gardens. The villas are priced from $4.375 million and come with resort-style amenities, including a resident art studio, an on-site captained day yacht, a half-acre rooftop pool deck with private cabanas, and a concierge service for beach access.

Virtual Real Estate Market Picks Up Steam as NFTs Go Mainstream

On the heels of the $512,000 sale of Mars House, the first NFT (“nonfungible token”) digital house to sell via the online marketplace SuperRare, the New York Times explores the fast-growing world of digital real estate. 

“I do think the movement behind it is valid,” Marcus Fairs, the founder and editor-in-chief of Dezeen, which first covered the sale of Mars House, tells the Times. “Clearly, we’re moving very quickly now to a state where a virtual world can do everything we can do in the physical world.”

According to Hrish Lotlikar, the co-founder and chief executive of virtual real estate platform SuperWorld, thousands of virtual properties (that are geographically mapped onto the real world) have already sold on the platform this year. Unpurchased plots of approximately 100 square meters are selling for 0.1 Ether—the equivalent of $270, based on the current value of the cryptocurrency. Previously purchased lots can be sold at whatever price the seller sets. For instance, David Zwirner Gallery in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood is currently “for sale” for 500 Ether, or roughly $1.35 million. “It’s definitely a land grab now,” Lotlikar said.

Miami-Dade Condo Market Still Sizzles, Up 17% From Last Year

The condominium market in Miami-Dade County—which includes notable luxury developments like Arte Surfside and Jade Signature—remains hot. CBS Miami reports that prices are up 17% from this time last year. House prices in the county, meanwhile, are up more than 21%. The seller’s market can be owed to low inventory and high demand, which have driven up prices on even seemingly modest homes.