Thomas Balashev, Founder of Montague Real Estate and Monta Capital, and Maria Eugenia Alvarez, of G&G Business Developments and head of sales at Aston Martin Residences Miami, were hosted by Haute Living's April Donelson during a webinar that touched on the state of real estate on both sides of the Atlantic, including Montague's expansion to the South Florida market and the British carmaker's first branded residential building.
Watch the webinar below.
The 66-story sail-shaped tower is just days away from receiving the first Aston Martin customer DBX to cross the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.
The real estate talk followed the latest edition of "Decanted," the fine spirits webinar series curated by Haute Wine, which featured Cyril Bollinger, a sixth-generation member of the Bollinger family who has worked in the wine industry for the last 14 years. He was hosted by Haute Living's Laura Schreffler. Among the topics discussed was the relationship between Bollinger and 007 Agent James Bond movies, which Bollinger confirmed started with a gentlemanly handshake.
Photo Credit: Aston Martin Residences
Highlight quotes:
Maria Eugenia Alvarez: "In January and February we were making record sales. We were slow when the pandemic hit, but in May we were able to again make record sales. We have 60% of the units sold with two years left until opening... Real estate in Miami is really strong. People from New York are flying down, wanting to invest and move to Miami, not only because of the tax reasons but what the city can provide... When the lot went on sale, everybody wanted to buy that land. G&G bought it and it was in all the newspapers. When Aston Martin saw the location, they saw it was a perfect match between our brands. Aston Martin is well known for its design and they were ready for the next step, and what better way than put it on a building. Miami gave that sexy appeal of a cosmopolitan city... [On the amenities at Aston Martin Residences], I can imagine James Bond enjoying Bollinger in our art gallery, enjoying the Miami skyline and sunset, then parachute down to a yacht."
Thomas Balashev: "This year has been strange for sure, but it's about being adaptive. Hopefully, we have a good trajectory over the next few years to be onwards and upwards as we go into 2021... There is a huge appetite in Hong Kong for people buying in Europe and the United States... You're going to get a one-upmanship in Miami of developers outdoing each other. There's going to be a lot of competition for prime real estate. A little mini-New York. If there is a breakthrough in aviation with faster aircraft, it will have a massive effect on South Florida... We have a business that can be like water and move into new markets and dynamics... As a real estate professional, you want to get to the U.S., that's the target. I want to cement a presence in the States, and I think Miami and South Florida will be our starting point. It offers something unique in terms of the properties available."
To watch more webinars by Haute Residence, visit https://www.hauteresidence.com/.
Thomas Balashev, Maria Eugenia Alvarez
