Residential living with hotel perks: How the ultra-rich live
When it opens in 2021 in Hallandale Beach, Fla., 2000 Ocean will have two pools, beachside butler service, a spa, gardens around the property and valet service.
If that sounds to you like a luxury hotel, you’d be wrong. 2000 Ocean -- developed by KAR Properties -- will be a residential building.
This kind of resort-style living may seem exorbitant, but Shahab Karmely, the principal and founder of KAR Properties, told FOX Business that it comes down to people’s focus on lifestyle and experience.
“When people are buying homes, they’re investing in lifestyle,” Karmely said.
2000 Ocean developer, KAR Properties, expects the building to be open by 2021. (Courtesy of KAR Properties)
“These resort-style condominiums combine the elements of private ownership, a privacy of experience and hotel experience services, without having the intrusiveness of being in a hotel, with strangers around you, [where] it’s crowded and it’s transient,” he added. “So we’ve combined the best of both worlds in our offerings and that’s as much about lifestyle as it is about homeownership.”
A rendition of one of the two pools at 2000 Ocean is pictured. (Courtesy of KAR Properties)
Owning a condo at 2000 Ocean -- a beachfront property -- will certainly have a lifestyle of its own. Aside from the pools, spa and beachside -- as well as poolside -- butler service, the property will have a tranquility garden, a sculpture garden, an oceanfront art library, a catering kitchen and a cafe and juice bar, according to its website.
According to KAR Properties' principal and founder, Shahab Karmely, personal real estate has become more than just somewhere to live -- it's about lifestyle and experience. (Courtesy of KAR Properties)
Units -- and there are only 64 of them -- will have private elevator vestibules, full views of the beach and furnishings by high-end Italian designer Minotti.
The 64 units at 2000 Ocean will be furnished by high-end Italian designer Minotti. (Courtesy of KAR Properties)
The units start at a size of 3,000 square feet, with either full-floor or half-floor condos. The starting price for a unit at 2000 Ocean is currently expected to be $2.6 million.
But when it comes to luxury, Karmely said, it’s not about being expensive, it’s about having high value.
A rendition of the interior of a condo at 2000 Ocean is pictured. (Courtesy of KAR Properties)
“Luxury, like a great meal or a symphony, is a combination of many elements -- like a great meal is a combination of ingredients. Setting, mood, lighting, preparation, pairing of wine, so many different things,” he said.
“Luxury is like that, it’s a combination of many elements in order to achieve luxury -- it’s quality, it’s design, it’s materials, it’s safety, it’s security, functionality,” Karmely added.
2000 Ocean is a resort-style residential property being built in Hallandale Beach, Fla. (Courtesy of KAR Properties)
The trend of resort or hotel-style residences, Karmely said, began with Indonesian hotelier Adrian Zecha, who introduced higher levels of luxury in hotel rooms, including larger bathrooms and larger closets -- amenities that had typically been reserved for presidential suites.
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As people began to visit those hotels and get those experiences in luxurious suites, they began to wonder why their homes couldn’t be similar -- which is how lifestyle became a part of real estate, Karmely said.
“Luxury and living space have melded together into forming this way of living,” he explained. “So what was considered to be resort living before … has really become a requirement.”
According to the 2000 Ocean website, there will be a sculpture garden and a tranquility garden on the property. (Courtesy of KAR Properties)
“People today really have come to expect that the way I live is about my style,” Karmely added. “And my style’s a combination of where I am, how well this place -- this condominium or this building or this home that I’m living in -- is built.”
In fact, aside from 2000 Ocean, there are several luxury hotels that have also opened similar high-end condos, Business Insider reported.
Those residences include the Ritz-Carlton in Sunny Isles and Miami Beach, Fla., the Four Seasons in San Francisco and Mandarin Oriental in New York City, according to the website.
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However, even as expectations rise, Karmely said there’s a contrast between true luxury and how often the word is used.
“Everybody calls themselves luxury,” he said. “It’s very easy to say… but the bar keeps getting raised. There’s always going to be those who set the pace and I think we’re among those.”