Looking back at the area’s glam midcentury residential lifestyle

Before I-95 was completed in the early 1960s, Biscayne Boulevard – US-1 ranked as Miami’s north-to-south main street. It was also the focal point for the city’s glamorous midcentury lifestyle, which was exemplified by its iconic residential buildings.

Sixty years ago the new condominium concept arrived in Miami via Puerto Rico, sparking major local development. The innovative legal format offered buyers the advantages of individual ownership of a home within a community, combined with the convenience of apartment living. In the following decades, large condo buildings sprung up along the Boulevard north of downtown, attracting well-heeled snowbirds, retirees from the northeast U.S. and downsizing Floridians to a sizzling lifestyle. The writer thanks longtime resident Jack Coden, Keller Williams Realty owner-agent, for sharing some of the history behind the following developments.

Palm Bay Towers at 720 NE 69th St. began as the Palm Bay Club, a 16-acre residential club on Biscayne Bay founded by socialite Connie Dinkler in 1965. Dinkler was famous for her extravagant and unusual parties, which attracted celebrities and sometimes sparked controversy. One year, guests attending her black-tie only Thanksgiving affair were each presented with white turkeys on leashes. An effusive 1965 report in Sports Illustrated captured the atmosphere.

“Entering through the white brick columns guarding the entrance, one slips up the curving driveway between rows of palms, past a parking lot that never seems to contain anything less awesome than a Ferrari or Fleetwood. … It is for these handsome people – the ‘Glitter Group’ – that the Palm Bay Clubs of the world exist.”

The residential Palm Bay Towers was built in 1972 on 175 feet of Biscayne Bay waterfront. Curving balconies on either side of the Y-shaped 27-stories-high building offer its 66 residences exceptional views over the water. Amenities include a 40-foot-long swimming pool, a fitness center, four lighted tennis courts and 24-hour security. Sales in the past year ranged from $535,000 to $800,000. Currently there’s a three-bedroom, 3.5-bath, 2,957-square-foot unit on the market $1,165 million.

The neighboring 27-story Palm Bay Yacht Club at 780 NE 69th St. was built in1982 with 233 one- and two-bedroom condos of 828 to 1,336 square feet with a few larger combined units. Current listing price for units range from $210,000 to $399,000.

Quayside, at One Quay Blvd., stretches over 33 acres on Biscayne Bay, north from NE 104th Street to just south of NE 111th Street. Access is from Towerside Terrace and Quayside Terrace on the east side of Biscayne Boulevard. Formerly the site of a boys’ school, Quayside’s condominium community began in the 1970s with 80 townhomes, followed by Tower 1 and Tower 2 close to the boulevard, and Tower 4 on Biscayne Bay. Tower 3, planned for the center of the community, was never built, because residents in the existing towers objected to having their views obstructed. The legal battle, which lasted from 1982 until 2002, was finally resolved in favor of 50 new townhomes surrounded by open space.

According to Coden, Quayside is more like a resort than a typical Miami condo development.

“It’s a very social, family and pet-friendly community with residents of all ages from all over the world,” he said. “People can’t believe it exists in Miami.”

The amenities include a marina, clubhouse, multiple restaurants and ballrooms, a heated indoor pool and six outdoor pools, 11 tennis courts, a gym said to be the largest in any local condo, handball courts, a children’s playground and more. Manned gates offer 24-hour security and each tower has a doorman and valet service.

The 211 condos in each 21-story tower range from 1,100-square-foot one-bedroom units to 1,530-square-foot two-bedroom, 2.5-bath units, with a few 1,900-square-foot units with three bedrooms. Prices range from about $180,000 to $500,000. Townhomes ranging from 2,022 square to 3,500 feet are priced from $650,000 to $1,100,000.

At the 1975 Cricket Club at 1800 NE 114th St., the once party chic basement discotheque is now a storage area, but the bar above remains a social hub.

“In normal times this is a community gathering place for neighbors to enjoy the sociable, very friendly lifestyle here,” said real estate agent Daniela Ferraro, vice president the Jack Coden Group and a Cricket Club resident. “The building has also undergone a huge facelift to restore its original glory.”

The 21-story tower with waterfront on Biscayne Bay and a canal bisecting the property has a range of amenities: clubhouse, heated pool, fitness room and spa, boat dock, tennis courts, children’s play area, running track and more. There’s also a doorman, valet and hotel-style bellman. It’s not just the size of the 217 condo units, which range from 1,460 to 3,410 square feet, that’s notable, but the fact that each one, even the one-bedrooms, have three bathrooms – his and hers with closets to match plus a guest bathroom. Listing prices for two-bedroom units range from $294,000 to the mid $400,000s. The rotunda section featuring round living rooms in units of about 2,400 square feet go up into the mid $500,000s. There are approximately 12 currently listed for sale compared to about 20 last year.

The three-tower Jockey Club at 11111 Biscayne Blvd., built between 1968 and 1982, is well past its glory days, but offers very competitive prices for condos in a desirable location. Units range from 744 to 2,750 square feet. Currently there are about 22 units for sale ranging in price from $144,900 to $650,000, plus a penthouse listed for $1.1 million. Amenities include a gym, tennis courts, swimming pool and children’s playground. The marina, damaged a few years ago, has not yet been repaired. There’s valet parking, a 24-hour manned guard gate and a lobby with concierge.

A 2016 plan to build the Apeiron – Greek for “limitless” – on 13 acres of Jockey Club common ground never took off. Two towers, with 240 luxury condos and a boutique hotel, would have been the first Miami project for noted architect Rafael Moneo. Various reasons including a lawsuit by Jockey Club residents halted the project.

Quoted sizes and prices of real estate are provided for informational use only.

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Helen Hill is a freelance writer specializing in real estate, design and lifestyle topics. Please send relevant news items on local real estate to contact@hhwrites.com.