Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse

By Luxuo
Bugatti is set to unveil the most powerful roadster of all time at the 82nd International Geneva Motor Show at the beginning of March.
With an increase in power up to 1,200 HP, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse has entered a new dimension of open-top driving.
Optically aligned to the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, which holds the current world speed record of 431 km/h, the Vitesse also impresses with its dynamic driving characteristics.

Bugatti’s engineers have developed the current Grand Sport, with its 1,001 HP and 1,250 Nm, into an even more powerful vehicle. The Vitesse’s maximum torque is now an impressive 1,500 Nm.
The increased power of the new roadster’s 16-cylinder engine is made possible by the four enlarged turbochargers and intercoolers. The chassis has also been modified to support the power increase.

Latin American homebuyers heading north to Hollywood, Hallandale Beach

By Alexander Britell

Apogee Beach

At one time, the border between Miami-Dade and Broward counties was nearly impenetrable.

While residential buyers, particularly from abroad, flocked to Miami Beach, Bal Harbour and Sunny Isles, they would hesitate to cross over the line into Broward County’s Hollywood and Hallandale Beach.

Now, Hollywood and Hallandale Beach are becoming a major target for foreign buyers, particularly South Americans, as developments further south fill up and prices rise.

“It used to be that, once you got up to Sunny Isles Beach, it was hard to take South Americans north into Broward County,” said Craig Studnicky, a principal at Related ISG. “That has clearly changed.”

Sunny Isles has boomed in the last two years, to such a degree that four new projects are planned, including developer Gil Dezer’s Porsche Design Tower and the new project, Mansions at Acqualina.

The demand in Sunny Isles is great enough that the Porsche tower, which won’t begin construction until 2013, has already found 15 buyers.

Price are skyrocketing in Sunny Isles, like at the planned Regalia condo tower, which will start at more than $1,000 per square foot.

According to Zillow.com, Sunny Isles Beach’s Home Value Index rose 8 percent in December compared to the same period in 2011.

That’s leaving foreign buyers with few options in Miami-Dade County — and attractive values just a bit further north.

According to a Condo Vultures report earlier this month, there were an average of 140 condo resales in the Hollywood/Hallandale Beach market per month in 2011, an increase of nearly 20 units per month in 2010.

“Investors, whether domestic or foreign, are chasing the deals,” said Peter Zalewski, founder of brokerage and consultancy Condo Vultures “I’m not sure that Latin American buyers would dream of buying in Broward, but they’re increasingly being forced to because many of them are too late.”

But Studnicky said that, while prices are attractive in Broward County, there has been a shift in thinking about the southern part of the county. Today, Latin Americans in particular are starting to see Hollywood-Hallandale Beach-Sunny Isles as one, monolithic region.

“South Americans are seeing [the area] as somewhat homogenous — there’s not much of a difference,” he said. “It’s still a sandy beach, it’s still the same water temperature.”

Studnicky, whose Related ISG firm is marketing Related’s new Apogee Beach project in Hallandale Beach, said the development had already placed 42 of 49 units under contract, and 38 of them went to South American purchasers since hitting the market at the end of 2011.

“What we’re noticing is a change in the demographic of the buyer of luxury condominiums on the beach in Hollywood,” Studnicky said. “It’s no longer Canadians and Americans, or retirees on pensions. It’s now a younger, very affluent South American.”

Related is now planning another project on Hallandale Beach Boulevard: Beachwalk, a project that should launch sales in the spring, he said.

But with prices as high as $1,500 per square foot in some new Sunny Isles developments, price will still be a major pull.

“It’s a matter of Latin American buyers chasing a deal, and the deals right now are not in Miami-Dade County,” Zalewski said.

Bulgari, Cartier, other luxury brands to set up shop in Design District

Craig Robins

A number of high-profile luxury retailers will soon open up shop in the Design District, including Bulgari, Fendi, Dior, Pucci and Marc by Marc Jacobs, the Miami Herald reported. Also joining them will be Cartier, following deals by developer Craig Robins with Richemont and Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. “This demonstrates the viability and potential of the Miami Design District,” Robins said. “Our neighborhood has the potential to help redefine how fashion is merchandised in this country.” Six stores, including Louis Vuitton and Hermes, will be opening up temporary stores in the area by the end of this year. In the next two years, Robins hopes to have as much as 50 brands operating in the neighborhood. [Miami Herald]

Mansions at Acqualina reaches $200 million in sales in first month

A rendering of the Mansions at Acqualina

The new Mansions at Acqualina has reportedly earned $200 million in sales in its first month on the market, with 51 percent of the units sold. Prices at the Sunny Isles project, which is the brainchild of Eddie and Jules Trump, begin at $5 million. It includes 79 private residences conceived as oceanfront villas, topped by a $40 million, 16,000-square-foot penthouse property. Construction is set to begin by the end of the year. — Alexander Britell

FDR Lounge opens at the Delano

The Delano

The Delano has opened its new FDR Lounge, part of a series of changes at the South Beach property. Last month, the Delano opened its new BIANCA restaurant as well. In December, the hotel debuted $10 million worth of upgrades, from iPads placed in every room to floating televisions in the property’s bathrooms. “It’s really about taking something that’s classic and reinvigorating it,” Michael Gross, CEO of Morgans Hotel Group, which owns the Delano, said at the time. [Urban Daddy]

New Porsche SUV called ‘Macan

Porsche‘s new compact SUV is to be called the Porsche Macan, derived from the Indonesian word for ‘tiger’, the luxury German automaker confirmed February 16.
Releasing the first teaser sketch and video for the model, Porsche also confirmed that it will begin production in 2013 as the fifth Porsche model line, following in the footsteps of the larger Cayenne SUV.
The firm’s first impressions show a low, sleek model which is known to be based on the Audi Q5 platform, with a sportier styling and premium interior.

It is believed that the model will feature 2.0 and 3.0 liter gasoline and diesel engines, slightly more powerful than those in the Audi Q5, with a Macan Turbo S also expected to follow, possibly alongside a hybrid model.
In a statement, Porsche said that the animal roots of the name Macan, which is derived from Indonesian language, reflected the model’s characteristics such as “suppleness, power, fascination and dynamics.”
Its introduction is likely to mark the start of a turf war between Porsche and Maserati, which introduced its own (admittedly larger) Kubang SUV last year.



By Luxuo

Beer Baron's Miami Beach Mansion Once Owned by Al Capone

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Location: Miami Beach, Fla.
Price: $9,500,000
The Skinny: Commissioned by Anheuser-Busch beer brewing heir Clarence Busch in 1922—yes, that's during Prohibition—this Miami Beach estate was snapped up in 1928 by none other than the infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone. Just as Capone's Austin, Tex. boot shop has been transformed into a lavish family home, this place, too, is undergoing a substantial renovation. The pool house, which was built by Capone to house his security detail, seems to be the only building on the compound not currently overrun by renovators. But, given that the estate sold for just $5.65M last fall, something major must be brewing to justify the new price tag of $9.5M. The seven-bed, seven-bath waterfront palace has, according to the Wall Street Journal, a law-abiding owner these days, GridPoint founder Peter L. Corsell, who allowed the previous owner to remain in the home for three years after signing a contract in 2008.
· 93 Palm Ave 

Tiny Slovenian City Might Be the World's Best Private Island

Photo via Architizer

Sure, you can buy a private island with a dose of Revolutionary War backstory, and you can buy one of Paul Allen's spare private islands. But even those impressive land masses take a backseat to Bled Island, the only island in Slovenia and easily one of the coolest private islands in the world. According to Architizer, it's been inhabited since the 9th century, when some guys built a pagan temple on archeological remains. From there's it's a tumultuous journey of teardowns and rebuilds: from the temple to a Christian-owned structure, of sorts, to a Romanesque basilica to a Gothic-style church to, finally, a Baroque church. It's this Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary that still stands today, completed with original details such as moldings and a staircase from 1655.

By Curbed National

Inside Christina Aguilera's Utterly Pink-and-Red Mansion

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  New listing photos have emerged since singer/The Voice coachChristina Aguilera's Beverly Hills mansion hit the market last March, and they show exactly what InStyle magazine meant when it observedthat "Gothic, burlesque, Hollywood Regency and chinoiserie elements are juxtaposed with modern flourishes like grafitti artwork, Japanese anime and kaleidoscopic rugs." The five-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot Med-style home used to belong to Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne; however, the dramatic glass chandeliers, zebra-stripe chairs, and Lulu Guinness bathroom rug are all Aguilera. Some amenities: a gym, game room, gift-wrapping "area," theater, beauty salon, recording studio, pool with water slide and grotto, and custom pagoda out back, not to mention an utterly absurd walk-in closet that'll make even the most Valentine's Day-obsessed do a double-take. The property has remained steadfast at its original list price of $13.5M.