Building facts
- Address
- 1577 Bay Road
- Neighborhood
- South Beach
- Year built
- 2005
- Floors
- 4
- Residences
- 9
- Status
- Completed
- Architect
- Chad Oppenheim
- Pricing
- Starting at $675,000
Key Takeaways
- Nine homes, and one of them is 40% of the building — the 2,779 sq ft penthouse is assessed at $3,997,501 against $10,065,213 for the whole condominium. The other eight are assessed between $575,076 and about $1 million.
- Eight of the nine apartments are near-identical — four at 1,335 square feet and four at 1,345 — a difference of ten feet. That makes the price record here far more comparable than most buildings of this size.
- The two most recent sales both landed near $750 per square foot — $990,000 in May 2024 and $1,025,000 in January 2025 — $736 and $767 per foot, against 2006 openings around $410 to $430.
- Those two owners were up roughly 70% and 84% on their 2006 purchases — held for eighteen and nineteen years respectively. Over that span it works out to a modest annual rate, and this page does not dress it up as more.
- The penthouse is now assessed above what it last sold for — it fetched $3,787,000 in October 2015 at $1,362 per square foot, having sold for $2,100,000 in 2009. The 2026 roll puts it at $3,997,501.
- Nothing at all sold here in 2023 or 2026 — two qualified sales across four years against nine homes. The record is thin and this page draws no trend from it.
1577 Bay Road, Miami Beach, Florida 33139 | Neighborhood: South Beach
Nine apartments on Bay Road, eight of which are within ten square feet of each other and
one of which is worth as much as several of the others put together. It is a small record, but an
unusually comparable one.
What the county records at 1577 Bay Road
The Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser holds nine folios at 1577 Bay Road, all in
one declaration, SO BE BAY CONDO, and all nine are homes —
there is no commercial folio, no parking folio and no reference folio in this declaration, which is
rarer than it sounds. The common-element shares close at exactly 100.0000%.
The homes divide cleanly into two groups. Eight apartments of 1,335 or 1,345 square
feet, all two-bedrooms, four of each size. And one penthouse of 2,779 square
feet with three bedrooms.
For 2026 the county assesses the condominium at $10,065,213, a median of
$776,122. But the median hides the shape: the range runs from $575,076 to
$3,997,501, and that top figure is the penthouse on its own.
Eight apartments that are almost the same apartment
A ten-square-foot difference across eight units is close enough that their prices can be compared
directly, without the size adjustments that usually muddy a small building.
All eight first sold in May 2006, at between roughly $409 and $432 per square foot.
Since then six of them have traded again:
| Unit | Size | 2006 sale | Most recent sale | $/sq ft then → now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 208 | 1,345 sq ft | $390,270 | $830,000 — May 2022 | $290 → $617 | +112.7% |
| 203 | 1,335 sq ft | $555,929 | $1,025,000 — January 2025 | $416 → $767 | +84.4% |
| 207 | 1,335 sq ft | $382,030 | $680,000 — February 2022 | $286 → $509 | +78.0% |
| 205 | 1,345 sq ft | $582,000 | $990,000 — May 2024 | $432 → $736 | +70.1% |
| 206 | 1,335 sq ft | $546,081 | $795,000 — December 2015 | $409 → $595 | +45.6% |
| 201 | 1,345 sq ft | $555,929 | $585,000 — March 2011 | $413 → $434 | +5.2% |
Every one of the six is up, and the two most recent sales are the two strongest.
The 2024 and 2025 trades came in at $736 and $767 per square foot, which is where this building
currently sits.
Two caveats I would rather state than leave out. Three of these folios carry two separate
sales both dated 1 May 2006 at different prices — a developer closing plus an immediate
onward transfer, or a recording quirk. The county record does not distinguish them and I have not tried
to; the table uses the earlier figure of each pair as the baseline, which is the conservative choice
and makes the gains look larger, not smaller.
And a gain of 70% to 84% sounds dramatic until you spread it over eighteen or nineteen years.
That works out at a low single-digit annual rate before any carrying costs —
association fees, taxes, insurance and maintenance, none of which appears anywhere in the county
record. I am reporting what was paid and what was received, not a return.
The unit that is two fifths of the building
The 2,779 square foot penthouse has its own history, and it is worth separating out.
| Date | Price | $/sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| 2 June 2009 | $2,100,000 | $755 |
| 5 October 2015 | $3,787,000 | $1,362 |
| 2026 county assessment | $3,997,501 | — |
Up 80.3% in six years and four months, and the county now assesses it above its own
2015 sale price. At $1,362 per square foot it sits at roughly double what the eight smaller apartments
achieve, which is a larger premium than floor and size alone usually explain — though the record
does not say why, and I am not going to guess.
The practical point is structural. One apartment carries 39.7% of the building’s
assessed value. In a nine-home condominium, that owner’s share of costs, and voice in
decisions, is proportionately large. If you are buying one of the eight, that is worth understanding
before you do.
Who this building suits, and who it does not
Eight near-identical 1,335 square foot two-bedrooms in South Beach, in a building with no commercial
units and no shared retail, is a clean and quiet proposition. The comparability is a genuine advantage:
you can see precisely what your neighbours’ apartments have done, which is not true in most
buildings this size.
It suits you badly if you need liquidity. Two qualified sales in four years across nine
homes, with nothing at all in 2023 or 2026, means a very small buyer pool and no ability to
time an exit. The median home here last changed hands in 2015.
And it suits you badly if a nine-owner association worries you. There is no professional buffer at
this scale, reserves are shared across nine, and one owner holds two fifths of the value.
Read the declaration, the budget and the reserve study before anything else.
If you are selling here, you are in a strong evidential position and should use it:
six of your neighbours’ apartments have resold above their 2006 prices, and the last two trades
were the highest per foot in the building’s history outside the penthouse. Price against the 2024
and 2025 sales, which are directly comparable to yours, and not against the penthouse, which is not.
Verified 25 August 2026 against the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser record for
1577 Bay Road, Miami Beach — all nine folios retrieved individually and grouped by declaration
(SO BE BAY CONDO), whose common-element shares close at exactly 100.0000%. All nine folios are
residences; the declaration contains no commercial, parking or reference folios. Sale figures are
qualified, arm’s-length transactions only, with multi-folio deeds collapsed. Three folios carry
two separate transactions both dated 1 May 2006 at different prices; the county record does not
distinguish a developer closing from an onward transfer, so the earlier figure of each pair is used as
the baseline and the ambiguity is disclosed above rather than resolved. Percentage changes are total
change over the stated holding period, not annual rates, and take no account of association fees,
taxes, insurance or maintenance, none of which is in the county record. 2023 and 2026 hold no qualified
sales; 2026 is an incomplete year. Construction year, storey count and amenity detail are omitted: no
primary source has been confirmed for them. Re-check when the next tax roll publishes.
So Be Bay — Frequently Asked Questions
How many units are at So Be Bay?
Nine, and all nine folios in the declaration are homes — there are no commercial, parking or reference folios. Eight are two-bedrooms of 1,335 or 1,345 square feet and one is a 2,779 square foot three-bedroom penthouse.
What do apartments here sell for?
The two most recent qualified sales were $990,000 in May 2024 and $1,025,000 in January 2025, which work out at $736 and $767 per square foot. Nothing sold in 2023 or so far in 2026.
Have owners here made money?
The six apartments that have resold since the 2006 opening are all up, by between 5.2% and 112.7%. The two most recent sellers were up roughly 70% and 84% on purchases made in 2006 — but that is total change across eighteen and nineteen years, which is a low single-digit annual rate before association fees, taxes, insurance and maintenance, none of which appear in the county record.
Why is one unit assessed at nearly $4 million?
That is the 2,779 square foot penthouse. It sold for $2,100,000 in June 2009 and $3,787,000 in October 2015, at $1,362 per square foot, and the 2026 roll assesses it at $3,997,501 — above its own last sale. On its own it is 39.7% of the building’s total assessed value.
Does it matter that one owner holds so much of the building?
In a nine-home condominium, yes. That owner’s share of common expenses and voice in association decisions is proportionate to their interest, which is roughly two fifths. It is worth understanding the governance before buying one of the eight smaller homes.
How often do units here trade?
Two qualified sales in the last four years against nine homes, and none at all in 2023 or 2026. The median home last changed hands in 2015. This is a thin market with a small buyer pool.
Sources and further reading
Interested in selling at Sobe Bay?
Learn more about selling your condo at Sobe Bay with Josh Stein.
Frequently asked questions
Are there real converted-warehouse lofts in Miami?
Very few. Parc Lofts at 1749 NE Miami Court is described in the trade as one of the few true industrial-loft buildings in Miami, with 15-foot ceilings on floors one to four and 20-foot ceilings on floors five and six. Most Miami buildings marketed as lofts, including Neo Lofts, Filling Station Lofts, Wynwood Lofts and Loft Downtown I and II, are purpose-built new construction in a loft aesthetic dating from 2002 to 2016.
How much does a loft cost in Miami?
Downtown loft-style condominiums start around $282,000 to $307,000 and average $414 to $451 per square foot across Neo Lofts, Loft Downtown I and Loft Downtown II, on 2026 data. Large-format industrial lofts sit far higher: Parc Lofts runs roughly $1.3 million to $3.0 million at about $756 per square foot for units of 1,970 to 3,774 square feet.
Are Miami lofts good value compared with condos?
On a per-square-foot basis, clearly. Downtown loft product trades at roughly $414 to $451 per square foot while the Downtown luxury condo segment ran $730 per square foot in Q1 2026. Carrying costs are lower too: Loft Downtown II has an HOA near $0.93 per square foot per month against $4 to $7 in South Beach trophy towers.
Which Miami neighborhoods have lofts?
The concentrations are Downtown Miami with Loft Downtown I and II, the Arts and Entertainment District with Parc Lofts and Filling Station Lofts, Wynwood with Wynwood Lofts, Edgewater with Star, Bay and Uptown Lofts, and the Miami River and Brickell edge with Neo Lofts. South Beach has a small cluster of boutique loft buildings including Ilona Lofts and Montclair Lofts, and Coconut Grove has Lofts at Mayfair.
What are the largest lofts in Miami?
Parc Lofts has the largest floorplates of any loft building in the city, with units from 1,970 to 3,774 square feet. Filling Station Lofts runs 832 to 1,639 square feet with 18-foot ceilings. Most Downtown loft towers top out near 1,150 to 1,185 square feet.
Why does nobody build new lofts in Miami anymore?
Land economics. Edgewater and Brickell luxury condos traded at $978 and $950 per square foot in Q1 2026 while loft product trades near $420. A four to six-storey building with 35 to 70 units cannot compete for the same land as a 40-storey tower, and 20-foot ceilings consume roughly two conventional floors of height under fixed limits. No meaningful loft supply has been added since about 2016.
How long do Miami lofts take to sell?
Loft Downtown II averaged 129 days on market over the six months ending July 2026, with sold prices averaging $422 per square foot against an asking average of $451. Downtown carried 46 months of luxury inventory in Q1 2026, the highest in Greater Downtown, which gives buyers meaningful negotiating room.
Who buys lofts in Miami?
Three groups. Creative professionals, since Parc Lofts is documented as a favourite among photographers, musicians and artists and Wynwood Lofts is marketed as a live/work building. Entry-point urban buyers, because Downtown lofts start below $310,000 against a $425,000 Miami-Dade condo median. And rental investors attracted by the low HOA structure, with Loft Downtown II listing 17 units for rent against 15 for sale in July 2026.
Related coverage
Part of Miami Lofts.