Building facts
- Address
- 1500 Ocean Drive
- Neighborhood
- South Beach
- Year built
- 1998
- Floors
- 16
- Residences
- 112
- Status
- Completed
- Architect
- Michael Graves
- Pricing
- Starting at $850,000
Key Takeaways
- The building’s record is nineteen years old and nothing has come close since — $12,000,000 for unit T-8 on 6 September 2007 — $3,244 per square foot. The best price per foot achieved here in the nineteen years since is $1,659, less than half of it.
- That same home later resold for 62.9% less — T-8 changed hands again on 18 June 2021 for $4,450,000. Across 253 resales in this building’s history it is the only one that lost more than 40% — and it is the record sale.
- This is one of the least liquid buildings I measure — nine qualified sales in four years against 113 homes — about one home in 50 a year. Only one building in my Miami Condo Index trades more slowly. The whole of 2025 produced a single sale.
- 2026 is the busiest year since 2022 — four qualified sales so far, against five in the whole of 2023, 2024 and 2025 combined.
- Every one of those 2026 sales was a resale, and every one was a gain — +26.2%, +64.1%, +125.0% and +384.0%. The last of those was bought in the 1999 sell-out for $309,900 and sold in April 2026 for $1,500,000.
- Owners here have done well and rarely lost — of the 253 resales the county records, 18 lost money — 7.1% — at a median gain of 36.7% over a 4.1-year hold.
1500 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139 | Neighborhood: South Beach
What is actually in the building
The county returns 114 folios for 1500 Ocean Drive. 113 are homes; the remaining one is a reference folio carrying no dwelling. No parking, cabana or storage is filed separately and there is no commercial folio.
The homes span an unusually wide range for a building this size — 480 sq ft to 4,640 sq ft, median 1,530 — but the middle of the building is highly standardised. Five floorplans account for 104 of the 113 homes: 22 each at 940 and 1,170 sq ft, 21 each at 1,530 and 1,740, and 18 at 2,320.
The bedroom mix is 22 one-bedrooms, 45 two-bedrooms and 42 three-bedrooms, plus two homes of 4,640 and 4,630 sq ft that the county records with six bedrooms — one of them being units 801 and 802 held together, the other an upper penthouse. Two further homes, of 480 and 540 sq ft, carry no bedroom count in the county record; I have left those as the county has them rather than call them studios.
For 2026 the county assesses the homes between $351,478 and $8,311,380, median $1,354,661 — a 23.6-fold range, which is what a building holding both a 480 sq ft home and a 4,640 sq ft one looks like on a tax roll.
Why is this building’s record nineteen years old?
Because of one transaction that nothing since has approached.
On 6 September 2007, unit T-8 — 3,699 sq ft — sold for $12,000,000. That is $3,244 per square foot. To put it in context, the highest price per square foot achieved at this address in the nineteen years since is $1,659, paid in May 2021. The 2007 sale is almost exactly double the best the building has managed since, and it remains the largest sum ever paid here by a margin of nearly $6,000,000.
I am not going to tell you why that price was paid. The county records transactions, not reasons, and any explanation I offered would be invention. What the record does contain is what happened next, and it is worth setting out plainly.
The same home sold again on 18 June 2021, for $4,450,000 — $1,203 per square foot. That is 62.9% below the 2007 price. Across the entire history of this building the county records 253 resales, and T-8 is the only one that lost more than 40%. The building’s single most famous number and its single worst outcome are the same transaction.
There are two practical lessons in that, and they point in opposite directions.
The first is for anyone valuing a home here. A nineteen-year-old record set at twice the building’s subsequent ceiling is not evidence about today. If it appears in a listing, a valuation or an argument, it should be identified for what it is: a single 2007 transaction that the same home’s own 2021 resale contradicts by 63%.
The second is for anyone tempted to read that 63% as a verdict on the building. It is not. Set T-8 aside and the resale record here is one of the better ones on the beach: 252 further resales, 17 of them at a loss, at a median gain of 37.0%. One outlier at the top of a boom is not a pattern.
The price record
| Year | Qualified sales | Median price | Median $/sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 | $1,540,000 | $1,316 |
| 2024 | 2 | $797,500 | $848 |
| 2025 | 1 | $1,050,000 | $1,117 |
| 2026 to date | 4 | $1,950,000 | $1,204 |
Nine qualified sales in four years. Two, two, one and four. There is no trend in that table and I am not going to pretend otherwise — the building carries a dash rather than a percentage in my Miami Condo Index, and the year-to-year swings you can see are entirely a matter of which home happened to sell. The 2024 median of $848 per square foot is two sales of the smallest common floorplan; the 2023 median of $1,316 is two sales of a larger one.
What the four years will support is a level: a median of $1,064 per square foot in a band from $819 to $1,568, at a median price of $1,500,000.
The liquidity number is the one that matters here, and it is severe. Nine sales against 113 homes is about one home in 50 a year. Across the buildings in my Miami Condo Index the median is one in 24, and only a single building trades more slowly than this one. In the whole of 2025, one home changed hands. If you are buying here, understand that the comparable evidence is genuinely scarce; if you are selling, understand that the buyer pool is small and patient.
Against that, 2026 has been the busiest year since 2022: four qualified sales already, against five across the whole of 2023, 2024 and 2025 combined. And all four tell the same story. Every 2026 sale was a resale, and every one was a gain — a 1,530 sq ft home bought in October 2021 for $1,664,500 and sold in March 2026 for $2,100,000 (+26.2%); a 1,740 sq ft home bought in March 2021 for $1,600,000 and sold in May 2026 for $2,625,000 (+64.1%); a 1,740 sq ft home bought in 2002 for $800,000 and sold in March 2026 for $1,800,000 (+125.0%); and a 1,530 sq ft home bought in the 1999 sell-out for $309,900 and sold in April 2026 for $1,500,000, a gain of 384.0%.
The long record supports the same reading. The building sold through in 1999, when 98 homes changed hands at a median $410,000, or $293 per square foot. Of the 253 resales recorded since, 18 lost money — 7.1% — at a median gain of 36.7% over a 4.1-year hold. That is a low loss rate by the standards of the buildings I measure, where a third of resellers underwater is not unusual in the newer towers.
Who this building suits, and who it does not
It suits a buyer who intends to stay a long time. Everything in this record rewards duration and punishes haste: the losses are concentrated in one boom-peak purchase, the gains accumulate across decades, and with one home in 50 trading a year you should not count on a quick exit at a price of your choosing.
It suits a buyer who wants an oceanfront address without buying scale. Twenty-two of the homes are 940 sq ft and another 22 are 1,170, so unlike much of this stretch there is a genuine entry tier here rather than an all-large building.
It suits badly anyone who needs comparable evidence to make a decision. Nine sales in four years across 113 homes means that for most floorplans the nearest genuine comparable is a year or more old, and for the large homes it may be five. Expect to make a judgement rather than to look one up.
If you are selling here, two things follow. First, the 2007 record will come up, and you should be the one to raise it and characterise it: it is a single nineteen-year-old transaction at double the building’s subsequent ceiling, and the same home resold 63% lower in 2021. Using it will cost you credibility; pre-empting it will gain you some. Second, the genuinely useful evidence is the 2026 run — four sales, all resales, all at gains, at $980 to $1,509 per square foot. That is a far stronger case than the four-year median, and it is recent.
Verified 18 August 2026 against the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser record for 1500 Ocean Dr — all 114 folios retrieved individually, grouped by subdivision and filtered to residential homes, excluding one reference folio along with parking, cabana and storage. Sale figures are qualified, arm’s-length transactions only, with bulk/portfolio transfers collapsed to a single transaction. The home recorded as units 801 and 802 is counted once, as the county files it under a single folio. Two homes of 480 and 540 sq ft carry no bedroom count in the county record and are reported as such. 2026 is an incomplete year. Assessed values are the county’s, not market valuations. Building age, storey count, architect and amenity detail are omitted: no primary source has been confirmed for them. Re-check when the next tax roll publishes.
1500 Ocean Drive — Frequently Asked Questions
What is the highest price ever paid at 1500 Ocean Drive?
$12,000,000, on 6 September 2007, for unit T-8 — 3,699 sq ft, or $3,244 per square foot. It has stood for nineteen years and nothing since has come close: the best price per square foot achieved here in that time is $1,659, paid in May 2021. The same home sold again on 18 June 2021 for $4,450,000, which is 62.9% below the 2007 price.
How much does a home at 1500 Ocean Drive sell for?
Across the nine qualified sales in the four years to August 2026, the building cleared a median $1,064 per square foot in a band from $819 to $1,568, at a median price of $1,500,000. The four sales recorded in 2026 ran from $980 to $1,509 per square foot.
How often do homes at 1500 Ocean Drive change hands?
Rarely. The county records nine qualified sales in the four years to August 2026 against 113 homes — about one home in 50 a year, against a median of one in 24 across the buildings in my Miami Condo Index. Only one building I measure trades more slowly. The whole of 2025 produced a single sale.
Have prices at 1500 Ocean Drive gone up or down?
The record cannot say. With two, two, one and four sales across the four years, the year-to-year medians are driven entirely by which floorplan happened to sell, so no four-year change is published and the building carries a dash in my Miami Condo Index.
How big are the homes at 1500 Ocean Drive?
From 480 sq ft to 4,640 sq ft, median 1,530 — but five plans cover 104 of the 113 homes: 22 each at 940 and 1,170 sq ft, 21 each at 1,530 and 1,740, and 18 at 2,320. The mix is 22 one-bedrooms, 45 two-bedrooms, 42 three-bedrooms and two six-bedroom homes of about 4,600 sq ft.
Have owners at 1500 Ocean Drive made money?
Mostly, and the loss rate is low. Of the 253 resales the county records, 18 lost money — 7.1% — at a median gain of 36.7% over a 4.1-year hold. All four sales in 2026 were resales and all four were gains, of 26.2%, 64.1%, 125.0% and 384.0%.
Is the 2007 record a reason to be cautious about this building?
Not on its own. That transaction is the only resale out of 253 in this building to lose more than 40%. Set it aside and the remaining 252 resales show 17 losses at a median gain of 37.0%. One purchase at the top of a boom is not a pattern — but it is a reason not to let a nineteen-year-old figure anchor a valuation today.
Sources and further reading
Interested in selling at 1500 Ocean Drive?
Learn more about selling your condo at 1500 Ocean Drive with Josh Stein.
Related coverage
Part of Miami Luxury Condos.