Building facts
- Address
- 1601 West Avenue
- Neighborhood
- South Beach
- Year built
- 1962
- Floors
- 2
- Residences
- 26
- Status
- Completed
- Pricing
- Starting at $420,000
Verified 24 August 2026Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places2 sources
The Fontana — photography to follow
Key Takeaways
- The Fontana holds 26 homes at 1601 West Avenue, — 12 studios (411 sq ft), 8 one-bedrooms (691 sq ft) and 6 larger one-bedrooms (822 sq ft) — no commercial or non-residential folios sit in this declaration.
- Seven qualified sales closed over the last four years, — a turnover of one home in 15 each year, with median $/sq ft sliding from $651 in 2023 to $554 in 2025.
- The building’s smallest unit type commands the highest recent rate per square foot: — a 411 sq ft studio sold for $766/sf in October 2023, well above the $601/sf paid for the larger 691 sq ft unit that set the four-year window’s highest total price.
- 21 of the building’s 26 homes have a documented round trip, — and most have lost money: 13 sold for less than the previous owner paid against 8 that sold for more, a median change of -2.5%.
- The all-time record sale is $485,000, — set in June 2007 on an 822 square foot home at $590 a square foot — still the building’s high-water mark.
- Unlike every other building drafted so far in this cluster, West Avenue sits outside the mapped boundary of the Miami Beach Architectural District, — the 1979 National Register historic district, which the National Park Service describes as bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Miami Beach Blvd., Alton Road and the Collins Canal.
The Fontana, by the numbers
Starting at $420,000. Source: the building record on this site.
1601 West Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida 33139 | Neighborhood: South Beach
Twenty-Six Homes in Three Sizes on West Avenue
I pulled all 26 folios the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser has on file for The Fontana at 1601 West Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139, under the county’s subdivision “FONTANA CONDO.” Every one of the 26 is a residential home — there are no commercial, parking, cabana or storage folios in this declaration to exclude.
The building holds three distinct unit types: 12 studios at 411 square feet, 8 one-bedroom homes at 691 square feet, and 6 larger one-bedroom homes at 822 square feet — together, all three sizes account for every home in the building. Overall size runs 411 to 822 square feet, median 691.
On the 2026 tax roll, assessed values run from $148,267 to $338,264 across the 26 homes, with a median of $299,593.
I don’t have a confirmed architect, exact construction year, story count or amenity list for this building from any primary designation record. And here West Avenue is a genuinely different case from every other building drafted so far in this cluster: I directly checked the National Park Service’s own NRHP database, which describes the Miami Beach Architectural District (the 1979 National Register historic district covering most of South Beach) as bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Miami Beach Blvd., Alton Road and the Collins Canal. West Avenue runs along Biscayne Bay, west of Alton Road — outside that boundary. I found no primary source placing this specific building within any historic designation, local or national, and I’m not going to imply one where the geography itself argues against it.
Seven Sales, a Sliding $/Sq Ft, and a Studio That Outpriced a Larger Unit
| Year | Qualified sales | Median price | Median $/sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4 | $355,000 | $651 |
| 2024 | 1 | $415,000 | $601 |
| 2025 | 2 | $382,500 | $554 |
| 2026 to date | 0 | — | — |
Seven qualified sales closed across 2023 through 2025 — a turnover of one home in 15 each year — with no qualified sale yet in 2026 through my pull date. Median $/sq ft slid from $651 in 2023 (on four sales, the most solid year in the window) to $601 in 2024 (a single sale) to $554 in 2025 (two sales). With seven sales total across three years, I’d call the downward direction probably real rather than noise, but the magnitude is uncertain given how few sales sit behind the 2024 and 2025 figures individually.
The four-year window’s highest total price is $415,000 (July 2024, a 691 square foot home, $601/sf) — but it is not the window’s highest rate per square foot. That belongs to a much smaller home: a 411 square foot studio sold for $315,000 in October 2023, working out to $766 a square foot, the highest rate recorded in this building in the current window by a wide margin. This is exactly the case for trusting $/sq ft over price that this site’s standard methodology exists to catch: the larger unit brought the bigger check, but the smaller unit brought the better rate.
Most Documented Round Trips Here Have Lost Money
Zooming out past the four-year window, The Fontana’s full county sale history carries 60 qualified sales going back to 2007. The all-time record sale is $485,000, set in June 2007 on an 822 square foot home at $590 a square foot — still the building’s high-water mark on both measures, nearly two decades later; the closest any recent sale has come is the $415,000 / $601-per-square-foot pair described above, on a smaller unit type.
21 of the building’s 26 homes have a documented round trip, and the record here leans toward losses: 13 of the 21 sold for less than the previous owner paid, against 8 that sold for more. The median change across all 21 is -2.5%, over a median 11.7-year hold, with a range from -43.3% to +23.5%. The pattern splits cleanly by unit type: every one of the building’s four largest gains (+16.3% to +23.5%) belongs to a 411 square foot studio bought in 2007 and held 9 to 16 years; several of the largest losses belong to the larger 691 and 822 square foot units, including one 691 square foot home that lost 43.3% on a short 3.3-year hold sold in November 2010, during the market’s worst stretch. I’ll state plainly what’s on the record: smaller units here have, on this data, held up better over time than larger ones.
Who The Fontana Suits, and Who It Doesn’t
The Fontana suits a buyer who wants a choice of unit sizes — studio through a larger one-bedroom — on West Avenue’s bayfront side of Miami Beach, and one who has noticed that this building’s smaller units have, on the documented round-trip record, outperformed its larger ones. It also suits a buyer who wants relatively more trading activity than several other buildings in this cluster: seven sales in four years is a real, usable sample.
It suits buyers badly who are counting on this building carrying Art Deco historic-district status — West Avenue sits outside the National Register boundary that covers most of this cluster’s other buildings, and I found no primary source placing The Fontana in any historic designation. It also suits buyers badly who are relying on the building’s overall resale history as a reason to buy; more than half of its documented round trips have lost money, concentrated in the larger unit types.
If you are selling: if you own one of the smaller 411 square foot studios, the building’s own recent record supports pricing near or above $700 a square foot; if you own a larger 691 or 822 square foot unit, price off the $535-$601 range from 2024-2025 rather than the 2007 record, which no recent sale has approached.
The Fontana — Frequently Asked Questions
How many homes are in The Fontana?
The Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser records 26 residential condominium folios at 1601 West Avenue, Miami Beach — 12 studios, 8 one-bedrooms at 691 sq ft, and 6 larger one-bedrooms at 822 sq ft.
Is The Fontana in the Art Deco Historic District?
No. West Avenue sits west of Alton Road, outside the National Register boundary of the Miami Beach Architectural District, which the National Park Service describes as bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Miami Beach Blvd., Alton Road and the Collins Canal.
Has The Fontana had any recent sales?
Seven qualified sales closed from 2023 through 2025 — four in 2023, one in 2024, two in 2025. None has closed yet in 2026.
Are prices at The Fontana rising or falling?
Median $/sq ft slid from $651 in 2023 to $554 in 2025 across seven total sales. I’d call the downward direction probably real, with the exact magnitude uncertain given how few sales sit behind each year.
What is the record sale at The Fontana?
$485,000, set in June 2007 on an 822 square foot home, $590 a square foot — still the building’s record on both price and rate per square foot, nearly two decades on.
Do owners at The Fontana tend to gain or lose money on resale?
Of the building’s 21 documented round trips, 13 sold for less than the previous owner paid and 8 sold for more — a median change of -2.5%. Smaller studios have fared better than the building’s larger units.
How big are the units at The Fontana?
Three sizes: 12 studios at 411 sq ft, 8 one-bedrooms at 691 sq ft, and 6 larger one-bedrooms at 822 sq ft.
Sources and further reading
- Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser — Property Search (26 folio records for 1601 West Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139, retrieved 24 August 2026)miamidade.gov
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places — Miami Beach Architectural District, reference #79000667, listed 14 May 1979npgallery.nps.gov
Interested in selling at The Fontana?
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The Fontana in the Miami Beach Architectural District
The Miami Beach Architectural District, almost always called the Art Deco District, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 14, 1979. It runs from the Atlantic Ocean west to Alton Road, and from 6th Street north to the Collins Canal and Dade Boulevard. Depending on how you count, it holds between the over 800 properties built between 1923 and 1943 cited by the City of Miami Beach and roughly 960 historic buildings counted elsewhere. Either way it is the largest collection of Art Deco architecture anywhere in the world.
The Fontana dates to 1962 and stands at 1601 West Avenue. With 26 residences, it belongs to the small-building stock that gives the district its scale. This building post-dates the historic district core, which the City of Miami Beach dates to roughly 1923 to 1943. It sits in the MiMo era that followed, a distinct and increasingly collected Miami Beach style in its own right.
What it costs to own here: the three-story rule
Florida milestone inspection requirements apply to condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or more in height, at 30 years of age, or 25 years where the local enforcement agency cites conditions such as salt-water proximity (Fla. Stat. 553.899). HB 913 (2025) refined the trigger to buildings with three or more occupied stories, excluding garages and non-habitable areas, and applied the same threshold to Structural Integrity Reserve Studies, required every 10 years.
At 2 stories, The Fontana falls below that statutory threshold. It is not compelled to carry out milestone inspections or fund a Structural Integrity Reserve Study on a mandated schedule. In a market where Miami condo special assessments in 2026 commonly run $30,000 to $75,000 per unit, with some projects exceeding $100,000 per unit, that is a material difference in carrying cost.
The counterweight matters just as much. Exemption from a mandated inspection is not exemption from physics. A building of this age still needs a roof, plumbing, electrical and a wind-rated envelope. The difference is that no statute forces the association to study and fund that work on a timetable. Read the reserve balance, the minutes and the maintenance history yourself, and budget for what a study would have found. Lower mandated cost, higher personal diligence burden.
Renovating in a historic district
Interiors are generally straightforward. Exterior alterations are not: work visible from the street in a Miami Beach local historic district goes through the city Historic Preservation Board review process, codified in Miami Beach Code Chapter 118, Article X. Miami-Dade is also a High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, so impact-rated windows and doors are required, and inside the district those products have to satisfy preservation review on appearance as well as code. Budget more time than a comparable renovation off the beach, and use trades who have been through the process before.
There is a second layer buyers routinely miss. Local Miami Beach designation governs day-to-day alterations. National Register listing is what triggers the stronger state-law protections under SB 1730 and SB 1526. Many buildings here are locally designated but not individually National Register listed, and the two are not interchangeable. Ask which applies to this specific building before assuming it is protected.
Is the district protected from demolition?
Substantially, yes. The Florida Resiliency and Safe Structures Act (SB 1526, 2024), which allows owners to demolish and replace certain non-conforming coastal buildings, explicitly excludes structures on the National Register and several locally designated Miami Beach neighbourhoods including Ocean Drive and the Art Deco District. The 2025 Live Local update, SB 1730, effective July 1 2025, caps development inside National Register districts at the maximum height allowable within a three-quarter-mile radius and permits facade replication. Its protections attach to National Register districts rather than to buildings that are only locally designated.
Why supply here can never grow
The historic district southern boundary is 6th Street. That one line explains the entire South Beach price map. Everything south of it, including Continuum, Apogee, Portofino Tower, Icon South Beach, Murano Grande and Five Park, sits outside the preservation overlay, which is why 40-plus-story towers were legally possible there and nowhere in the blocks immediately north. Inside the district, the two and three-story stock is permanently capped. New Art Deco cannot be built. It can only be restored.
The neighborhood around The Fontana
- Art Deco Welcome Center, 1001 Ocean Drive, the Miami Design Preservation League base. Daily 90-minute walking tours run $35 for adults and $30 for students and seniors; a self-guided audio tour is $25.
- Ocean Drive, the photographic core of the district, including the Colony Hotel at 736 Ocean Drive and its much-photographed neon.
- Espanola Way, three blocks of Mediterranean Revival, pedestrianised at weekends.
- Lincoln Road, the pedestrian mall from Washington to Alton, designed by Morris Lapidus in the 1960s.
- Collins Avenue, the Streamline Moderne hotel corridor running north toward the Raleigh redevelopment at 18th Street.
Who buys in the Art Deco district
Three buyers, consistently. Design-motivated primary and second-home purchasers, for whom this is the only walkable, ocean-adjacent product in Miami Beach at anything near this price point. Cost-conscious buyers deliberately targeting sub-three-story buildings to stay outside the milestone and reserve regime. And preservation-minded owners who treat design review as the price of a protected streetscape rather than as an obstacle.
Two practical notes. South Beach transacts at a high cash rate, and small older condominium buildings are frequently non-warrantable for conventional financing, so confirm financing early rather than late. And adaptive reuse has decisively proved the value thesis: the Shore Club restored its 1939 Art Deco building alongside a new tower and put a penthouse under contract north of $120 million, while the Rosewood Raleigh redevelopment is asking $150 million. Historic fabric is now the premium, not the constraint.
Frequently asked questions
How big is the Miami Beach Art Deco District?
The Miami Beach Architectural District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 14, 1979. It runs from the Atlantic Ocean west to Alton Road and from 6th Street north to the Collins Canal and Dade Boulevard. Counts range from the City of Miami Beach figure of over 800 properties built between 1923 and 1943 to roughly 960 historic buildings, depending on the counting method. It is the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world.
Can you actually buy an Art Deco condo in Miami Beach, or are they all hotels?
You can buy them, but most of the famous Ocean Drive frontage is hotels. Genuine residential Art Deco condominiums cluster one to three blocks inland, on Meridian, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Jefferson and Euclid Avenues and along Espanola Way. A third category, condo-hotels, can be owned but operates as hospitality and is underwritten differently. Always confirm which of the three a specific building is before you make an offer.
Does The Fontana have to do Florida milestone inspections?
No. Florida milestone inspections and Structural Integrity Reserve Studies apply to condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or more in height, under Fla. Stat. 553.899 as refined by HB 913 in 2025. At 2 stories this building falls below that threshold and is not compelled to inspect or fund reserves on a statutory schedule. That lowers mandated cost, but it raises your own diligence burden, because the underlying maintenance need does not disappear.
Are Miami Beach Art Deco buildings protected from demolition?
Substantially. Florida 2024 Resiliency and Safe Structures Act, SB 1526, which allows demolition and replacement of certain non-conforming coastal buildings, explicitly excludes National Register structures and several locally designated Miami Beach neighbourhoods including Ocean Drive and the Art Deco District. The 2025 Live Local update, SB 1730, added height caps and facade replication rules inside National Register districts. Note that protections differ between National Register listing and local-only designation.
Can I renovate an Art Deco condo in Miami Beach?
Interiors are generally straightforward. Exterior alterations visible from the street go through the City of Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board review process under Chapter 118, Article X of the city code. Miami-Dade is a High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, so impact-rated windows and doors are required, and inside a historic district those products must also satisfy preservation review on appearance. Allow more time than an equivalent renovation elsewhere in the city.
Why does South of Fifth have towers when the Art Deco District has none?
Because the historic district southern boundary is 6th Street. Everything south of that line, including Continuum, Apogee, Portofino Tower, Icon South Beach, Murano Grande and Five Park, sits outside the preservation overlay, so high-rise development was legally possible there and not in the blocks immediately north. That single boundary explains both the South of Fifth premium and why Art Deco district supply is permanently capped.
Is financing harder on a small older Art Deco building?
Often, yes. Small older condominium buildings are frequently non-warrantable for conventional financing, which is one reason South Beach transacts at a high cash rate. Establish financing early rather than late, and ask the association for the documents a lender will want before you are under contract.
Related coverage
Part of Art Deco Miami Beach Condos.