Building facts
- Address
- 1545 Jefferson Avenue
- Neighborhood
- South Beach
- Year built
- 1965
- Floors
- 2
- Residences
- 8
- Status
- Completed
- Pricing
- Starting at $450,000
Key Takeaways
- Half the building is one floorplate, and it has sold fourteen times — four of the eight homes are 1,200 square feet. Fourteen recorded sales of that one plan since 2003 make this a real price series rather than a handful of anecdotes.
- That plan lost half its value in under three years — $495,000 in August 2006 to $250,000 in January 2009. Both are sales of the same 1,200 sq ft apartment.
- And it took seventeen years to beat the 2006 price — not until March 2023, at $605,000, did the plan clear its 2006 high. In between it sat at $470,000–$480,000 in 2015 and fell back to $360,000 in November 2020.
- 2023 was the best year the building has ever had — three sales — $605,000, $630,000 and $445,000 — and the two 1,200 sq ft sales are the highest prices ever recorded here.
- Eight homes, five floorplates, and the smallest has traded most — the 876 sq ft home has sold six times: $233,000 (2003), $365,000 (2005), $267,000 (2011), $300,000 (2018), $378,000 (2021), $445,000 (2023) and $475,000 (2024).
- Every folio here is a home — no commercial unit, no parking folio, no reference folio, and the declaration closes at exactly 100.0000%.
1545 Jefferson Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139 | Neighborhood: South Beach
Lunamar Lofts is eight homes, four of them the same 1,200 square foot plan. Those four
have sold fourteen times since 2003, which gives this small building something valuable: a long,
mix-free record of one apartment. What it shows is a fall of roughly half, and seventeen years to
climb back.
What the county records at 1545 Jefferson Avenue
The Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser holds eight folios at 1545 Jefferson
Avenue, all in one declaration, LUNAMAR LOFTS AT LINCOLN CONDO. All eight are homes
— no commercial folio, no parking folio and no reference folio — and the
common-element shares close at exactly 100.0000%.
The homes run 876 to 1,200 square feet across five floorplates: 1,200 sq ft (four
homes), then 876, 1,000, 1,062 and 1,104 with one each. Six are two-bedrooms and two are
one-bedrooms.
For 2026 the county assesses them from $309,051 to $445,804, a median of
$402,739.
Seventeen years to recover: the 1,200 square foot plan
Four homes share this plan and it has traded fourteen times. Every figure below is that one
floorplate, so size and layout are held constant.
| Date | Price | $/sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| May 2003 | $315,000 | $262 |
| April 2005 | $444,000 | $370 |
| August 2006 | $495,000 | $412 |
| March 2008 | $335,000 | $279 |
| January 2009 | $250,000 | $208 |
| January 2015 | $470,000 | $392 |
| November 2020 | $360,000 | $300 |
| May 2021 | $477,500 | $398 |
| March 2023 | $605,000 | $504 |
| May 2023 | $630,000 | $525 |
The fall was fast. August 2006 at $495,000; January 2009 at $250,000. That is a
decline of 49.5% in twenty-nine months, on the same apartment.
The recovery was not. The plan reached $470,000 and $480,000 in 2015 — still
below 2006 — and then fell back to $360,000 in November 2020. It was not until
March 2023, at $605,000, that it finally cleared its 2006 price. Seventeen years.
Anyone who bought this plan at the 2006 peak and sold at any point before 2023 did so at a nominal
loss, before costs. Anyone who bought at the January 2009 low and sold in May 2023 collected
$250,000 to $630,000.
The 876 sq ft home tells a steadier version of the same story: $233,000 (2003),
$365,000 (2005), $267,000 (2011), $300,000 (2018), $378,000 (2021), $445,000 (2023) and
$475,000 in June 2024. Seven sales, and the only home in the building to trade in
every phase of the cycle.
The recent price record
| Year | Qualified sales | Median price | Median $/sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 | $605,000 | $508 |
| 2024 | 1 | $475,000 | $542 |
| 2025 | 1 | $525,000 | $494 |
| 2026 to date | 0 | — | — |
2023 was the strongest year in the building’s history — three sales, two
of them the highest prices ever recorded here. The 2024 and 2025 rows are one sale each and are
different floorplates, so the apparent decline in median price is a size difference, not a market move:
the 2024 sale was the 876 sq ft home and the 2025 sale was the 1,062.
The building has recorded 35 qualified sales since 2003, the deepest history of any
building in this guide relative to its size — more than four sales per home.
Who this building suits, and who it does not
It suits a buyer who wants evidence. Thirty-five sales across eight homes, with one
plan traded fourteen times, is an unusually complete record for a building this small. You can see
exactly what happened here through 2006, 2009, 2015, 2020 and 2023.
It suits a two-bedroom buyer at the accessible end of South Beach. Six of the eight
homes are two-bedrooms and the county assesses the whole building between $309,051 and $445,804.
It suits badly anyone who assumes recovery is quick. This building is a clear
counter-example: half the value gone in under three years, and seventeen years to make it back. It is
at record prices now, and it was at record prices in 2006 too.
And it suits badly a buyer who needs space. The largest home is 1,200 square feet
and there is nothing above it.
If you are selling here: if you own one of the four 1,200 sq ft homes you have the
best comparable set in the building — fourteen recorded sales, and the two most recent are
$605,000 and $630,000, both in 2023. That is now three years old, so treat it as a strong anchor rather
than a current price. Do not price off the 2024 or 2025 medians: those were smaller homes and the
numbers are not yours.
Verified 25 August 2026 against the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser record for 1545 Jefferson Avenue — all eight folios retrieved individually, grouped by subdivision and filtered to residential homes; there are no commercial, parking or reference folios in this declaration, and the common-element shares close at exactly 100.0000%. Sale figures are qualified, arm’s-length transactions only, with bulk/portfolio transfers collapsed to a single transaction. The 2024 and 2025 rows rest on one sale each, of different floorplates, and 2026 is an incomplete year with none recorded. Building age, storey count and amenity detail are omitted: no primary source has been confirmed for them. Re-check when the next tax roll publishes.
Lunamar Lofts — Frequently Asked Questions
How many units are in Lunamar Lofts?
Eight. The county returns eight folios at 1545 Jefferson Avenue, all residential homes, and the declaration’s common-element shares close at exactly 100.0000% — so the building is complete at eight and nothing is missing.
How big are the homes at Lunamar Lofts?
876 to 1,200 square feet, across five floorplates — 1,200 sq ft (four homes), and one each at 876, 1,000, 1,062 and 1,104. Six are two-bedrooms and two are one-bedrooms.
What have prices done at Lunamar Lofts?
Measured on the 1,200 sq ft plan, which four homes share: a peak of $495,000 in August 2006, a fall to $250,000 in January 2009, and no return to the 2006 level until March 2023, at $605,000. The highest price the building has recorded is $630,000, in May 2023.
When did a home at Lunamar Lofts last sell?
December 2025, a 1,062 sq ft home for $525,000. There have been no qualified sales so far in 2026. The building has recorded 35 qualified sales since 2003.
Why did the median price fall after 2023?
It did not — the mix changed. 2023’s median came from 1,200 sq ft homes; the single 2024 sale was the 876 sq ft home and the single 2025 sale was the 1,062. With one sale a year, the building median reflects which apartment happened to trade, not the market.
Sources and further reading
Interested in selling at Lunamar?
Learn more about selling your condo at Lunamar with Josh Stein.
Loft Buildings in South Beach
7 TOWNHOMES
734 Michigan Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $585,000
ABSOLUT LOFTS
245 Michigan Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $1.3 Million
ALLIAGE LOFTS
1428 West Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $800,000
EL CYCLON
248 Washington Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $3.2 Million
FLATS OFF LINCOLN
1520 Lenox Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $1.6 Million
FOUNTAINHEAD
361 Jefferson Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $2.5 Million
ILONA LOFTS
221 Jefferson Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $820,000
INDUSTRY LOFTS
1560 Lenox Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $500,000
THE JEFFERSON
401 Jefferson Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $815,000
LOFTS AT SOBE
1701 Sunset Harbor Drive
South Beach
Starting at $900,000
LUNAMAR LOFTS
1545 Jefferson Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $630,000
MANHATTAN LOFTS
900 Fourth Street
South Beach
Starting at $1.2 Million
MERIDIAN 5
421 Meridian Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $918,000
THE MERIDIAN
2001 Meridian Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $549,000
MONTCLAIR LOFTS
1700 Meridian Avenue
South Beach
Starting at $990,000
SOBE BAY
1577 Bay Road
South Beach
Starting at $680,000
SUNDANCE
828 3rd Street
South Beach
Starting at $1.18 Million
Lunamar 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.
Lunamar dates to 1965 and stands at 1545 Jefferson Avenue. With 8 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, Lunamar 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 Lunamar
- 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 Lunamar 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 Miami Lofts.