Flow, former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann’s latest venture centered on residential and so-called community-oriented living, is launching sales for the company's first condominium project in downtown Miami.
Flow House at 697 N. Miami Ave. in the heart of Miami's Worldcenter, a 27-acre master-planned development, is approaching the final stages of construction. The 40-story tower offers 466 units, including studios and one-bedrooms. Prices for studios begin at $450,000 while a one-bedroom unit starts at $600,000.
Brokerage OneWorld Properties is leading sales at Flow House, which is expected to be completed in 2025.
Construction of Flow House began in early 2022 on what was originally planned as a 422-unit apartment complex. The tower is connected by an amenity deck to Flow Miami at 698 NE First St., one of Neumann's first apartment buildings to operate under his new company, Flow.
The co-founder of flexible office provider WeWork launched Flow in 2022 after receiving a $350 million investment from well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Flow's goal was to revolutionize the apartment industry in the same manner Neumann changed the flexible office industry with WeWork.
Neumann settled in the Miami area after being ousted in 2019 from WeWork, the coworking company he helped propel into a multibillion-dollar real estate empire. WeWork filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year.
“We learned while building Flow over the last two years that the exact same needs faced by renters are also faced by owners in terms of lack of community and lack of connectivity,” said Neumann in the statement.
The newly converted condo project Flow House will feature a “strong focus” on wellness and sustainability, said Peggy Olin, OneWorld’s founder and chief executive, in the statement. Amenities at Flow House include 24/7 concierge services, a yoga and pilates studio with meditation space, a spa equipped with a sauna, steam rooms and cold plunge, an on-site restaurant, a bar and coffee lounge, and a dog park.
Flow House also plans to feature Workflow — a new service from Flow that offers flexible offices and coworking spaces to companies and individuals, similar to WeWork. Workflow has already launched at Flow Fort Lauderdale, according to the apartment complex's website, and hosts a Fortune 50 company as a client, according to Bloomberg.
Apartment conversions
The timing of when plans for the residential tower being built at 697 N. Miami Ave. switched from apartment units to Flow House condos is unclear. Flow declined to comment.
Developers have been converting apartment projects into condominiums in South Florida as a result of the past few years of elevated interest rates.
Some developers are adjusting their plans "because either their loan is maturing, they won't be able to resell it, or they won't have the exit they had originally planned for," Olin with OneWorld Properties told CoStar News in an earlier interview about the current lending environment.
Apartment projects are being changed to condos because the economics are better and the demand is there in South Florida, said J.C. de Ona, Southeast Florida division president for Centennial Bank, in an interview.
"It's less risk for the developers," said de Ona, who is not involved with Flow's projects.
Meanwhile, Miami-based Flow has four residential properties operating in the United States and three in Saudi Arabia, according to Bloomberg.
“We are excited to build upon our vision and bring the full Flow experience, which is rooted in community and a sense of belonging, to anyone looking for a better experience from their permanent residence,” added Neumann in the release.