Downtown Miami

Skyline lights buck odds With dozens of high-rise condos in trouble and an urban core that isn't too active after dark, some analysts expected Downtown Miami to look like a ghost town after sunset once the housing bubble burst. About 80 buildings comprised of 23,000 units have come online since 2003, so those predictions seemed reasonable after the 2006 peak. But a new study from Goodkin Consulting/Focus Real Estate Advisors says otherwise. The majority of the residential units completed in Downtown Miami since 2003 are occupied and the closing rate is accelerating despite obstacles to financing. There's still a long way out of the bottom, but the process is moving. "Our research indicates that 62 percent of units in new Downtown Miami buildings are occupied by a combination of owners and renters, defying the perception that the majority of high-rises built in recent years are empty," said Lew Goodkin, founder of Goodkin Consulting. By Jennifer LeClaire