Golden Bay Club, Sunny Isles Beach: What Buyers Should Check

Golden Bay Club is the boutique Intracoastal-front condo at 17050 North Bay Road — a single 12-story tower, completed in 1999, designed by Kobi Karp, with 85 residences and almost nothing in common with the big oceanfront towers: every standard residence is a two-bedroom of about 1,310 to 1,470 square feet, with four larger top-floor units of about 2,010 to 2,200 square feet. It is a small, quiet, water-facing building one block from the beach, with its own 18-slip boat dock marina — a rare feature at this size — a heated pool and whirlpool, a fitness center, a clubhouse and party room, and on-site management. The market is very thin: no residence was listed for sale as of November 2, 2026, only about two sales a year have closed over the last decade, and the most recent notable closing was penthouse #PH1201 (3 bedrooms, 2,200 sq ft) at $1,600,000 in April 2026. Rentals are the active market here, with furnished two-bedrooms listed at about $4,000 to $6,500 a month. Three things a buyer must look into before anything else: this is a 27-year-old building, so its first milestone inspection fell around 2024 on the 25-year coastal rule and its structural integrity reserve study is already due — ask for the completed milestone report and the SIRS before signing; the rental picture is genuinely flexible on paper, with a one-month minimum and up to 12 leases a year reported, and short-term rental listings operating with city registration numbers — but confirm the association's current rule, since short-term rentals also depend on city requirements; and the pet rule is flatly contradictory across sources, with some saying no pets and others saying pet-friendly with a 20-pound limit — if a pet is part of the plan, get the rule from the association in writing. One more conflict to carry into any comparison: the height and size are given as both 12 stories / 85 units and 10 stories / 80 units. The county-derived figures are 12 stories and 85 residences, and this page uses those.

The facts

• Address: 17050 N Bay Road, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160.
• Completed: 1999 (consistent across all sources checked).
• Stories: 12 (county-derived) — Homes.com and Apartments.com give 10.
• Residences: 85 (county: 85 folios) — marketing copy variously gives 80, and one MLS record gives 84.
• Developer: not verified in any public source checked.
• Architect: Kobi Karp (Kobi Karp Architecture).
• Unit mix: almost entirely two-bedroom, two-bath residences; four larger 12th-floor units of about 2,010–2,200 sq ft, including three-bedroom penthouse configurations.
• Unit sizes: about 1,310–1,470 sq ft for standard two-bedrooms; about 2,010–2,200 sq ft for the top-floor units; average about 1,394 sq ft.
• Waterfront: Intracoastal-front on North Bay Road, with direct water views and an 18-slip boat dock marina; one block from the beach.
• Parking: one assigned parking space per residence (per listings); assigned garage parking.
• Association: Golden Bay Club Condominium.

Amenities and day-to-day living

Golden Bay Club's amenity list is compact and water-focused: a heated in-ground pool with an adjacent whirlpool and jacuzzi, a waterfront barbecue grilling station and picnic area, a clubhouse and party room with a billiards room and game room, a sauna, a fully equipped fitness center, an 18-slip boat dock marina, on-site management, a courtesy bus, excess storage, and a trash chute. Tennis courts appear in Zillow and Homes.com community-feature lists but not in one other amenity list, so tennis is only partially verified. Listings note that rent and maintenance packages often include internet, cable, and water. The sales market is the thinnest in the sweep so far: no residence was listed for sale as of November 2, 2026, about 19 sales closed from 2015 through 2025 (about two a year), and the median closed price was about $517 per square foot over three sales in the 24 months to November 2, 2026. The one recent closing on record is penthouse #PH1201 (3 bedrooms, 2,200 sq ft), listed at $1,450,000 in June 2025 and sold at $1,600,000 in April 2026. The rental market is where the building actually trades: four to five furnished residences were listed for rent in November 2026 at about $4,000 to $6,500 a month — #1006 at $4,000, #405 and #605 at $4,900, #807 at $5,500, and #1005 at $6,500 — mostly two-bedroom, two-bath units of 1,310 to 1,470 square feet, with a one-time $75 association registration fee noted on short-term rental listings.

What to check before you buy

1. Monthly cost — verify the dues, don't take the range. Homes.com gives a current HOA range of $757 to $1,524 a month. Older per-unit figures are much lower and should not be relied on: #606 at $535 a month (2021 listing), #501 at $551 a month (2021 listing), and #907 at $502 a month (2019 listing). Dues have clearly moved since those listings, and no adopted budget was found. Confirm the dues against the adopted budget for the specific unit, including whether any special assessment is running, and what the dues cover.
2. Milestone inspection and SIRS — already due, ask for the reports. Florida milestone inspection rules generally apply at 30 years, or 25 years within 3 miles of the coast. This is a bay-side building completed in 1999, so its first milestone inspection fell around 2024 on the 25-year coastal rule — a derived estimate, not a confirmed date — and the structural integrity reserve study is also already due for a building of this age. At 27 years old, Golden Bay Club is past its first milestone deadline. Ask for the completed milestone inspection report, the SIRS, the reserve study, and the last three years of board minutes before signing — and ask what work, if any, the reports recommended and whether it has been done or assessed.
3. Subsidence — not on the study's list, which is a real positive. Golden Bay Club does not appear on the published list of 35 barrier-island buildings the University of Miami's 2024 InSAR study found settling between 2 and 8 centimeters from 2016 to 2023. The study's authors said no building was found unsafe, and the absence of Golden Bay Club from the list is a point in its favour, not a guarantee: ask the association whether any engineering review or monitoring has been done, and whether the milestone report addresses settlement at all.
4. Reserves and assessments — unverified. No building-wide reserve figure or assessment history was found in public sources. Ask for the reserve study and the last three years of board minutes before signing.
5. Owner-occupancy — low, and worth confirming. One source reports 29% owner-occupied as of November 2, 2026. That is low, and a low owner-occupancy ratio can block some financing — and it fits the picture of a building where rentals are the active market. Confirm the current ratio with the association and with your lender before you are under contract, not after.
6. Rentals — flexible on paper, confirm the current rule. One building directory reports a short-term rental setup with a one-month minimum and up to 12 rentals per year, and older listings describe the building as having "no rental restrictions" and "investor friendly." Short-term rental listings are currently operating with city registration numbers (STR-00522, STR-00530, STR-02037) and a $75 association registration fee. That is the most rental-flexible profile in the sweep so far — but rental rules also depend on city requirements, and no association document was found. Confirm the current lease minimum, the annual lease cap, the association approval process and fees, and the city registration requirements with the association before buying for income.
7. Pets — the sources flatly contradict each other. On the no-pets side: one source reports that all four current listings state the pet policy as "not-allowed"; another states "No Pets for Renters" for #1102; rental listings state "No pets" and "Pets allowed: No"; and MLS records for #606 and #501 state pets are not allowed. On the pet-friendly side: one source states the building is pet-friendly with a 20-pound limit per pet; another lists "Breed Restrictions" as the pet policy rather than a ban; and an MLS record for #907 states pets are allowed. The pattern may be that owners may keep pets while renters may not — but that is an inference, not a verified rule. If a pet is part of the plan, get the current rule from the association in writing before you buy, and confirm whether it differs for owners and renters.
8. Thin market — price discovery is weak. With about two sales a year and zero residences listed for sale as of November 2, 2026, there is very little recent comparable-sale data. The $517-per-square-foot median over three sales in 24 months rests on a tiny sample, and the penthouse sale at $1,600,000 is a top-floor outlier. Do not anchor a price to a single comparable — ask Mike to pull the full sale history for the building and the nearest bay-side comparables before making an offer.

Who this building suits

Golden Bay Club suits a buyer who wants a small, quiet, water-facing building and is buying to live there or to hold for rental income — a two-bedroom of about 1,310 to 1,470 square feet with Intracoastal views, a heated pool, a fitness center, a clubhouse, and a boat dock marina one block from the beach, in a building where a one-month rental minimum makes short-term income plausible. It is a poor fit for a buyer who wants oceanfront, a large residence, a new or newer tower, a deep resale market, or a certain pet policy: the beach is a block away, the standard residence is a two-bedroom, only about two sales a year close, and the pet rule is contradictory across sources. It is also a poor fit for a buyer who needs financing that requires a high owner-occupancy ratio — the building was reported at 29% owner-occupied. If you are choosing between this and another tower, send Mike the buildings you are comparing and he will walk through the finances with you, building by building.

Next step

If Golden Bay Club is on your shortlist, start with the free Sunny Isles Beach Buyer's Building Guide. It walks through the checks that matter before you sign — milestone inspections, reserves, assessments, owner-occupancy, and the questions to ask any association.

Download the free guide

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Call or text: (305) 429-5420

Email: info@ultraluxrealty.com

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