Muse Residences, Sunny Isles Beach: What Buyers Should Check

Muse Residences is a 49-story oceanfront boutique tower at 17141 Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach, completed in 2018. It holds just 68 residences — two per floor — in a slender glass tower designed by Carlos Ott with Sieger Suarez as architect of record, and it was the tallest building in Sunny Isles Beach from its completion in 2018 until 2022, at about 649 feet. Developed by Property Markets Group and S2 Development, Muse is the low-density trophy tower of the oceanfront row: flow-through residences with 12-foot ceilings, private biometric elevators, a terrace summer kitchen in every home, and an original sculpture by Helidon Xhixha delivered with each residence. Its garage runs a fully robotic parking system — the first of its kind in South Florida when it opened.

The facts

• Address: 17141 Collins Avenue, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160
• Completed: 2018
• Developer: Property Markets Group (PMG) and S2 Development
• Design architect: Carlos Ott; architect of record: Sieger Suarez Architectural Partnership
• Interiors: Antrobus + Ramirez (with Troy Dean Interiors)
• Stories: 49 (some sources list 47 or 50)
• Height: about 649 feet — the tallest building in Sunny Isles Beach from 2018 until 2022
• Residences: 68 (some sources, including county records and Zilbert, list 62)
• Unit mix: 2 to 5 bedrooms, plus two full-floor penthouses; two residences per floor
• Unit sizes: about 2,042 to 6,524 sq ft (county records); marketing materials give about 2,360 to 5,995 sq ft for standard residences, with larger penthouses beyond
• Ceilings: 12 feet
• Waterfront: oceanfront, direct beach access

Amenities and day-to-day living

The amenity program is sized to a 68-residence building, with a staffing ratio closer to a private resort than a typical condominium. It includes a vanishing-edge oceanfront pool with poolside food and beverage service, a private beach club with chair, umbrella, and food and beverage service, a third-floor spa and fitness deck with Pilates and yoga studios, a wellness spa, a restaurant bar and café, a breakfast gallery on the mezzanine level, an owners lounge, a children's play area, cabanas, a sauna, and a dual-temperature wine cooler holding 148 bottles. Services include 24-hour concierge, butler, valet, and security, pet services including pet walking, a house car, and cooled storage. Residences were delivered fully finished with smart-home technology, biometric elevator access, and a biometric safe. Parking is the building's signature: a fully robotic garage system — residents request their car via app and receive a text message when it is delivered to the ground floor. Pets are allowed with restrictions in MLS records — confirm the current pet rules with the association before you buy.

What to check before you buy

• Monthly cost, honestly. Homes.com lists monthly HOA fees in the building from about $4,412 to about $13,582 depending on unit size; one residence (unit 4301) carried dues of $10,449 a month as of September 2023. Dues vary widely by unit, so get the exact figure for the residence you are considering — and use the monthly-cost worksheet in the Buyer's Guide, not just the mortgage payment. Note that the robotic garage is a maintenance line item worth tracking on the HOA budget.
• Owner-occupancy ratio. Lenders check this ratio before approving a mortgage, so confirm the current figure with the association — a building heavy on rentals can block financing. No verified owner-occupancy figure was found for Muse.
• Reserves and assessments. Ask what reserves are funded, what assessments are planned or already approved, and where the building stands on its Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS). Under Florida's SIRS rules, reserves for SIRS items are no longer waivable — but confirm this building's position with its association.
• Milestone inspection. Florida milestone inspection rules generally apply at 30 years, or 25 years within 3 miles of the coast. This is an oceanfront building completed in 2018, so on that rule its first milestone inspection would fall around 2043 — decades away — but confirm the building's milestone and SIRS status with the association rather than relying on a listing.
• Rentals. Confirm the leasing rules and any rental caps with the association, since the owner-occupancy mix affects both financing and day-to-day life in the building. Residences here do come up for rent, but no minimum lease term or rental cap was verified in public sources.

Who this building suits

Muse Residences suits a buyer who wants the lowest-density trophy tower on the oceanfront — two residences per floor, flow-through layouts, 12-foot ceilings, and a private-resort level of service — and who is comfortable with the monthly cost that comes with it. With only 68 residences, resale comparables are thin, so buyers should underwrite the specific line, floor, and exposure carefully. It is a poor fit for a buyer who wants a smaller residence, a low monthly bill, or a building with frequent turnover and deep comparable sales: the smallest residences are still over 2,000 square feet. 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

Get the free Sunny Isles Beach Buyer's Building Guide — the ten questions to ask before you sign, applied to the tower you are actually considering. Or book a call with Mike to walk through Muse Residences together.