Sole on the Ocean, Sunny Isles Beach: What Buyers Should Check

Sole on the Ocean is a 24-story oceanfront condo-hotel at 17315 Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach, completed in 2007. It is the boutique answer to the mega-tower: just 147 condominium residences, one and two bedrooms from about 618 to 1,201 square feet, behind a wave-like Kobi Karp façade — and every one of them sits above the Solé Miami hotel operation, a Noble House resort with a beachfront restaurant, a full-service spa, and an infinity-edge pool. Owners can live in the unit, or place it in the hotel rental program and let the hotel book it between visits. Buying here is not the same decision as buying a regular condo: the unit is a deeded residence inside a working hotel, and the hotel program, the revenue split, and the owner-use limits are part of the purchase.

The facts

• Address: 17315 Collins Avenue, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160
• Completed: 2007 (the condo tower; the hotel operation opened as Solé on the Ocean in 2009)
• Developer: Feeley Group (Tom Feeley); one source names Wavestone Properties as the party the building was designed for
• Architect: Kobi Karp
• Stories: 24
• Residences: 147 condominium residences (county records), plus hotel keys
• Unit mix: 1 and 2 bedrooms (some sources list 1–4 bedroom layouts)
• Unit sizes: about 618 to 1,201 sq ft of interior, plus terraces; county records list a median residence of about 908 sq ft
• Waterfront: oceanfront, direct beach access, private beach
• Hotel: Solé Miami, A Noble House Resort, managed by Noble House Hotels & Resorts since 2017

Amenities and day-to-day living

The hotel is the amenity program: a private beach with beach service, an infinity-edge oceanfront pool with a snack bar, a full-service spa, the BALEENkitchen beachfront restaurant, a fitness center, a billiard room, sauna and spa/hot tub, a business center, and a clubhouse, with 24-hour valet and front desk service, housekeeping, and room service available to owners. Residences are turnkey and fully furnished in most listings, with floor-to-ceiling windows, private balconies, and full kitchens. Parking is valet, with one space per residence in most listings (some units carry two or more spaces). The pet policy is restrictive: MLS records for the building show pets not allowed — confirm the current rules with the association before you buy if a pet is part of the plan.

What to check before you buy

• Monthly cost, honestly. No verified building-wide dues figure was found for this building, and dues in a condo-hotel run higher than in a non-hotel building — the hotel services are part of what you pay for. Get the exact figure for the residence you are considering, including what the dues cover and what hotel services are billed separately — and use the monthly-cost worksheet in the Buyer's Guide, not just the mortgage payment.
• The hotel rental program — read the agreement, not the listing. Owners can enroll a residence in the on-site hotel rental program, which books it to guests and shares revenue with the owner; one current listing describes a 50/50 revenue split. Broker listings have said an owner in the program may use the residence up to 120 days a year; another listing says up to 180 days a year. Those two figures conflict — read the rental-program agreement, the declaration, and any management contract for the exact unit, and confirm how many days the owner keeps, whether they can be consecutive, and what happens to furnishings and bookings when the unit is in the pool.
• Confirm it is a deeded residence, not a hotel room. The same address holds a hotel with about 200 guest rooms and a condominium with 147 residences. Match the listing address and unit number to the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser folio before you compare it with anything else.
• 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 Sole.
• 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 2007, so its first milestone inspection falls in the 2030s — around 2032 on the 25-year coastal rule — but confirm the building's milestone and SIRS status with the association rather than relying on a listing.

Who this building suits

Sole on the Ocean suits a buyer who wants a compact, turnkey oceanfront residence with full hotel service — and who wants the option of hotel-program income between visits, at the lowest price point of any oceanfront tower in this part of Sunny Isles. It is a poor fit for a buyer who wants a large residence, a low monthly bill, or a pet-friendly building: the units top out around 1,200 square feet, condo-hotel dues run high, and MLS records show pets not allowed. It is also a poor fit for anyone buying purely for yield without reading the hotel agreement first — the revenue split, the owner-use cap, and the blackout rules decide whether the income story works. 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 Sole on the Ocean together.