Apartments Under Construction in Bay Harbor Islands: What International Buyers Should Know

A project announced in Bay Harbor Islands and a project actually under construction are not the same thing, and the difference shows up in the county permit record. A buyer abroad can check it without flying in.

Sales material is produced before the building exists: a sales gallery, renderings and a scale model can be ready while the land still has no foundation permit. Knowing where the permit file stands changes what you are buying, because a project with an approved vertical permit and a crane on site carries a different risk from one still in municipal review. That information is public and free, and the seller does not control it.

Bay Harbor Islands forces a check that exists nowhere else: the address decides which rulebook applies, because the town administers two islands with separate zoning, and what is permitted on one is not authorized on the other. Buyers abroad sometimes sign off a floor plan without knowing which side they are on, then learn that the use, the height or the rental they assumed belongs to the other shore. The second distinguishing feature is the counterparty: canal-front houses and buildings with very few units dominate here, so across the table there is rarely a professional manager with an orderly archive, but an individual owner, a family estate, or a tiny association governed among neighbors whose minutes may be a notebook. That stretches out document delivery. Ask the town exactly what that island and that parcel allow; ask your closing attorney who issues the estoppel when the association has no manager; and, if there is a dock, ask what marine construction approval the town requires and what the county and state authorities require on top of it.

What is specific to Bay Harbor Islands

What to verify, step by step

1. Ask for the project's exact address and parcel number, not the marketing name, because permit files are searched by parcel.
2. Look that parcel up at the county permitting centre and see which permits are open, closed or merely applied for.
3. Check the county appraiser's record for what stands on that land today: if it still shows vacant or an older structure, the work has not progressed.
4. Ask in writing what stage construction is at and request the date of the last approved inspection report, not a verbal description of progress.
5. If you cannot travel to Bay Harbor Islands, commission a Florida-licensed broker or an independent inspector to visit and send dated site photographs.
6. Ask about the city or town permit as well, because the municipality and the county run separate processes.

Mistakes that cost money

• Confusing the sales launch with the construction start: the sales gallery opens long before the structural permit.
• Accepting undated photographs, or a crane from a neighbouring project, as proof of progress.
• Assuming an applied-for permit is an approved permit.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know the project I am being offered really exists?

Through the parcel. With the exact address and parcel number you can pull the county permit file and the appraiser's record, and both sources are public and free.

Can I verify progress without travelling to Bay Harbor Islands?

On paper, yes: permits and approved inspections are searchable online. For the physical state of the site it is worth commissioning a visit with dated photographs from someone licensed in Florida.

Which permit shows that construction has started?

It depends on the project and the municipality, which is why you read the whole file rather than trusting a single document. The county permitting centre shows the sequence and the dates.

Where to check it

• Miami-Dade Permitting and Inspection Center — open or closed building permits on an address
• Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser — record card, area, year built and parcel history
• Miami-Dade Board of Rules and Appeals — the county's building recertification programme
• Florida DBPR — whether a broker, appraiser or contractor holds a current licence
• Town of Bay Harbor Islands — the rules of the municipality Bay Harbor Islands belongs to

Official bodies. Specific figures are requested there, not copied from a listing.

Updated 2026-11-06