New Developments in Bay Harbor Islands: How to Compare Projects

When several new projects are selling at once in Bay Harbor Islands, the temptation is to compare them by price per square metre and by the amenity list. Neither is comparable until you first equalise what is being measured.

Two projects can advertise the same unit size and measure it differently: one includes the terrace and the wall thickness, the other counts only habitable interior space. One delivers a fitted kitchen, the other offers it as a paid option. One projects association budgets based on a full building, the other publishes none. Comparing before you equalise the unit of measure and the delivery standard produces a conclusion that looks financial and is merely copywriting.

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 each project for its finishes schedule and lay them side by side: that is the document stating what is delivered installed and what is billed separately.
2. Ask each one how it measures the advertised area and request the dimensioned plan of the specific unit, not the typical floor.
3. Request the estimated association budget and the reserve study if one exists, and compare the line items rather than the total.
4. Compare orientation, height and the neighbouring unit on the full floor plan, because those cannot be changed later while amenity lists can grow.
5. Separate the verifiable from the promised: the permit and the land are checked at the county; a beach club or a hotel brand are clauses you have to read.
6. Run the comparison with a Florida-licensed broker who does not work exclusively for one of the projects.

Mistakes that cost money

• Comparing price per square metre across projects that measure area differently: the conclusion comes out backwards.
• Deciding on the amenity list, which is the easiest thing to change and the thing that later drives association dues up.
• Comparing a permitted project against one that only owns land as if they were the same offer.

Frequently asked questions

What can actually be compared between two projects?

The finishes schedule, the dimensioned unit plan, the orientation, the state of the permit file and the contract clauses. Those are documents, not sales arguments.

So price per square metre is useless?

It is useful only after confirming that both projects measure area the same way and deliver an equivalent finish level. Without that it is a figure with no common denominator.

Can association dues be compared before delivery?

You can compare the estimated budget each developer projects, requested in writing. It is their estimate, not a settled figure, and it is worth reading line by line.

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
• Florida DBPR, Division of Condominiums — state rules on condominiums and associations
• 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