When developer Gil Dezer wants to go to his new condo at the Porsche Design Tower, which his family firm built in Sunny Isles Beach, he drives his Porsche (of course) through the garage and into the elevator — and, a few moments later, with Dezer still in the driver's seat, it slides right into his living room.
You may have heard about this. The Porsche tower, one of the most buzzed-about super-lux condos in Greater Miami, is formally opening this weekend, and special guests and the press are getting spins in Dezer's slick "Dezervators," three high-tech hydraulic monsters that quickly and smoothly deliver residents' cars right up to their private garages in the sky.
This is not for mere mortals: The tower's 132 condos started at $5 million, with a few still left at $6 million and up. The asking prices top off at $32 million for a still-available four-story penthouse with room for up to 11 cars, seven of them in a museum-like "car gallery," 56 stories up in the air.
The sui-generis glass elevators, designed and built specifically for his tower, are "no gimmick," Dezer insists. They deliver ultra-privacy and convenience — no more waiting for the valet! — to his mega-millionaire buyers. Residents can program the elevator to bring their car down to the garage, which gleams like an auto showroom, every morning at a specific time, for instance.
"It's not a toy," he said, while winking exaggeratedly. "Well, a little bit of a toy. But we wanted to make it truly usable."
The very Germanic, all-black cylindrical tower was designed by Miami's Sieger Suarez Architects, with sleek interiors by Porsche Design and Miami's Michael Wolk. It came about when Dezer, who built a pair of three-tower Trump-branded condo projects in Sunny Isles, was approached by Porsche Design — an offshoot of the automaker famed for its product and industrial designs — to collaborate on a branded condo.
The c ircular elevators are in the building's hollow, 60-story-tall core. Each weights 30,000 pounds and can lift a maximum of 8,000 pounds, or a ton more than the heaviest car made, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, Dezer said.
The lifts are fully automated, so residents can ride with the car, or take a regular elevator.
In the ground-floor garage, rounded glass doors slide open to a sort of vestibule as a vehicle approaches. A turntable spins the car into position as a powerful dolly — designed in Germany and costing about $1 million each, Dezer said — lifts the car gently and moves it into the elevator. The reason for the dollies: The fire department insisted that car ignitions must be turned off.
As the elevator car goes up, at an ear-popping 800 feet per minute, the dolly spins it into position again, with the motion giving passengers the distinct feeling they're on a Disney ride. Once it's home, the dolly delivers the car into the garage, then withdraws discreetly.
Your ride is here.
Source: www.bing.com