Sebastien Scemla, CEO, Omega Real Estate Management

North Miami is one of the most attractive new areas in South Florida today. “It is centrally located. It’s effectively the hole in the donut of Miami — the last untapped area that nobody was paying attention to,” Sebastien Scemla, CEO of Omega Real Estate Management, told Invest:.

What are Omega’s most significant milestones and achievements in the last 12 months?

The biggest milestone is the opening of the Garden’s Residences, which consists of  368 apartments. It’s been a very long road to get here, but the project was successfully launched on August 15th, and we hope to achieve 50% occupancy by December.

We’ve done really well on the leasing front, although we’ve noticed a slowdown. In South Florida, we’re not experiencing the very robust demand we saw about a year ago. I think the market is normalizing. Everyone got spoiled for quite some time, and now we’re seeing something more typical — leasing an average of 25 to 35 units a month.

What stands out about this project?

First and foremost, the Garden’s Residence is set on over 4.2acres. We only developed 358 apartments on this large parcel, which is unusual in South Florida. ypically, you’d see as much as double that number of units, or even more, on similar-sized land.

While there are a lot of apartments, they aren’t crammed together. You don’t feel like you’re on top of one another. Nearby projects may have the same number of units on half or even a quarter of the amount of land.

The beauty of the Garden’s Residence lies in the space it offers. Another standout feature is our geographical location not only are we centrally located between Aventura and Downtown but . Our views are unique because we’re the last commercial block before the residential neighborhoods. This ensures that the views from the Garden’s Residence will never be blocked.

From the building, all you see— is tree tops hence the name “the Garden”—is green treetops, like gardens in the sky. Just yesterday, I was there and saw a whole school of parrots flying around. What’s interesting is that it’s urban in its setting, yet it retains the tropical charm of South Florida. That’s what makes it special.

Another standout aspect is that the same group behind the Garden’s Residence owns three acres on 125th Street. Over there, we have office and retail space, and we’re in the process of building five new restaurants. Next to those restaurants, there’s additional office space, creating a live-work-play atmosphere—all within walking distance. And then hopefully soon enough, 125th Street which was  approved as one of the Brightline stops will be running.. 

How did you choose North Miami out of all the potential markets for growth in South Florida?

North Miami is centrally located. It’s effectively the hole in the donut of Miami — the last untapped area that nobody was paying attention to. If you take Aventura, which is around 230th Street, or you take downtown, which is 1st Street, and you split that down the middle, you end up at 125th Street.

125th Street also takes you straight down to the Ball Harbor shops, which is the most exclusive shopping area in South Florida, and straight to I95. When you intersect the four points, you end up where our property is. The Garden’s Residence is focused on value. Our goal is to be the best value-driven product anywhere in Miami-Dade County. 

What unique trends or challenges are you observing in North Miami in terms of the real estate landscape at the moment?

There might be two. First, North Miami is difficult to search for online. If you type “Miami,” North Miami doesn’t show up because it’s its own little community. For someone to find the Garden’s Residences, they would need to specifically search for North Miami.

In many ways, North Miami isn’t “cool” yet because it’s still too new, and a lot of people haven’t discovered it. The challenge is: how do we get people here? Once they visit, though, we have a very high closing ratio. We focus on excelling in social media outreach and providing exceptional customer service.

The other challenge we hear about often is neighborhood safety. Many people don’t realize that North Miami has one of the lowest crime rates in all of Dade County. It’s an extremely safe neighborhood.

When you compare it to an area like Wynwood — which has some of the highest crime rates in the county — Wynwood is considered “cool,” while North Miami isn’t quite there yet. Early-stage neighborhoods like North Miami often experience these kinds of growing pains.

What is Omega’s strategy to attract more investment or just overall, I guess, potential buyers and clients to the region?

Webuilt this project to hold, not to sell. Our finishes are significantly higher than a lot of other developments around. Because we self-manage, we build  one-on-one relationbship with our customers. 

I think that’s where we will excel over time. We’re doing social media and all these different things. But, at the end of the day, there’s only so much that can take hold when you offer a quality product, things will happen organically. When we have the restaurants that open, that’ll be significant as well. We have six paddle courts rts as well that are opening up across the street. Things are changing.

What are the new technological advancements or sustainable practices that Omega has adapted in order to enhance its developments and projects?

First of all, we completed the building as a LEED Gold-certified structure, making it the first LEED Gold building in North Miami urban core. That was quite an accomplishment.

In terms of technology, we’ve created a very high-tech building. The building utilizes a camera system called Verkada, which employs facial recognition. It’s also completely keyless—you have a virtual key on your phone. Once you unlock your phone with facial ID, it grants access to any areas you’re authorized to enter within the building.

Our technology package also includes a virtual private network (VPN) integrated with the building’s Internet. Wherever you are in the building—whether paying bills on the pool deck or working in the lounge—you’re always connected to your own VPN. There’s no generic WiFi; everything runs through a central hub, which is a unique feature.

This System is designed to create a better and safer customer experience. For example, if a car were ever broken into, the system could track license plates, make and model, and other details using its filter and search capabilities.

Are there any additional projects or acquisitions in the pipeline that you can tell us about for the next 2-3 years?

We’re going to be involved in a new project in North Miami Beach, specifically in the Eastern Shores area. Right now, we’re going through the approval and entitlement process. This will be a completely different project — approximately 30 luxury condos with 420 feet of waterfront and boat slips, which are in high demand in South Florida.