Chatham at Aqua

Common name: Chatham at Aqua, also Aqua Chatham

Building type: Boutique condominium of loft-style residences built on top of a refurbished parking structure, one of three condominium buildings in the Aqua community

Architect: Walter Chatham. Duany Plater-Zyberk planned the Aqua community.

Developer: Dacra, led by Craig Robins. Working drawings for the community were by Wolfberg Alvarez & Partners.

Floors: Eleven levels: a seven-level garage below four residential floors

Unit sizes: About 1,950 to 3,430 square feet, two and three bedrooms

Amenities: Heated lap pool, children's pool and whirlpool, landscaped park and pedestrian paths, private boat docks, gated island entry with 24-hour security.

Policies: Set by the association; see Policy framework.

Source: The Roebling Research Desk.

Sixteen residences is a small building on a small island. Aqua is an 8.5-acre gated community on the south end of Allison Island, with three condominium buildings (Chatham, Gorlin and Spear), 105 condominium residences and 46 townhouses, 151 homes in all. Craig Robins's Dacra bought the site in the late 1990s and hired Duany Plater-Zyberk to plan it, then commissioned a different architect for each building. Walter Chatham drew this one.

The island was once the grounds of a hospital, and the parking structure at the community's entrance is a remnant of it. Chatham refurbished that garage and built his sixteen apartments on top of it. Residences have ten-foot ceilings, wraparound balconies and Bulthaup kitchens. Units are large, four to a floor, with water, ocean and skyline views.

The garage wall carries a large commissioned mural by the artist Richard Tuttle, part of the site-specific art program Dacra built into the community.

One recorded sale, November 2025, closed at $4,100,000. It is one sale, not a building price. The median assessed value is about $1.91 million; an assessed value is a tax figure, not a sale price.

Allison Island lies on Indian Creek between the Miami Beach mainland and La Gorce Island, reached by the 63rd Street bridge. Carl Fisher built it up from dredged fill in the 1920s, and St. Francis Hospital later stood on the south end, where Aqua now is.

Aqua's alley-served blocks carry mango and citrus groves, and its streets end at the water with views across Indian Creek. The plan steps down from the taller buildings on the east to lower townhouses on the west. Beyond the gate, Mid-Beach and North Beach offer the Fontainebleau and the Collins Avenue corridor to the south, Bal Harbour Shops and Surfside to the north, and the ocean beach a short drive east.

Chatham is the northeast building on the Aqua site. Units are two- and three-bedroom plans, from about 1,950 square feet for a two-bedroom penthouse line to about 3,430 for a full three-bedroom. Kitchens carry Bulthaup cabinetry and name-brand appliances; baths have Waterworks tubs and Duravit fixtures. Use the association's floor-plan schedule for bedroom counts. Finishes and renovation status vary by unit.

The island entry is gated, with 24-hour security, and the Aqua community has pools, a clubhouse and spa and fitness facilities that Chatham owners share. Ask for the master documents covering the cost split.

Florida's milestone inspection and structural integrity reserve study rules apply to condominium buildings of three or more stories; ask for the inspection report, the reserve study and any assessment history, plus the budget and financial statements. The building has a parking podium and sits in flood zone AE, so ask for the garage inspection history and the insurance terms.

Pet, rental and minimum-lease rules are set by the association; confirm at offer stage.

Use same-line comparables and treat the November 2025 sale as one data point.

Unit-level transaction history is maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence.

Identify the line and floor. With four units a floor, line and level set the view and the price.

Check shared-island costs. Ask what the island association charges and what it provides.

Price from the same line. Have documents ready and the renovation scope documented.

• Gorlin at Aqua — the Alexander Gorlin building at 6101 Aqua Avenue on the same island, 29 residences.
• Faena House — 3315 Collins Avenue, a Foster + Partners oceanfront condominium in Mid-Beach.
• Aqua Spear — the third Aqua condominium building, designed by Alison Spear.