I have had a lot of questions about what my apartment building looks like, so I finally got around to taking some pictures before I left for Christmas (mostly because I was just procrastinating on packing). I live in Opera Tower, which is a (relatively) new condominium near 19th and Biscayne. It was built in 2007, has 60 floors and has a lot of vacancies – which is how I can afford to live here! This is the elevator bay on my floor. (Pictures of my apartment will be up at another time…)
This is the hallway leading down to my studio. The tower is an oval, so the units are wedged-shaped. The units on the ends of the ovals are the tw0-bedrooms, and then closer in are one bedrooms, and the studios are in the middle, near the elevators. Theoretically. I think that my floor is all studios, except for the end units. Because my unit is only one unit away from the end. I don’t know. I really don’t know anything. This is actually all just me making stuff up, in case you couldn’t tell!
Once you take the elevator down to the ground floor, this is where you come out in the lobby! Through those doors you can see the security desk. That’s where you pick up packages, call down to have them buzz people in, pester when the pool is closed, etc.
Elevator bay, facing the other direction. On the other side of that glass is the valet circle.
And here is the lobby…
…decorated for Christmas of course!
View back to the elevator bay (through those double doors) from the center of the lobby.
Yup…that’s where I live!
I love the floor tiles…
This is outside, the valet desk and the valet circle. This is the first time since I moved in that there haven’t been big yellow signs up. They were doing construction out in front of my building for weeks. Planting palm trees, paving the road, stuff like that. I’m glad its over with. My heels always got dusty on the way to work. Or muddy.
And this is the view of the tower from the outside, standing right outside and looking up.
And, heeeere’s the parking garage. Lots of pretty planter boxes. There are no basements or below-ground parking garages in Florida…if you are wondering why, please view my post on RAIN in FLORIDA. Sheesh.
Here is the ground floor/lobby/valet circle of the tower. Right behind the police car is how I walk to work…come down out of the valet circle, cross the street right by that car, then walk down the sidewalk to where I am standing taking in this picture…
(North Bayshore is a loop/split road kind of, it V’s around my building, one side runs back towards Biscayne and the other runs along the water)
…then if you spin on the spot, you are looking at my work building, the Grand! That’s how close it is. Takes me thirty seconds to walk to work. Saves me a bundle on gas and parking, that’s for sure! The Grand has beautiful Christmas decorations, but those will have to come later!
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