New Yorkers Howard and Lilly Steinberg love the vibrancy of South Beach, so in 2000, they purchased a 40th-floor penthouse in Continuum, an ultra-luxurious waterfront condominium project. The undertaking for their vacation penthouse required foresight and patience, as the trilevel 7,400-square-foot space—which boasts an additional 6,400 square feet of terrace and thrilling 360-degree views of beach, cruise ships and city—wouldn’t be completed until 2003. In the meantime, the Steinbergs continued their Manhattan lives in an apartment located just two blocks from the World Trade Center. 

When the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, the couple, who had three young children, was traumatized. They wondered if they should proceed with building a second home. Lilly remembers saying, “I don’t want it. There’s no way that I’m going to move and live up high after what happened.” Eventually, she changed her mind after visiting the space before the windows were installed. She gasped with pleasure at the sight of the night skyline. “I was punching myself: ‘Why didn’t I do this sooner?’” she says. (Click image to enlarge)

It was a turning point: The couple decided to continue building their waterfront condominium. “We put a lot of work into it once we committed,” Howard says. “We used it as an escapist vision. We got stronger.” But in late spring of 2003, when they finally closed on the property, they were confronted with a vast, empty space that required careful planning.

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