Atlanta Fed: Beige Book Finds Scattered Bright Spots amid Pandemic Economy

Economic conditions in the Southeast continue to be shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, as overall activity expanded modestly and scattered bright spots emerged from mid-November through December, according to the latest Beige Book report of economic conditions from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Labor markets remained divergent. Atlanta Fed business…

NAR Commercial Market Insights 2020 Released

The modest recovery in commercial sales transactions in the third quarter halted in November amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases that may have given investors pause in their acquisitions. Commercial sales transactions fell 57% yearover-year in November, with sales falling across property types, even for industrial properties. In both the multifamily and office…

How Miami Is Recruiting Finance And Tech Firms — And Maybe Elon Musk

South Florida has always had abundant sunshine and no state income tax, but in the past couple of years — and especially with the coronavirus pandemic boosting remote work — the state is on a run, drawing high-profile billionaires, hedge funds, financial firms and tech companies. And if social media rumblings are to be believed, Miami could soon lure one of…

Biden to extend limits on evictions, foreclosures

President Joe Biden is extending federal limits on evictions through at least the end of March. Biden is expected to move quickly to extend protections for renters, Bloomberg reported, and may sign an executive order within hours of his inauguration. Biden will also ask federal agencies to consider extending foreclosure protections and forbearance options. The existing…

The New Law Unmasking Anonymous LLCs Could Particularly Affect Miami Businesses. Here’s How To Comply

A new law intended to unmask the owners of limited liability corporations in an attempt to crack down on money launderers and slumlords could particularly impact Miami and New York, where shell companies are often used to obscure the owners of high-priced real estate. Heretofore, companies could be set up with minimal paperwork, listing little more…

New bowling alley lease couldn’t keep South Florida’s retail market out of the gutter in Q4

Even with a newly inked 62,000-square-foot bowling alley lease, South Florida’s retail market saw mostly gutter balls in the fourth quarter. Across the tri-county area, vacancy rates rose and square footage returned to the market, according to a newly released report from Colliers International. And yet in some parts of the region, average asking rents rose, and…

Neighbors sue to overturn approval of Dezer’s mega project in North Miami Beach

A homeowners association filed a lawsuit challenging the city of North Miami Beach’s recent rezoning of the Intracoastal Mall for father-and-son developers Michael and Gil Dezer. The Eastern Shores Property Owners Association and three Eastern Shores residents – Bruce Lamberto, Stacy Roskin and Bruce Kusens – are appealing the comprehensive zoning…

Trump pardons Zangrillo, previously involved with Little Haiti’s Magic City porject, among other real estate figures

In his final hours in office, President Donald Trump granted pardons to dozens of friends, partners and executives, including several from the real estate world. One went to Eliyahu Weinstein, who was sentenced to prison in 2014. He and his company, Pine Projects, were convicted for a Ponzi scheme that resulted in $200 million in losses. His jail sentence of 264…

Multifamily’s trillion-dollar tango

Multifamily lenders and policymakers have taken much the same approach with evictions and mounting debt during the pandemic: Put things off and hope the rental market’s problems resolve themselves before it’s too late. That strategy persists as vaccinations ramp up. But with a surge in Covid cases, restrictions on economic activity and evictions could continue for…

Joe Biden’s real estate checklist

With one exception, real estate is not in Joe Biden’s immediate agenda. But within the next few months, the industry will have a fight on its hands — and a few things to cheer. As Biden is sworn in today as the nation’s 46th president, his focus is on ending the pandemic. That’s good news for real estate, with the aforementioned exception: his proposal to continue the…

Nonprofit gone, historic Gusman Theater gets temporary manager

The City of Miami has turned to a full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm to manage the historic Olympia Building on a temporary basis after terminating its partnership with a non-profit operator late last year. City Manager Arthur Noriega was given the go-ahead from commissioners last week to negotiate an agreement with NAI Miami to…

Some banks limit applicants for PPP loans

The Paycheck Protection Program is back, and many local lenders are getting on board –  though some are administering the program more selectively. Richard Helber, CEO of Tropical Financial Credit Union, told Miami Today earlier this month that he wasn’t sure if he would participate in the program. But, he said this week, he decided to go for it – though…

Miami asks redevelopment agency to pay for Ferre Park

Miami city commissioners say it’s long past due for the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) to pay to improve Maurice A. Ferre Park. Currently, the Omni CRA owes about $6 million, including several $2 million payments, which prompted commissioners last week to unanimously urge the Omni CRA Board to pay money owed for work at the park. The Omni…

Update: Same court again takes hard line on late rent payment into court registry

We previously wrote about a case in which a Florida appellate court strictly applied the statute requiring a commercial tenant to pay rent into the court registry during an eviction proceeding. The appellate court noted that there is no “fairness” exception to the statute’s requirement of paying on time. Now the same appellate court has reiterated that principle, but…

Biden’s fair housing face-off

For decades, New York City has offered communities an enticing deal: Approve new housing and locals will get half of the affordable units. But in 2014, the Obama administration warned the city that so-called “community preference” might be reinforcing segregation. The city balked, offering to tweak the policy but not to dump it. “Without any promise of local…

The One Real Estate Partners pays $9M for Miami Gardens apartments

An Aventura-based real estate investment and management firm paid $8.6 million for a 30-unit Miami Gardens apartment community. The One Real Estate Partners bought the complex at 2754 to 2790 Northwest 191st Terrace, known as “Gardens Club,” according to records. The price equates to $286,667 per unit. The One specializes in acquiring and rehabbing…

Industrial now 36% of Blackstone’s RE portfolio

In the past five years, Blackstone has pivoted its portfolio away from retail and hotels and instead turned toward one of real estate’s hottest asset classes — industrial — helping the investment firm avoid losses that others are now facing. The company bolstered its presence in the industrial sector to account for 36 percent of its real estate equity value, up from only…

Opportunity Zone investments got a boost in 2020

It was a good year for Opportunity Zones. More than $12 billion was invested in Opportunity Funds by the end of August, Bloomberg News reported, citing the most recent data available from Novogradac. The tax deferral program, which was formalized in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, got off to a slow start partly because the regulations were…

Editor’s note: Miami mania

Stuart Elliott It seems like the whole world is heading south for the winter — and staying there. Since the pandemic hit, South Florida — despite seeing an enormous number of Covid cases — has benefited with rarely a day going by without news of a mammoth luxury sale or prominent company relocating some of their employees from elsewhere in the country….

Startup wants to bring “micro-warehouses” to vacant retail

A startup that focuses on creating last-mile fulfillment centers aims to compete with logistics giants. Fabric, which was founded in Tel Aviv but is now headquartered in New York City, has raised $136 million in funding from venture capital, Business Insider reported. The company has partnered with retailers on last-mile distribution centers, often by…

Retail rent collections rebound to 90%

The pandemic has exacerbated the retail sector’s pre-existing problems, deteriorating rent collections and forcing landlords to make compromises with their tenants. But there were some encouraging signs as 2020 came to a close. Before the pandemic, national tenants paid 94 percent of rent. When Covid-19 hit, that all came crashing down, according to the…

Real estate stocks hold gains even as market doesn’t

Real estate stocks ended the week in positive territory while the broader market gave up its gains after President-elect Joe Biden rolled out a $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal. Stocks tend to rise when Washington injects money into the economy, but negative reaction from some members of Congress — or fears that the measure would pass and spark inflation…

Miami Beach approves 8-story addition for International Inn

Miami Beach approved a redevelopment deal that will preserve the 65-year-old waterfront International Inn in North Beach while allowing the owner the right to build an 80-foot-tall, or eight-story addition. Commissioners approved the historic designation and zoning amendment for the International Inn at 2301 Normandy Isle on first reading Wednesday…

Tax relief may be coming to Miami-Dade commercial property owners

Pedro Garcia (iStock, IRS) Tax relief may be coming to commercial and industrial property owners in Miami-Dade County. Miami-Dade County’s Office of the Property Appraiser announced on Thursday that it will consider landlords’ financial losses when assessing 2021 fair market values. The office will consider local market conditions, like vacancy and rental…

RMR Mortgage Trust Provides $10.9 Million First Mortgage Bridge Loan for the Acquisition of an Office Building in Miami

MR Mortgage Trust (Nasdaq: RMRM) today announced the closing of a $10.9 million first mortgage bridge loan it provided to finance the acquisition of a nine-story multi-tenant office building containing 83,000 square feet at 5040 NW 7th Street in Miami, Florida. This first mortgage bridge loan is structured with a two-year initial term and two one-year extension…

Lument Provides $11 Million in Fannie Mae Financing for Martha’s Apartments in Hialeah

Lument, a national leader in commercial real estate finance, announced today that it provided an $11 million Fannie Mae conventional multifamily loan to refinance Martha’s Apartments, a garden-style multifamily property at6875 W 7th Avenue in Hialeah, in Miami-Dade County. “We were thrilled to help this first-time Fannie Mae borrower obtain beneficial agency…

Former Sapir employee accuses company of retaliation

Alex Sapir (Getty) A former employee of the Sapir Organization claims her old boss retaliated against her after she failed to find a “smoking gun” implicating one of Alex Sapir’s enemies. Patricia Lemanski, who worked as a paralegal at the real estate firm for nearly 10 years, alleges that the Sapir Organization directed her to dig up dirt on her former supervisor at the…

Related gets height increase needed for Terminal Island office project in Miami Beach

The Related Group has the zoning it needs to build a 75-foot-tall office building on Terminal Island in Miami Beach. The Miami Beach City Commission on Wednesday unanimously increased height limits on Terminal Island’s I-1 district from 40 feet to 75 feet. The zoning change will enable Related to pursue a 160,000-square-foot office building that will…

Owners moving ahead in construction’s hardest-hit sectors include first Atwell Suites in Miami

In November, IHG Hotels & Resorts announced that its first Atwell Suites hotel was under construction in Miami. Expected to open this summer, the 90-unit property is located in Miami’s booming Brickell district. The hotel is part of a new high-rise, mixed-use property which also includes a new 140-room Hotel Indigo Miami Brickell. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Miami…

A-Rod’s ex-brother-in-law alleges racketeering, embezzlement in new lawsuit against retired Yankee

Retired New York Yankees player and real estate investor Alex Rodriguez is facing new allegations of racketeering, embezzlement and fraud in a complaint filed by his ex-brother-in-law. Constantine Scurtis is suing Rodriguez, Monument Capital Management principal Stuart Zook, Newport Property Ventures and other companies affiliated with Rodriguez.

CEO of Miami Beach Developer Taubco Irwin Tauber Discusses Qualities/Attributes for Success in Real Estate Development

The real estate industry offers several career opportunities that are often in demand. One of those is that of a commercial real estate developer. A real estate developer requires certain specific traits, including vision, creativity, ability to take financial risks, problem-solving, and relationships, says Irwin Tauber. “Real estate development can be lucrative but also risky. I am…”

Blackstone’s tech and innovations team closes lease at 2 MiamiCentral

Shorenstein Properties LLC (Shorenstein), an owner and operator of high-quality office, residential and mixed-use properties across the U.S., recently announced that Blackstone has signed a 41,000-square-foot lease at 2 MiamiCentral in Downtown Miami. Blackstone intends to create a new office to expand the firm’s in-house technology capabilities with plans…

December Hotel Occupancy and RevPAR Lowest Since May in US: Miami/Hialeah, Florida, Reports Highest December Occupancy

The U.S. hotel industry showed performance levels closer to earlier months of the pandemic, according to December 2020 data from STR. December 2020 (percentage change from December 2019): · Occupancy: 36.7% (-32.3%). Average daily rate (ADR): US$91.96 (-27.6%). Revenue per available ). room (RevPAR): US$33.76 (-51.0%Occupancy and RevPAR were the…

Chart: Miami Commercial Real Estate Sales to List Price Ratio Ends Year About Average ~ December 2020 MLS

Miami Association of Realtors January 2011 to December 2020 Sales to List Price Ratio for Commercial/Industrial Property Type Classification within Miami-Dade County and Price from $1 Million to $10 Million The sales to list price ratio as reported by the Miami MLS for improved commercial real estate within Miami-Dade County from $1 million to $10 million…

Starwood Sells Plantation Apartment Community for $64M

Starwood Capital Group has sold Gatehouse on the Green, a 312-unit Class B community in Plantation, Fla. The Praedium Group purchased the property for $63.7 million, according to Yardi Matrix data. Berkadia provided a $47.8 million Fannie Mae acquisition loan. The fixed-rate note matures in 2028, has five years of interest-only payments and represents a 65 percent loan…

Former Plantation fertility clinic sells for $8M

A company affiliated with South Florida personal injury attorney Sagi Shaked paid $7.5 million for a medical office building in Plantation. Shaked bought the 15,000-square-foot building at 201 North Pine Island Road, according to records. The building was previously home to Plantation Fertility & Genetics, the medical practice of Dr. Mick Abae, who is also…

Island Capital affiliate pays $64M for Margate apartments

Celebration Pointe (Garco) A Texas-based real estate investment company paid $64 million for a 282-unit Margate apartment complex. An affiliate of C-III Capital Partners bought the 295,000-square-foot complex at 5555 Celebration Pointe Lane, called “Celebration Pointe,” according to records. The deal equates to about $227,000 a unit. C-III is owned by real estate…

CenterPoint pays $184M for warehouses at Hialeah business park

CenterPoint Properties Trust continued its buying spree at a Hialeah business park. The Oakbrook, Illinois-based industrial real estate developer and manager paid $184.4 million for two warehouses and land at and near 4040 West 108th Street, inside Countyline Corporate Park, according to records. The seller is an affiliate of Florida East Coast Industries…

CenterPoint Pays $184M for Home Depot Facilities in Metro Miami

CenterPoint Properties has acquired two facilities at Countyline Corporate Park, a business park in Hialeah, Fla. The assets, totaling more than 1 million square feet, are leased to Home Depot. The buyer acquired the properties from Flagler Global Logistics. According to South Florida Business Journal, the buildings sold for $184 million. The assets feature,,,

Alphabet soup: AEW pays AHS $57M for Homestead apartments

A Boston-based global real estate investment manager paid $57 million for a 281-unit apartment complex near Homestead. AEW Capital Management bought the complex at 13700 Southwest 256th Street, called “Deering Groves,” according to records. The three-story complex of about 256,000 square feet was built in 2019. The deal equates to about $203,000 a unit.

Related scores $88M construction loan for Dorsey project in Wynwood

Rendering of the Dorsey with Alex Karakhanian, Jon Paul Perez and Tricera’s Scott Sherman and Ben Mandel (iStock) The Related Group and its partners secured an $87.5 million construction loan for the Dorsey project in Wynwood. Bank OZK provided the financing for the 12-story mixed-use development planned for Northwest Third Avenue between 28th and…

Ardent buys South Miami medical office building for $37M

An Atlanta-based real estate investment firm paid $36.7 million for an eight-story South Miami medical office building. An affiliate of the Ardent Companies bought the building, known as Sunset Medical, at 6262 Sunset Drive, according to records. Ardent is led by Matt Shulman. The seller is an affiliate of USAA Real Estate Company. The San Antonio-based…

Hilco Real Estate Announces The Court-Ordered Bankruptcy Sale Of 25 Development Properties In Florida And Illinois

Hilco Real Estate, LLC announces the court-ordered bankruptcy sale of 25 development properties well located throughout Miami, Fla. and Crystal Lake, Ill. in high-demand areas. The development sites featured in this offering, more commonly known as the Metronomic Holdings, LLC portfolio, vary in construction status and property types such as…

Shake Shack to add 60 new locations this year

Shake Shack has plans to shake things up. The burger chain plans to open 60 restaurants across the country this year, more than twice as many as it opened last year, according to Crain’s. “We believe there is pent-up demand for food and experiences,” CEO Randy Garutti said at an investor conference. “Adversity is a terrible thing to waste.” The burger chain has…

U.S. Population Growth Slowed Further in 2020

The Census Bureau recently reported in a preliminary estimate that the U.S. population grew 0.35% in the year through July 1, 2020. This marks the fifth consecutive year of slowing growth, as seen in the figure below. Population growth in 2020 also was notably lower than the previous year’s revised growth of 0.46%; 2020 growth will likely be the slowest annual population…

Jackson Health to build emergency medical hub in Coral Gables

Work will begin in six months on a new emergency medical facility in Coral Gables that will serve Jackson Health System patients inside the city and within five miles of it. Miami-Dade commissioners voted unanimously for the project at their final full meeting of 2020, advancing the latest expansion for the nonprofit public healthcare system that since 1918…

Chart: Miami-Dade Commercial Real Estate Sales Volume Ends Year on a Solid Note ~ December 2020 MLS

The chart above displays the trailing two years ending December 2020 of closed sales of Miami-Dade commercial properties, including improved commercial property and vacant commercial land, recorded in the Miami MLS. After a bit of a pullback in November, sales rebounded to closed out the year fairly strong, registering the sixth strongest month of the prior…

Axonic pays $37M for bulk purchase of Doral condos

The real estate wing of New York investment firm Axonic Capital paid $37.3 million in a bulk purchase of 170 units of a 310-unit fractured Doral condo complex. Axonic Properties, founded by Clayton DeGiacinto, bought the units at Valencia at Doral, at 10000 Northwest 45th Terrace, according to records. The seller is an affiliate of Transcendent Investment Management…

Microsoft, Citadel and Elliott Management among firms expanding in South Florida

Microsoft, Citadel and Elliott Management are all in talks to lease office space in South Florida, adding fuel to the trend of major tech and finance firms expanding in the region. Seattle-based Microsoft is reportedly in talks to lease 30,000 square feet at 830 Brickell, a 57-story office tower being developed by Vlad Doronin and his joint venture partner Cain…

Prologis pays $12M for Sweetwater office building

Real estate investment trust Prologis paid $12.4 million for a one-story office building near Sweetwater. The San Francisco-based company bought the 102,000-square-foot building on about 8 acres at 12496 Northwest 25th Street, according to records. The building is within the Beacon Lakes master-planned, 436-acre business park. An online listing for the…

Flooding caused by climate change leads to mounting real estate costs

As intense rainfall and flooding has increased because of climate change, so too has the financial fallout from the ensuing property damage, according to a new study. The analysis, by Stanford University, found that flooding caused by climate change — which researchers determined by looking at historical precipitation data and intensifying rainfall in recent decades…

Millennials flock to short-term rentals during pandemic

With many millennials choosing to lease apartments on a short-term basis, some property startups are looking to fill a growing demand for furnished housing. One is Landing, which leases furnished apartments throughout the country, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company originally planned to operate in about 30 cities last year, but instead grew to 75 thanks to the…

Aventura Multifamily Lands $51M Freddie Mac Refi

A joint venture between LCOR and Madison International Realty has secured a $50.5 million refinancing package for Lincoln Pointe Apartments, a 285-unit waterfront community in Aventura, Fla. JLL provided the variable interest rate Freddie Mac loan, which will be serviced by JLL Real Estate Capital, LLC… Located on 9 acres at 17900 NE 31st Court., the…

MLB Legend Turned Real Estate Investor Alex Rodriguez Accused of Racketeering, Embezzlement by Ex-Brother-in-Law

Former MLB star Alex Rodriguez has been accused of racketeering and embezzlement in a lawsuit filed by his former brother-in-law, Constantine Scurtis, according to the New York Post’s Joe Tacopino. Katherine Eskovitz, an attorney for Scurtis, wrote in the suit Rodriguez “and his co-conspirators engaged in a pattern of racketeering and embezzlement” as part of a real…

Developer family pays $5M for Pinecrest townhouse dev site

A developer paid $5.2 million for a 2-acre site in Pinecrest to develop 18 townhomes. Scarofa Properties, managed by a Miami family with ties to Haiti, led by Stephane, Catherine and Aurelie Rosarion, bought the property at 7520 Southwest 100th Street, according to records. The seller is a company connected to FSE Investments, led by James Dorsy, records…

Lennar pays $8M for South Miami-Dade housing community site

Lennar Homes paid $7.7 million for about 31 acres of land south of Zoo Miami. The Miami-based homebuilder bought the land at and around 13400 Eureka Drive in South Miami-Dade, according to records. The seller is a company and trust associated with the Caple family. The late patriarch George Caple founded agricultural nursery Caple Farms and expanded…

Investors building single-family rentals to meet demand

High demand and low supply has driven house prices up (iStock) Instead of buying houses in foreclosure and converting them to rentals, as many investors did in the last recession, investors are building their own rental communities. They are seeking to profit from a trend: Many Americans are seeking more spacious homes, where they can more comfortably work…

Leisure and hospitality lost 500K jobs in December

The coronavirus continued to have disparate effects on real estate in December, with some sectors continuing to shrink while others regain ground. A rise in Covid cases and government closures of indoor dining contributed to a loss of nearly 500,000 leisure and hospitality jobs. Restaurants and bars accounted for 372,000 layoffs. Nearly half of all…

Senate flip: 5 real estate takeaways

When Joe Biden won the 2020 election, there was a significant hurdle between the president-elect and some real estate reforms he wanted: a Republican Senate. That changed Wednesday when two Democrats won Senate seats in Georgia. Biden’s proposals have a better chance of making it to the floor with Democrats holding half of Senate seats, Kamala Harris…

Silvia Coltrane sells Manolo building near Ocean Terrace project in North Beach

Silvia Coltrane sold a commercial building in North Beach leased to the Argentine restaurant Manolo to a company tied to Haim Yehezkel’s Elysee Investments. Records show Coltrane, a developer and broker, sold the property at 7300 Collins Avenue to 7300 Collins Investment LLC for $8 million. The buyer financed the deal with a $5 million loan from Valley…

When It Comes To Retail Real Estate, Tenants Have a Distinct Upper Hand

Recent reports about retail real estate in Manhattan, and beyond, suggest that the outlook may be gloomier than once thought. Aside from cities such as Austin, which is attracting California residents, and Miami, where denizens of the Northeast have moved to wait out the Covid-19 pandemic in the sunshine, many urban areas with a significant retail presence are…

Full disclosure: New law requires shell companies reveal true ownership

A new law that targets wealthy buyers who scoop up high-priced homes and commercial properties through anonymous shell companies could help stop the flow of illicit cash into real estate. But some money laundering experts say the measure has loopholes that could be easily exploited. The Corporate Transparency Act require…

The National Retail Federation: 2020 Retail Imports May Break Record Despite Pandemic

Imports seen during 2020 appear to be headed toward a new record despite the coronavirus pandemic, and remain at high levels as 2021 begins, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. “Nobody would have thought last spring that 2020 would be a record year for imports, but it…

Miami Heat minority owner continues Best Buy shopping spree with $12M Plantation deal

Raanan Katz’s real estate company RK Centers paid $11.5 million for a Best Buy-leased building in Plantation. RK bought the 58,000-square-foot building at 12301 West Sunrise Boulevard, according to records. The building was built in 1995. The price equates to $198 per square foot. Roberto Susi of Axiom Capital Advisors told The Real Deal that he…

Kushner buying sites near Delray Beach, Lake Worth for industrial and mixed-use projects

Kushner Companies is expanding in South Florida, acquiring two development sites in Palm Beach County, The Real Deal has learned. The New York-based firm is buying two properties near Delray Beach and near Lake Worth Beach, according to a source close to the deal. An industrial project is planned for the Delray-area property and a mixed-use…

Cortland pays $92M for Hollywood apartment complex

An Atlanta-based real estate investment firm paid $91.7 million for a 336-unit Hollywood apartment complex. Cortland Partners bought the 377,000-square-foot complex, called “Parc Station,” at 1900 to 2300 North 29th Avenue, according to records. The deal equates to about $273,000 a unit. The seller is a company tied to New York-based JPMorgan’s asset…

Menin Development wins initial approval for redevelopment of Delray Beach shopping center

Rendering of The Linton and Craig Menin Menin Development won initial approval to redevelop part of a Delray Beach shopping center into a mixed-income apartment complex. Delray Beach-based Menin plans to develop The Linton, a five-story, 277-unit apartment building, on the site of a 78,399-square-foot retail building. It has one vacant bay and two others occupied…

Magellan sells Midtown Miami apartments for $154M

Magellan Development Group sold its 400-unit Midtown Miami apartment tower for $154.35 million. The Chicago-based developer sold the 26-story tower, called Midtown Five, near the intersection of First Avenue and 32nd Street at 125 NE 32 Street, according to records. The buyer is an affiliate of Sterling Equities. The Great Neck, New York-based development firm is run by the…

Belveron Partners closes $280M fund for affordable housing

Belveron Partners closed a $280 million fund to invest in affordable housing across the country as the sector gains interest from larger investors. The San Francisco-based firm exceeded its initial $225 million target for the fund. It is the sixth fund the company has closed since its inception. The fund will acquire and manage over 5,000 units of…

Florida Commercial Real Estate News Roundup 2020

The South Florida commercial real estate market has been a standard bearer for many years across multiple CRE sectors recently. Inevitably we have to focus on the challenges presented throughout 2020. Despite the current pandemic, new, major developments took place and many property refinances were sealed in several locations. Meanwhile, domestic…

The Founder Of Twitter Just Followed Miami’s Mayor, & Even More Tech Investors Now Say They Will Move Here

Twitter and Square founder Jack Dorsey has apparently taken notice of the surge in tech entrepreneurs relocating from Silicon Valley to Miami, and has followed Mayor Francis Suarez on the platform. It is the latest sign that the movement of tech companies and investors to Miami is accelerating. On Sunday, venture capitalist Alexander Lloyd announced on Twitter that he…

Miami-Dade reaches 100 million square feet of offices

One-ninth of Miami-Dade County’s total office space stood vacant as 2020 ended and the county for the first time crossed the line of 100 million total square feet of offices, a preliminary market report this week by Colliers International reveals. Vacancies have been rising since Covid-19 hit the county in March, Colliers data show. Total office vacancies rose from 9.6%…

Wynwood votes down 12-story mixed-use project

A sprawling mixed-use proposal plans to bring with it apartments and more than 60,000 square feet of office space to two lots in Wynwood. PRN N. MIAMI is planned for property at 2150 N Miami Avenue. Along with the new office space, the 12-story project is to include 317 residential units, 22,700 square feet of commercial-retail uses, and a garage for up to 534…

Miami Worldcenter promenade lined with art murals

In partnership with Miami Worldcenter, Art4All is providing an alternative for artists to share their work with the public in a way that is safe and accessible. Art4All recently launched its public art fair in Miami featuring artists on more than 50 billboards throughout the city. Large art murals were placed along two blocks of downtown’s Miami Worldcenter…

Ari Pearl, Jonathan Leifer acquire Bay Harbor Islands hotel out of foreclosure

Developer Ari Pearl and investor Jonathan Leifer paid $30 million for the Tryp Hotel at 9540 W Bay Harbor Drive in Bay Harbor Islands, with plans to convert it to a condo-hotel, The Real Deal has learned. Pearl’s PPG Development and Leifer, chairman and founder of L3C Capital Partners, acquired the waterfront property out of foreclosure. Lender Ladder…

Mast Capital spends $51M on Homestead townhomes

Mast Capital spent $50.75 million on a 292-townhome complex in Homestead. The Miami-based developer bought the complex, known as Seascape Pointe Apartments, at 1140 Southeast 24th Road, according to records. The townhomes are located within the Keys Gate master planned community. Mast Capital, led by Camilo Miguel Jr., plans to renovate…

Measuring the stress in the rental industry : Census data show a drop, a big drop, then some recovery for rental space

The pandemic has tormented many sectors of the economy. The sector we highlight today is rental companies, whose income is captured in the Quarterly Services Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau. This survey covers only a sample of the rental sector: businesses that employ workers but not, for example, individual landlords. Also, the space being rented may be…

Construction Firm Buys Doral Warehouse For $243 PSF

Labrador Construction acquired a warehouse in Doral for $15 million. The price equated to $243 per square foot. It last traded for $9 million in 2015. The increase in value demonstrates the strong demand for industrial space in Miami-Dade County. The 61,750-square-foot industrial building at 8181 NW 36th Street. was sold by 8181 Doral LLC…

FECI scores construction loan for Hialeah business park

An affiliate of Florida East Coast Industries scored more construction financing for the third phase of its Hialeah business park. FECI landed a $17 million loan from Wells Fargo Bank for building 26 in Countyline Corporate Park, according to records. The company previously secured a $20 million loan from Wells Fargo in September to build other warehouses inside…

Blackstone inks lease at MiamiCentral in downtown Miami

Blackstone Group signed a long-term lease in downtown Miami, cementing its planned expansion to South Florida. Blackstone announced in October that it would be opening an office in downtown Miami with more than 200 tech employees. The New York-based private equity giant will lease 41,000 square feet at 2MiamiCentral, according to a press release. Blackstone…

Blackstone Takes Space for Miami Tech Team

Shorenstein Properties has finalized a 41,000-square-foot lease at 2 MiamiCentral, a 202,438-square-foot office property in downtown Miami. Blackstone will use the space to open an office that would grow its technology capabilities. The company expects to hire more than 200 tech-focused employees for its new operation at 2 MiamiCentral over the…

Shorenstein leases Miami office space to Blackstone

Shorenstein Properties has leased 41,000 s/f of office space at its 2 MiamiCentral property to Blackstone. The global investment giant intends to create a hub for its in-house technology division and plans to hire more than 200 tech-focused employees in Miami in the coming years. The deal brings 2 MiamiCentral to 98 percent occupancy with a roster of tenants…

Ytech completes $12M deal for Brickell high-rise dev site

A Miami-based real estate investment and development company paid $12.2 million for a Brickell development site, with plans to build a luxury tower of up to 80 floors and 183 units. Ytech, led by Yamal Yidios, bought the properties at 41 and 75 Broadway in Miami — also known as 41 and 75 Southwest 15th Road — north of Simpson Park, according to a release.

Ytech Sells Multifamily Community in Metro Miami for $78M

Ytech has sold Lake House Apartments, a 491-unit multifamily community at 2601 NW 207th Street in Miami Gardens, to New York-based Greenstone Property Group for $78 million. The property offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans averaging 668 square feet. Communal amenities include a pool, playground, basketball court, tennis court and a picnic…

Clearance sale: Shops at Sunset Place sells at major discount

Midtown Miami developer Midtown Opportunities paid $65.5 million for The Shops at Sunset Place, marking a 40 percent discount off its previous purchase price in 2015. Federal Realty Investment Trust and its two local partners, Grass River Property and the Comras Company, sold the nearly 10-acre mall in South Miami more than five years after acquiring the…

Outdoor Mall In Miami Trades For About 60% Of Its Former Price

A month and a half after redevelopment plans for the site formally fell through, The Shops at Sunset Place, a 9.68-acre outdoor mall at 5701 Sunset Drive (5701 SW 72nd Street) in South Miami that once bustled with national retailers but has struggled in recent years, sold on New Year’s Eve for $65.5M, the buyer announced this weekend. That’s about 59.5% of the…

An Inside Peek Into Downtown Miami’s Dual Tower Mega-Development

As an increasing number of businesses look to relocate or expand, Miami continues to be an attraction for all—investors, developers and residents. The metro’s year-round good weather, favorable tax environment and reduced living and business expenses all contribute to its appeal, according to Melo Group Co-Principal Martin Melo, the developer behind Downtown…

Video: Core Green Technologies Chief Development Officer Michelle Murdock Discusses Technology for Clean Air in Your Property

Michelle Murdock, Chief Development Officer with Core Green Technologies, joins America’s Commercial Real Estate Show host Michael Bull to discuss HVAC technology that utilizes Needlepoint Bi-polar Ionization in order to make offices, restaurants, and other commercial proerty facilities safer and cleaner. She quotes some interesting…

Amazon to put $2B into affordable housing

When Amazon planned to build a corporate headquarters in New York City, opponents claimed the influx of high-paying jobs would drive up housing prices, just as it had in the company’s base, Seattle. The argument helped defeat the project. Two years later, Amazon is pledging to plow more than $2 billion into affordable housing where its employment hubs are…

New Appellate Case Raises Issues For Mixed Use Developments in Florida

A recent decision by Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals could have significant implications for mixed-use developments, particularly those that contain hotels and residential condominium owners. The case considered whether the declaration of condominium for the IconBrickell condominium in downtown Miami violated Florida’s Condominium Act because…

Worst of the worst: The real estate disasters of 2020

Vacant offices. Shuttered restaurants. Empty hotels. The pressure on real estate was relentless this year as the pandemic took down struggling sectors — and some healthy ones, too. Except for a few blessed sectors, such as industrial space (hello, Amazon!), fiascos were unavoidable. To explain the catastrophe that was 2020, we picked 10 of the biggest…

In memoriam: The industry titans who died in 2020

In a year when so many lives were lost, real estate was not spared. The industry mourned both legendary figures and those who died too soon. But it was the death of Stanley Chera, the 77-year-old patriarch of Crown Acquisitions, that epitomized the year. The real estate titan had decamped New York City for Deal, New Jersey, early in the pandemic at the behest…

Simon Ziff on distress investing: “Do a lot of homework”

In the first installation of TRD Tips, Simon Ziff sat (virtually) with The Real Deal‘s editor-in-chief Stuart Elliott to give some insights on real estate investing. Ziff, whose Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group closed more than $7 billion in deals last year and about $85 billion in total since he became president, said he expects distressed deals to happen “deeper into…”

Costco sells site near Doral to Trammell Crow for $19M

Trammell Crow Residential and investment firm The Carlyle Group paid $19.2 million for a development site near Doral with plans to build an apartment project. Costco Wholesale Corp. sold the 11.3-acre property, previously home to one of its locations, at 8300 Park Boulevard to the Tramell Crow affiliate. The buyer, CRP/Maple 8300 Park Owner LLC…

The best of: TRD reporters share their favorite stories of 2020

The coronavirus pandemic colored many of the stories at The Real Deal in 2020, but our reporters’ picks for their favorite pieces of the year show that not everything was about Covid-19 in the real estate industry. While some of these stories touch on the ways the pandemic changed real estate in the past 12 months — from creating more opportunities for landlords to pick…

Part of Margate shopping center formerly anchored by Penn Dutch sells for $12M

A group of local investors sold part of a Margate shopping center anchored by a former Penn Dutch food center for $11.9 million. Ross Realty Investments and SunCap Real Estate Investments sold the southern part of the Penn Dutch Plaza shopping center near the intersection of State Route 7 and Northwest 31st Street, according…

Related Cos. to pay $282M for West Palm Beach office towers

The Related Companies is expected to close on the Phillips Point office towers in West Palm Beach for $282 million. Matt McCormack AEW Capital Management is selling the 448,914-square-foot office complex. The deal, which will mark the largest office sale in South Florida in more than a year, is set to close in a couple of weeks. Real Estate Alert and Bloomberg…

TA Realty buys back industrial property in Hialeah as part of $52M deal

TA Realty bought back pieces of an industrial portfolio in Hialeah in a deal totaling $52 million. Cofe Properties sold the assemblage of more than 40 parcels at and near 2500 West 84th Street, 1604 West 31st Place and 2440 West Eighth Court to the Boston-based real estate investment firm. TA Realty previously owned some of the parcels. TA Realty paid $40.2 million…

South Florida’s biggest real estate stories of 2020

With far fewer tourists and far more remote work, it’s no surprise that South Florida hotels, offices, retailers and restaurants were among the hardest-hit sectors in 2020. But there were bright spots in the South Florida real estate market this year — because of and not despite the pandemic. Demand remained strong for industrial…

Miami International Airport may forgive tenants $107 million

Non-airline businesses struggling to make ends meet at Miami International Airport (MIA) got another lifeline this month, when Miami-Dade commissioners again extended a relief program they created eight months ago. If every company cleared for aid through the program takes advantage of it through the new April 30, 2021, deadline, MIA over 13 months will…

Miami Beach goes all out to woo Class A office space

With companies ranging from Goldman Sachs to one- and two-person shops heading south in droves to tax-friendly states like Florida, Class A office space is a commodity – and one Miami Beach is hoping to build more of. Multiple ordinances and resolutions are working their way through the Beach’s commission and committees regarding zoning changes and…

Most of Miami Beach’s restaurant aid funds unclaimed

Roughly $50,000 in aid available to Miami Beach restaurants that used delivery apps like GrubHub and UberEats during the pandemic is still unclaimed, officials say. In early November, the city rolled out a $60,000 grant program aimed at reimbursing local restaurants for fees incurred from third-party meal delivery apps between March 12 and Oct. 31. It was…

City clears roadblock to restoration of Miami Marine Stadium

Miami commissioners have passed zoning legislation essential to restore Miami Marine Stadium at 3501 Rickenbacker Causeway. Approved unanimously this month, the legislation would allow structures clearly designed for specific uses that no longer conform to the allowed zoning in an area to seek an exception. During an earlier Planning, Zoning and…

Philippe Houdard: Recruits businesses to Miami, heads Pipeline Workspaces

Growing up on a farm in France taught Philippe Houdard the values of hard work and community, concepts he went on to build multiple successful enterprises around as an entrepreneur in the US.  When Mr. Houdard was a child, his father played for him records of former President John F. Kennedy’s greatest speeches. Mr. Houdard went on to work as a…

Simon completes acquisition of high-end mall owner Taubman

After a tumultuous process, Simon Property Group has completed its acquisition of Taubman Realty Group. Under the merger agreement, which was made official Tuesday, Simon acquired an 80 percent ownership stake in the company. The Taubman family sold off about a third of its ownership interest, but will retain a 20 percent stake in the company. “We are very…”

Here are South Florida’s biggest industrial leases in 2020

South Florida’s industrial market is tied to international trade, with high demand from transportation, logistics and e-commerce companies. In 2020, the average square footage of the five largest leases, 223,520 square feet, dropped off from last year’s 448,562 square feet. Yet, one Seattle-based e-commerce company decided to make its mark this year, accumulating…

Covid-19 vaccine won’t be immediate cure for office market

It’s been a rough year for the office market — and it’s unlikely that the first half of next year will be much better. Even though Covid-19 vaccines are being distributed across the country, public health and real estate experts believe that a return to the office likely will not happen until late spring or early summer, the Wall Street Journal report…

South Florida’s juiciest real estate lawsuits of 2020

The pandemic did not stop top real estate players from seeking relief through the courts or from becoming legal targets, themselves. So, there was no shortage of juicy lawsuits featuring the top names in the industry. Here are the top 10 lawsuits reported by The Real Deal in 2020: Bal Harbour Shops vs. Saks Fifth Avenue…

Federal housing agency extends forbearance options for multifamily landlords

Multifamily landlords that are having trouble with mortgage payments are in luck: The Federal Housing Finance Agency has extended forbearance options for loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until Mar. 31. The measure was originally set to expire on Dec. 31. Struggling landlords who have federally guaranteed mortgages and want to take advantage of the…

Open for Business: Miami Welcomes Corporate Arrivals

Miami is on the rise- again. A city well-known for its resiliency, Miami has been bouncing back from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic with a vigor that is the envy of other major American metropolitan areas. One of the main factors driving this growth is the relocation of companies and C-Suite executives from other parts of the country looking to…

Hotels turn empty rooms into private dining suites

The pandemic has upended every part of the hospitality industry, with travel restrictions leaving hotel rooms empty, and lockdowns in cities forcing restaurants and bars to severely limit occupancy. That’s left some hoteliers and restaurateurs to try out a creative solution to both problems: Turn those empty rooms into private dining…

D.R. Horton pays $14M for land in Jupiter and Florida City for two housing projects

D.R. Horton CEO David Auld and the Reserve at Jupiter site Homebuilder D.R. Horton paid more than $14 million for several properties in South Florida just before Christmas, with plans for two housing projects. The company paid $8.8 million for about 20 acres of land near Jupiter, at and around 7090 184th Place North and 1100 Limestone Creek Road…

Here are South Florida’s biggest office leases in 2020

Companies from all over the country — especially the Northeast — are making their way to Florida to save on taxes and enjoy the lifestyle and warm weather. Yet with the trend of remote working, businesses’ need for space has diminished. Last year, every office lease in the top five was over 100,000 square feet. This year only one surpasses that figure. Here’s a…

Video: Office Strategies for 2021 as the Pandemic Subsides

In this video, Atlanta based broker Michael Bull discusses considerations for office space applicable to Miami, or for that matter any city in the world. Both tenants and landlords are wondering how office tenancy will settle out once COVID-19 is behind us. Utilization is currently way short of what it was without a pandemic. Once this (pandemic) is behind us, however, this…

Turnberry Isle condo association sues Jeffrey Soffer affiliate over lobby repairs

At the Turnberry Isle Yacht and Racquet Club condominium complex, residents expect exceptional, responsive service from developer Jeffrey Soffer. But in a recently filed lawsuit, the Turnberry Isle Condominium Association accuses Soffer affiliate YCM Acquisitions LLC of being derelict in its duty to maintain the North Tower’s lobby and the parking garage’s…

Alta pays $17M for Coral Gables site to build mixed-use multifamily project

Alta Developers’ Raimundo Onetto and a rendering of the project Alta Developers paid $17.5 million for 1.5 acres of land in Coral Gables to develop a 215-unit multifamily, mixed-use project. The Miami-based developer, led by Raimundo Onetto, bought the site at 250 Bird Road and plans to name the development 250 Bird, according to a press release.

Stimulus deal includes major change to affordable housing financing

The proposed $900 billion federal relief package hands affordable housing developers a key win in the form of changes to a popular financing program. The bill includes reforms to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, which has financed more than 3 million housing units since its inception in 1986. Lawmakers proposed a floor rate of 4 percent…

Property Management Software Company RealPage sells to Thoma Bravo for $9.6B

Property management software company RealPage is set to be acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $9.6 billion. Thoma Bravo will pay $88.75 per share for the Texas-based proptech firm, the Wall Street Journal reported. That’s 31 percent above RealPage’s stock price, which closed at $67.83 per share on Friday. RealPage’s platform allows landlords to…

Stimulus to extend eviction moratorium, provide $25 billion in rent relief

It’s smaller than some people had hoped, but another federal aid package to help boost the pandemic-ravaged economy is finally on its way. Congressional leaders on Sunday reached an agreement on a $900 billion stimulus package that would provide direct payouts of $600 to qualifying Americans, as well as revive a loan program for small businesses…

Elion Partners pays $32M for Dania Beach industrial property

Elion Partners paid $31.5 million for a 180,000-square-foot industrial building in Dania Beach. Miami-based Elion bought the property, called Griffin Pointe Business Park, at 2281 Griffin Road, according to records. The sale price equates to $175 per square foot. The seller was Q-Med Corp., a wholesale distributor of medical, surgical…

Two Deerfield Beach marinas sell for $18M, buyer plans multifamily project

Pennell’s Marina and Freedom Marina in Deerfield Beach sold for $18.1 million, and the buyers plan to build a multifamily development, The Real Deal has learned. Deerfield Development Resources LLC and Marina First LLC bought the marinas, as well as additional land, from the Pennell family and Tod Littlejohn, owners of Pennell’s Marina and Freedom Marina…

Multifamily developer buys former Boca Raton golf course

A multifamily developer acquired more than 125 acres on a former Boca Raton golf course, with plans that could include the construction of 115 single-family homes and 137 townhomes. North American Development Group paid $33 million for the land at 6541 Canary Palm Drive and 22725 Camino Del Mar, according to records. The property was part of Mizner…

Greenstone pays $78M for Miami Gardens apartments

A New York real estate investment company paid $78 million for a 491-unit multifamily complex in Miami Gardens. Greenstone Property Group bought the property, called Lake House Apartments, at 2545 Northwest 207th Street, according to a press release. That equates to about $159,000 a unit. Ytech, a Miami-based real estate investment and development company…

Mango’s owner lists South Beach assemblage

An assemblage of South Beach properties, including the home of Mango’s Tropical Cafe on Ocean Drive, hit the market unpriced. The properties include 900 Ocean Drive and 909, 919 and 929 Collins Avenue in the Art Deco Historic District, according to the listing. David Wigoda and Lee Ann Korst of CBRE have the listing. The assemblage spans just under 1 acre.

Kushner Cos. Updates Miami OZ Project As Jared And Ivanka Eye City

The first Kushner Cos. projects in Miami, one of which is in an opportunity zone near the waterfront, will break ground next year after the coronavirus pandemic put the projects on hold, according to Kushner President Laurent Morali. The company plans to start work first, probably in Q1 2021, on 127 Northwest 27th Street/129 Northwest 26th Street, a development with 150…

Barry Sternlicht And A-Rod On Teaming Up In ‘The Singapore Of The United States’

In 2016, Starwood Capital Group Chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht left Greenwich, Connecticut, and moved to Miami Beach, near the headquarters of publicly traded arm Starwood Property Trust and its 300 workers. A new office building for the REIT, developed with Miami-based Integra Investments, topped off earlier this month. Speaking on CNBC Tuesday…

Shoma Group Lands $84M Refi for Miami-Area Project

Three months away from completing its latest Miami area project, Shoma Group has secured an $84 million loan for its mixed-use community Sanctuary at Doral. Walker & Dunlop brokered the loan to Walker & Dunlop Commercial Property Funding, the company’s CMBS lending platform, which originated the financing and sold a piece to Pensam. The floating…

‘The Sector Is In Complete Flux’: Miami Hotel Experts Predict Shakeout Next Year

When the coronavirus hit the U.S. this spring, some experts predicted the economic fallout would be over in a few months and a V-shaped recovery would soon be underway. But hotelier Robert Finvarb, whose firm owns a portfolio of Marriott-branded hotels, boldly pronounced that pre-COVID-19 numbers would not bounce back until “2023 at the earliest.” Almost 10…

Miami’s commercial real estate boom picks up steam as pandemic pushes companies to seek new digs

“I’ve been buying real estate in Miami for over 20 years, and it has been a great flight. Since Covid started, it’s a rocket ship,” said Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez.  Rodriguez recently partnered with Barry Sternlicht in developing restaurant and retail space inside Starwood Capital’s headquarters under construction in Miami Beach. According to the…

JPMorgan Chase Is Now Open To Relocating To Miami After Vetoing The Move A Few Years Ago

The CEO of JPMorgan Chase has reportedly changed his mind about relocating to Miami, according to the New York Post. Jamie Dimon, who has run Chase for 15 years, is now open to the idea. Here’s a timeline of Chase and Dimon’s flirtation with moving the company to Miami: 2013 – Dimon attends the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Forum…

Here are South Florida’s biggest retail leases in 2020

Plenty of retail locations closed for good this year, but other businesses saw those closures as opportunities. Even with the escalation of e-commerce, the average square footage of the top five retail leases this year was only 10,000 square feet short of last year’s average. Here’s a breakdown of the top retail leases signed this year in South Florida. 1. City Furniture, Hollywood…

Bankruptcy judge paves way for Metronomic property auction

A U.S. bankruptcy judge this week approved Metronomic Holdings’ settlement with a creditor, clearing the way for the developer to auction 17 properties in Miami-Dade County and two near Chicago. The creditor, Fuse Funding, had provided about $18 million in mortgages for the properties, according to court documents. Judge Laurel Isicoff approved the…

Tales from the South Florida industrial property boom 

A former Miami golf course turned into an industrial park. A Hollywood warehouse chopped up into six smaller offerings. And a bidding war over industrial space in East Hialeah. Commercial brokers recount these tales in South Florida, a market with high demand for warehouses but not enough industrial-zoned land for new development. Industrial experts must turn…

Buttigieg hints at ripping up urban highways

U.S. Department of Transportation nominee Pete Buttigieg has urban highways in his crosshairs. The mayor of South Bend and former presidential candidate proposed changing federal policy that encouraged highways to cut through minority communities and have depressed property values ever since, Streetsblog reported. “It’s disproportionately…”

South Florida construction starts fall in November

South Florida construction starts dropped in November, both year-over-year and month-over-month, according to a recently released report. Total building in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward counties dropped 30 percent, year-over-year, to $854 million last month, according to Dodge Data & Analytics, a Hamilton, New Jersey-based construction data…

County-developer deal around Dolphin Station nears

Negotiations with an unnamed company to develop up to 44 acres around Dolphin Station in West Dade are nearing the homestretch, says the project’s chief supporter, Miami-Dade Commission Chairman-elect Jose “Pepe” Diaz. “They have somebody,” he told Miami Today this month, adding that few details can be discussed due to a hush rule for active bids.

Wynwood mixed-use project gets design backing

One of the largest mixed-use projects coming to the booming Wynwood Arts District has received the support of an important review board. AMLI Wynwood is designed to bring 316 residential units and 30,596 square feet of commercial-retail uses to 70 NW 25th Street. Despite concerns about the massing of the project and its repetitive façade, the Wynwood Design…

To regain magic, Lincoln Road big boxes may be limited

Lincoln Road will soon undergo a roughly $50 million facelift, but Miami Beach commissioners are questioning if another step needs to be taken to bring back the “magic” on the street – limiting big box stores.  At a Dec. 15 Land Use and Sustainability Committee meeting, officials discussed the possibility of enacting restrictions based on square footage or usage…

Jungle Island hotel plans check in with new backing

A Miami board is recommending special rezoning for the proposed Jungle Island hotel and the rest of the Watson Island land being leased by the city, moving the project closer to approval. While members of the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board questioned whether the project could affect a nearby residential building and the use of the Special Area Plan…

The nitty gritty on federal rent relief

We read the details on federal rent relief so you don’t have to. (Getty) As the multifamily sector welcomed the inclusion of $25 billion in rental assistance in the federal relief package, it rushed to decipher the 5,000-page bill. Here are some key details. The funds will be meted out by eligible states and localities, which are tasked with designing means-tested programs…

36-unit Miami multifamily property sells

A leading commercial real estate brokerage firm specializing in investment sales, financing, research and advisory services, announced the sale of Flamingo Garden, a 36-unit apartment property located at 1400 NW 95th Street in Miami, Florida, according to Ryan Nee, regional manager of the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office. The asset sold for $4,572,000. Evan…

Here are South Florida’s largest retail sales of 2020

Store closures and Americans’ reliance on e-commerce may have affected the top sales in South Florida’s retail market. The region’s top retail sale of 2020, of $47 million, fell below 2019’s $96.8 million top sale and 2018’s $88 million top sale. However, the average price per square foot among 2020’s top five retail sales bested last year’s average — $396 compared to $349.

What the new stimulus means for restaurants & indie movie theaters

As part of Congress’ $900 billion pandemic aid package approved Monday, $15 billion was dedicated for “live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions.” The $325 billion in funding carved out for all small businesses represents the largest component of the package, more than the funds allocated to direct payment checks and unemployment…

A long road ahead for office landlords

Manhattan’s Paramount Group received an unsolicited takeover bid early last month for about two-thirds of what the company was worth prior to Covid. Just a few weeks later, the real estate investment trust’s board unanimously rejected the offer from activist investor Bow Street, noting that its offer was “inadequate and significantly undervalues” the office…

Stimulus deal includes major change to affordable housing financing

The proposed $900 billion federal relief package hands affordable housing developers a key win in the form of changes to a popular financing program. The bill includes reforms to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, which has financed more than 3 million housing units since its inception in 1986. Lawmakers proposed a floor rate of 4 percent…

Here are South Florida’s largest multifamily sales of 2020

3333 South Port Royale Drive in Fort Lauderdale Loosened requirements on business closures may have helped keep more Floridians employed, and thus paying their rent, but the pandemic may have hurt top sales in the multifamily market. The top South Florida multifamily sale of 2020 didn’t beat 2019’s $322 million sale, but it did best 2018’s $149 million top sale.

Here are South Florida’s biggest hotel sales in 2020

The hotel market was among the hardest hit sectors of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, resulting in many owners scrambling to survive. After many hotels laid off the majority of their staff in March and subsequent months, a number of properties remained closed until the winter. And some have yet to reopen, as domestic and international travel remains…

Global CFOs have a message for real estate investors: We’re cutting space

The Covid-19 vaccine is being distributed across the country, but it may already be too late for commercial real estate landlords and investors. Companies around the globe are looking at how they can cut costs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and scaling back real estate holdings is one big way they’re looking to do so. Bloomberg analyzed transcripts…

Experts Round-Up: Top Retail Trends to Expect in 2021

We reached out to a variety of industry experts in the retail real estate sector across the country to provide their perspective on what they expect for the retail real estate market heading in 2021. The good news is that despite the doldrums produced by the ongoing pandemic, retail real estate experts are feeling confident…

Here are South Florida’s largest industrial sales of 2020

Blackstone paid $94 million to acquire an industrial portfolio, which includes 16100 Northwest 49 Avenue and 16200 Northwest 49 Avenue, Miami Gardens (Google Maps) A strong performance in the South Florida industrial sector during Covid-19 didn’t fully translate to new milestones in the market’s top sales. The largest industrial sale of 2020, of $94 million…

Jungle Island owner wins Miami board approval for hotel and attractions

Two years after Miami voters approved Jungle Island’s expansion, the theme park’s owners are moving ahead with a proposal to develop a new 300-room hotel, attractions and retail complex that incorporate green design elements. The Miami Planning and Zoning Appeals Board on Wednesday approved a special area plan proposal submitted by Jungle…

‘Juice Your Return’: South Florida CRE Experts Ready To Synergize With Newcomers

As the longtime CEO of Trust Hospitality, Richard Millard oversaw the management of hotel properties for big chains like Hilton and Marriott as well as smaller, boutique brands, all from his home base of Miami. Amid a pandemic and massive industry shakeup, Millard became managing director of hospitality management company Highgate when the firms…

HS Capital buys Fort Lauderdale office building for $18M

A Miami-based real estate investment fund paid $17.5 million for a Fort Lauderdale office building. An affiliate of HS Capital Fund bought the 141,000-square-foot building at 1901 West Cypress Creek Road, according to a press release. That equates to $124 per square foot. The six-story building also has the address 1901 Northwest 62nd Street, according to records.

Starwood sells Plantation office buildings in $78M deal

Starwood Capital sold several buildings within a Plantation office park for $78 million, as uncertainty continues to surround the sector. Companies affiliated with New York-based real estate merchant bank Island Capital Group, led by Andrew Farkas, bought the buildings at 8201 Peters Road, 8221 Peters Road, 8151 Peters Road and 8050 Southwest 10th Street…

Investors buy Weston office building for $9M

A partnership between two South Florida investment firms sold a Weston office building for $8.9 million. Highline Real Estate Capital, based in Miami, and Sefira Capital, based in North Miami Beach, sold the 27,000-square-foot building at 1040 Weston Road, according to a press release. The buyer is Shaked 21 LLC, managed by husband and wife Sagi and Anat Shaked.

Royal Palm Buys Parcel at Miami Worldcenter for $33.9M, Plans to Develop Mixed-Use Tower

Royal Palm Cos. (RPC) will develop Legacy Hotel & Residences, a 50-story mixed-use building featuring 256 hotel rooms and 274 apartment units, within Miami Worldcenter. The master developer of Miami Worldcenter, Miami World Center Associates, sold the 1.5-acre plot to RPC for $33.9 million. RPC plans to break ground on the tower in early 2021. The asset…

Mango’s on Ocean Drive and adjacent properties hit the market as redevelopment site

The assemblage consists of 900 Ocean Drive (0.3 acres) and three adjacent parcels behind it along Collins Avenue (909, 919 and 929 Collins), a series of low-rise mixed-use commercial properties totaling 0.48 acres. “The Owners of 900 Ocean have recently secured an option to purchase the three Collins Avenue properties and are now seeking proposals to sell and redevelop…

Miami Gardens warehouse sells for $6M

The owner of a manufacturer of plastic bins and steel shelving bought a Miami Gardens warehouse for $6 million. Larry Groll, owner of Miami-based Quantum Storage Systems, bought the 64,000-square-foot warehouse at 16215 Northwest 15th Avenue inside Sunshine State Industrial Park, according to a press release. The seller was Custom Stainless Steel…

Here are South Florida’s largest office sales of 2020

Uncertainty over the future of workspaces may have taken a bite into the top deals in South Florida’s office market this year. Landlords have pulled out the stops to keep rents up and avoid the pitfalls of cities that have enacted more aggressive stay-at-home orders during the pandemic. While the top sale in South Florida’s office market beat the top sale of last year…

Bittel Announces $7.9 Million Of New Terranova Miracle Mile, Lincoln Road Leases

Terranova’s Chairman, Stephen Bittel has announced eighteen new tenants totaling 26,245 SF for a total value of $7.9 million opening in two of its most important urban market areas in Miami-Dade County – Coral Gables’ Miracle Mile and Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road, the coveted world-famous pedestrian thoroughfare. Leasing during COVID has been strongly led by…

Balfour Beatty Completes Construction on $298M River Landing Project in Miami

Balfour Beatty has completed construction on River Landing Shops and Residences, a 2.5 million-square-foot mixed-use development along the Miami River. The Atlanta-based general contractor completed the project on behalf of real estate investment trust H&R REIT and South Florida developer Urban-X Group. Matthews Southwest provided owner…

Balfour Beatty Completes 2.5 MSF Miami Mixed-Use Project

Balfour Beatty has wrapped up construction at River Landing Shops and Residences, a mixed-use Miami project that spans 2.5 million square feet. The partnership that brought the project online includes H&R REIT and developer Urban-X Group. BC Architects, McNamara Salvia Structural Engineers and Steven Feller MEPFP designed the project. The…

Owners of CocoWalk in Coconut Grove Welcome Eight New Retailers to Tenant Roster

Federal Realty Investment Trust, The Comras Co. and Grass River Property have welcomed eight new retailers to their CocoWalk development at 3015 Grand Avenue in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The three retailers that recently opened are vegetarian restaurant Planta Queen and women’s clothing and accessory retailers Free People Movement and Edite Mode.

Mad scramble at deadline to get federal CARES aid to tenants

More than 400 state and local governments are scrambling to allocate funding from the federal CARES Act intended to provide at least $4.3 billion in rental assistance. The money could save some tenants from eviction and help landlords pay their mortgages. However, with just two weeks left to distribute it, jurisdictions have more than $300 million left, the New York…

USAA Real Estate Lands $72M Refi for Coral Gables Towers

USAA Real Estate has recently landed a $71.6 million refinancing deal for Columbus Center, a premier office asset near Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., public records indicate. With the assistance of JLL Capital Markets, USAA secured the loan for the approximately 263,200-square-foot property through Värde Partners. Carrying the address of One Alhambra Plaza…

Starbucks betting big on drive-throughs in coming years

Even though, like other retailers, Starbucks suffered big losses due to the pandemic, the chain is still betting on customers’ need for caffeine. During the company’s virtual Investor Day last week, the coffee conglomerate announced that it plans to open an additional 22,000 stores, bringing its total global footprint to 55,000 shops, by 2030, Bisnow reported. CFO…

South Dade Bus Rapid Transit faces new roadblocks

The plan for bus rapid transit (BRT) on the South Dade Transitway is intact – for now – as Miami-Dade commissioners Tuesday punted two items targeting further action on the corridor. Talk of other changes, including building toll lanes and bridges on the 20-mile route that runs alongside US 1 between Kendall and Florida City, will come today (12/17). After hearing…

Miami-Dade County historic population boom hits a wall

Miami-Dade’s long-term trend of booming population growth has slowed to a crawl, barely expanding year to year, data released last week by the US Census Bureau shows. In the year ending in July 2019, the county added just 2,092 residents to total 2,716,940, a gain of less than eight-hundredths of 1%, the American Community Survey shows. The gain in 2018 was even less…

Florida financial regulator looks to update crowdfunding rules

Former Coral Gables-based securities lawyer Russell Weigel, who took over the reins as Florida’s top financial regulator in March, is focused on streamlining the state’s Office of Financial Regulation by leveraging technology and encouraging legislation that will bring banking and crowdfunding codes up to date. Roughly a week after Mr. Weigel took…

Florida banks ready for a second round of PPP loans

As Covid pummeled the economy in 2020, Florida’s banks were among those leading the nation in Payment Protection Program lending, according to Florida Bankers Association CEO Alex Sanchez. The new year, he said, will likely bring with it a strong economic recovery driven by a reliable vaccine and pent-up demand for activity. Banks, he continued, will be…

Residential buildings near shopping center greeted coolly

A sweeping plan to build a series of apartment buildings and town homes in the shadow of a large existing shopping center received a chilly reception from a City of Miami review board. The Urban Development Review Board spent considerable time examining the major proposal that impacts a 38-acre parcel at the busy intersection of Northwest 37th Avenue and…

Alex Rodriguez and Adi Chugh join $650M hotel fund

Retired baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez found his latest real estate investment. Rodriguez’s A-Rod Corp and joint venture partner Adi Chugh of Maverick Commercial Properties are investing in CGI Merchant Group’s $650 million Hospitality Opportunity Fund. The two partners will help CGI with its investment strategy, expand its debt capital market capabilities…

A-Rod Leads $650M Fund Investing In Hotels

Baseball player-turned-businessman Alex Rodriguez will be a lead investor in a $650M real estate fund that seeks primarily to pick up hotel assets. Rodriguez and his partner, Adi Chugh, founder of New York-based private equity advisory firm Maverick Commercial Properties, have completed a platform investment within the Hospitality Opportunity…

Baseball’s Alex Rodriguez backs $650M hospitality fund

CGI Merchant Group, a global investment management firm with a focus in real estate and private equity, has launched a new multimillion-dollar investment partnership with three-time Major League Baseball MVP and serial investor Alex Rodriguez as well as with capital markets veteran and founder of Maverick CP Adi Chugh. The two are among the first…

With JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, Miami Could Become ‘Wall Street South’

Elon Musk just moved to Texas, but guess who’s (reportedly) moving to South Florida? Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen and the asset management division of Goldman Sachs. Those are the boldface names announced in news reports last week alone. Today, the New York Post reported that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is open to…

Top 25 South Florida Retail Shopping Center Transactions of 2020

2020 was a challenging year for South Florida commercial real estate and for many markets around the country / world, as the economic backlash of the pandemic took hold and affected multiple financial and business sectors globally. In comparison to last year’s South Florida shopping center transactions, the #1 sale in 2020 is 40% of…

Why Now Might Be The Best Time To Sell Your South Florida Office

Conventional wisdom says “don’t sell an office building during a pandemic, unless you’re desperate”, but I’d like to offer a contrarian view to owners who are strategically evaluating how best to capitalize on current investment market conditions. Do you own an office building that is located in a desirable South Florida submarket? Is your building well-leased…

“A culling of the weaker assets”: Where hedge funds are investing

It’s a loan buyer’s market and hedge funds are ready to make a deal. Companies are looking to provide loans or invest in recently restructured commercial real estate bonds, according to Bloomberg. And malls, hotels and offices — some of the property types hit hardest by the pandemic — are ripe for the picking. Leo Huang, senior portfolio manager and head of…

Estate Companies pay $13M for North Miami Beach apartments dev site

A company affiliated with The Estate Companies paid $13.1 million for the development site of a waterfront 23-story apartment tower in North Miami Beach. The company bought the 1.8-acre property at 16395 Biscayne Boulevard, according to records. In September, The Estate Companies received approval for Soleste NoMi. It…

KKR doubles down on industrial with $835M acquisition

KKR is ramping up its bet on industrial real estate. The investment firm closed on the acquisition of 9.7 million square feet of industrial properties in seven markets for about $835 million, according to a release. In total, there are about 100 properties in Atlanta; Baltimore, MD; Chicago; Central and South Florida; Central Pennsylvania; and Dallas. KKR will acquire…

Hotel industry sees nearly 1 billion unsold room nights this year

As fewer people have traveled — and thus, booked hotel rooms — because of the pandemic, the hotel industry is facing a staggering statistic: almost 1 billion empty hotel rooms for the year. As of last week, more than 962 million room nights have gone unsold, Bloomberg News reported, citing data from lodging information firm STR. That’s about 46 percent more…

AMC needs $750M to avoid bankruptcy

Movie theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings needs a cash infusion of at least $750 million, otherwise it might have to file for bankruptcy. AMC said in a filing on Friday that without additional financing, the company will run out of cash by next month, Bloomberg News reported. In order to raise funds, the company is planning to sell more shares and possibly…

Coral Gables Chamber President Mark Trowbridge: Signs of Life

The holiday season can be most distracting and stressful – putting up the tree (if you didn’t already do so before Thanksgiving), stocking up on egg nog, making your lists and checking them twice. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, there is a desire to embrace all things shiny and bright. As we say good-bye to 2020, now more than ever, we need all of you to bring…

Logistics market is hot, but is a bubble forming?

Investors can’t get enough of warehouses and logistics spaces these days, but there are some signs that a bubble could be forming. Asset management firms including Blackstone Group, Cerberus Capital Management and KKR have doubled down on logistics centers, and prices for warehouses have surged, Bloomberg News…

Edgewater Hotel, Retail and Restaurant on the Way

Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood is known for its relaxed, waterfront family lifestyle. After news that the neighborhood is getting its biggest supermarket yet, and more luxury making its way in with Nema-branded apartments, plans are being made to build a mixed-use hotel by Urbanica, featuring retail and restaurant space. The hotel group recently purchased…

Niven Patel, Graziano’s ink restaurant leases at Life Time Coral Gables

Chef and restaurateur Niven Patel and the Argentinian restaurant group Graziano’s are each leasing space at Life Time Coral Gables, a $500 million mixed-use development that’s expected to be anchored by a Trader Joe’s grocery store. Developer Nolan Reynolds International plans to deliver the project, previously known as Gables Station, early next year. The 1.2…

Encore: CMX Cinemas parent emerges from bankruptcy

In perhaps a surprise twist, a movie theater chain gets a sequel. Cinemex Holdings USA, the Miami-based parent of CMX Cinemas and owner of 41 movie theaters nationwide, has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The theater chain negotiated with creditors for six months and ended up with modified leases that include a revenue-sharing deal…

Menin Hospitality’s Byron Carlyle Theater redevelopment vote shelved until February

Miami Beach delayed until February a vote on Menin Hospitality and its partners’ plan to redevelop the Byron Carlyle Theater in North Beach. The Miami Beach City Commission opted not to vote on a proposal by Menin Hospitality and KGTC, LLC to replace the 52-year-old, city-owned Byron Carlyle with a 125-foot-tall theater complex with 151 workforce units.

First Park Miami Breaks Ground

First Industrial Realty Trust and Butters Construction & Development broke ground Thursday, December 3, on First Park Miami, First Industrial’s newest industrial development. Mayor Roberto Martell, the Town of Medley, the Medley Town Council as well as First Industrial Realty Trust Senior Regional Director Chris Willson and Investment Officer Bradley…

Rosemurgy sells Pompano Beach shopping center for $10M

Rosemurgy Properties sold a Pompano Beach shopping center for $10.1 million. A company managed by Nicolas and Isabella Mattos — the children of Carlos Mattos, founder of car importer Hyundai Colombia Automotriz — bought the retail center at 2350 to 2390 North Federal Highway, according to a press release. The buying entity is also managed by attorney Richard…

Abacus Capital pays $124M for Miramar apartments

A New York-based multifamily real estate investment firm paid $124 million for apartment complexes near Miramar’s town center. Abacus Capital Group bought the 67-unit complex at 11571 Canal Street and the 117-unit complex at 11750 Canal Street, according to records. At a total of 184 units, the deal breaks down to about $674,000 a unit. Abacus paid…

Sterling Equities pays $95M for Pompano Beach apartments

An affiliate of Sterling Equities paid $95.3 million for a newly built Pompano Beach rental complex along the Intracoastal Waterway. The Great Neck, New York-based development firm bought the Broadstone Oceanside complex, with 204 apartments and seven townhouses, at 1333 South Ocean Boulevard, according to…

Banyan Investment buys Gale Fort Lauderdale hotel from Harvey Hernandez

The Gale Hotel with Harvey Hernandez Developer Harvey Hernandez sold the completed — but as yet unopened — Gale Hotel in Fort Lauderdale for nearly $23 million. Property records show Hernandez’s Tiffany Hotel LP sold the 96-key hotel at 2900 Riomar Street on Fort Lauderdale Beach to Atlanta-based Banyan Investment Group. The boutique hotel traded…

Banesco USA pays $12 million for new HQ in Doral

Banesco USA is moving headquarters but the bank is going very far. The company, which has been based in Coral Gables, paid $11.95 million for a new HQ in Doral. Banesco USA purchased the 59,140-square-foot building at 3155 Northwest 77th Avenue from Windhaven Insurance Company, according to records. Newmark represented Banesco in the deal. Mario…

Bulgari plans first US hotel on oceanfront Miami Beach site

Italian luxury house Bulgari plans to open its first hotel in the U.S. in Miami Beach. Bulgari announced plans to redevelop the oceanfront property at 100 21st Street, previously home to the Seagull Hotel Miami Beach. The 100-room hotel, which is permanently closed, sold to Blue Horizon Group in January for $120 million. Bulgari expects to open a 100-key hotel by 2024…

PMG adds to assemblage of planned Society Wynwood project

Property Markets Group closed on more land for its planned Society Wynwood project for $11.5 million. A joint venture between RedSky Capital and JZ Capital Partners sold the property at 2407 Northwest Second Avenue to PMG. The developer, led by Ryan Shear, Kevin Maloney and Daniel Kaplan, plans to build an apartment complex on the site with partner…

Dan Kodsi’s firm pays $34 million for site of 50-story tower at Miami Worldcenter

The master developers of the 27-acre Miami Worldcenter mixed-use project sold a plot of land to Dan Kodsi’s Royal Palm Companies. Miami Worldcenter Associates, the joint venture between Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani, sold the 1.5-acre site at 942 Northeast First Avenue for $33.9 million, according to a press release. Royal Palm Companies…

Ascena – Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant, other brands – rescued from bankruptcy by PE firm

Private-equity firm Sycamore Partners got the green light to grab several Ascena Retail Group brands — Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant, Loft and Lou & Grey — out of bankruptcy. Judge Kevin Huennekens of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Virginia, approved the sale of the majority of Ascena’s remaining assets to Sycamore Partners, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Touchdown! Housing development near Hard Rock Stadium scores $38M loan

The developer of a planned housing development of 113 townhouses and 288 multifamily units in Miami Gardens scored a $38.3 million construction loan. A company affiliated with Coastland Construction landed the loan for the project on about 36 acres at Northwest 207th Street & Northwest 7th Avenue, according to records. That’s east of Hard Rock Stadium, home…

Seven big mall owners in precarious state: S&P

With more pandemic shutdowns taking place, malls remain in a precarious position that may only get worse, according to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence. S&P’s Quantamental Research group on Tuesday highlighted seven names: CBL, PREIT, Simon Property Group, Taubman Centers, Brookfield Property REIT, Macerich and Washington Prime Group…

Miami Leads List of Top 5 Florida Markets for Industrial Development

Despite most commercial asset classes facing strong headwinds, industrial demand is as high as it’s ever been. With this year’s shift toward online shopping, e-commerce giants like Amazon continue to grow, while many brick-and-mortar retailers are investing more and more into supplementing physical footprints with an online presence. Florida’s…

‘Land Prices Can’t Fall’: Market Factors Make South Florida Industrial Almost A Sure Bet

Ed Easton started his industrial real estate company, The Easton Group, in 1974. He now controls about 5M SF of space. “When I started in the industrial market, nobody liked industrial,” he recalled during a Bisnow webinar on South Florida’s industrial market Nov. 18. “When I first took my wife off to see what I did for a living, she said, ‘What the heck is this?’ She…

South Beach property sells for $6 million, buyer plans apartment-hotel

The head of a photo production company sold a property in Miami Beach’s South-of-Fifth neighborhood for $6 million, a significant discount off its listing price two years ago. Mobile Arts, a company with directors Paul C. Lardi and Lisa Lardi, sold the property at 200 to 212 Collins Avenue, according to a press release. The 13,000-square-foot lot features a low-rise…

Miami Beach Seeks to Expand Availability of Class A Office Space

With the tourism sector feeling economic pressure brought on by the global pandemic, the City of Miami Beach is seeking to attract national and global businesses to its shores in addition to the world-famous hotels and entertainment venues. “We are already known around the world as a global tourist destination with more than 10 million visitors to our city each…”

Not Just For Fast Food: Pandemic Highlights The Brilliance Of The Drive-Thru For Any Business

For most traditional restaurants, the coronavirus pandemic has been a disaster. But it has provided opportunity for one particular sector: drive-thrus. Given the social-distancing benefit of the model, many types of businesses from coronavirus labs to the Salvation Army to haunted houses have devised drive-thru components to do business. Other retailers…

Dezer, Related Group team up on waterfront Hillsboro Beach project

Gil Dezer’s Dezer Development is partnering with the Related Group to develop on an Intracoastal-to-ocean property in Hillsboro Beach. Dezer sold the 12-parcel assemblage to Hillsboro Mile Property Owner LLC, a 50-50 partnership between Dezer and Related, for $30 million, according to Dezer and property records. Dezer told The Real Deal he plans to work with a…

Inside the plight of a small retail landlord

David Swerdloff is a far cry from what many picture a Manhattan commercial landlord to be. The 75-year-old owns a single building, on Seventh Avenue in Chelsea. Soaring condos and offices dwarf the one-story structure, whose air rights he sold in 1997. Swerdloff, who lives in the suburbs of Westchester County, didn’t set out to be a landlord.

Heralded Underdeck park beneath I-395 still lacks plans and costs

The Underdeck, a 33-acre downtown Miami illuminated park underneath a redesigned I-395, is well underway and should be completed by fall 2024, the Florida Department of Transportation says. But firm plans for the community spaces there are still six months off and costs are unknown.  “The City of Miami, in partnership with FDOT and other stakeholders…

Miami designates Catholic church in Overtown as historic

The City of Miami has designated St. Peter’s Antiochian Orthodox Catholic Church in Overtown as an historic resource. The city’s historic preservation officer noted how the church was associated with a well-known priest and played a role in a move for racial equality in the city’s early days. After reviewing details of the church, the Historic and Environmental…

Goldman Plots South Florida Base for Asset Management

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is weighing plans for a new Florida hub to house one of its key divisions, in another potential blow to New York’s stature as the de facto home of the U.S. financial industry. Executives have been scouting office locations in South Florida, speaking with local officials and exploring tax advantages as they consider creating a base there for its…

Joe Biden taps Marcia Fudge, Ohio congresswoman, as HUD secretary

President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge to oversee the nation’s massive housing agency. As secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fudge would oversee an agency that creates housing policies for more than 9 million low-income Americans. It will play a critical role in the new administration’s response to the…

Landlords jarred by sudden drop in rent collection

Market-rate apartment owners just reported the lowest rental payment rate since April. In its monthly survey, the National Multifamily Housing Council found that only 75 percent of renters in 11.5 million market-rate apartments paid some or all of their rent by Dec. 6. The figure represents a 5-percentage-point decrease from November, and is nearly 8 points lower…

Workforce Housing: Always a Sweet Spot

Acquiring underperforming assets for rehabilitation is a good strategy for navigating the current multifamily market, according to panelists at a virtual conference that took place in late October. With something on the order of $500 billion in underperforming assets on the books in the B-minus through C-minus classes, speakers at the Florida Alternative Investment…

First Industrial Realty Breaks Ground on 2.5 MSF Industrial Park in Medley

First Industrial Realty Trust has broken ground on First Park Miami, a 2.5 million-square-foot industrial campus in Medley. Phase I will comprise three buildings totaling 600,000 square feet. The facilities will feature 32- to 36-foot clear heights, ESFR sprinkler systems and 120- to 180-foot truck courts. Phase I is expected to be delivered in third-quarter 2021. Butters…

Starwood Property Trust Tops Off Office Headquarters in Miami Beach

Starwood Property Trust, an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, has topped off construction at its two-building, 144,430-square-foot office building in Miami Beach. Starwood is developing the project in partnership with Integra Investments. Upon full completion, slated for late 2021, Starwood will occupy 55 percent of the six-story east building and part of the west…

CMBS market faces staggering losses even with vaccine hopes

Investors in the $550 billion commercial mortgage-backed securities market could see hefty losses as real estate sectors will continue to struggle after a Covid vaccine becomes widely available. Morgan Stanley is projecting that losses for CMBS deals backed by dozens of different loans could average about 5 to 8 percent, according to a Bloomberg report. Demand for malls…

Carlos Rosso parts ways with Related Group

Longtime Related Group executive Carlos Rosso left the real estate development firm to go out on his own. Rosso, who was most recently executive vice president of the Miami-based firm, confirmed to The Real Deal that he parted ways with the company. He called his 18 years with Related “an incredible run.” The Miami Herald first reported the news.

J.C. Penney has been saved. Now what?

J.C. Penney has been rescued from bankruptcy, but challenges remain for the beleaguered retailer. The department store chain completed the sale of its retail operations to Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management on Monday, Bloomberg News reported. J.C. Penney will essentially be split into two: an operations firm led by Simon and…

Some retailers are now bargain-hunting for new space

The pandemic has decimated much of the retail industry, but some businesses that have weathered the storm are now shopping for properties and new leases at deep discounts. Property owners have been feeling the economic pressure, and are offloading space for a fraction of the pre-pandemic price and offering lease incentives, according to the Wall…

Extended Stay America weathering pandemic better than rivals

Hotel chain Extended Stay America has managed to outperform other lodging companies in what’s been an awful year for the industry. While lodging companies including Extended Stay have generally underperformed the broader market, the firm has managed to stay profitable this year, according to the Wall Street Journal. Extended Stay’s…

Blackstone acquires $358 millon warehouse portfolio

Blackstone is doubling down on logistics with its acquisition of a $358 million warehouse portfolio. The asset manager bought 13 properties from Iron Mountain, which will lease back the properties in California, northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, Bloomberg reported. The portfolio totals 2.1 million square feet, adding to Blackstone’s existing…

Amid bleak jobs report, gains in construction and warehousing

The U.S. economy added just 245,000 jobs in November, down from an adjusted gain of 6100,000 in October, representing the slowest month of growth in six months. “The pace of improvement is clearly slowing in the face of an uptick in the intensity of Covid-19 cases,” said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Certain segments…”

Atlanta Fed: Beige Book Reveals Gradual Improvements, Ongoing Difficulties

During the six weeks leading up to the latest coronavirus surge, economic activity across the Southeast ticked up modestly, according to the November 2020 Beige Book summary from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In sum, labor markets continued a gradual recovery. Auto sales remained strong. Housing markets cooled a bit but stayed vigorous, and tourism…

Alta Developers begins closings at Quadro at Design District

A year after completing a residential project near the Miami Design District, Alta Developers started recording closings at Quadro. The firm, led by principal and CEO Raimundo Onetto, originally planned the 198-unit, 12-story development as a rental tower, then changed course and launched sales earlier this year as a condo project offering long-term and…

Nuage Designs Signs On For 47,000 SF At Eastview Commerce Center

Newmark announces a new 47,175-square-foot lease for Nuage Designs at Eastview Commerce Center (ECC) in Miami. Newmark’s Executive Managing Directors Steve Medwin and Nick Wigoda and Associate John Mejia Nuage Design’s new space will be in Building 6 of Eastview Commerce Center and is an expansion from their former space at 355 NE 71st Street.

KKR in talks for massive warehouse buy

Investment firm KKR & Co. is in talks to buy a portfolio of warehouses valued at more than $800 million, as a surge in e-commerce is driving investor interest in industrial space. The deal includes about 100 properties in markets like Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas and Chicago, according to Bloomberg. Barclays is organizing financing in the form of $700 million…

Common’s CEO Brad Hargreaves on the future of co-living and prepping for a work from home world

Common CEO Brad Hargreaves (iStock; Common) “Schlep blindness.” That’s what Common CEO Brad Hargreaves said is needed to bring about change in the U.S. multifamily industry, which is valued at more than $250 billion but operationally hasn’t innovated in decades. The pandemic’s tolls on the rental market’s margins and occupancy, however, have made landlords…

Multifamily sector beating the odds

While hotels, retail and offices sink, the multifamily sector is sailing along. Rent collection has been largely steady despite high unemployment and early threats of rent strikes. Occupancy, too, has suffered less than expected except in dense areas and at the high end of the market, where tenants were more likely to relocate to a second home and new leases dwindled.

HFZ looks to sell Shore Club South Beach hotel

HFZ Capital Group is looking to sell the historic Shore Club hotel at 1901 Collins Avenue in South Beach, as the company’s financial and legal issues continue to pile up, The Real Deal has learned. The New York-based firm, led by Ziel Feldman, tapped Newmark to sell the oceanfront hotel where it once planned a luxury condo and hotel development, according to sources.

Family offices are gearing up to pounce on distressed real estate

The world was still feeling the aftershocks of America’s subprime mortgage crisis when Julien Haccoun landed his MBA and became a principal of his family office in South Florida. The country’s unemployment rate was stuck at about 9 percent, and the housing market had yet to recoup. Rather than returning to his native France after graduating…

Realtor groups sue to block federal eviction ban

The Alabama Association of Realtors and the Georgia Association of Realtors are attempting to cancel the nationwide eviction ban. The ban, issued in September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prevents evictions through Dec. 31 for renters making no more than $99,000 this year, or up to $198,000 for couples. However, the National…

Sky Kennels: Mounting Sanitation and Noise Issues for Pet Friendly High-Rise Multifamily Properties

As Americans have been moving back to the central business districts of its cities, a situation has been developing that has gone largely unnoticed except by those affected; downtown America is becoming an open sewer. In downtown areas it has become common to be met by the sight of a dog’s arched back. That is generally internalized as innocuous, as we all grew…

Investors pay $7 million for Tamarac shopping center

A Parkland couple bought a Tamarac shopping center for $6.5 million. An affiliate of TML Associates, run by Sam and Rachel Oz, bought the Mural Plaza shopping center at 6510 to 6566 and 6570 to 6596 North University Drive, according to records. The seller is Mural Development, whose managers are Allan E. Ciftci, Genghiz Erden and Murat Ercan, according to…

Fort Lauderdale OKs plan for Bahia Cabana Hotel on the beach

Fort Lauderdale commissioners approved a site plan for Bahia Cabana Hotel, a mixed-use project with 124 hotel rooms and six apartments in the city’s south beach area. The site has been vacant since the 2019 demolition of the old Bahia Cabana hotel and restaurant, a longtime local landmark that Hurricane Irma shredded in 2017. At Wednesday’s meeting…

Hollywood approves downtown demolition, paving way for mixed-use apartment project

Robert Suris and a rendering of the project Hollywood commissioners approved the demolition of a 93-year-old building to clear a downtown site for Soleste Hollywood Boulevard, an eight-story, mixed-use development with 347 residential units. Commissioners voted 6-1 to reject an advisory board’s recommendation against demolishing the three-story building…

Exeter lands $75 million loan for spec Coral Springs warehouse project

Exeter Property Group closed on a $74.9 million loan for the second phase of its Coral Springs Commerce Center.  The loan, from New York Life Insurance Co., is for 4100, 4270 and 4150 Coral Ridge Drive, as well as the existing building at 4250 Coral Ridge Drive, according to property records.  Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based Exeter, led by CEO Ward Fitzgerald…

New York Life buys Brightline West Palm apartments for $115M

New York Life’s real estate investment arm paid $114.8 million for the apartment tower next to Brightline’s West Palm Beach station. Brightline parent Florida East Coast Industries, one of Florida’s oldest and largest real estate and infrastructure holding companies, sold the 24-story, 290-unit Park-Line Palm Beaches building at 591 Evernia Street, according to…