Luxury athletic resort to take over Bloomingdale’s space at The Falls

Life Time Fitness will be bulking up the Bloomingdale’s space at The Falls, as malls around the country try to adapt to the changing retail environment. The company plans to break ground on a 140,000-square-foot luxury athletic resort after Bloomingdale’s closes its doors later this month, a spokesperson for Simon Property Group confirmed. Simon owns the mall at 8888 Southwest 136th Street in Miami.

$76 million opens door for Gateway at Wynwood

On a corner where Midtown Miami meets the Wynwood Arts District, a family-owned realty group based in New York has secured a $76 million construction loan to build the Gateway at Wynwood project with 220,000 square feet of offices and 25,900 square feet of retail. Developers say the site at 2916 N Miami Ave. is ready for foundation work and construction to advance, with a projected opening in the…

Berkadia Arranges $76M Construction Loan for Mixed-Use Complex in Miami’s Wynwood District

Berkadia has secured a $76 million bridge loan for the construction of Gateway at Wynwood, an approximately 230,000-square-foot office and retail complex at 2916 N Miami Avenue in Miami’s Wynwood district. Charles Foschini of Berkadia arranged the financing through Miami-based 3650 REIT on behalf of the borrower and developer, New York-based Rose & Berg Realty Group LLC. Designed by architect…

Miami investor buys Opa-locka apartments for $8 million

An apartment community in Opa-locka sold for $8.2 million, amid growing interest from investors in the financially troubled city. Ingram Park Apartments LLC sold the 118-unit complex at 14255 to 14460 Northwest 22nd Avenue for $70,000 per unit, records show. SteelBlock, LLC, which is managed by Ignacio Murman, a former executive with Miami-based Black Salmon Capital, bought the property. Steel Block…

Architect Kobi Karp buys Miami Ad School in Wynwood

Miami architect Kobi Karp bought the Miami Ad School campus in Wynwood, but doesn’t yet have plans to move his firm from Edgewater. Karp, who owns Kobi Karp Architecture & Interior Design, paid $6.7 million for the advertising school’s parcels at 588 and 570 Northwest 29th Street, as well as 571 and 565 Northwest 28th Street, property records reveal. They total 1.1 acres of land and 14,000…

Related, PMG slapped with suits alleging faulty construction, false advertising

The luxury South Beach condominium One Ocean is among the Related Group’s signature projects of the most recent cycle. Completed in 2016, the 50 units in the eight-story boutique building sold at an average of between $2.1 million and more than $5.1 million each, or from less than $1,030 to nearly $1,700 per square foot. Martin Franklin, executive chairman and co-founder of consumer products…

Florida Commercial Real Estate News Roundup 2019

2019 was a fruitful year in Florida’s commercial real estate market. New, major developments broke ground and finished in several locations. Meanwhile, domestic and international investors contributed to the market, and overall the financial data in Florida’s CRE is positive. Analysts continue their bullish outlook on the commercial real estate market here with positive predictions…

On Miami’s menu for food trucks: red tape

More speed bumps could be rolling out for food trucks wishing to operate in the City of Miami.  The city commission is to vote on first reading today (1/9) on adding requirements for food trucks operating on private land in the city.  The legislation, sponsored by Commissioner Ken Russell, would add more requirements for food trucks present in the same location more than three times a week…

Palmetto Bay hospital zoning battle in court

A zoning battle between the Village of Palmetto Bay and a developer intent on building a 200-bed hospital has devolved to several lawsuits, with a hearing scheduled for the end of the month.  Luxcom Builders acquired a property on the northeast corner of Southwest 152nd Street and 67th Avenue from Florida Power & Light for $33 million and then proposed a hospital on a 71-acre campus. But…

In Melreese talks, safeguard public interest, not dollar sign

As Miami awaits terms due in May to lease Melreese Golf Course for mega-complex Miami Freedom Park, officials should use the precious months to probe why they’re caught up in this mess and what the city should achieve from it. Emphasis has been on how much money the city can get from the Mas brothers and soccer promoter David Beckham for its largest green space, not on whether the city should…

BellSouth sells 1M square feet of land for $25M

Qualcon Real Estate Fund purchased commercial properties with over 1 million square feet of land in South Florida from defunct BellSouth Telecommunications for $25 million. The firm, led by developers Thomas Conway and Kevin Levine, along with Andy Stone and Petra Capital Management… The properties… 9500 Southwest 180th Street, Palmetto Bay; 8038 Northeast Second Avenue, Little River…

R&B Realty’s Miami Spec Project Moves Forward

R&B Realty Group has bagged a $76 million bridge loan for the construction of a speculative Class A office building in Miami’s hot Wynwood neighborhood. The project, Gateway at Wynwood, is slated to open in the second half of 2021, providing around 220,000 square feet of office accommodation plus 25,900 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Balance-sheet lender 3650 REIT originated…

Miami Developer Bob Zangrillo faces new charges for website scams

Miami real estate developer Bob Zangrillo, embroiled in the college admissions scandal, is facing new charges for allegedly co-owning scam websites that purportedly provide services for government agencies. The Federal Trade Commission alleges Zangrillo was an officer, chaired and co-owned a company, On Point Global, that operates websites offering to conduct government transactions such as…

Pier 1 Imports to close 450 stores across US

Pier 1 Imports is the latest retailer to shutter hundreds of stores nationwide amid plunging sales. The home goods retailer said it plans to close almost half of its stores in the U.S., according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. Texas-based Pier 1 also will close some distribution centers, slash corporate expenses and lay off corporate employees. “Fiscal third-quarter sales and margins…”

These real estate players – some Miami based – have raised a bundle for Biden

Scott Rechler is a self-described “longtime Biden supporter.” But the RXR Realty CEO is one of dozens of real estate powerhouses who have raised big money for the former vice president’s 2020 presidential campaign. In a Friday news dump on Dec. 27, Joe Biden’s team released a list of 259 “volunteer fundraisers” — individuals who had raised at least $25,000 for the campaign. In addition to the world…

Amid supply surge, 2 hotels near MIA sell for $21M

Sunburst Hospitality Corp. sold two hotels near Miami International Airport for a combined $20.6 million, amid a surge of supply in the county. Miami-based Demand Hospitality, led by Nitun Patel, bought the Sleep Inn Miami Airport for $10.3 million. The 119-room hotel at 105 Fairways Drive in Miami Springs was built in 1999. The price pencils out to $86,555 per key…

Pebb Capital & Lease Florida Open New Hampton Inn by Hilton in Miami Beach, Florida

Pebb Capital – a diversified, multi-strategy real estate and private equity investment firm – in a partnership with LeaseFlorida, today announced the opening of Hampton Inn at The Continental in Miami Beach, Florida. The new 100-key hotel features a wide range of amenities in one of the U.S.’ leading tourism destinations. This news follows the partnerships acquisition of the historically-designated…

Centerline snags 90-acre dev site in south Miami-Dade

Centerline Capital Advisors paid $6.75 million for 90 acres in south Miami-Dade County that could be redeveloped into a home community. Sunrise, Florida-based Centerline bought the property at 17101 Southwest 200th Street for $75,000 per acre, records show. Francis Dirico of Key Largo sold the property. The property is close to the Redlands and south of the Zoo Miami. It was previously home t…

Apeiron at The Jockey Club partners fight over failed $20M deal: lawsuit

The partnership behind the Apeiron at the Jockey Club project is in tatters, amid allegations of double-crosses, a loan-to-own scheme and the sabotage of a $20 million deal, according to a recently filed lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Apeiron Holdings Miami and Apeiron Miami, two shell corporations controlled by developers Muyad “Mo” Abbas and Michael Bedner, are suing partners Asaf Horesh, Z…

Co-working will outlive WeWork

WeWork’s valuation has collapsed, and now the company is selling off acquisitions. Knotel is grappling with nearly 1 million square feet of vacancies. WeWork and other co-working companies are slashing their workforces. With headlines like that, you might think the whole sector is in trouble. But flexible office space isn’t going anywhere — and will likely continue expanding. The number of co-working…

Gateway at Wynwood scores $76M loan

More large-scale office and retail development is coming soon to Miami’s artsy neighborhood. New York-based Rose & Berg Realty Group snagged a $76 million loan to build the Class A office and retail complex Gateway at Wynwood from Miami-based 3650 REIT. Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, led by Charles Foschini, brokered the loan. The Kobi Karp-designed property at 2916 North Miami Avenue will…

Local industrial players work the angles as Blackstone moves in

Malcolm Butters’ firm has been building industrial properties in South Florida for about 30 years. But the last three or four of those years have been nothing like what came before. Companies such as Butters Construction have been forced to adapt to changes within an industrial market that has seen a massive influx of institutional capital from the likes of Blackstone and Prologis. Thanks to the rise of…

Videos: Deloitte Real Estate Leader Jim Berry Discusses their 2020 Outlook: Cybersecurity, AI, Sector Performance, Digitization, and Tenant Experience

Jim Berry, United States Real Estate Leader at Deloitte, appears on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss his firm’s (Deloitte’s) 2020 Commercial Real Estate Outlook report. Among the topics discussed are how the internet of things (IoT) has increased cybersecurity demands and commercial real estate sector performance. Additional discussion is given to how organizations are looking to use smart…

Former Shoma headquarters goes for $13M

The former headquarters of Shoma Development sold for $12.8 million. Doral Commons, a four-story, 59,727-square-foot office building in Doral, sold for $214 per square foot, records show. A company managed by Coral Gables real estate investor William Holly bought the property at 8550 Northwest 33rd Street. Bonbon Realty LLC, managed by Arnold Wax, was the seller. The property traded at a slight…

Multi-use redevelopment of Wynwood industrial sites OK’d

A set of interconnected buildings is designed to bring a mix of residential, retail and office uses to a block in Wynwood, along with major murals and other art treatments and a large courtyard. With a current title of Dorsey, the major mixed-use project is proposed by developer Weck 29th LLC for land at 2562/268/286 NW 29th Street and 2801 NW Third Avenue. The City of Miami’s Urban Development…

Sterling Building on Lincoln Road scores hotel approval

Sam Herzberg’s proposal to add a hotel to the 91-year-old Sterling Building on Lincoln Road cleared another hurdle. The Miami Beach Planning Board last week approved the 144-room project by a 6-1 vote. The hotel is one of two currently in the planning stages for the popular pedestrian mall. City leaders and Lincoln Road business owners say the hotels will attract more visitors and supplement the…

Forbes Profiles the Top South Florida Commercial Deals Of 2019

RREEF America, an affiliate of Deutsche Bank, paid $178 million for a three-building and warehouse complex at 5801 and 6301 East 10th Avenue. Totaling 1.6 million square feet, Centergate at Gratigny features two new distribution facilities with 602,657 square feet and a 978,164-square-foot warehouse. The anchor tenant is Bullet Line, a supplier of low-price promotional products, and other tenants…

How Miami-based players are making the most of Opportunity Zones

SIX13 Call it a case of lowered expectations. At one time, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci saw auspicious possibilities in the Opportunity Zone program enacted as part of Trump’s sweeping 2017 tax law. Believing the initiative had $100 billion in investment potential, he set up a fund to raise $3 billion from mom-and-pop investors who wanted to cash in on the…

At the desk of: Gil Dezer

Ride the elevator along with swimsuit-clad hotel guests to the 31st floor of Trump International Beach Resort and you’ll find the headquarters of Dezer Development. Hidden within the full-floor suite at 18001 Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach is a winding staircase that leads to the adjoining lairs of Gil Dezer, 44, and his father Michael Dezer, 78. With a large patio from which he can watch his towers…

Melreese golf course deal for major development targeted for May

After debate over a Melreese golf course deal still being negotiated boiled over in November, Miami commissioners have let talks simmer, awaiting a May update from lawyers. Attorneys retained for ongoing negotiations with Miami Freedom Park laid out issues in December. Ex-commissioner Marc Sarnoff, one of the city’s lawyers for the deal, said commissioners could hear a direct report in May and…

Joia Beach to open at Jungle Island and other restaurant news

Chris Paciello and Mio Danilovic of Liquid Hospitality will open Joia Beach at Jungle Island on Watson Island in January. The European-style concept, with its own beach, will be open for lunch and dinner. Joia Beach is opening as part of a partnership with Jungle Island, Danilovic said. The restaurant will span about 4,000 square feet and the beach will take up nearly 2 acres of land that was previously…

Will Moishe Mana’s downtown dream ever become a reality?

Moishe Mana sits down at the head of a conference table in his Wynwood office and immediately slips off his Louis Vuitton shoes, leaving his bare feet to just brush the tile floor. “It is crazy, you know. Like I was in Colombia now, I was walking barefoot on the beach for three days,” said Mana, who has a habit of smiling while he talks. “I need to take the shoes off everywhere I go.” Mana is a…

Aspira sells Homestead charter school, the third they’ve sold in third South Florida

Homestead school and Achikam Yogev Aspira of Florida sold its third South Florida charter school for $5.1 million. Investors Mario and Ramon Castellanos’ company, 216 Corner LLC, bought the Aspira Leadership & College Preparatory Academy at 13330 Southwest 288th Street in Homestead. The 26,596-square-foot charter school sits on a 3.52-acre property. It sold for $192 per square foot. The buyer…

Leasehold, Tenant, and Build-Out Improvements in CRE

Three terms which are similar, but different There’s an old song, made most popular by an Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong duet, in which the singers lament the differences in how they each pronounce the same words differently. One says “to-may-to,” while the other says “to-mah-to.” As they compare their words, the two must decide if they’re going to overlook their differences or call the whole thing…

Florida State Sales Tax on Commercial Leasing – Reduced to 6.5% for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties as of January 1, 2020

Effective January 1, 2020, the Florida state tax imposed rate per Florida Statutes section 212.031 on the total rent charged for renting, leasing, letting, or granting a license to use real estate property in the State of Florida is decreased from 5.7% to 5.5%.  This includes lease rent collected from retail spaces, offices, warehouses, and self-storage units or warehouse office combinations. The reduction only…

The latest threat to US landlords? Cities are arming tenants with lawyers

New York State’s Attorney General Letitia James joins a press conference to support rent controlled tenants who have been threatened with eviction (Credit: Getty Images) Half a dozen U.S. cities plan to provide tenants free legal counsel in eviction cases in an effort to reduce evictions and prevent homelessness. The programs are expected to be costly and challenging to implement, but advocates…

Unsettling news for landlords: Online retailers killed it this holiday season

Americans spent more money than ever this holiday season — but shoppers are increasingly doing so online. Overall retail spending jumped 3.4 percent over the holidays, according to a recent report from Mastercard. But the biggest gains came from shopping on e-commerce platforms, as online purchases made up 14.6 percent of the sales. That’s an increase of 18.8 percent over last year. It’s…

South Florida’s top real estate news of 2019

South Florida’s place in the real estate big leagues was cemented in 2019, as uber-wealthy hedge funders and other investors from high-tax states poured millions of dollars into luxury properties. Palm Beach gleaned many of the benefits, with sky-high record sales. At the same time, major players from New York, the Kushners and Michael Shvo — set their sights on South Florida, with big development…

Here are South Florida’s largest industrial sales of 2019

Long an afterthought to the high-rise condos overlooking Biscayne Bay and swanky office buildings in Brickell, industrial has now become the sexiest asset class in Miami. Institutional investors like Blackstone are scooping up industrial properties across the area, especially near Miami International Airport, due to the rise of e-commerce. While 2019 marked a year…

Miami Beach seeks to fix floor area ratio controversy involving Galbut and Martin’s Park on Fifth project

Looking to short circuit an unwanted precedent for future development on Miami Beach, city officials are proposing legislation that would make it clear that a project’s floor area ratio includes elevator shafts and stairwells. The Miami Beach Planning Board last week recommended that the city commission approve the new ordinance. It was drafted as a direct response to a recent Miami Beach Board…

Fort Lauderdale Wawa sells for $7M

Stuart Lazier and the Wawa in Fort Lauderdale Real estate investors are buying into Wawa’s subs and relatively reasonably priced gasoline. Toronto-based Northbridge Investment Management sold a building leased to Wawa in Fort Lauderdale for $7.28 million. The buyer is Promociones 96 Inc, which is tied to Juan Petrizzo of Boca Raton. The building at 2620 West Broward Boulevard is within Riverbend…

Miller Construction Completes Two Industrial Buildings Totaling 318,043 SF in Miami Central Commons

Miller Construction Co. has completed two buildings for Orlando-based Foundry Commercial, creating 318,043 square feet of industrial space within the Miami Central Commons business park. Located at 2301 NW 107th Ave. in Doral, 11 miles northwest of Miami, Building 1 contains showroom space and Building 2 contains industrial space. Foundry Commercial purchased the business park in 2017 and…

Infinity sells Ocean Drive building to Apple Core for $33M

New York-based Apple Core Holdings paid $32.5 million for an Ocean Drive building in Miami Beach, The Real Deal has learned. Infinity Real Estate sold the roughly 19,000-square-foot building at 1200 Ocean Drive, across from the beachfront Lummus Park, said Infinity partner David Berg. The company acquired the property from Goldman Properties in 2016 for $15.25 million. Apple Core Holdings…

Maurice Gusman heirs sue city of Miami to regain ownership of Olympia Theater

Olympia Theater (Credit: Getty Images) The city of Miami’s ownership of the Olympia Theater in downtown Miami is facing a legal challenge by the heirs of Maurice Gusman, the late philanthropist who deeded the historic property to the city 44 years ago. In a civil lawsuit filed last month in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, a defunct non-profit entity known as The Maurice Gusman Center for the…

Here are South Florida’s largest office sales of 2019

The long-term success of Florida East Coast Industries’ high-speed Virgin Trains USA remains in question, but one thing is certain — office tenants are flocking to properties nearby. As a result, the company was able to sell the office portion of its MiamiCentral station for $159.4 million in the largest office sale of 2019 in South Florida. Institutional investors and real estate investment trusts are still coming to…

Richard LeFrak touts Solé Mia’s progress from landfill to paradise: ULI symposium

Richard LeFrak and Solé Mia Richard LeFrak recounted the moment roughly nine years ago when he received a call gauging his interest in 184 acres of waterfront land fronting Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami. “It’s a [former] landfill and it’s kind of had a checkered past,” LeFrak recalled the unnamed individual on the line telling him. “I asked what’s the minimum bid? He said $21 million. That’s all I had…

Closed Morningside Park pool could reopen elsewhere

A new Morningside Park swimming pool seems all but certain to be built away from its historic but long-closed waterfront site. But new features could be coming to mitigate the park’s vulnerability to flooding. At Miami’s Climate Resilience Committee meeting Dec. 2, the Office of Capital Improvements updated members on plans for Morningside Park, reiterating a preference to build the pool inland in…

Big deadline nears for opportunity zones

With the deadline to receive full benefits less than a week off and a new, voluminous document from the IRS further detailing regulations, opportunity zones – Census-designated areas targeted for tax-incentivized development – remain a hot subject. In essence, the federal opportunity zones program is meant to spur improvements to low-income neighborhoods by rewarding investors who spend money…

Palmetto Bay grand plan reduces scale with new team

Palmetto Bay has resumed talks with real estate firm NAI Miami, the second-ranked proposer on a project to redevelop the village’s downtown area, after its first choice abruptly pulled out of negotiations. Village council members voted unanimously Nov. 4 to reconsider a proposal from NAI and terminate dialogue with first-ranked i3 Interests LLC, whose unsolicited $72 million project proposal in 2018…

Top-tier malls feeling pain of changing consumer behavior

Top-tier malls are no longer immune from the perils facing the broader retail sector. Landlords behind some malls in prime locations across America are now signaling slower income growth as they grapple with a shifting consumer landscape and internet competition, the Wall Street Journal reports. Several malls have lowered their 2019 guidance on net income, for example. Some…

Adam Neumann could reap $2B from WeWork golden parachute

Adam Neumann’s golden parachute could be the gift that keeps on giving. According to the Financial Times, the WeWork co-founder owns millions of “profit interests” in the co-working firm, which means that if WeWork goes public, Neumann’s $1.7 billion package could grow in value to more than $2 billion. In the event of an IPO, Neumann’s interests would would convert into stock with a value…

Here are South Florida’s largest retail sales of 2019

Compilation of the top five properties (Credit: Google Maps) Despite doomsday predictions about retail, and national stores like Toys R’ Us declaring bankruptcy, retail in South Florida appears to be alive and well. Institutional investors and real estate investment trusts continue to acquire retail centers across the region. Here are the largest retail sales of 2019: InvenTrust picks up Costco-anchored…

Analysts still baffled by Brookfield’s big bet on malls

Brookfield Asset Management’s massive investment in malls is looking worse than ever to some observers. Since its nearly $15 billion acquisition of General Growth Properties in 2018, Brookfield Property Real Estate Investment Trust, a publicly traded vehicle formed after the purchase, has seen its shares decline by 13 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported. The second-largest mall…

WeWork’s rescue package may be in trouble

SoftBank Group is trying to borrow $3 billion from Japan’s three largest banks as part of its effort to save WeWork and it’s not going well. Talks have stalled amid the lenders’ concern over credit risk and reports that the banks have hit internal limits, Reuters reported. The three banks involved are Mizuho Financial Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.

Lebron James’ Unknwn business partner allegedly skipped out on Miami Design District construction bill

Frankie Walker Jr., a childhood friend of Lebron James who co-owns the Unknwn men’s store in Wynwood with the NBA superstar, is accused of skipping out on a construction bill for more than $300,000 connected to an unrelated retail venture in the Miami Design District. The contractor, Miami-based design and construction firm Twenty Two Group, reduced the debt by more…

These were South Florida’s biggest industrial leases of 2019

It was a strong year for industrial leases in South Florida, with the largest — for a Home Depot distribution center in Hialeah — topping 1 million square feet. Land prices jumped as much as 30 percent in Miami-Dade and Broward counties in 2019, year-over-year, to more than $1 million an acre, said Steve Wasserman, executive managing director of Colliers International South Florida. Rental rates for new…

Porn king scores Wynwood development site

A porn mogul paid $4.2 million for a development site in Wynwood, The Real Deal has learned. Showcase Acquisitions LLC, a company led by Kris Hinson, co-founder of porn site Bang Bus closed on the property at 2210 Northwest Miami Court, according to sources. The 13,345-square-foot corner lot is in the southeast quadrant of Wynwood. Investor Philip Knoll put the property on the market with…

Apartment-hotel brand – with one in Miami – raises $100M with backing from Softbank, GGV Capital

Domio CEO Jay Roberts (Credit: Domio) Apartment-hotel brand Domio just closed a $100 million funding round and is attracting big investors including SoftBank, GGV Capital and Lehman Brothers–spinoff Tenaya Capital. The funding was split equally between equity and debt, according to the announcement. The equity round was led by GGV Capital, a global venture capital firm that manages $6.2 billion…

South Beach building near Joe’s Stone Crab hits market for $45M

An office building in the South-of-Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach hit the market for $45 million. Property records show Yantra 119 LLC, led by Giulio Rangoni and Cinzia Zanella, own the six-story, 43,140-square-foot building at 119 Washington Avenue. The property is on the market with Amit Egan Datwani of The Global Consulting…

No more excuses: New Opp Zone rules should open the door to big money

Despite being hyped the Next Big Thing in real estate, investor interest in Opportunity Zones hasn’t materialized as fund managers, developers and government officials had hoped. But on Thursday, the IRS and Treasury released the final set of regulations for the federal program, providing investors and developers more certainty over the rules and regulations that govern how real estate money can be…

Commercial Real Estate Trades in Miami Gardens

Commercial real estate in the Miami Gardens area has been active of late. Consider a few transactions this year. Concorde Group Holdings sold a couple of commercial buildings near Miami Gardens for just under $20 million, which was a 61 percent increase from the last sale price of the properties in 2016. These were 139,495-square-foot buildings located…

MDH Partners buys Liberty City warehouse

An Atlanta-based industrial investment group paid $8.9 million for a warehouse west of Little Haiti in Liberty City. MDH Partners’ affiliate MDH F1 Miami NW 74 LLC closed on the 102,000-square-foot building at 1350 Northwest 74th Street in Miami. Property records show G&G Real Estate Investments LC sold the building. The deal is the first for MDH in Miami. The investment and development firm…

The Dorsey project in Wynwood wins design approval

The latest mixed-use project in Wynwood spearheaded by the Related Group won a nod from the Miami Urban Development Review Board, despite one board member’s sharp criticism that new buildings in the city’s hottest neighborhood lack pizazz. The board on Wednesday voted 7-0 to approve five design waivers for The Dorsey, a proposed 12-story apartment building with a parking garage…

Mazel tov! Kosher market-anchored shopping center trades for $16M

IMC Equity snagged a retail center anchored by a Kosher supermarket in Cooper City for $16.36 million. The North Miami-based firm, led by Yoram Izhak, purchased the 56,968-square-foot Stirling Town Center for $287 per square foot, records show. Stirling Retail 26 LLC, led by Yaniv Sananes of Golden Beach, sold the shopping center. The property is at 8631-8861 Stirling Road in Cooper City, adjacent to…

All rise: Miami-Dade commissioners approve $267M downtown Miami courthouse project

The Miami-Dade County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a deal with Plenary Group to build a new $267 million civil courthouse in downtown Miami. The proposed 23-story building will replace the 1928-era courthouse at 73 West Flagler Street that was the site of a trial of Chicago mobster Al Capone. Amid a packed audience of local judges and attorneys, county commissioners moved…

Chick-fil-A, Old Navy to Join $425M River Landing Project in Miami

UrbanX Group has inked new lease agreements with fast casual restaurant Chick-fil-A and clothing retailer Old Navy to occupy a total of 19,000 square feet along the Miami River. The tenants will join River Landing Shops & Residences, the 8.1-acre mixed-use development currently under construction. Chick-fil-A and Old Navy are both scheduled to open in spring 2020 and join already signed tenants Publix…

Moishe Mana’s Downtown Miami Buying Binge Grows To $375 Million

With his recent acquisition of City National Bank’s former headquarters for $25 million, billionaire Moishe Mana has now spent $375 million assembling properties in downtown Miami. This week, the Israeli-born real estate mogul closed on an existing 139,448-square-foot office building at 25 West Flagler Street and three adjacent parcels totaling 29,000 square feet. Located between West Flagler Street…

Aztec Arranges $142M Loan for Melo Group’s 667-Unit Art Plaza Community in Miami

Aztec Group Inc. has arranged $142 million in agency debt financing for the developer Melo Group’s new Art Plaza development in Miami. Berkadia’s Miami office will act as seller-servicer for the Freddie Mac loan. The 10-year loan features full-term interest-only payment and a fixed interest rate under 3.5 percent. Aztec’s Peter Mekras arranged the financing on behalf of Melo, which is using the loan to refinance…

Rieber Developments Tops Off Aventura Medical Office Building

Ivory 214, a 10-story medical office building in Aventura, Fla., topped off six months after Shalev Development Group secured a $36 million construction loan via BridgeInvest. Rieber Developments expects to deliver the project in the second quarter of 2020. Located at 2820 NE 214th St., the property is part of the Aventura Medical District. The development will include 34,000 square feet of office space…

Grails Sports Bar buys its Wynwood building

Grails Sports Bar in Wynwood paid $6.4 million to purchase its building. The bar, owned by Oscar Ortega, Hector Acevedo, Eddie Fuentes, and Manuel Picon, paid $877 per square foot for the building and about $563 per square foot for the land at 2800 North Miami Avenue, according to the brokers involved in the sale. Grails is owned by the same people behind Cocktail Cartel and Grails’ sister restaurant…

Prologis Signs New Tenant at Miami Industrial Park

SPR Global Storage & Logistics has signed a new, long-term lease for an 80,000-square-foot cold storage facility at the Beacon at 97th Avenue industrial park in Doral, Fla. Transwestern Commercial Services negotiated the deal on behalf of the tenant, while JLL assisted landlord Prologis. Located at 2000 NW 97th Ave. in Miami’s Airport submarket, the industrial park consists of Class A warehouse…

South Florida’s biggest office leases of 2019

South Florida’s office leasing market this year was spurred by tenants seeking to relocate to better spaces, often in more eco-friendly buildings. “The trend we’re seeing in the marketplace is that tenants are seeking new office space that allows them to hire, retain and motivate the workforce, as well as to better reflect their image,” said Stephen Rutchik, executive managing director at Colliers…

All-free Miami-Dade transit is answer, Xavier Suarez says

Among attempts to regain riders on Miami-Dade transit, some, like contactless payment and monthly discounts, are here now. Others, like Transit Alliance’s redesign of the Metrobus route network, are near. But Commissioner Xavier Suarez says one solution gaining steam around the US, at which city trolleys here excel, could add widespread ridership: make it free. “It is time for Miami-Dade County to…

Miami’s scooter pilot program walks a tightrope

The City of Miami’s scooter pilot program has once again been extended, this time to mid-February, with its long-term future still up in the air. Chairman Ken Russell, the district commissioner for the scooter pilot, again asked his fellow commissioners to extend the pilot while the administration hashes out a solicitation for proposals. While the legislation had originally called for a four-month extension,

Predictions For South Florida CRE In 2020

So 2019 is drawing to a close, having given the world of commercial real estate things we expected — like a booming industrial market — and things we didn’t (WeWork and opportunity zones were among the greatest flops of the decade). Bisnow asked some South Florida real estate pros what 2020 may bring. Here are their thoughts: Jeff Gordon, vice president, JLL: “We have a number of interesting new…”

What It Took To Build Zaha Hadid’s Miami Tower

Architect and developer Louis Birdman has worked on about 80 condominium projects around the country, but few are as high-profile as 1000 Museum, the downtown Miami condo designed by famed architect Zaha Hadid, known for projects such as the London Olympic Aquatic Centre and the Guangzhou Opera House. One Thousand Museum, sometimes called the Scorpion Tower, was the only…

Moishe Mana plans 11-building tech center along Flagler

Moishe Mana and the Mana Group plan a large-scale tech center, anchored by Flagler Street, for downtown Miami, representatives told the Downtown Development Authority on Friday. Mana Tech, said Paul Lambert, managing principal of Lambert Advisory, will bring tech and venture capital companies into the city’s core “very much at the direction of Moishe Mana. Flagler Street will be the center, and…

Atlantic Sapphire building ‘largest aquaculture facility in world’ in the Redlands

Atlantic Sapphire, an indoor salmon farming company founded in Norway nearly a decade ago, is on track to finish the first of three construction phases on a sprawling facility in Miami-Dade’s Redland by July. Once completed, it will be “the largest aquaculture facility in the world.” That’s according to CFO José Prado, who told county commissioners Tuesday that the company aims to increase its…

China’s largest co-working firm eyes a New York IPO

China’s largest co-working company, Ucommune, has filed plans for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The offering could take place as early as next month, the Wall Street Journal reported. It will represent a test of investor sentiment following WeWork’s IPO debacle this fall — was WeWork’s failure a symptom of problems specific to the company, or is the co-working business…

Moishe Mana buys City National Bank building in downtown Miami

Moishe Mana paid $25 million for the City National Bank building on Flagler Street in downtown Miami, adding to his property empire. John Crotty of Avison Young Seller City National Bank was previously based out of the the 12-story, 140,000-square-foot building at 25 West Flagler Street. It was on the market with John Crotty, Michael Fay, David Duckworth, Brian de la Fé and others at Avison Young.

Sustainable Hospitality Brand, Shepherd Eco, Launches in Wynwood

Lucky Shepherd announces the launch of its Shepherd Eco sustainable hospitality brand with a flagship location in Wynwood, Miami. The project, developed by Shepherd Atma and Hoar Program Management (HPM), with Touzet Studio as architect and Gensler as interior design, is slated to open late 2022. Shepherd Eco offers extraordinary, one-of-a-kind experiences – thoughtfully designed and curated…

Experts Round-Up: Top Retail Property Trends to Expect in 2020

A new decade awaits us in 2020, and with it the inevitable, constant evolution of the retail industry market. As one of the most competitive markets in the world, change and adaptation are truly the only constants. The rise in use of technology coupled with metadata metrics for analyzing consumer habits have inspired retailers to adapt and not only stay on top of trends, but ahead of…

Top 25 South Florida Retail Shopping Center Transactions of 2019

2019 is going down as another successful year South Florida’s commercial real estate market. Across the board of primary stats: vacancy levels, asking rates, and absorption, things have been positive as the decade is coming to a close. One of the most significant contributors to the upbeat sentiment in South Florida retail, particularly, is with the shopping center transactions. Compared to 2018’s retail…

Judge says Parque Towers developer mismarketed condo size

When Josh and Michelle Kurzban saw brochures for Parque Towers in Sunny Isles Beach and put down a deposit in 2015, they were expecting to upgrade to a new 2,500-square-foot condo. Four years later, a Miami-Dade Circuit judge ruled that the developer, J. Milton & Associates, mismarketed the size of Kurzban’s unit by almost 25 percent. The ruling, delivered last week, could have significant…

These were South Florida’s biggest retail leases of 2019

Some of the top retail leases in 2019 (Credit: Google Maps) South Florida’s retail leasing market is in transition, as the sector struggles nationwide amid the growing strength of e-commerce. Many stores are rethinking their brick-and-mortar strategies, which means less retail and more restaurants and service uses, said Dave Preston, executive managing director at Colliers International South Florida.

Video: CCIM Chief Economist K.C. Conway Discusses Commercial Real Estate Vectors 2020

As the economic expansion continues into the year 2020, we all wonder what can be expected to drive the commercial real estate industry going into the future? In this two part video series, CCIM Chief Economist K.C. Conway joins the show host to offer views on the economic cycle, trends to watch within sectors, and other factors set to likely affect commercial real estate in the new year. He discusses election…

A Primer from the Fed on Negative Interest Rates

The European Central Bank (ECB) in recent months cut its key deposit facility rate—or the interest rate that European banks earn when they deposit excess reserves at the ECB—to negative 0.5% with the intent of stimulating growth. The figure below presents this rate alongside the deposit rate U.S. banks earn at the Federal Reserve. In the U.S., this rate is referred to as the IOER (interest on excess…)

PortMiami Welcomes Largest Container Ship To Dock In Florida

The largest container ship to ever call on a Florida port sailed into PortMiami early Wednesday morning. Officials from the county, including Mayor Carlos Gimenez and others, welcomed the CMA CGM Magellan into the port. The 167-foot wide vessel can hold between 120,000 and 146,000 pallets. Gimenez and Tourism and Ports Committee chairwoman Rebeca Sosa spoke on the county’s commitment…

Eco-friendly Wynwood hotel planned for Art by God site

A new eco-friendly hotel is expected to break ground on the site of the Art by God store in Wynwood. Lucky Shepherd, co-founded by Shepherd Atma and Hoar Program Management, will build Shepherd Eco Wynwood at 60 Northeast 27th Street, joining a number of other hotels that have been proposed in the neighborhood. Christine Menedis and Naveen Trehan co-founded Pooler, Georgia-based…

WeWork’s Claure on dumping Adam Neumann, renegotiating leases

Marcelo Claure thinks Adam Neumann is misunderstood and that the prospects for WeWork remain strong. The new executive chairman of WeWork spoke to the New York Times for his first interview since SoftBank effectively took over the company. He said he still values Neumann’s opinion a lot and meets with him frequently outside of the office, but he also recounted telling Neumann he needed to…

Blackstone plans to build new Medley warehouse

Blackstone has now acquired 18 acres in Medley where it will build a new warehouse, according to the seller. In its latest deal, the New York-based private equity firm acquired a 2.2-acre property at 9800 Northwest 87th Avenue for $3.3 million from Miami-based Fordome Investment Group. The purchase adds to its growing industrial portfolio in South Florida. The property sold for a…

Meet the financial backers behind WeWork’s rise and fall

It was only after WeWork pulled its IPO and Adam Neumann’s ouster that one of the company’s board members took a stance. Former Goldman Sachs partner Mark Schwartz (Credit: Goldman Sachs) In early October, former Goldman Sachs partner Mark Schwartz told WeWork’s board members: No more fantasizing — it was time to save the company. “I’ve stayed silent too long,” he said, according to…

Ugo Colombo pays off $236M construction loan for Brickell Flatiron

Ugo Colombo’s CMC Group paid off its construction for Brickell Flatiron, less than two months after the condo tower was completed. The $236 million in construction debt was issued by Bank OZK, Goldman Sachs’ Broad Street, and RFR Realty in 2017. It broke down to a $138.5 million mortgage and a $97.5 million mezzanine loan. Brickell Flatiron, a 64-story, 527-unit tower at 1000 Brickell Plaza, is one…

What apocalypse? Expo showed few signs of retail’s struggles

And it’s a wrap on one of the largest retail real estate conventions in the country. Attendance at the New York Deal Making conference, put on every December by the International Council of Shopping Centers, was on pace to surpass the usual 10,000 people, an ICSC representative said. Final figures were not immediately available. As of noon Thursday the three-day West Side event had 9,178…

Galbut sells 50% stake in Mondrian South Beach

Russell Galbut is continuing to sell off part of his hotel portfolio. Galbut’s Crescent Heights sold 50 percent of its Mondrian South Beach condo-hotel to investor Michael S. Liebowitz for an undisclosed amount. Galbut, himself, will retain 50 percent ownership, and Menin Hospitality will continue to manage and operate the property, according to a press release. Menin helped develop the 335-key…

WeWork tries to escape leases — and eviction

After word of mass layoffs and a shift toward austerity, the inevitable is happening: WeWork is quietly trying to back out of leases. Executives at the embattled co-working company have been negotiating with landlords to find a way out of agreements it signed in up to 100 buildings around the world, The Information reported. Meanwhile in New York, Chestnut Holdings is trying to boot WeWork from…

Melo Group grabs more land north of downtown Miami for $28M

The Melo Group just picked up another site in Miami’s Arts & Entertainment District near Edgewater. Melo paid $28 million for the 1.6-acre block between 18th and 19th streets on the west side of Biscayne Boulevard, according to a spokesperson. The land is zoned for a transit-oriented, mixed-use residential development with up to 800 units and street-level retail. Property records show the seller is…

Miami may seek $250M for affordable home-buying program

The Miami City Commission is looking to seek $250 million in loans and grants to create an affordable home ownership program with at least 2,500 residential units. Proposed by commissioner Joe Carollo, the pilot program would use the funds to build more than 600 two-bedroom condos and 1,900 one-bedroom condos in all five of Miami’s city commission districts. The money would also be used to…

Melo Group lands $142M refi for Art Plaza

The Melo Group closed on $142 million in refinancing for Art Plaza in downtown Miami’s Arts & Entertainment District. The loan comes a year after Melo closed on a similar, $142 million refinancing of Square Station, a two-tower, 710-unit apartment development at 1424 Northeast Miami Place. The latest refinancing is for Art Plaza, a 667-unit apartment project at 58 Northeast 14th Street with 15,000 …

Terra plans massive multifamily project in northwest Miami-Dade

Industrial builder and operator Prologis sold a site in northwest Miami-Dade to Terra for $52 million, as development continues heading west. Terra plans to turn the 70-acre site, along Northwest 170th Street between I-75 and the Florida Turnpike, into a multifamily project with 1,369 apartments. Terra financed the land purchase with a $43 million loan from Synovus, according to a press release. Terra…

Miami may be closer to banning Special Area Plans

In Miami, property owners who control more than 9 acres of land can apply for a wide array of zoning changes. They’re called Special Area Plans, or SAPs, and the legislation has allowed for massive, planned projects like Brickell City Centre, River Landing Shops & Residences, the redevelopment of the Miami Design District, and the expansion of the Miami Jewish Home. It has also allowed for future mega…

Billionaire hotelier buys Overtown store for $6 million

The billionaire, one-time developer of Baha Mar in the Bahamas is adding to his collection of properties in Miami’s Wynwood and Overtown. A trust tied to Sarkis Izmirlian paid $6.6 million for an Overtown convenience store with a lot totaling 25,906 square feet at 295 Northwest 20th Street, records show. The sale equates to $254 per square foot…

As Miami Condo Market Cools, Developers Move North, And To Smaller Projects

Most real estate experts in South Florida agree that the condominium market has cooled — at least for big, new, luxury product. The heavy supply, plus a strong dollar, has thinned the buyer pool for the thousands of high-end units coming to market. But developers aren’t calling off the cranes. Condo builders are instead moving north, creating smaller projects, courting domestic buyers and…

Coworking Firm CoSuite Leases Entire Floor at Miami Tower

CoSuite has signed a long-term lease for 14,280 square feet at 800 Brickell Avenue in Miami, where it will occupy the entire fourth floor. Avison Young represented the tenant and was retained by Gatsby Enterprises and partner MasterMind Properties, the office building’s new ownership, to handle leasing. The two companies acquired the 15-story property for $125.5 million a few months ago. Located…

Miami (#10), Hialeah (#17) Make NREI’s 25 Dynamic American Cities Lists

Weighing factors including population growth, median age, higher education degrees, job growth and more than a dozen other factors, website Point2Homes.com generated a list of the most dynamic American cities. According to the site, which is a division of Yardi Systems Inc. that covers real estate market trends and new and develops original studies on many real estate topics, the methodology involved…

What you need to know about investing in healthcare real estate

In fragmentation, there is real estate opportunity. And that makes healthcare one of the most interesting spaces for private equity real estate investors, generating billions of dollars in trades over the past year, according to top players and advisers in the space. “As we are reaching the end of the cycle, people are seeing healthcare as a safe place to invest capital and find enhanced yield in healthcare as…

Video: Crowdfunding Law Firm Trowbridge Sidoti’s Managing Parter Gene Trowbridge Discusses Real Estate Syndication

Syndication and crowdfunding are becoming an increasingly popular way to fund commercial real estate purchases. Join the host of America’s Commercial Real Estate Show and its guest, Gene Trowbridge, author of “It’s A Whole New Business” and Managing Partner of the crowdfunding law firm Trowbridge Sidoti, as they discuss syndication regulations, examples of successful uses and a few tips to…

The 10 Biggest South Florida Office Sales And Leases Of The Decade

As we close out 2019, it’s not just the end of a year, but the end of a decade. Bisnow took a peek back at how South Florida’s real estate market has changed since 2010, when we were in the midst of the Great Recession. The research team at Newmark Knight Frank rounded up the top 10 office sales and leases of the decade. Looking at the data, Newmark Knight Frank Executive Managing Director Steve…

84 more hotels in the wings for Miami-Dade market

A new wave of 84 announced hotels could catapult 16,135 more hotel rooms into the Miami-Dade market within four years, adding more than 27% to hotel capacity at a time the industry is also feeling the growth of short-term rental services operators like Airbnb. In the first 10 months of this year the market added nine hotels and 894 additional rooms, with a total now of 58,175 rooms in the county…

Brickell Financial District tower upgrade wins OK

The city’s Urban Development Review Board is recommending approval of a renovation plan that would change the look of a tower that has stood in the southern Brickell Financial District for more than a decade. One Broadway, a mixed-use residential building reaching 36 stories at 1451 S Miami Avenue is “undergoing significant renovation,” according to owner Park Place at Brickell LLC. Luis Lamar…

Yardi Matrix Special Report: Coworking Grows Steadily, NYC Leads the Way, Miami Among Top Markets

In October, Yardi Matrix released its latest special report, “Shared Space: Coworking’s Rapid Growth Set to be Tested.” According to the findings, the coworking segment continued its growth in 2019, despite industry headlines being dominated by the struggles of The We Company. However, this rapid expansion is set to be put to the test in the near future, as some may now believe that the entire…

Dezer wins height approval for Sunny Isles’ tallest condo tower

The Federal Aviation Administration approved the height for what would be the tallest tower in Sunny Isles Beach. Dezer Development could build up to 743 feet above ground, or 749 feet above sea level, on the property at 18401 Collins Avenue. Dezer owns the Days Hotel by Wyndham Thunderbird Beach Resort on the site. Property records show Dezer Hotel Management Ltd. paid $6.78 million for the…

IMC Equity snags Hialeah warehouse from Cofe Properties

Yoram Izhak’s IMC Equity Group snagged another property from Cofe Properties. The North Miami-based firm purchased the 44,312-square-foot warehouse at 1490 West 49th Place in Hialeah for $5.9 million, or $133 per square foot, records show. The warehouse was built in 1966 and has five floors. Just two months ago, IMC Equity Group bought two industrial buildings in Plantation from Miami…

They paved paradise to sell a parking lot; lot sales surge

“They paved paradise to put up a parking lot,” Joni Mitchell famously sang. However, in hot real estate markets, we’re well past that. Developers, desperate for prime land upon which to build, are increasingly eyeing parking lots, and that has caused trading activity of such assets to soar. In 2016, for example, there were over 200 sales of parking lots, according to CoStar Group data cited by the New…

Lennar sells off part of its Via Ventura community

Lennar sold part of its property in the Via Ventura community near Aventura for $9.1 million. The Miami-based homebuilder sold a lake in the community it is developing at 20890 San Simeon Way to the San Simeon Community District. The district is designed to provide financing for community infrastructure, facilities and services. A community development district is a special purpose government…

Northwest Dade property owner seeking to fill lake gets denied — again

Lake that Lake Sana Developments wants to partially fill A property owner on a quest to partially fill an 85-acre lake in unincorporated northwest Miami-Dade for future development suffered another setback recently. Last month, a panel of three Miami-Dade Circuit Court judges denied Lake Sana Developments’ petition to overturn a vote by the county’s Community Council 8. The council’s vote denied…

Rethinking the Benefits of Opportunity Zone Investment

Longer holding requirements, the continual drip of federal guidelines, and a lack of tax savings have left many would-be investors sitting out of tax-sheltering opportunity zones. A year after the U.S. Treasury released its first set of guidelines, tax breaks for redeploying capital-gains profits into real estate and business ventures in low-income neighborhoods have generated a fraction of the anticipated $100…

Florida Zoning Appeals Law: Miami Beach “Ban” on Short-Term Rentals Ruled Illegal

In recent years, online platforms like Airbnb and HomeAway have made it easier for property owners to enter into the short-term rental market, which allows property owners to generate supplemental income and defray the cost of maintaining their real estate. The emergence of this “industry,” however, has faced resistance from neighboring property owners and local governments over concerns…

AquaBlue Group owner lists South Beach apartments for $14 million

A company tied to AquaBlue Group owner Philippe Harari is looking to sell a South Beach apartment complex for $13.9 million. Greenview Courtyard, at 2021–2035 Meridian Avenue, across from the Miami Beach Golf Club, includes three buildings with a total of 30 units. The price breaks down to about $463,000 per apartment. Harari’s Greenview Courtyard Inc. paid $2 million for the property in 2002…

The Art Basel Crowd Discovers Allapattah

Miami Art Week’s center of gravity moves every couple of years—pulled at one moment by the gritty muraled walls of Wynwood, at another by the gleaming shops of the Design District. But during this year’s festivities, a new neighborhood that’s been overlooked by the artistic glitterati is seeing a flurry of activity. Allapattah, nestled just west of Wynwood and north of Little Havana along the Miami River…

CitizenM scores $48M loan to build Brickell hotel

CitizenM scored a $48.3 million construction loan to build a new hotel at the former site of Perricone’s Marketplace & Cafe in Brickell. The hotelier secured the loan from Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. for the 252-key hotel at 955 South Miami Avenue in Miami. The Netherlands-based hotel chain is also planning to build hotels in Miami Beach, on the corner of Alton and Lincoln roads, as well as in…

Breather bloodbath: Flex-office startup fires 17% of staff

Breather, an on-demand workspace company, fired almost a fifth of its staff Thursday. The Montreal-based firm, which provides office space across 10 different cities and has more than 100 employees, laid off at least 18 staffers, The Real Deal has learned. In a post on LinkedIn, Breather’s director of research, Anja Jamrozik Otto shared that she and others were leaving the company. A person familiar…

Diesel family dishes on Wynwood condo project

Amid the annual hoopla of Miami Art Week, the top dogs at Diesel provided a sneak peek of their Wynwood condo project, which joins a wave of luxury retailers breaking into South Florida real estate development. The Italian fashion brand’s founder Renzo Rosso and his son Andrea Rosso held court inside the Diesel Wynwood 28 sales gallery Wednesday morning, answering questions about the 143-unit…

Len Blavatnik teams with Vlad Doronin on Aman-branded towers in Faena District

Billionaires Len Blavatnik and Vlad Doronin are partnering to build the first Aman-branded development in the Miami area. Blavatnik’s Access Industries and Doronin’s OKO Group plan to build two towers on the site of the former Versailles Hotel at 3425 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, according to a press release. The hotel and branded condos will be part of the Faena District. Doronin is also…

Anatomy gym to open in Coconut Grove

Rendering of Regatta Harbour Luxury gym concept Anatomy will open in Coconut Grove next year. Anatomy inked a lease for 14,500 square feet at Regatta Harbour, The Real Deal has learned. Treo Group is developing the mixed-use project at 3385 Pan American Drive. Anatomy will be located in ground-floor retail space on the south side of the development. Anatomy has two other locations in the…

Diamonds aren’t forever: Seybold Building jeweler claims owner won’t relocate his store

The front entrance of the Seybold building at 36 NE First Street. A jeweler at the Seybold Building in downtown Miami claims the landlord is about to put the store out of business as a result of an ongoing renovation project. Nemaro Jewelers, which is four years into a 15-year lease, is suing Seybold owner Flagler Street Associates in Miami-Dade Circuit Court for allegedly breaching the lease agreement. The…

Sonder inks lease for flagship Wynwood hotel

The hospitality market in Wynwood is heating up. Sonder, a San Francisco-based startup that leases apartments and rents them out on a short-term basis, signed a lease for a new hotel development near the Wynwood Walls, The Real Deal has learned. The short-term rental operator will manage the 72-key project at 111 Northwest 26th Street in the artsy Miami neighborhood. Andres Klein, founder and…

CitizenM, Miami Worldcenter Associates Break Ground on 351-Room Downtown Hotel

Netherlands-based hotel chain citizenM and developer Miami Worldcenter Associates have broken ground on a new citizenM hotel in downtown Miami. The hotel will be part of a $4 billion mixed-use development called Miami Worldcenter. Owner, operator and developer citizenM and master developer of the mixed-use campus Miami Worldcenter Associates will make the 700 NE 2nd Avenue property into…

‘Aggressive’ Turkish Billionaire’s First U.S. Project, The Tallest Tower In Florida, To Break Ground Soon

Billionaire developer Bekir Okan doesn’t speak English and has never built a project in the U.S. before — his universities and developments are primarily in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, right out of the gate, he intends to spearhead the tallest building in Florida. The 70-story, 890-foot, $300M Okan Tower at 555 North Miami Avenue is expected to take four years to build. Last…

Video: National Apartment Association’s Paula Munger Provides Multifamily Update, Discusses Rent Control Effects

Paula Munger, Assistant Vice President of Industry Research with the National Apartment Association, joins America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss some current trends in the multifamily property market. Also discussed are some of the more important legislative issues for apartment properties today, in particular rent control. Also discussed is data they have on their site that display metrics for…

During Art Basel, Attention Shifts From Wynwood To Allapattah

It’s time for Art Basel, America’s premier contemporary art fair, which means that collectors and celebrities will be flying in from everywhere and fanning out all over Miami for parties and gallery shows. Billionaire developer Jorge M. Pérez, the chairman and CEO of Related Group and a serious arts patron, is opening a new, 28K SF art museum this week — and it’s not in Wynwood, which has been…

Stock of Sapir Corp – owner of several Miami commercial properties – drops in Tel Aviv

The NoMo SoHo hotel owned by the Sapir Corp. saw its net operating income fall in the third quarter, dragging down the company’s overall performance in the third quarter. In the last week, Alex Sapir’s real estate company, which trades on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, saw its stock price fall by about 18 percent from its pre-earnings price of 508 shekels on Nov. 28 to 414.9 shekels as of Wednesday.

Len Blavatnik teams with Vlad Doronin on Aman-branded towers in Faena District

Billionaires Len Blavatnik and Vlad Doronin are partnering to build the first Aman-branded development in the Miami area. Blavatnik’s Access Industries and Doronin’s OKO Group plan to build two towers on the site of the former Versailles Hotel at 3425 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, according to a press release. The hotel and branded condos will be part of the Faena District. Doronin is also…

Suit aims to wrest control of historic Olympia Theater from Miami

With the historic Olympia Theater in the heart of downtown seemingly in limbo, the City of Miami is facing a lawsuit over its handling of the property. Last month, The Maurice Gusman Cultural Center for the Performing Arts Inc., a dissolved Florida not-for-profit corporation, sued the City of Miami for its ownership of the Olympia Theater at 174 E Flagler Street. The theater is managed by the not-for-profit…

Tri-Rail into downtown Miami awaits Brightline’s action

Thousands of would-be downtown commuters wait anxiously to learn when Tri-Rail trains will roll into Miami Central station, and they aren’t alone. The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Tri-Rail’s parent, must wait for Florida East Coat Railway, which owns the Brightline commuter service, to have its Positive Train Control (PTC) system certified by the federal government before it can move…

31-story Courtyard by Marriott coming to hot Omni area

Courtyard by Marriott is still coming to the Omni neighborhood of Miami, with a revised plan for a new high-rise hotel with meeting spaces, ballrooms and more. One Miami Biscayne Bay and Art District Hotel LLC, affiliated with Mandala Holdings, proposes the new tower at 511 NE 15th Street. The property is about a half block from the Adrienne Arsht Center Metromover Station, and adjacent to the…

Miami River boat showroom OK’d, restaurant leaves bad taste

The Miami River Commission on Monday approved in concept the plans of Puntallana LLC to put a six-story commercial building and an ancillary restaurant on a riverfront parcel at 301 and 311 NW South River Drive in the Riverside section of Little Havana. The small lot has an irregular shape and is now underutilized, said a petition by Steven Wernick of Wernick & Co., attorney for Arturo Ortega, Puntallana…

Gil Dezer, Related complete Residences by Armani/Casa

Rendering of Residences by Armani/Casa, Jorge Pérez and Gil Dezer Residences by Armani/Casa in Sunny Isles Beach scored its temporary certificate of occupancy, and closings are expected to begin this week, The Real Deal has learned. Gil Dezer, CEO of Dezer Development, said the 308-unit luxury condominium tower at 18975 Collins Avenue received its TCO on Friday, and closings are scheduled to begin…

Miami River Commission approves yacht building and restaurant

Rendering of planned marine facility and restaurant The Miami River Commission on Monday backed a proposal to build a six-story marine facility and an adjacent 90-seat restaurant on properties once owned by a Cuban exile accused of plotting to assassinate Fidel Castro. But Carlos Salas, president of the Spring Garden Civic Association, said he intends to appeal the decision for the proposed…

Gulfstream Park bets on $20M renovation

Gulfstream Park and Stronach Group CEO Craig Fravel South Florida’s thoroughbred horse racing venue is betting on $20 million in renovations. The Stronach Group plans to modernize Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach with a new open-air dining terrace overlooking the racetrack. The terrace will feature luxury boxes with private televisions. The renovations will also include a new infield scoreboard…

RedSky and partner to sell several properties amid “uncertainty” over valuations

The investment firm backing most of Williamsburg’s prime retail real estate said it will look to sell several properties over the next two to three months. And the company has taken on a more active role managing the portfolio amid concerns that it could be difficult to cash out at projected values. JZ Capital Partners changed course on Wednesday and announced it would not take a significant…

Jorge Pérez on our urban evolution

For its fifth anniversary celebration, SFBW held a “CEO Connect” event with Jorge Pérez, the founder, chairman and CEO of the Related Group, who was on the cover of the first issue of the magazine in September 2014. For three decades, his commitment to building better cities and identifying emerging trends has made him one of the world’s top names in real estate. In 2005, Time magazine named him…

Bal Harbour Shops owner explains why retailers want bigger flagship stores more than ever

You could call Matthew Whitman Lazenby a member of retail royalty. His late grandfather Stanley Whitman was a pioneer in South Florida real estate, buying swaths of land along Collins Avenue in Miami Beach and other coastal areas. Fifty-four years ago, Whitman opened Bal Harbour Shops, which Lazenby now oversees as owner and manager general of Whitman Family Development. The high-end shopping…

Miami Developers: Who will be the winners and losers of the next recession?

Miami’s condo doomsday prognosticator, Peter Zalewski, has been waiting for this moment for almost a decade. The fast-talking former business journalist turned consultant with a penchant for electronic cigarettes and condo sales numbers has predicted the crash of Miami’s high-end condo market for years. Zalewski projects that, driven by an oversupply of expensive condo buildings in Miami Beach…

Spec home builder Todd Glaser on doing home showings via yacht

Todd Glaser’s passion for luxury homes took root early. As a teenage waiter at the Regency Hotel in Bal Harbour, where a new condo now stands, he would often work private dinners held at the homes of wealthy friends of the hotel’s owner, Lou Brandt. “At 16, my friends and I got into all these gorgeous, unbelievable mansions,” Glaser said. “When I walked into one of the elegant courtyards, it was mesmerizing.

A-Rod is coming for NYC and SoFla real estate

Alex Rodriguez has seen both his professional and personal life covered exhaustively in newspapers across the country for decades now. But since retiring as the Yankees’ star third baseman in 2016 — and, according to Forbes, pocketing over $480 million during his 22-year, pro-baseball career — he’s become even busier. He’s now juggling regular media appearances with color commenting baseball games…

Luxury resort chain Aman Resorts just announced that it’s coming to Miami, party city a departure from its current US presence

The global luxury resort chain known for its wellness offerings is opening a hotel with private branded residences in Miami Beach’s Faena District sometime in 2023, the company announced Wednesday. Aman currently has only two US locations: Amangani in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Amangiri in Utah. Now, it’s expanding to major cities, building a location in New York City that’s expected to open in late…

The Amenity War Is Spreading To Industrial Space

Gyms, cafés and food trucks aren’t just for office buildings and apartments anymore. They’re beginning to show up in warehouses, too. “We see a lot more amenities in the buildings, much more like an office building,” Ware Malcomb Executive Vice President Jay Todisco said at Bisnow’s Southeast Logistics & Industrial Summit Tuesday at the Westin Buckhead Atlanta. “Those things all affect the yield of an…

HGreg parks $75M in Nissan dealership in Palmetto Bay

HGreg acquired a Nissan dealership from AutoNation in Palmetto Bay for $75 million, marking the largest car dealership sale in South Florida this year. The dealership, HGreg Nissan Kendall, includes a 71,500-square-foot building and sits on 14.25 acres at 17305 South Dixie Highway. The property sold for $5.26 million per acre. HGreg Nissan Kendall employs nearly 100 people at the location and sells…

Private equity firm picks up Hialeah Gardens trucking facility

A 51.8-acre truck parking facility in Hialeah Gardens sold for $8.1 million. Timber Hill Group bought the property at 15545 Northwest 122nd Avenue for $156,370 per acre, records show. F&M Parking, which is led by Felix Rodriguez of Sunny Isles, sold the facility. The property consists of 14 parcels and more than 1,300 parking spaces for trucks and trailers. It is 100 percent rented, according to…

ULI Offers Some Climate Change Solutions For Miami’s Waterfront

To protect commercial properties along the waterfront in downtown Miami and by the Miami River, city officials and the real estate industry should implement natural lines of defenses, consider using less ground floor space for commercial uses, embrace transit-oriented, mixed-use projects and identify funding resources for large-scale flood mitigation projects similar to the Thames Barrier…

LeBron James Is Opening A Flagship Clothing Store In Wynwood

Basketball star LeBron James will open UNKNWN, a clothing boutique with a courtyard for events, in Miami’s artsy Wynwood neighborhood on Dec. 5. The launch coincides with the weeklong Art Basel art fair that draws celebrities and art collectors from around the world. The 10K SF store is at 261 Northwest 26th Street, right in the heart of Wynwood. James’ partners in the venture include…

Video: Moody’s Analytics Reis Senior Economist Barbara Denham Delivers Office Property Market Update

Barbara Denham, Senior Economist with Moody’s Analytics Reis, appears in this episode to discuss office property market performance, future forecasts for office properties, and strategies for the commercial office real estate market. Ms. Denham comments that the office market is “fine not hitting out of the ball park.”  Net absorption was 6.8 million square feet, above that of the prior two quarters…

How the election may affect the commercial real estate industry

The presidential election has the country riveted and divided on several fronts. When it comes to the real estate front, the upcoming election is likely to affect the commercial  real estate and residential real estate industry. The economy is still in one of the slowest recovery periods of the past five decades and this has economists scrambling to analyze the outlook for the economy in the long-term.

Edgewater Paraiso District 32-story tower advances

The growing Edgewater neighborhood in the City of Miami is getting another mixed-use residential tower to be called Paraiso Place at 452 NE 31st Street. Metro Edgewater LLC proposes to construct the 32-story building with 279 multi-family residential units, 4,063 square feet of ground floor commercial-retail and parking levels for 300 vehicles. The city’s Urban Development Review Board on Nov. 20…

Sports Entertainment Provides a Promising Future for Retail Real Estate

The future of food and beverage retail is…sports? To hear from “The Future of Restaurants & Entertainment” panel at the ICSC Southeast Conference & Deal Making event, sports-centric concepts are a solid bet for retail real estate owners to pursue going forward. Produced by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the event was held Nov. 13-15 at the newly renovated Georgia World Congress…

Suntex Marinas is trying to evict Monty’s from Miami Beach property

Monty’s Raw Bar A South Beach landlord is trying to evict Monty’s, alleging it has health code violations, unpaid rent and dated menu items. Monty’s Sunset Miami Beach claims the landlord is just being crabby and is trying to find a way to take over the lease of the property, according to the Daily Business Review. “To me this is all just a ruse to bully and intimidate and unlawfully malign the quality…

MMG Equity Partners Lands Miami-Dade Retail-Office Plaza for $16 Million

Real estate investor MMG Equity Partners scooped up a shopping and office plaza in a busy south Miami-Dade County neighborhood for $16 million. Pinecrest-based MMG bought the Centre at Cutler Bay from Cutler Center Holdings LLC on Oct. 24. The transaction breaks down to $126 per square foot. The seller is affiliated with Coral Gables-based luxury real estate company Boschetti Realty Group…

North Miami Beach Retail Property Trades for $1.5 Million

This is a 6,525-square-foot, one-story retail property constructed in 1962 that sits on an 18,525-square-foot lot, according to the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser’s Office..Address: 357 NE 167th Street in North Miami Beach. Property type: This is a 6,525-square-foot, one-story retail property constructed in 1962 that sits on an 18,525-square-foot lot, according to the Miami-Dade County Property…

Bruce Eichner and eyes next Miami project as slashes listing on his Continuum penthouse

Developer Ian Bruce Eichner has slashed the price of his Continuum South Beach penthouse as he mulls his next project in Miami. Eichner cut the price of the 11,031-square-foot, seven-bedroom unit to $39.9 million. That’s 20 percent below the original $50 million ask. Eloy Carmenate and Mick Duchon of Douglas Elliman have the listing. “You put an apartment on the market with a price, which would have…

Brickell Construction sues for $1.2M in work at project near Midtown Miami

The owner of an unfinished office building with ground-floor retail near Midtown Miami allegedly hasn’t paid $1.2 million in construction and labor, according to a recently filed lawsuit. But a lawyer for the developer, Set Midtown, claims the project suffered numerous delays and defects resulting from shoddy work by Brickell Construction Group. Brickell Construction Group is suing Set Midtown for breach…

New Retailers Signed for Doral Square Shopping Center

Miami-based real estate developer Terra has signed several new retailers for Doral Square, a 150,000-square-foot retail center in Doral, about 17 miles west of Miami. The new development will include anchors 24 Hour Fitness and Marshalls and will be built on the southeast corner of Doral Boulevard and 87th Avenue, near Carnival Cruise Lines’ offices and Trump National Doral Resort. Doral Square is over 42…

The Importance Of Due Diligence In CRE

Doing your homework is part of the deal. When most of us were in elementary school, little did we realize that each time a teacher or a parent lectured us on the importance of doing homework, they were actually preparing us for … commercial real estate. Due diligence — really, just an adult word for homework — is an essential part of the commercial transaction process. And just like the educational…

Is Co-Living The Next Big Thing in South Florida Multi-Family Real Estate?

A recent real estate trend is performing better than expected It seems as if everything today is ripe for sharing. From car rides to parking to workspaces, what was once considered private and personal is now open to a communal way of thinking. With this in mind, it really isn’t surprising that co-living is a recent trend in the multi-family housing market. As recently as 2017, some predicted it to be a…

Doral Will Have A New Shopping And Industrial Center Along NW 79th Avenue

Doral will have a new shopping and industrial center, “District 79”, as it will be called. This new development was unanimously approved by the City of Doral Council after taking into consideration that it will bring benefits for the health, safety, economy, and well-being of our residents and visitors. We were informed of this by Maggie Santos, Communications and Protocol Manager for the City of Doral. She…

Photos: Apple New Two-Level Aventura Store

Foster & Partners collaborated with the design team at Apple to create a new two-level store at Aventura Mall. The undulating, vaulted roof is designed to be reminiscent of the city’s nautical and architectural roots while the spaces are art deco-inspired. “This store is very ‘Miami’ to me—its special trees, the light and the new roof. It is also quintessentially Apple, marrying the outdoor lifestyle with a sense…

Judge tosses out Craig Robins’ claim that Ugo Colombo bribed juror in private jet case

The latest allegations in a decade-long war between two of Miami’s top developers over a shared private jet didn’t fly with a Miami judge. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman tossed out Craig Robins’ Dacra Development’s claim that Ugo Colombo and his CMC Group bribed a member of a jury — including promising a luxury condo — tied to their dispute over the $22 million private jet. In a…

Related, Block Capital sign deal with short-term rental operator Domio

Gustavo Miculitzki, Jon Paul Perez, and Jay Roberts with a rendering of the project Short-term rental operator Domio is claiming its territory in Wynwood. The firm signed a deal to take over the residential component of the Related Group and Block Capital Group’s 175-unit project, The Real Deal has learned. Domio signed a lease for the apartments at The Bradley, a mixed-use project under construction…

Businesses are quietly closing in Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbour

The big Miami Beach real estate story this week was the bombshell announcement that Purdy Lounge will close its doors for the final time in February. In a much quieter fashion, a number of other Sunset Harbour businesses have closed or are winding down. Blue Dahlia, Soul Tavern, Pubbelly Noodle. All closed. Due Baci “closed for the summer” and has not reopened. La Moderna has been “taking a well…

Miami Beach Retail Center Scores $26 Million Refi

An affiliate of Saber Real Estate Advisors has received a $26.2 million conduit loan to refinance 1824 Alton, a Class A, 109,961-square-foot retail center in Miami Beach, Fla. Working on behalf of the borrower, Cushman & Wakefield placed the 10-year, fixed-interest rate financing with Starwood Mortgage Capital. The five-story shopping center is at 1824 Alton Road, near the intersection of Alton Road…

Another lawsuit hits the Grove Isle project

According to The Real Deal, Grove Isle Associates is facing another lawsuit, regarding their expansion plans. A private owner is suing. The new project is called The Makers Grove Isle, it’s a semi-circle, horse shoe shaped condo that will be at the northern end of the island. It’s where the hotel and spa were. Originally a tall tower was to be built on the spot, but after other lawsuits and complaints, the five-story…

Latvian investor buys North Bay Village shopping center

A wealthy Latvian family paid $6.5 million for a shopping center in North Bay Village. Lexi Commons LLC, managed by real estate agent Val Zevel and Ilmax LLC, purchased the 19,438-square-foot retail space at 1700 John F Kennedy Causeway. Records show Ilmax LLC is controlled by Leonids and Maksims Esterkins, who are real estate investors from Latvia. The strip center, called the Shoppes at the Lexi…

Terra, Mr. C unveil plans for luxury condo in Coconut Grove

The Cipriani family’s next project will be a luxury condo tower in Coconut Grove. Less than a year after opening its Mr. C Miami hotel in the Grove, the Ciprianis are working with David Martin’s Terra to launch a Mr. C branded mixed-use condo project nearby at 2655 South Bayshore Drive, according to a press release. Arquitectonica’s Raymond Fort is designing the building and Meyer Davis is handling…

Green Companies snags offices in Kendall

The Green Companies purchased a four-story Class A office building in Kendall for $13.2 million. The Green Companies bought the 63,206-square-foot building at 11731 Mills Drive in Miami for $209 per square foot, records show. The seller is Nuveen, a subsidiary of TIAA. The property is 84.6 percent occupied by two tenants, Everglades University and VITAS Healthcare, according to a release.

Ilhan Omar’s $1T housing plan aims to create 12M affordable units

Bernie Sanders has one. So does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Now, Representative Ilhan Omar has added her own housing plan to the field of left-leaning elected officials who have proposed dramatic expansions of how government funds housing. The Minnesota Democrat is calling for $1 trillion to be invested into affordable housing and public housing across the country, which she says will create 12 million…

Don Peebles to re-open the Bath Club in Miami Beach

Don Peebles and a rendering of the project Developer Don Peebles is planning to relaunch the historic Bath Club as a social membership club, nearly 20 years after first purchasing the Miami Beach property. Peebles is spending between $5 million and $7 million on renovating the property at 5937 Collins Avenue, he said. It’s expected to open in the first quarter of 2020. The Peebles Corp. is self-financing the…

Here’s what the EB-5 rule changes mean for real estate

The EB-5 program’s new federal regulations take effect today, and will double the minimum dollar amount that all foreign visa-seekers must plow into development projects. The rules are designed to clamp down on abuse, to modernize the 30-year-old federal program and to keep up with inflation. EB-5 allows foreign investors get U.S. green cards in exchange for investing in American businesses and…

Developer: Condominium Is ‘A Toxic Word’ In South Florida

Developers in South Florida are saying that the market for new condo development is either hibernating or forever changed. “We’re all not selling very well. I’m not going to lie to you,” said Gil Dezer, the president of Dezer Development, known for building luxury towers with name brands, including six Trump-branded buildings in Sunny Isles Beach, north of Miami Beach. A 308-unit luxury tower…

SPV Realty sues city of Miami to force vote on Eastside Ridge

Eastside Ridge rendering Accusing members of the Miami Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board of intentionally delaying a vote… SPV Realty is suing the city to force the board to make a decision on the controversial Little Haiti project. The NYC-based developer alleges the planning board refuses…application to change the zoning on nearly 22 acres at 5045 Northeast Second Avenue, according to the lawsuit…

Miami Jewish federation sells affordable housing for $60.5M

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation sold two affordable housing properties in Miami-Dade for a combined $60.5 million. Property records show the nonprofit sold the Federation Gardens building at 10911 Southwest 112th Avenue in Kendall to Federation Gardens Preservation L.P. for $36.5 million. It also sold the Federation Towers at 757 West Avenue in Miami Beach to the same buyer for $24…

Related Group Breaks Ground on Phase II of $650M River Parc Project in Miami’s Little Havana

The Related Group, along with the Department of Public Housing and Community Development and SunTrust Bank, has broken ground on Phase II of River Parc in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood. Phase II consists of the 150-unit Gallery at River Parc, an affordable and workforce housing community. Of the property’s 40 studios, 70 one-bedroom units and 40 two-bedroom apartments, 80 percent will…

Apartment building in Little Havana flips for $6 million

An investor flipped a Little Havana apartment building for $6.2 million after buying it a few months ago. Aurora Investments Florida, led by Coral Gables attorney Oswaldo Martinez, sold the 21-unit apartment building at 900 Southwest Seventh Street for $295,238 per unit, records show. The buyer is Casa Aurora LLC, which is led by Terrell Rhye of Miami. The investment firm bought the building for …

Grove Isle developers buy assisted living facility in West Kendall for $16.5M

United Home Care sold an assisted living facility in West Kendall to a company tied to Grove Isle developers. Property records show 9355 Miami LLC, led by developers Eduardo Avila and Hector Fernandez-Rousselon, paid $16.5 million for the four-story, 87,674-square-foot building at 9355 Southwest 158th Avenue. United Home Care, led by president and CEO Carlos Martinez, sold the 2.6-acre property.

Video: WeWork, the Numbers

Even after hipster charismatic CEO Adam Neumann’s rather spectacular ouster, WeWork continues to be one of the most talked about companies in the business world, particularly in any involved with office properties. This video runs through the most telling statistics of WeWork’s fall from grace. They note WeWork was recently taken over by SoftBank at an eight billion dollar valuation, $39 billion less…

Terra unveils latest mixed-use project near Downtown Doral

David Martin’s Terra revealed plans for a retail center near Downtown Doral, as demand for sprawling suburban shopping centers remains strong in South Florida. Tenants of the 150,000-square-foot shopping center include 24-Hour Fitness and Marshalls, according to a release. Doral Square, on the southeast corner of Doral Boulevard and 87th Avenue, will break ground by the end of the year.

7-restaurant Riverside Miami expects to be serving in December

The ambitious plan to turn a barren spot of land on the Miami River into a family-oriented, open-air culinary experience is coming to fruition. Riverside Miami LLC is working hard to transform land at 431–451 S Miami Avenue. into a special venue called Riverside, with a dozen components including seven restaurants, a tap room and an outdoor event space. Owner and developer Antonio Primo told…

Preview of Jorge Pérez collection starts hunt for more space

When developer and art collector Jorge M. Perez opened El Espacio 23 in Allapattah for a preview last week (ahead of its grand opening during Art Basel), it offered visitors a look into his private collection. But it also created a problem: where to find more storage space? Mr. Perez originally bought the building housing El Espacio 23 to warehouse items in his collection, but the collection eventually took over…

If Melreese lease goes ahead, more voices must be heard

Miami commissioners wisely delayed a vote last week to lease the city’s golf course for a century to a massive shopping-office-hotel complex with a soccer stadium until they get all details. Waiting was an easy choice. An even better option was to say “no thanks” to the unsolicited offer for Miami’s largest green space, but it might be too far down the road to say no without seeing the full deal. When…

Grove Isle developers face new lawsuit over proposed project

Grove Isles Associates is facing another legal challenge to its plans for a new condominium complex in the waterfront luxury community in Coconut Grove. This time, it’s a lone Grove Isle homeowner who owns a $26-million-a-year in sales metals manufacturing firm seeking to derail the project, known as The Markers Grove Isle. For the past four years Grove Isle Associates has engaged in legal skirmishes with…

Gables Residential sells dev site near Shops at Merrick Park

A national apartment builder sold a development site near the Shops at Merrick Park in Coral Gables to BF Group, a local developer. Development options for the property include a hotel and office building. Atlanta-based Gables Residential sold the 18,748-square-foot assemblage at 4521 and 4601 Le Jeune Road to BF Group, led by Jose and Luis Boschetti. BF Group paid for $4.17 million for the…

Can a Judgment Creditor Garnish a Contractual Obligation?

If you think a commercial contract can protect you from a garnishment, you may well be wrong. While proper wording of a contract is essential to safeguard your interests and provide a path to recovery in the event of a default, the courts have made it clear that a debt arising out of a contract is the proper subject of a garnishment. Here is a real-world example to consider. You and a business partner…

BGI Capital Provides $12M Renovation Loan for Office Building in Metro Miami

BGI Capital has provided a $12 million loan for the renovation of a 52,179-square-foot office building in Coral Gables. The borrower, Location Ventures, will renovate the building’s ground floor into a new coworking business known as “FORUM.” Jason Shapiro of Aztec Group Inc. arranged the 24-month loan on behalf of the borrower. The building, located at 299 Alhambra Circle, will be the first location…

Technology is Top-of-Mind for Multifamily Renters, Says NMHC Survey

More and more renters are looking for apartments that feature high levels of technology, according to the 2020 Apartment Resident Preferences Report released by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and research firm Kingsley Associates. The NMHC is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization serving the multifamily industry. The report was compiled through survey responses…

Last call for Purdy Lounge. Miami Beach bar announces closure

Purdy Lounge in Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbour neighborhood will hold its last last call on February 8. The popular bar and lounge, at 1811 Purdy Avenue, announced on Facebook that it would be closing early next year after operating for about 20 years. “There is a lot you can do in 20 years, begin a new century, build a new business, develop a neighborhood, make new friends, strengthen bonds, dance…

Morgan Reed Group lists Rail 71 development for $33M

Morgan Reed Group is looking to cash out on its investment in a Little River office development. The company hired brokers Tony Arellano and Devlin Marinoff of Dwntwn Realty Advisors to list Rail 71, at 7205 Northeast Fourth Avenue, for $33 million or $258 per square foot, the brokers said. The flex creative office building is 89 percent occupied with 49 office, showroom and gallery tenants…

Russell Galbut wants to sell another Miami Beach hotel

Kaskades Hotel Miami Beach developer Russell Galbut and his nephew Keith Menin are looking to sell another Miami Beach hotel. A company tied to Galbut and Menin is seeking to sell the 26-room Domio Kaskades Hotel in Miami Beach for $15.8 million or $607,692 per room. The property at 300 17th Street totals 18,725 square feet. Marcus & Millichap’s Drew A. Kristol, Kirk D. Olson and Joseph Thomas…

SEC launches WeWork probe: report

WeWork is reportedly facing an SEC probe (Credit: iStock) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an inquiry into WeWork to determine if the company violated reporting rules ahead of its doomed planned public offering. Citing two unnamed sources, Bloomberg reported that SEC investigators are scrutinizing disclosures made to investors while the company embarked on aggressive…

Neighbors don’t want a school at Coconut Grove’s Villa Woodbine

You probably have seen the #STOPGroveGridlock banners all around the Grove. This is a grass roots effort by neighbors to keep Carrollton School from taking over the Villa Woodbine location and turning into a school. Eleven banners went up Monday and the last six went up Tuesday evening. Sixteen of them are 3′ x 10′ in size. Smaller ones will go up on Tuesday, too and on Bird Road and Grand Avenue they…

Miami’s condo king will hand crown to son next year

Miami’s condo king is preparing to hand over the title of president to his son within the next year. Jorge Pérez, president and CEO of Related Group, will give up some control to his son, Jon Paul Pérez, in 2020, an executive at the company said during a Bisnow event on Thursday. “Twenty years ago, Jorge made it very clear this is a family business and it will continue to be a family business,” said Matthew…

Terra Signs New Retailers for Doral Square Shopping Center Near Miami

Miami-based real estate developer Terra has signed several new retailers for Doral Square, a 150,000-square-foot retail center in Doral, about 17 miles west of Miami. The new development will include anchors 24 Hour Fitness and Marshalls and will be built on the southeast corner of Doral Boulevard and 87th Avenue, near Carnival Cruise Lines’ offices and Trump National Doral Resort. Doral Square is over 42…

Southeast Construction Costs Report Released

The rising cost of construction is resulting in higher asking rents among all property types, greater strains on custom tenant build-outs, denser office spaces and limited tenant mobility. Thus, development and leasing decisions have become more complex for owners and occupiers. The trend is expected to remain for the foreseeable future, according to CBRE’s 2019 Southeast Construction Cost Report…

New York’s Rent Reform Pushes Investors Toward South Florida

Following the enactment of New York’s latest rent regulations, many multifamily investors have begun reevaluating their options. One of the most common destinations they’re choosing is Florida, particularly its southern part. Not only does the Sunshine State offer a favorable climate, an abundance of luxury properties and substantial tax savings, but it also seems to be far from adopting rent control…

Bayfront development site in North Miami hits the market

Mika Mattingly and Cecilia Estevez with the Mid Bay Club Apartments A South Florida family is looking to cash out on a waterfront development site in North Miami. The Mid Bay Club Apartments, a 34,275-square-foot site at 11950 North Bayshore Drive, hit the market with brokers Mika Mattingly and Cecilia Estevez of Colliers International South Florida, Mattingly said. Property records show an LLC…

Habitat moves forward with West Brickell condo-hotel project

Smart Brickell and Santiago Vanegas Habitat Group is moving forward with the construction of a large condo-hotel project in Brickell after scoring a $24 million loan. Habitat secured the construction loan from Miami-based Ocean Bank to build Smart Brickell’s Tower 1 at 239 Southwest 9th Street in Miami’s West Brickell neighborhood. The tower will have 50 hotel rooms and 50 condos and is planned for…

Richard LeFrak touts Solé Mia’s progress from landfill to paradise: ULI symposium

Richard LeFrak recounted the moment roughly nine years ago when he received a call gauging his interest in 184 acres of waterfront land fronting Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami. “It’s a [former] landfill and it’s kind of had a checkered past,” LeFrak recalled the unnamed individual on the line telling him. “I asked what’s the minimum bid? He said $21 million. That’s all I had to hear.” It was chump change…

WeWork under pressure as losses soar to $1.25B

WeWork lost $1.25 billion in the third quarter — up from $497 million in the same time period last year. The parent of the troubled-office startup also reported a surge in revenue to $934 million in the months following Sept. 30, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing a report to debtholders this week. The $1.25 billion loss falls in contrast to the $638 million loss posted in the second quarter. The company blamed…