Video: Everything you need to know about Opportunity Zones, 67 of which are in Miami-Dade

Developers and investors across the United States are turning their attention to a new tax benefit program introduced as part of President Trump’s tax plan known as Opportunity Zones. These incent developers to build in low-income communities by providing tax benefits. In Miami-Dade county there are 67 designated opportunity zones, making this topic very much of interest to area commercial real estate…

Interactive Map: Locate Miami-Dade’s 67 Opportunity Zones

The Miami area, or more broadly Florida’s Miami-Dade county, has 67 Opportunity Zones within it. Opportunity Zones, introduced as part of President Donald Trump’s tax plan known, provide incentives for developers to build in low-income communities by providing substantial tax benefits. Within Miami-Dade county there are 67 designated Opportunity Zones. These are easily located using an…

South Florida’s largest office sales in September

South Florida’s five biggest office sales in September occurred outside of Miami, in Broward and Palm Beach counties. September lacked any large trophy office sales, but data compiled by The Real Deal suggest that there is still a lot of activity in South Florida’s broader office market. It also speaks to the continued strength of the Class B office market in Broward County. Three Broward medical office buildings…

Downtown Miami Office High-Rise Commands $117 Mil

In what evidently is one of the larger office building transactions in South Florida so far in 2018, a joint venture of Banyan Street Capital, Independencia Asset Management and Crocker Partners has sold Miami’s Brickell City Tower. CBRE Capital Markets represented the sellers in the deal. The buyer was not officially disclosed, but the South Florida Business Journal reported that the buyer was Madison-OFC…

Jay Kislak, Versatile Executive, Dies at 96

Jay Kislak, a well-known Florida real estate mogul and philanthropist who was also an avid collector of historic artifacts, died October 3. He was 96 years old. Kislak was born in Hoboken, N.J., and got his real estate license while still in high school at Newark Academy. He went on to earn a degree in economics from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated early…

Hotel developers get specific in South Florida as new projects get delivered

The 275-room Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables recently began a $25 million dollar renovation. The historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables has never lacked for luxury. A stroll through the property’s resplendent hallways and alongside its swimming pool — once the largest in the world — serves as a testament to the old-school elegance of a property that came of age during Florida’s original land boom of the…

Florida Department of Transportation studies U.S. 1 congestion

The Florida Department of Transportation is studying traffic congestion on US 1 from Kendall Drive to I-95 and is asking Miami-Dade residents to take a survey to help develop appropriate solutions. The roughly 18-mile stretch of US 1 running through or along the Village of Pinecrest and cities of Miami, Coral Gables and South Miami “has significant impacts on community travel times, the environment and…

How a fake Saudi prince allegedly swindled Turnberry’s Jeffrey Soffer

Turnberry Associates developer Jeffrey Soffer thought he had an offer from the prince of Saudi Arabia to buy the Fontainebleau Miami Beach in 2017 for $140 million more than what it was worth. Negotiations spanned for months, as Soffer allegedly wined and dined the supposed prince and bought him a Cartier bracelet worth $50,000, along with expensive artwork to court his investment, according to…

Getting Serious: Amazon Executives Return To Miami For Another HQ2 Visit

Amazon continues to seriously study Miami for the company’s HQ2. Amazon executives were in Miami within the past 30 days for a follow up visit to scout HQ2 sites, according to three confidential sources cited by the SFBJ. It is at least the second such visit to Miami this year. During the most recent visit, Amazon officials took a close look at the Park West and Overtown area, a source said. The Miami…

Lissette Calderon will turn Miami River project into luxury rental tower and marina

Lissette Calderon plans to turn her recently-purchased waterfront tower into luxury rentals after a major renovation, The Real Deal has learned. The new property was just renamed Pier 19 Residences & Marina. Formerly called River Oaks Tower & Marina, the 21-story building on the Miami River has 199 apartments at 1951 Northwest South River Drive. A year in the works, Calderon’s Neology Life…

The SoFla lowdown: Trump Group’s big loan, spec home partners form amid slowdown and investors target mobile home parks

A Trump-sized loan: It was among the biggest financing deals to hit the South Florida condo market. The Trump Group’s $558 million construction loan for The Estates at Acqualina in Sunny Isles turned heads. Not surprisingly, it was Bank OZK that provided the loan. Formerly Bank of the Ozarks, the deal again shows the Arkansas-based bank’s aggressiveness  in the local condo market, where it has…

13th Floor and Adler plan 40-story skyscraper next to Douglas Road station

A planned mixed-use development next to the Douglas Road Metrorail station is nearly doubling in height – unbeknownst to many nearby residents and city officials. 13th Floor Investments and Adler Group are now planning to build a 40-story skyscraper at the project, which is near Coral Gables and Coconut Grove. The developers won the bid for the project about two years ago, but their updated plans…

Developers plan mixed-use hotel near Wynwood Walls

Another development group has filed plans for a mixed-use hotel in Wynwood near the popular Wynwood Walls. 111 Wynwood LLC filed plans for a five-story, 72-key hotel at 111 Northwest 26th Street. Developers Eduardo Vargas and Andres Hogg plan to break ground on the 50,000-square-foot project early next year and open in 2020, Vargas said. Alain Bartroli is the architect of record, and Richter Dahl…

AvalonBay’s New York City Apartment Profits May Head to Denver, South Florida

Invesco Real Estate to buy an 80 percent stake in five apartment buildings owned by AvalonBay, including the Avalon Morningside in Manhattan. Real estate investment trust AvalonBay is considering a shift in its latest focus from apartments in New York City to Denver and southeast Florida, areas where the company expects steady job growth, consistently high occupancy rates and other solid real…

Shared Working, Living Spaces ‘Coming on Us Like a Tsunami’

Real estate brokers and developers must get comfortable quickly with both shared office and living spaces — concepts that are bringing about the “flexible intertwining of life and work,” according to Richard Florida, a nationally known urbanist. “It is coming on us like a tsunami,” he said in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, during a presentation to members of NAIOP, the commercial real estate development…

How does The Estates at Acqualina’s $558M construction loan stack up?

When Trump Group, the developers of The Estates at Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach, scored a $558 million construction loan from Little Rock-based Bank OZK this week, it marked the largest condo construction loan of this cycle in Miami-Dade County. How did it compare to others? It was nearly 1.7 times as big as the next biggest condo loan this cycle — a $315 million construction loan in 2016 by Wells…

Lights out: Mattress Firm to shutter hundreds of stores nationwide

The nation’s largest specialty mattress and bedding company will have some rough nights ahead. Mattress Firm Inc. said it will close up to 700 retail stores nationwide after filing for bankruptcy Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal. The closures will start with around 200 stores over the next few days. The company has dozens of locations in Miami, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Mattress..

Kislak’s Legacy Still Spans US Commercial Real Estate

Jay I. KislakJay Kislak, who built one of the largest privately held U.S. mortgage banks, celebrated his 95th birthday last year with a big party on a World War II museum and relic: The USS Intrepid aircraft carrier. It was fitting, because the ship was part of his own history – Kislak had been an aviator on the carrier, years after he had already earned his real estate license while still a New Jersey high school kid.

Jay Kislak, 96, real estate mogul with passion for history, dies

Businessman Jay I. Kislak, a philanthropist whose love of history benefited both scholars and students through millions in donations, died on Wednesday in Miami. He was 96. Kislak, an avid collector of books and artifacts, made donations to the Library of Congress, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Miami and Miami Dade College Freedom Tower — always with his wife, Jean Kislak by his side.

Urbanica buys Edgewater site for mixed-use hotel

A developer just picked up another property along Biscayne Boulevard with plans for a mixed-use project. Urbanica Management paid $7.95 million for the 18,800-square-foot site at 3001 Biscayne Boulevard and 325 to 311 Northeast Fourth Avenue, according to a press release. The development firm, which owns Urbanica The Meridian Hotel in Miami Beach, will build an Urbanica 220-key hotel with retail…

The History of Brickell: Miami’s Manhattan

Bordered by the Miami River to the north, Biscayne Bay to east, the Rickenbacker Causeway to the South, and I-95 to the west, Brickell is one of Miami’s oldest neighborhoods. Constantly evolving, Brickell has changed radically over the years, including an incredible development boom in the last twenty years. Brickell is a hub of the Latin American financial industry, and home to many of Miami’s…

Jules Trump on his childhood, the Trump name and his start in real estate

It’s quite a time to be a Trump. Though this 74-year-old developer is no relation to the current occupant of the White House, Jules Trump has delivered his own set of glitzy projects, like Williams Island, Acqualina Resort & Spa and the Mansions at Acqualina. And the South African-born Trump also opts to work with family, having built all of his projects in partnerships with brother Eddie. Despite a general…

The $2.7 Billion Miami Worldcenter is Progressing Rapidly. Downtown Miami Will Never Be the Same

Construction is proceeding rapidly at Miami Worldcenter, the $2.7 billion mixed-use megaproject that will finally fill the blighted gap between downtown Miami and the Omni area directly to the north. Spearheaded and master planned by developers Nitin Motwani and Art Falcone, various elements of Miami Worldcenter are being built either by them or other developers, and the first part of the massive…

Moishe Mana offers blockchain space in downtown Miami

There’s an opportunity for cool blockchain companies to be one of the new economic pillars of a revitalized downtown Miami. Developer Moishe Mana is leasing six floors (2, 3, 7, 8, 9 & 10) at 100 E. Flagler Street and is targeting blockchain companies. The announcement comes as Miami is about to host a major blockchain event. Colliers International South Florida Executive Vice President Mika Mattingly’s…

Broker hired to manage 275 former Toys “R” Us properties amid selloff

Raider Hill Advisors has hired JLL to manage 275 former Toys “R” Us stores across the country as the bankrupt retailer continues to sell off its entire portfolio. Even amid the orderly liquidation, the New York company’s stakeholders have plans of their own for the brand. JLL will handle retail and facility management, tenant coordination, construction, accounting and tax services for…

Jay Kislak, chairman of The Kislak Organization, dies at 96

Jay Kislak, a prominent real estate investor and chairman of Miami Lakes-based The Kislak Organization died at 96 in his Miami home, the company announced. Kislak grew the investment company from a small family business with just six employees to more than 1,000 employees with multiple lines of business. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, Kislak became interested in real estate at an early age…

Senators call for investigation into real estate money laundering law vulnerabilities

The risk of money laundering in residential real estate is high. That’s according to two U.S. senators who are calling for an investigation to probe the potential vulnerabilities of existing U.S. money-laundering provisions, according to the Wall Street Journal. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, both Democrats, sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office, saying the…

Terra, Banyan buy Coconut Grove site, ink ground lease with co-working company

A joint venture between Terra and Banyan Street Capital just bought the site of a vacant mixed-use building in Coconut Grove, and inked a ground lease with co-working space operator URBIN. The 31,000 square-foot mixed-use property at 3138 Commodore Plaza traded hands for $7.2 million, or about $247 per square foot, with URBIN inking a 99-year ground lease. A spokesperson declined to comment…

That empty feeling: Shopping mall vacancies hit a 7-year high

Despite all the doom and gloom over shopping malls, one key figure remained fairly strong. Nationwide, average rents have either stayed the same or ticked up from one quarter to next for the last seven years. Until now. In the third quarter, the average rent for malls was $43.25 a square foot — down from $43.36 in the second quarter, the Wall Street Journal reported. Rents had not slid quarter over…

MMG picks up Pinecrest shopping center

MMG Equity Partners’ portfolio along South Dixie Highway corridor is growing. The firm just paid $9.72 million, or about $280 per foot, for the 34,300-square-foot shopping center at 11975 South Dixie Highway. Earlier this year, MMG acquired Pinecrest Shoppes, a 14,560-square-foot shopping center at 11635 South Dixie Highway. Records show Ann D. Bowen, listed as a trustee of Marlin Family Trust, sold…

Coral Gables medical office building sale ignites lawsuit among brokers

A disbarred attorney with a troubled past is accusing two Miami commercial real estate brokers of muscling him out of a commission… Among the properties were several buildings owned by real estate investor Kevin Fox, including a two-story office building at 4950 Southwest Eighth Street, and Borell allegedly provided Zelonker confidential information about these pocket listings, the lawsuit….

South Florida’s suburbs dominate ranking of the top multifamily deals

Three of the top five multifamily transactions occurred in Miami-Dade County. In August 2017, TA Realty picked up the 398-unit Manor CityPlace in Doral for $135 million. The Boston-based REIT, which typically focuses on office and industrial, paid $339,196 per apartment. The Related Group, Shoma Group and PGIM Real Estate Investors developed the luxury six-story apartment building as part of the…

NYL Investors buys Brickell City Tower for $117 million

New York Life Investors just paid $117.25 million for the Brickell City Tower, property records show. A joint venture between Banyan Street Capital, Independencia Asset Management and Crocker Partners sold the 33-story, 291,554-square-foot office tower at 80 Southwest Eighth Street to Madison OFC Brickell FL LLC, an affiliate of NYL. The buyer manages fixed income and real estate assets, and is owned…

Sale Of $117M Downtown Tower Illustrates How Miami Office Market Is Thriving

The $117M sale of a 33-year-old, 87% leased Brickell office tower, closed last week, is yet another sign of investors’ growing appetite for downtown Miami office real estate. Courtesy: CBRE Brickell City Tower, built in 1985, recently renovated and sold in September 2018 for $117M Brickell City Tower traded for just over $117M to NYL Investors from sellers Banyan Street Capital, Independencia Asset…

Waldorf Astoria Coming to Miami

In a sign of strength for South Florida’s hospitality market, the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts is opening its first Miami location in what would become one of the tallest buildings on the East Coast. The Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences Miami, at 300 Biscayne Boulevard, is planned as part of a mixed-use development that also would include about 400 condominiums. The building would stand at 1,049 feet…

Miami’s First Waldorf Astoria Will Be In A Supertall

Miami’s first supertall tower, to be built at 300 Biscayne Blvd. in downtown, will carry the iconic Waldorf Astoria brand. Courtesy: Property Markets Group Rendering of the planned Waldorf Astoria tower in Miami, set to reach over 1,000 feet tall. The building, designed at 1,049 feet and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration last year, would be higher than Miami’s current tallest building, the 868-foot…

Video: WeWork Senior Account Executive Ben Rickets Discusses Downtown Miami Presence, Plans

In this video, Ben Rickets, Senior Account Executive at WeWork Miami, briefly discusses is presence in downtown Miami and the Miami overall, and touches on its plans going forward. As he talks, the camera pans around their space, attractively designed, as WeWork spaces tend to be. WeWork is an American company dedicated to providing shared workspaces, to supporting technology startup subculture…

The Economic Risk of Yield Curve Inversion—and How to Avoid It

The possibility of nominal yield curve inversion—which occurs when the nominal interest rates on shorter-term government debt are higher than those on longer-term government debt—has drawn more attention from policymakers and financial markets in recent months.1 I see this potential inversion as a key issue in U.S. monetary policy in the near term. A Flattening Yield Curve: While the spread…

MMG Equity Partners Acquires Pinecrest Center in Pinecrest, FL

MMG Equity Partners has acquired Pinecrest Center, a 34,306 SF mixed-use shopping center located at 11975 South Dixie Highway, Pinecrest, FL for a purchase price of $9,725,000 or $284/SF. Drew Kristol and Kirk Olson, both Senior Vice Presidents of Investments and Associate Jean-Baptiste Ramet from Marcus & Millichap’s Miami office represented the Seller, a family owned investment group.

Bus depot in Omni beneath a Genting hotel rolls ahead

The plan for a brand new bus terminal in the Omni neighborhood can advance after the recent move by the City of Miami to approve a street closure. At their Sept. 27 meeting, city commissioners approved a requested street closure of Northeast 14th Terrace between Biscayne Boulevard and North Bayshore Drive. The resolution will discontinue public use of the street. Resorts World Miami LLC and…

$200,000 check stalls Virginia Key marinas eviction by city

The City of Miami’s eviction of the private operator of its marina on Virginia Key is on hold, after Rickenbacker Marina Inc. had its attorney show up at City Hall with a six-figure check in hand. The city commission approved a motion from Joe Carollo to stay the eviction order for now, upon the acceptance of a $200,000 cashier’s check delivered to the city to cover additional rent of the city-owned marina.

North Beach Town Center plans stretch skyward

The North Beach Town Center development is another step closer to having some buildings that are 200 feet tall. The Miami Beach City Commission’s Land Use and Development Committee voted Sept. 28 to accept the city staff’s recommendation to allow buildings up to 200 feet tall in the development. The ordinance will come for a second reading before the full commission in November but there is still…

Price tag due for Coral Gables public safety building

Construction manager the Weitz Company is to set a guaranteed maximum price for Coral Gables’ new public safety building by mid-October. The price tag is to include Aecom Technical Services design plans and pay for architects and engineers. The project continues its design development stage after city officials sought a fresh start in 2015 out of its Brutalist-style home at 2801 Salzedo St. Construction…

Miami approves creating parklets in city parking spaces

Miami city leaders are willing to try out a program designed to take back sections of paved street downtown devoted to parking and give it back to the people. The Miami City Commission on a split vote of 3-to-2 on Sept. 27 approved a one-year pilot program for parklets. The idea is to extend sidewalk depth and use the dedicated parklet space for people, from tables and chairs for an upfront and…

Prestige partnership plans $100 million rental complex to replace mobile home park

A joint venture between Prestige Companies and Summit Property Group is planning a $100 million multifamily community next to the planned Ludlam Trail, The Real Deal has learned. The partners want to develop 600 to 800 apartments in addition to commercial space on nearly 8 acres of land on the northwest corner of Southwest 12th Street and Southwest 70th Avenue, just south of Miami International…

Coral Gables Restaurant Row Project Scores Loan, Other Restaurant News

The developer of 120 Giralda Avenue, a retail and restaurant project on “Restaurant Row” in Coral Gables, secured a $6.25 million mortgage from City National Bank of Florida. 120 Giralda LLC, controlled by Marc and Barry Schwarzberg of Maven Real Estate, is redeveloping the building. The company acquired the property last year from the Church of Scientology for $5.8 million. The renovation…

Will the new NAFTA deal benefit the real estate industry?

Tariffs on imported steel have hit the construction industry nationwide but the newly-minted trade deal between the U.S. and Canada may not provide the needed relief, at least not immediately. With the final piece hammered out Sunday night, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement, which took effect in 1994. President Trump has long denounce…

Exclusive: Fort Lauderdale Office Tower Fetching $108.5 Million

A prominent office tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is set to change hands this week. A group that includes institutional investor PCCP LLC and the NAI/Merin Hunter Codman brokerage in West Palm Beach, Florida, is buying 1 E. Broward Blvd. for $108.5 million, or about $308 per square foot, a source said. The new price tag is more than double its previous sales price of $42 million…

Video: Fordham University’s Hugh Kelly, Ph.D Submits Outlook for Commercial Real Estate

Special Advisor for Fordham University’s Real Estate Institute Hugh Kelly, Ph.D, appears on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to talk about his outlook for the commercial real estate industry. Among the topics discussed are economic trends and legislative changes, strategies for commercial property investors when economic growth slows, opportunities presented by lower valuation in stressed…

Fed Charts: Job and Wage Growth Since the Great Recession

Wage growth since the beginning of the Great Recession has been slow. In the figure below, the average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees in the U.S. are presented over the last four recession-recovery periods as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research. For each period, the lowest point in wage growth is identified and then centered at zero. As can be seen, over the…

Tropical Foods beefs up in Doral; other corporate leasing news

Global food distributor Tropical Foods LLC is beefing up its lease in Doral. The company, which works with brands like Baileys, Blue Diamond Almonds and Hershey’s Milk & Shakes, just doubled its space at International Corporate Park. Tropical Foods now occupies 64,000 square feet at 1665 Northwest 102nd Avenue. Records show the landlord is a partnership led by a company tied to Global…

Parking — who needs it? Miami gives initial nod to small-scale development incentives in Wynwood

A measure aimed at encouraging single-lot owners in Wynwood to redevelop their properties by relaxing their parking requirements is one step away from being implemented. The Miami City Commission last week narrowly voted 3-2 to approve the proposed legislation, which is backed by the Wynwood Business Improvement District. Commissioners have to vote on it one more time to make it…

Audio: The Real Deal discusses dirty money in South Florida real estate

For The Real Deal’s latest subscriber conference call, editor-at-large Hiten Samtani spoke and reporter Keith Larsen gave readers an inside look at our fall issue’s blockbuster cover story, “See no evil: How a culture of secrecy boosts South Florida’s condo market.” Check out the SoundCloud player to listen to the full conversation, and be sure to keep an eye out for more information about our next conference…

Key Waterfront Project in Coconut Grove Gets Financing

A new $33 million loan will help finance construction of a mixed-use project that the developer says will serve as a sorely needed waterfront centerpiece in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami. FirstBank Florida provided the financing package to The TREO Group, a Miami-based real estate investment firm that is building Regatta Harbour at 3385 Pan American Drive. The project will offer…

Construction starts on 7-story self-storage building in Allapattah

A Fort Lauderdale-based commercial real estate firm got a $9.8 million loan and started construction of seven-story self-storage building in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood. Generation4 Partners started building a SpaceSpace Storage facility after an affiliate of the firm… The 143,080-square-foot SpareSpace Storage facility at 644 Northwest 30th Street is expected to open for business in the summer of 2019.

EB-5 extended again — until after midterm elections

The EB-5 program, which was set to expire at the end of this month, has been extended until the beginning of December. The controversial visa program, which was due to reach the end of its six-month extension period on Sunday, Sept. 30,  has been reauthorized through Dec. 7. President Trump signed the extension Friday at noon, as part of a spending package to avoid a federal government…

Miami Gardens office complex listed at $88 per square foot

An office complex in Miami Gardens has been listed for sale with a $16.9 million asking price, or $88 per square foot. Despite its 74 percent occupancy rate, the three-building complex yields net operating income equal to 7 percent of the asking price… the Miami Gardens office property at 18425 Northwest Second Avenue, called Lincoln & Washington Square…

Generator Hostels opens first U.S. location in Miami Beach

Generator Hostels last week opened its first U.S. location in a former Miami Beach condominium. The London-based company opened Generator Hostel Miami in a refurbished eight-story building at 3120 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, previously known as Atlantic Princess Condominium. Generator Hostel Miami has 105 rooms with 300 beds and provides daily housekeeping. Introductory daily rates range…

Miami-Dade OKs Dolphin Expressway extension through the Everglades

“Another sexy highway” is one step closer to becoming a reality After winning preliminary approvals in June, a controversial plan to extend the Dolphin Expressway through the Everglades to West Kendall was OK’d by Miami-Dade commissioners on Thursday by a 9-4 vote. The 13-mile project, according to critics, defies sound urban planning practices and threatens natural ecosystems. Earlier this year, the so…

Supertall Waldorf Astoria hotel and condo tower pitched for downtown

The project is aiming to take the title of the city’s tallest building Downtown’s skyline could reach new heights thanks to a supertall tower unveiled by developers on Friday. Dubbed the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Residences, the combination hotel and condo skyscraper slated for 300 Biscayne Boulevard represents the Waldorf Astoria brand’s first foray into the Miami market. The project comes from New York…

PMG to build Waldorf Astoria tower in downtown Miami

The Waldorf Astoria is coming to downtown Miami. New York-based Property Markets Group signed a contract with the landmark hotel flag to build a Waldorf Astoria hotel-condo tower at 300 Biscayne Boulevard. The skyscraper, designed by Miami-based Sieger Suarez Architects as a stack of glass cubes, is projected to reach a total sellout of more than $1 billion, developer Ryan Shear told Bloomberg.

Rental prices are inching up — but there are still plenty of bargains

Yes, apartment rents are on the rise. But it’s becoming a renter’s market across many U.S. metro areas, where landlords are expecting more supply. Rents rose 2.9 percent in the third quarter, versus a year earlier, the Wall Sreet Journal reported. That’s also an increase from 2.5 percent in the second quarter. The boost comes from factors including a weaker sales market — tight supply nationally has driven…

Miami’s Development Spillover Leads Residents of a Tiny Nearby Town to Rail Against Getting a Free Municipal Center

A developer wants to build Class A offices and retail as part of a new governmental complex in the town of Surfside, Florida.   Credit: Pointe Development Company. In a one-square-mile seaside town bordering Miami Beach that’s attracted celebrities and notables from Frank Sinatra to Winston Churchill, residents these days are angry over a problem that less wealthy communities might like to have…

Tricera Capital sells retail space at X Miami to Exan Capital

Tricera Capital just sold the ground-floor retail space at X Miami to Exan Capital for $6.3 million in an off-market deal. Miami-based Tricera entered into a preconstruction contract last year to buy the retail units at 230 Northeast Fourth Street in downtown Miami from Property Markets Group for more than $3 million, Tricera co-founders and managing partners Scott Sherman and Ben Mandell said. They closed…

SoFla commercial construction starts rise in August, but resi drops

South Florida construction starts fell slightly in August on a year-over-year basis. Total building activity declined 7 percent to $703 million, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. Residential construction starts plunged 20 percent to $327.8 million, while commercial construction increased 10 percent to 375.2 million in August, compared to August 2017. On a year-to-date basis, construction starts rose 11 percent…

Edgewater investor sells development site on Biscayne Boulevard

An Edgewater investor sold a development site on Biscayne Boulevard and 34th Street in Miami to a company tied to DLC Capital Management. Miami Sunrise Properties, led by Jose Afonso Assumpção, sold six contiguous parcels at 234, 242, 250, 254, 264 and 272 Northeast 34th Street for $11.5 million to 3350 Biscayne LLC. The buyer lists a mailbox at a UPS Store in Miami Beach that’s tied to Jamie…

When is there a modification to a contract under Florida law?

People and businesses in Florida enter into a variety of different contracts each year. The types of contracts depend on the type of business, but every contract involves at least two parties each agreeing to do something or pay for something in exchange for the other party doing something. At the very basic level this is the basis of every contract, but the actions required to actually execute the terms…

Miami Marine Stadium plan ‘going forward,’ but it’s late

The architect hired to bring Miami Marine Stadium back to life says his team is “going forward nicely” with restoration. Richard J. Heisenbottle offered a status report during a Sept. 20 community workshop on the Marine Stadium Flex Park, the land and shoreline hugging the iconic concrete stadium on Virginia Key. “We are in the design-development phase now,” Mr. Heisenbottle told a crowded…

I-395 signature bridge bringing illuminated park downtown

When the I-395 “signature bridge” is finally in place about five years from now, Miami will have not only the landmark span that’s been talked about for years but also a 30-acre illuminated park beneath the new road, said James Wolfe, secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation’s District Six. Speaking to directors of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority last week, Mr. Wolfe said the new…

JP Morgan Chase adding branches in Miami, Other Florida Cities

JPMorgan Chase on Tuesday announced plans to expand its Sunshine State footprint over the next three years with 35 branches, including 10 across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The announcement was made precisely 10 years after the company broke into the Florida market with the acquisition of Washington Mutual on Sept. 25, 2008. “We are continuing to fill in gaps across the state so…”

Marine Stadium flex park ideas greeted coolly

“We need to reclaim the space, without sacrificing what we have.” That seemed to be the consensus shared by many members of the public who attended a Sept. 20 community workshop hosted by City of Miami planning department officials and a private urban design team working on a plan for the Marine Stadium Flex Park. The so-called flex park is the land and shoreline hugging the long-idled Miami…

Doral Office Building Hits The Market

A broker announced the exclusive listing of 2500 Building, a 97,476-square foot office property located in Doral, according to Scott Lunine, Regional Manager of the firm’s Miami office. The asset is listed for $14,750,000. 2500 Building is located at 2500 NW 79th Avenue. The 2500 Building offers a very strong value add opportunity with huge upside in occupancy and redevelopment potential. The 5.06 acre…

Developer secures $228 million in bond financing for project near FIU bridge collapse

The developer of University Bridge Residences, a planned student housing project next to the Florida International University pedestrian bridge that collapsed earlier this year, raised nearly $228 million in bond financing to complete the project, and has transferred ownership to a nonprofit. Global City Development sold the property at 740 Southwest 109th Avenue to…

The Fed raises interest rates by a quarter percentage point

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday to between 2 and 2.5 percent, a move that is expected to push up the cost of borrowing for commercial and residential loans. The 0.25 percent hike is the third so far this year, following raises in March and June. The Fed opted not to increase…

CPA Firm to Anchor New Mixed-Use Project in Suburban Miami

The Kaufman Rossin CPA firm will take nearly 65,000 square feet of office space at the mixed-use Mary Street building in Coconut Grove, Florida. A certified public accounting firm has agreed to lease nearly 65,000 square feet at a mixed-use development in Coconut Grove, Florida, the first new non-medical office space in that suburban Miami market in more than 20 years. Kaufman Rossin…

Coconut Grove Mixed-Use Lands Anchor Tenant

Mayfair Real Estate Advisors and Terra Group have secured an anchor tenant at Mary Street, a mixed-use development taking shape in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. Advisory firm Kaufman Rossin agreed to occupy 64,666 square feet at the Class A project. Developers are transforming a former parking garage, with delivery slated for mid-2019. Kaufman Rossin will lease the building’s top…

Trump’s Miami Golf Resort Revenues Have Plummeted Since He Became President

Lately, business has been good for luxury hotels in Miami. Revenues rose 4 percent in 2017, according to Forbes. But one Miami-area luxury club hasn’t seen that same revenue jump, and it’s not exactly hard to guess why. According to a major report today from Forbes, hotel revenues at the Trump National Doral, arguably the Donald’s golf flagship, have dropped like a stone since Trump became president.

Watch Your Back, WeWork: Landlords Move To Cut Out Middleman, Offer Coworking Themselves

Miami has finally shed its reputation as a place for people to retire. In the past 10 years, the city has seen an influx of people with bachelor’s degrees, and an entrepreneurial ecosystem has been evolving. Bisnow/Deirdra Funcheon Miami Mayor Francis Suarez was the keynote speaker at Bisnow’s annual State of the Market event September 2018. The arrival of new-to-market tenants has created an…

PMG Receives $106M Refinancing for 464-Unit X Miami Apartment Tower

Property Markets Group has received a $106 million refinancing for X Miami, a 464-unit multifamily community in downtown Miami. Pacific Western Bank provided the financing, which will pay off an existing $80 million construction loan from Centennial Bank. The 31-story tower that recently opened features units with floor-to-ceiling windows, large balconies, built-in closets, Nest thermostats and…

Little Haiti Activists Slam Huge Magic City Development, Ask City to Delay Vote

The proposed Magic City Innovation District development would instantly transform Little Haiti from an area of Caribbean immigrants and small local shops into a glitzy, landlocked version of Miami Beach. Though Little Haiti is already gentrifying at a rapid clip, locals worry the development would guarantee that the last stretch of affordable housing in the area would skyrocket in cost. Now, as the city…

Edgewater’s Missoni Baia condos begin 649-foot climb

The waterfront high-rise project is going vertical After nearly a year of below ground work, the 57-story Missoni Baia condominium tower is beginning its skyward climb at 777 NE 26th Terrace in Edgewater. The start of vertical construction follows some serious foundation work comprising more than 345 tons of steel-reinforcing bars, 2,250 cubic yards of poured concrete, and 190 individual piles driven a…

Miami 15th in the USA for Office Property Construction Starts with 2 Million SF in Deliveries YTD

At almost halfway through the last half of 2018, it’s time to check up on construction activity and the office properties pipeline in Miami and around the country. According to information tracked by CRE research and data platform Yardi Matrix, nationally new office and mixed-use projects encompassing roughly 101 million square feet are on track for 2018. Almost 42 million square feet of that total was…

Construction worker dies after possible electrocution at Midtown 8

A construction worker at Midtown 8 in Miami died on Tuesday afternoon after he was possibly electrocuted while working on the building’s elevator system. Miami Fire Rescue Capt. Ignatius Carroll said the worker was transported from the construction site on the southeast corner of Northeast 30th Street and First Avenue to Ryder Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead. Atlanta-based…

Terra scores Kaufman Rossin as main tenant at Mary Street

Kaufman Rossin just inked a lease to become the main office tenant in Terra’s Mary Street project in Coconut Grove. The Coconut Grove-based accounting and advisory firm, one of South Florida’s largest, signed a 15-year lease with options to renew to occupy 64,666 square feet in the planned Class A office building at 2860 Oak Avenue. The entire 77,840 square feet of office space in the building is now fully…

Michael Dell’s MSD Capital buying 1 Hotel South Beach for more than $500M

Billionaire Michael Dell’s MSD Capital is buying 1 Hotel South Beach for about $500 million, or more than $1 million per key. Starwood Capital Group, led by Barry Sternlicht, is selling the beachfront 426-key hotel at 2341 Collins Avenue for about $1.2 million a room, according to the Commercial Observer. The deal, which is reportedly in contract, would set a record for hotel sales in Miami, beating out…

The Billion-Dollar Magic City Innovation District Is Coming To Little Haiti. But What The Heck Is It?

The Miami City Commission will vote this Thursday on a billion-dollar real estate project in Little Haiti. The Magic City Innovation District, which will be headquartered at 6001 NE Second Avenue, is a massive development projected to take 10 to 15 years to complete. Its developers hope it will propel the Little Haiti area into an international draw for tourists, creatives and tech companies according to…

7 Reasons Why South Florida Remains One of the Most Attractive Commercial Real Estate Markets

Historically, Florida has been one of the strongest commercial real estate markets in the country, with continually solid returns and safety for the capital of global & domestic investors. Within the state, South Florida commercial real estate leads the way supported by strong population growth and tax-friendly laws. It’s not just the population growth that makes it an…

Doral Warehouse Located Next To Miami International Airport Trades For $7.4M

State Street Realty and Parvani Commercial Group, two Miami-based brokerage and advisory firms working on behalf of the seller, have closed on the sale of a warehouse property located next to the Miami International Airport. The property, which traded for $7,400,000, totals 46,488 square feet and is well-located at 8975 NW 26 Street in Doral. State Street Realty Vice President Frank Trelles, SIOR…

Philip Levine and Scott Robins propose mixed-use hotel in Wynwood

More hotels are planned for Wynwood, as the artsy district continues to transform into a residential neighborhood. Fresh off their multimillion-dollar Sunset Harbour sale, Miami Beach developer and former gubernatorial candidate Philip Levine and his real estate partner Scott Robins filed plans with the city of Miami for a residential and hotel project in Wynwood. Levine submitted a permit for a…

How Opportunity Zones Help with Economic Development

The Opportunity Zones program—the first new community development tax incentive program enacted since the Clinton administration—has the potential to generate an influx of capital in distressed communities. At the same time, concerns have been raised about the potential unintended consequences of the program. Two examples of these concerns include: Displacement; Concentration in high-cost…

Pinnacle sells North Miami Beach apartments to Treetop Development

Pinnacle Housing Group just sold one of its affordable housing complexes in North Miami Beach for $24.5 million to Treetop Development, property records show. New Jersey-based Treetop paid about $108,000 per unit for Pinnacle Lakes at 18701 Northeast Third Court using the companies, TriSun 57th Avenue LLC and TT Family Pinnacle LLC. Treetop financed the deal with a $16.95 million…

Treo Group scores $33 million loan for Dinner Key redevelopment in Coconut Grove

The Treo Group just secured construction financing for a mixed-use project covering more than 9.5 waterfront acres of city-owned land in Coconut Grove. Treo closed on Friday on a $33 million loan from FirstBank of Florida for Regatta Harbour, which is under construction, said Otto Boudet-Murias, a principal at the Miami-based firm. The Dinner Key site includes the former Scotty’s Landing restaurant, now…

TREO Group Receives $33M Construction Loan for Mixed-Use Waterfront Project in Miami’s Coconut Grove

The TREO Group has received a $33 million loan from FirstBank Florida for the construction of Regatta Harbour, a mixed-use waterfront development located in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The project will be located at Dinner Key, a marina complex situated along the shore of Biscayne Bay. Upon completion, the 100,000-square-foot development will include retail space, three waterfront restaurants…

South Florida by the numbers: Miami real estate and cars connection

“South Florida by the numbers” is a web feature that catalogs the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics. We may not be the biggest gearheads here at SFBTN headquarters, but we do love those cars. And since our tastes run a bit fancy, we are big fans of the recent trend of international automakers putting their brands and identities into Miami real estate. As we cruise the city streets with our…

See no evil: How a culture of secrecy boosts South Florida’s condo market

A lawyer with ties to Venezuela’s oil ministry, a member of the country’s “boliburguesía” elite and a money launderer sat around a Caracas office table while armed guards and a German shepherd with a shock collar stood watch. The boliburgués placed his handgun on the table. It was November 2015, and the three Venezuelans were pressuring an unnamed associate to persist with a scheme that United…

Crocker and Chicago-based firm take over partnership that owns Miami business park

Crocker Partners and Walton Street Capital took over a limited partnership that owns Landing at MIA, a 1.52 million-square-foot business park near Miami International Airport. Angelo Bianco, managing partner of Boca Raton-based Crocker Partners, confirmed that his firm and Chicago-based Walton Street Capital acquired the property by taking control of the partnership. Bianco declined to comment on…

Seven-acre, mixed-use development in Coral Gables advances to construction phase

The developers held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony for The Plaza Coral Gables, a seven-acre mixed-use development on Ponce de Leon Boulevard. Agave Ponce, LLC is the company behind the 2.25 million-square-foot development with offices, retail stores, restaurants and residences, plus a 242-key hotel and 2,050 parking spaces. CallisonRTKL created the architectural design of the…

Last phase of Coral Gables mixed-use development adds 33 condos

The residential phase of a mixed-use development in Coral Gables opened with 19 of its 33 condominium units unsold. Prices start in the $900,000s for the remaining unsold units, which include a full-floor penthouse. The developers got a temporary certificate of occupancy for the residential tower, completing the mixed-use Giralda Place development with 57,000 square feet of previously built office space.

Petition could allow Miami Beach to annex two islands along the Venetian Causeway

Residents of two of the six artificial islands along the Venetian Causeway are circulating petition to allow Miami Beach to annex them. The Miami-Dade County planning board and county commissioners would have to approve a proposed annexation of Biscayne and San Marco, the two westernmost islands along the Venetian Causeway between South Beach and downtown Miami. The county code also…

A closer look at Jean Nouvel’s Monad Terrace

The South Beach development is the French architect’s first and only residential project in Florida As vertical construction continues on SoBe’s Monad Terrace, the team behind the unique waterfront development has released fresh renderings showing new angles of its dramatic design from Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Jean Nouvel. The images provide the best glimpse yet of the project which…

Habitat Group plans another mixed-use project in West Brickell

Habitat Group, which is developing the mixed-use complex Smart Brickell, just bought another development site in West Brickell where it plans to build a hotel and condo project, The Real Deal has learned. The firm, led by president and CEO Santiago Vanegas, paid $14.5 million for an apartment building at 143 Southwest Ninth Street in Miami. Vanegas said plans are to replace the existing building with…

Zom lists Monarc at Met downtown Miami apartment tower for sale

Zom is looking to sell a luxury apartment tower in downtown Miami that could fetch “well over $200 million,” according to CBRE listing broker Still Hunter. The apartment developer completed Monarc at Met, a 462-unit, 32-story building at 201 Southeast Second Avenue, in November 2016. Zom purchased the air rights to develop the rental portion from MDM Development Group, the master developer of…

Prologis Beacon Centre Business Park secures 28,000 sf of leases, Other News in Leasing

Prologis Beacon Centre Business Park, a 205-acre business park in Miami’s Airport/Doral submarket, just secured 27,775 square feet of leases through four separate transactions. Of the four, two were new, including Pharma-Wholesale Corp.’s 3,600-square-foot lease at 1904 Northwest 84th Avenue and America-Loving Care Home Health’s 4,600-square-foot lease at 1900 Northwest 84th Avenue. Church World…

Lionheart Capital proposes 2 new mixed-use buildings in Design District

Lionheart Capital is looking to speed up development of a pair of commercial buildings in the Design District, according documents filed with the city of Miami. Flagler Holding Group, a company managed by Lionheart founding partner Ricardo Dunin, is seeking approval of a development agreement that the developer will comply with the special area plan for the Design District. Lionheart previously obtained…

Ronny Finvarb scores approval for Miami Beach hotel near convention center

Miami Beach developer Ronny Finvarb secured the final approval for a Thompson Hotels-branded hotel near the Miami Beach Convention Center. Finvarb Group returned to the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board on Monday for a vote on the Symphony Park hotel at 1685 Washington Avenue. After delaying approval in June amid concerns over the size and style of the building and how it relates to the…

Video: Reis Chief Economist & VP of Research Victor Calanog on the Future of Commercial Real Estate

Reis Chief Economist & Vice President of Research, Dr. Victor Calanog, joins Michael Bull on his show to discuss his outlook on trends in commercial real estate, including interests rates, tax reform, and where we are in the economic cycle. He talks about the effect of recent tax law changes on commercial property, makes some predictions about the future, and more. Dr. Calanog’s firm, Reis, is the leading…

NFL star Elvis Dumervil is betting big on North Miami real estate

During his 12-year National Football League career, Elvis Dumervil tackled his way to success with teams like the Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. He signed four multimillion-dollar contracts — but he knew the money and the profession wouldn’t last forever. “I knew football was a great opportunity, but I knew it was a job, not a career – there’s a big difference,” Dumervil…

Alex Karakhanian teams with NY investors on luxury Wynwood hotel

Developer Alex Karakhanian is partnering with Wynwood Investment Partners to build a mixed-use hotel in Wynwood. The joint venture, called Triumph Wynwood, plans to develop the 1.2-acre site at 51 Northwest 29th Street into a 12-story hotel with more than 300,000 square feet of space, a 60,000-square-foot Class A office component and 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. The luxury lifestyle…

Miami Storage Facility Lands $10 Million Construction Loan

Walker & Dunlop has structured $9.8 million in financing for the construction of SpareSpace Storage in Miami. The firm worked with sponsor Generation4 Partners to place the debt assignment. The project is slated for completion by the summer of 2019. Located in the Wynwood/Allapattah neighborhood, the development will be less than 1 mile from Mana Wynwood, a roughly 24-acre assemblage…

Graham Cos. Picks AIG for $120 Million Loan on Miami Lakes Real Estate

Graham Cos., the developer of much of Miami Lakes, refinanced 29 properties in the northwest Miami-Dade County town. The lender? American International Group Inc., the New York-based global insurer. AIG provided a $120 million, 15-year loan. The long term is exactly why Graham Cos. decided to go with an alternative lender instead of a commercial bank. “Your normal banks and those kinds of lenders…

Basic requirements for a non-disclosure agreement

There are many different types of businesses in Florida. These businesses offer a variety of goods and services for people throughout the world. However, many businesses offer similar goods and services, and in some industries there can be a lot of competition. In many instances, each company has certain aspects that are unique just to that company, even if other companies are similar. These unique…

Carlyle JV sells Miami-Dade self-storage portfolio for $100 million

An entity tied to William Warren Group just paid $100 million for three self-storage buildings spread throughout Miami-Dade County. Property records show CRP/Westport Self Storage Dixie, a joint venture between the Carlyle Group and Westport Properties that operates as US Storage Centers, sold the buildings. The self-storage facilities are located in Kendall, North Miami and North Miami Beach. Records…

Berkadia Arranges $45.8M Acquisition Loan for Apartment Tower Along Miami River

Berkadia has arranged a $45.8 million bridge loan for the acquisition of River Oaks Marina & Tower, a 199-unit apartment community located along the Miami River at 1951 N.W. S. River Drive in Miami. Charles Foschini and Christopher Apone of Berkadia arranged the three-year, floating-rate loan through a correspondent life company on behalf of the buyer, a Miami-based real estate investment firm.

Sunny Isles Beach’s ultra high-end condo market has a big inventory problem: report

Sunny Isles Beach is saddled with 17 years of inventory of condos priced at $5 million and up, and overall, Miami-Dade County faces nearly five years of supply of high-end units, according to a new report. Of the 348 units listed for sale on the Southeast Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service as of Aug. 31, about 30 percent, or 103 units, are in Sunny Isles Beach. Based on the six recorded sales between…

PMG nabs $106 million loan for downtown Miami rental tower

Property Markets Group secured a $106 million loan for X Miami, a recently completed rental tower in downtown Miami. Pacific Western Bank is providing the financing, which will be used to pay off an existing $80 million loan for the 32-story, 462-unit building at 240 Northeast Fourth Street, according to a press release. Centennial Bank was PMG’s construction lender. PMG’s Andrew Warman, Jonathan…

Why title insurance firms are paying close attention to the latest Russian sanctions bill

A U.S. Treasury Department program that spotlights anonymous real estate purchases in a number of gateway cities could become a nationwide law if a Russian sanctions bill is passed. The little-known provision in the Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act of 2018, a bipartisan bill introduced to the Senate last month, would force title insurance companies to report the…

Neil Hasu Shah: Grows the 50-hotel empire of Hersha Hospitality Trust

As president and COO of Hersha Hospitality Trust, Neil Shah manages a portfolio of 50 hotels totaling 7,666 rooms in South Florida, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, select West Coast markets and Washington, DC. Mr. Shah, who in 2006 took over his family’s business with his brother, CEO Jay Shah, has since 2000 led the acquisitions, development and asset management for the company, founded in 1984 by…

North Miami’s Chinatown works on incubator linkup

North Miami’s Chinatown is working on a collaboration among the city, Trinity Church and the business school at Johnson & Wales University. This project, which will manifest physically around the end of this year, is to be an entrepreneurial “incubator” in the Chinatown corridor, said North Miami City Manager Larry Spring. The space could also include a welcome center for investors, visitors and residents…

Lagging North Beach moves closer to ‘renaissance’

The Miami Beach Town Center – a North Beach area that hasn’t had significant development in 25 years – came one step closer to its “renaissance” last week when the city commission managed to pass two resolutions allowing for taller buildings while setting standards for planned micro-residences. The plans sparked controversy, with Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez calling the changes “a classic…”

Is it curtains for Coconut Grove Playhouse revival?

For years now, as preservationists have fought Miami-Dade County’s plan to redevelop the Coconut Grove Playhouse as a 300-seat theater and as uninvited third parties have pushed their own plans, the county has responded by pointing to its long-term lease of the historic property from the state. But now the county is in real danger of losing its control of the playhouse, as the state has threatened…

Miami orders Virginia Key marinas operator to vacate

The City of Miami is ordering the operator to vacate the Rickenbacker Marina on Virginia Key. It’s the latest move in a years-long controversy over who will run the city-owned site. City commissioners took the action Sept. 13, with a plan to have city employees temporarily take over operations while they prepare to award a contract to a new private company to redevelop the marina and the…

Alabama investor buys Shalimar Motel in MiMo

The Shalimar Motel on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami’s MiMo District will get a facelift after selling for $6.3 million. Sandip Patel, a hotel investor from Alabama who recently moved to Miami, just bought the 49-room motel at 6200 Biscayne Boulevard, said Ahmed Kabani of Marcus & Millichap, who represented Patel. Robert Bhat of Marcus & Millichap arranged a $4.1 million loan from U.S. Century Bank to…

OSHA fines contractors of FIU bridge that collapsed

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the contractors involved in the Florida International University bridge that collapsed earlier this year, killing six people. OSHA fined Figg Bridge Engineers, Munilla Construction Management, Bolton Perez & Associates, Structural Technologies in Homestead and the Structural Group of South Florida $86,658 for seven worker-safety violations…

South Florida’s largest multifamily investment sales in August

Large out-of-state investors are continuing to see value in South Florida’s multifamily market. In August, a number of institutional investors bought apartments at a significant markup from their previous price.The largest sale of the month was the $71.3 million deal of The Latitudes at the Moors, an apartment complex that TIAA purchased near Hialeah. Many of the top deals are for properties outside…

Wells Fargo expects CRE lending to decrease while bank copes with fallout from scandals

Wells Fargo expects its book of commercial real estate loans to shrink as the bank struggles with governance issues. CFO John Shrewsberry said during a conference Friday that he expects commercial real estate and industrial loans to fall from second-quarter levels, the Wall Street Journal reported. Shrewsberry pointed to the bank’s deliberate lending discipline and a…

Lissette Calderon returns to the Miami River with $61 million deal

Developer Lissette Calderon closed on the River Oaks Tower & Marina for about $61 million with plans to renovate the waterfront apartment building. The deal marks Calderon’s return to real estate after leaving the Related Group in 2016, and to the Miami River, where she developed Neo Lofts, Neo Vertika and other buildings dating back 15 years. Calderon’s firm, Neology Life, closed on the 199-unit…

Site of planned office project in Coconut Grove hits the market

The development site of a planned office project in Coconut Grove just hit the market. LointerHome principal Marco de Souza is looking to sell the 21,000-square-foot development site at 3151 Southwest 27th Avenue for $5.5 million. De Souza and his partner Amanda De Seta planned to build 27@Lincoln, a five-story, 68,000-square-foot Class A office building with ground floor retail space and an…

Mixed-use Causeway Village project moves forward in North Miami

Taubco’s Causeway Village project is back on track after more than five years in the works. Nearly two years after the developer secured the OK from a North Miami planning commission, the city’s town council greenlit the same land-use amendment, allowing the mixed-use project to keep moving through the approval process. It’s the first step to include the parcel in a district just west of a zone that allows…

No Announcement, But Jeff Bezos Still Says Amazon HQ2 Will Be Decided By Year-End

More than 1,000 D.C. business leaders were on hand Thursday evening in the hopes of hearing a big announcement from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, but the richest man in the world declined to give any new information on his company’s search for a second headquarters. “We will announce the decision before the end of this year,” Bezos told the Economic Club of Washington D.C. “We’ve made tremendous…”

Developer unveils short-term rental condo project near Dolphin Mall

Rems Group Inc. just unveiled plans for Residences at Dolphin Citi Center, a Doral condo project set to rise between Dolphin Mall and International Mall. Robert Lechter, a partner at Rems, said the 113-unit, eight-story condo building will allow short- and medium-term rentals with a minimum three-night stay requirement. The project is planned for a nearly 4-acre lot on the southwest corner of 108th…

Miami-Area Developers Use Condominium Terminations to Deal With Land Shortage

Modest or shabby condominiums in downtown Miami and across the surrounding region are proving to be ripe for redevelopment as builders try to cope with South Florida’s land shortage. The builders are using so-called condo terminations, also known as de-conversions, to acquire a majority of the units in older buildings so they can transform the structures into…

Home builder DR Horton adds to its growing presence in South Dade

Home builder DR Horton bought vacant lots for 32 houses near Homestead, adding to its presence in south Miami-Dade County. The Arlington, Texas-based builder paid $3.04 million for the land  at the northeast corner of Southwest 308 Street and Southwest 192 Avenue in South Dade. Garden Developers LLC, run by Sergio Guardazzi, sold the land for a price that breaks down to $95,000 per lot. Garden…

After 123 years, Henri Bendel is closing its doors. And it’s leaving a lot of retail space behind

Amid sluggish sales, Henri Bendel is closing all 23 of its departments stores. Parent company L Brands announced Friday that it would be shuttering the luxury store after 123 years, CNN reported. Its 23 stores will close after the holiday season in January 2019. The move is an attempt “to improve company profitability and focus on our larger brands that have greater growth potential,” including Victoria’s…

David Edelstein paying $32 million for properties in Wynwood’s 5th Ave

David Edelstein is spending about $32 million to buy a large assemblage on Fifth Avenue in Wynwood that he eventually plans to develop into a mixed-use project, The Real Deal has learned. The New York developer is acquiring nearly two blocks on the east side of Fifth Avenue between 26th and 28th streets. The assemblage totals about 74,000 square feet, or 1.7 acres, of land. It’s near Goldman…

Brightline Gets All the Attention, But Tri-Rail’s Going Into Downtown Miami Next Year

South Florida’s new, privately run train, Brightline, grabs all the headlines (just yesterday, it announced it would run a route between Southern California and Vegas) but the region’s workhorse commuter line has its own triumph: It will be expanding into downtown Miami next year. A new 9-mile Tri-Rail route, called the Downtown Link, should be operational by Q3 2019, Tri-Rail spokesperson Bonnie Arnold…

Avra Jain, with Dragonfly Investments, picks up another MiMo motel

A partnership between Avra Jain and Dragonfly Investments just picked up a motel in the MiMo District – not too far away from Jain’s Vagabond Hotel. Property records show Jain’s Gold Dust 7700 LLC paid $6 million for Motel Blu at 7700 Biscayne Boulevard, a two-story, 60-unit building next to the cabaret nightclub Gold Rush. The deal breaks down to about $100,000 per room. Jain wrote that she and…

West Flager Associates wants a gambling venue in Edgewater, but the city wants more oversight

Miami officials moved closer to preventing owners of Magic City Casino from opening an Edgewater gambling venue that would include a jai alai court and poker room, following resident outcry over the proposal. City commissioners voted 4-1 on first reading Thursday to authorize the Miami city manager and planning department draw up changes to the Miami 21 zoning code. That new measures would…

Student-Oriented Apartments Near UM Fetching $3.95/SF Rents

The average price per square foot for rent in Florida is $1.31, according to Apartment List. But in Miami, a boutique co-living venture geared toward students is getting as much as $3.95/SF.  Orduna Court’s upscale units near the University of Miami are commanding high rents. Orduna Court, at 800 South Dixie Highway, is a 24-unit co-living property within walking distance of the University of Miami. Here…

SoFla’s biggest retail property sales in August

Commercial real estate heavyweights Blackstone Group and Stiles Corp. recorded the two priciest retail trades in South Florida in August. Another notable trade last month involved a former Toys “R” Us building in Plantation. That sale was part the company’s efforts to unload 284 of its stores after filing for bankruptcy a year ago. Overall, the retail market in South Florida has…

Booming Office Market, Soaring Apartment Rents Give Miami Developers Justified Optimism

Miami’s office market is going from strength to strength, according to Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Vice Chairman Brian Gale. “Overall, the market is very strong,” said Gale, who represents office landlords. “Some submarkets are certainly stronger than others, but we’re seeing close to single-digit vacancy for all of Miami. And the one important thing to know is there’s been a plethora of new-to-market…

The end is near: Downtown Miami’s condo cycle will likely end this year, report shows

After a more than eight-year run that changed the Magic City’s skyline, Greater Downtown Miami’s condo cycle is likely nearing the end. The Downtown Development Authority’s mid-year report, prepared by Integra Realty Resources, suggests that the cycle is coming to a close as Miami’s urban core has yet to see a new condo project break ground so far this year. The average resale prices for condos fell…

TA Realty pays $92 million for industrial portfolio in Hialeah Gardens and Medley

Hialeah’s industrial market is showing no signs of a slowdown. TA Realty just paid $92.25 million for a ten-parcel industrial portfolio in Medley and Hialeah Gardens. Miami-based commercial real estate firm Cofe Properties sold the nearly 932,500-square-foot portfolio.
Property records show Cofe bought the assemblage in 2013 for $48.3 million. South Florida’s industrial market remains strong, and…

Luxury Condo Glut Forms in Downtown Miami, Suburbs

Downtown Miami isn’t the only area in Miami-Dade County saturated with luxury condominiums, a sign buyers may be seizing control of the softening market. Sunny Isles Beach, an upscale suburb in the northeastern part of the county, has almost 600 units listed for sale at $1 million or more, according to Condo Vultures Realty, a brokerage and consulting firm. With an average of nearly 12 condos selling…

Residential On the Way at Signature Development Near Miami

Construction is due to start this month on the first residences at Dania Pointe, one of the largest mixed-use developments under way in metropolitan Miami. The first 264 of 600 apartments at Avery Dania Pointe will likely start leasing late next year and be ready for occupancy in 2020, said Stuart Meyers, chairman of project developer Meyers Group. The $800 million Dania Pointe is just off Interstate…

Video: David Madson of CBT Architects on Office Design’s Impact on a Company’s Profitability

David Madson, Principal with CBT Architects, appears on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss how the office design a business employs can impact its bottom line. Boston based CBT refers to itself a leading design firm working locally, nationally and internationally in the areas of architecture, interior design and urban design. In the video, he discusses wellness considerations…

Sale Of 2.31 Acres Negotiated In Doral

DiGiacomo Group’s Patricia Marquez negotiated the sale of an industrial land parcel totaling 2.31 acres, or 101,059 square feet, located at 10405 NW 19 Street in Doral, Florida. Buyer Inter Dolphin Property, LLC. purchased the parcel from Rarity Builders, LLC, for $2,675,000. The deal closed July 31, 2018. Marquez represented the buyer in the transaction. “The absorption rate of industrial land in the City of Doral…

Israeli firm to buy SunTrust parking garage in downtown Miami for $18M

Crocker Partners plans to sell a parking garage near the SunTrust International Center in downtown Miami to Tel Aviv-based Mishorim Development Group for $18.5 million, according to documents filed with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Crocker Partners bought the 31-story SunTrust building and the seven-story garage for a combined $82.4 million in 2011, according to property records. In May, it sold…