Feb 16, 2022 - 0 Comments - Top Stories -

Miami Commercial Real Estate News February 16, 2022: Hialeah Industrial, 2 Kendall Multifamily Dev Sites Sell; Soccer Stadium Study Ordered; More…

Trammell Crow proposes 576 apartments in West Kendall, puts land under contract

Trammell Crow Residential wants to build a 576-unit apartment community on land it has under contract next to West Kendall Baptist Hospital. Dallas-based Trammell Crow, through an affiliate, is seeking Miami-Dade County’s approval to develop the multifamily complex on 20.2 acres at the western side of a larger tract between Southwest 88th and 91st streets, and…

Michelle Bernstein’s Sra. Martinez re-opening in Coral Gables with EB-5 backing

Celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein plans to re-open her Sra. Martinez restaurant, this time in Coral Gables. It was a Miami Design District staple pre-pandemic. The Coral Gables project is backed by the EB-5 visa program that allows foreign investors a path to U.S. green cards in exchange for lending to a business venture that generates a certain number of jobs.

Top 25 South Florida Retail Shopping Center Transactions of 2021

Compared to 2020, 2021 was a big year for South Florida commercial real estate in general as the economy saw a big boost from many new residents and companies moving in from other states. This factor coupled with the state’s relatively relaxed Covid-19 regulations allowed for businesses to breathe and people to circulate more freely….

Commercial real estate investment rose 86% last year

Commercial real estate investors spent $53 billion on properties in Los Angeles, $49 billion in New York and $41 billion in Dallas last year, powering an 86 percent national increase from 2020. The total came to $746 billion, according to a report from CBRE. Investment in multifamily and industrial properties drove the surge, and Austin had the hottest…

Urban retail not recovering like malls, shopping centers: Vornado

A “startling” retail recovery across the country has included malls and shopping centers, but big cities have been laggards, Vornado Realty Trust executives said Tuesday. And New York’s prime retail landlords might never again collect the astronomical rents of the pre-pandemic era, Vornado’s chairman, Steven Roth, acknowledged. That helps explain why…

Sprouts Farmers Market Plans New Location in Miami’s Grove Central Development

Sprouts Farmers Market has released plans to open a 24,014-square-foot location at Grove Center, a mixed-use, transit-oriented development underway in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. Sprouts’ new location will be the Phoenix-based grocer’s third store in Miami-Dade County. Slated for delivery in 2023, the Grove Center will include a 23-story…

Sergio Pino teams up with Treo to redevelop Florida City RV park

Shortly after acquiring Florida City’s former RV park, Treo Group formed a joint venture with Sergio Pino to build townhomes on the 16-acre site. The deal involves Pino’s Century Parc Villas West LLC purchasing 10.5 acres for $6.5 million, with $5.2 million in financing provided by Treo Group, according to records. Pino heads Coral Gables-based Century…

Miami Development Update: Mixed-Use Boosts Office Development

As of December, nearly 3.6 million square feet of office space was under construction in Miami, or 5.1 percent of total stock, according to CommercialEdge. Ongoing in-migration, heightened by the pandemic, has boosted investments and relocations in the metro. The office pipeline has increased significantly since late 2020, when it bottomed out at…

Alan and Robert Potamkin rev up their real estate game with $10M Miami Beach purchase near Lincoln Road

Auto dealership magnates Alan Potamkin and Robert Potamkin bought a potential commercial redevelopment site in Miami Beach for $10.4 million. An entity managed by the brothers bought a parking lot at 1683 Alton Road and, next to it, a single-story commercial building at 1695 Alton Road, near Lincoln Road, according to records. Alan Potamkin and Robert…

Pura Vida restaurant group plans major Florida expansion

Omer and Jennifer Horev with Pura Vida Pura Vida opened its first restaurant in 2012, and nearby a decade later it is in major growth mode. The restaurant group, led by owners Omer and Jennifer Horev, is opening its 10th location and could double its store count this year, Omer Horev told The Real Deal. And in 2023 and 2024, Pura Vida — which now has…

Harry Macklowe puts site next to Dadeland Mall under contract, proposes 650 apartments

New York City-based Macklowe Properties is joining the South Florida apartment craze, proposing a 650-unit project on land it put under contract next to Dadeland Mall. Real estate tycoon Harry Macklowe’s company, through an affiliate, wants to build a pair of 25-story towers on 1.7 acres it plans to purchase from Miami-based Rilea Group, according to a project…

Downtown Miami’s 32 office buildings 24% vacant

Downtown Miami is not experiencing office space reduction but growth, as a variety of buyers and renters are coming to the area from all parts of the globe, despite some negative net absorption in the market at the end of 2021. Downtown Miami has an office inventory 32 buildings, encompassing 6,813,620 total square feet and a total vacancy rate of 24.4%. It ended…

Signature Bridge, expressways roll ahead

Construction crews continue to make significant progress on the I-395/SR 836/I-95 Design-Build Project, says the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The massive project is advancing via a partnership between FDOT and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority and its contractor, the Archer Western – de Moya Group Joint Venture.

County orders study of soccer stadium project impact on airport

County commissioners voted Tuesday to have Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and aviation officials update a 2021 report to analyze potential impacts on Miami International Airport of a pending City of Miami deal across the street for a 25,000-seat stadium, a hotel, office buildings, stores, a parking building and more on Melreese golf course. “We need to be very…”

Coral Gables Mobility Hub bill rises with demolition

Coral Gables Mobility Hub’s construction firm, The Weitz Company, got the go-ahead to demolish a parking garage where the hub will rise – costing the city an additional $1.5 million. During Tuesday’s city commission meeting, city officials approved future bond funds to be allocated for unforeseeable costs for services that were not included in the management…

Heritage Equity buys Miami redevelopment site amid legal battles in New York

Amid legal battles involving their office and hotel projects in New York, developers Toby Moskovits and Michael Lichtenstein splashed into Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood with a $6.3 million acquisition at 2140 Northeast Second Avenue. Heritage Equity Partners, a Brooklyn-based development firm led by Moskovits and Lichtenstein, bought the Midas…

Even after receiving rental aid, landlords find ways to get tenants evicted

Landlords of residential properties are figuring out ways to cut tenants loose even after they have paid their back rent through the Federal government’s Covid-inspired Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The Associated Press is reporting that a survey by the National Housing Law Project of legal aid attorneys and civil rights advocates found the…

NFTs Meet CRE: Florida Restaurateurs Tap Tokens For Brick-And-Mortar Ventures

Florida restaurateurs are getting in on the NFT action. A Miami chef is the latest with plans to sell nonfungible tokens as membership passes to an exclusive club, and a Fort Lauderdale fast-casual chain is using NFTs to represent investments in franchises. Miami chef Piyarat “Chef Bee” Arreeratn, who owns Oishi Thai, is teaming up with Canadian…

Surfside unit owners reach tentative $83M settlement in collapse litigation

Unit owners of Champlain Towers South could receive an $83 million settlement, marking the first major payout in the Surfside condo collapse litigation. The agreement was reached on Thursday night between Champlain Towers South unit owners and those who lost loved ones, following mediation by attorney Bruce Greer. Miami-Dade Judge…

Developers score $47M bridge loan for Opa-locka townhouse rentals

Redwood National Properties and Winston Capital Partners scored a $46.6 million bridge loan for their newly built The Mirage at Sailboat Cove townhouse rental complex in Opa-locka. Redwood National, a wholly owned subsidiary of Miami-based BAS Holdings Investments, and Aventura-based Winston Capital developed the majority of the complex at…

Montreal investor picks up Miami Beach Art Deco apartment buildings for $7M

A Canadian investor paid $7 million for a pair of Art Deco apartment buildings in Miami Beach, in an off-market deal. An investment group led by Michael Fischer of Montreal bought the Flamingo Apartments complex at 2456 Flamingo Drive and 320 West 25th Avenue, according to the brokers who handled the deal. Fischer’s group paid $269,230 per door for 26…

Crescent Heights scores school board approval to buy downtown Miami land for mixed-use project

Real estate giant Crescent Heights secured approval from the School Board of Miami-Dade County to purchase a lot north of downtown Miami, capping a yearslong effort to acquire the site. Crescent Heights, a Miami-based developer led by Managing Principal Russell Galbut, is expected to pay $20.6 million for the property at 1370 Northeast Second Avenue.

Miami becomes least affordable housing market in the US

Miami is the most expensive housing market in the country, surpassing New York, according to a RealtyHop report. Home prices in Miami have soared during the pandemic, propelled by the migration of out-of-state buyers and renters, many of whom have moved from the Northeast. Wages, meanwhile, have not risen at the same pace. Read more Growth of…

Bars, restaurants and nightclubs on hold as Miami Beach commissioners debate proposals for 2 a.m. last call for booze

Miami Beach elected officials failed to reach a consensus on the perfect cocktail for banning booze sales after 2 a.m. across the city, leaving bar, restaurant and nightclub owners on the waiting list for the new prohibition. The city commission approved four competing proposals on first reading on Wednesday and will have a final vote in April to decide which one…

The Easton Group, JV Partner Acquire Hialeah Development Site For $29.M, 2 Spec Warehouses Planned

The Easton Group and LBA Logistics are partnering on their third South Florida real estate deal with acquisition of a 26.44-acre development site in Hialeah. The joint venture paid $29.4 million for the land located 4220 West 91st Place.  The transaction closed Friday, February 4. Easton has submitted plans to the city to build two…

Easton Group, LBA Logistics Acquire Land for $29.4M, Plan for Distribution Development in Metro Miami

Doral, Fla.-based The Easton Group and Irvine, Calif.-based LBA Logistics have acquired a 26.4-acre development site in Hialeah, about 11.6 miles from Miami. The joint venture purchased the land for $29.4 million with plans to build two speculative warehouse and distribution facilities on the site. The two buildings will total 462,954 square feet. Building features…

A Billion-Dollar Take on Miami’s Luxury Market

Mast Capital recently unveiled plans for a 2.6 million-square-foot development in Miami’s South Brickell neighborhood in a prime location. The company paid a whopping $103 million for the 2.8-acre parcel, a deal that represented one of the largest land sales closed in the region in 2021. The transaction also showed how land off the waterfront is trading…

Old Cruise Ships As Apartments? People Say They’d Pay $4K To Rent Them

Shipping containers, tiny houses, micro-units — all have been explored as potential solutions to the affordable housing crisis. But what about decommissioned cruise ships functioning as floating apartment buildings? Ibrahim Desooky, a 27-year-old architectural designer in the Miami office of CallisonRTKL, decided to research the feasibility of such a thing…

IG Logistics expands Pompano Beach industrial portfolio with $12M acquisition

In a pair of off-market deals totaling $12 million, IG Logistics acquired two outdoor storage facilities, beefing up its Pompano Beach industrial portfolio. Affiliates of New York-based IG Logistics paid $5.5 million for a 3.2-acre industrial site at 1377 Hammondville Road, and $6.5 million for a 4.7-acre property at 1750 Powerline Road, according to records. Ted…

Oscar Barbara’s Luxcom scores $41M construction loan for Sunrise apartments

Oscar Barbara’s Luxcom scored a $41.4 million construction loan for a Sunrise apartment complex on the site of a closed BJ’s Wholesale Club, marking continued redevelopment of South Florida shopping centers into multifamily projects. Luxcom Living, the multifamily arm of Coral Gables-based Luxcom, will build six three- and four…

On-again, off-again: Soffer’s second attempt to buy 1,000-room Diplomat resort falls apart

Billionaire Jeffrey Soffer’s planned $850 million purchase of the oceanfront Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood is off, The Real Deal has learned. Soffer’s Fontainebleau Development had been in talks to buy the 1,000-key hotel at least twice since 2019, and the latest deal fell apart, according to sources. Brookfield Property Partners owns the resort at 3555 South…

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale scores TCO, sellout estimated at $350M

Fort Partners completed the Four Seasons Residences Fort Lauderdale, more than six years after the developer launched sales of the beachfront project. Sales average more than $2,000 per square foot, marking the most expensive new condo development in the city, said Fort Partners’ strategic adviser Louis Sunshine. Fort Partners, a Miami-based firm…

Clarion Partners buys Lauderhill apartments for $72M

Clarion Partners scooped up the Serramar Apartments in Lauderhill for $72 million, marking continued investment interest in South Florida’s robust multifamily market. New York-based Clarion bought the 302-unit complex at 6701-6950 Landings Drive from an affiliate of Milbrook Properties, according to a deed. The deal breaks down to $238,411 per apartment.

Blue Water Advisors fund wraps up $13M deal for West Palm office building

A fund with ties to Blue Water Advisors picked up a Palm Beach County office building for $13 million. The fund acquired Horizons Office Center at 1401 Forum Way in West Palm Beach, according to records. Blue Water is a private equity firm headquartered in New York and Boca Raton. It is led by Alex Hufty Griswold, head of real estate; William Whitridge; as well…

Demand for condos, affordable housing rises as developers zero in on downtown West Palm Beach

Development opportunities persist in downtown West Palm Beach as plans unfold for a Wynwood-style redevelopment of an urban warehouse district and a University of Florida campus just north of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. At the same time, the need is growing for housing, including condos and affordable rentals, as the city courts financial…