Jul 28, 2021 - 0 Comments - Top Stories -

Miami Commercial Real Estate News July 28, 2021: Landlords Sue Government Over Eviction Ban; Brickell Retail Condo Sells for $14 Million; More…

Landlords sue federal gov’t over rental losses during CDC eviction ban

In three days, the federal ban on evictions is set to expire, allowing landlords in most states to take non-paying tenants to court. But property owners say they deserve more than the freedom to join a backlogged docket. They want money. The National Apartment Association, a landlord group, filed a lawsuit in federal claims court Tuesday demanding that…

Black Lion buys SLS Lux Brickell retail condo, former Katsuya location, for $14M

Black Lion Investment Group bought a retail condo at the SLS Lux Brickell for $13.5 million. The Los Angeles-based commercial real estate and investment firm bought the unit that was formerly the site of Katsuya sushi restaurant and SBar, according to a press release from the brokers. Jorge Pérez’s Related Group, which co-developed the SLS Lux Brickell at 805…

Two of Florida’s Biggest Developers Team Up To Develop 28 Acres In Hialeah

Two of Miami’s biggest developers are teaming up on a 642-unit multifamily project on 28 acres. Related Group and Fontainebleau Development broke ground Monday on Las Carreras, a garden-style rental community in Hialeah at 7218 West Fourth Ave. The new project will bring luxury touches to what has traditionally been a working-class enclave. The project is the…

Renaissance Properties sells Aventura office complex for $140M

Renaissance Properties NY sold the Aventura Corporate Center for $140 million to a New York-based investment group that plans to build an addition, The Real Deal has learned. New York-based Renaissance, led by Kenneth, Bradley and Robert Fishel, sold the three Class A office buildings and garages at 20801, 20803 and 20807 Biscayne Boulevard to Aventura…

Commercial property sales outpace pre-pandemic figures in Q2

Commercial property sales are broadly rebounding to pre-pandemic levels across the country, though the same success isn’t being seen in select markets that dominated before the pandemic. Investors spent $144.7 billion on commercial property during the second quarter, nearly three-times the amount recorded in the same period last year, the Wall Street Journal…

Jared Kushner Plans to Open Investment Firm in Miami, Israel

Jared Kushner plans to open a Miami-based investment company with an office in Israel later this year, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The son-in-law to former President Donald Trump is in the final stages of starting the investment office, called Affinity Partners, Reuters and the Jerusalem Post reported earlier Wednesday, citing sources they didn’t…

Miami Office Rent Growth Influenced by Influx of Tech Firms, New Capital Sources

The past year has been a long and winding ride, and some unexpected trends have been taking place in the Miami office market, between the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and through its recovery to date. Logically, one would expect that an ongoing pandemic keeping corporate offices closed and employees working from home would negatively affect…

Miami Market Update: Office Pipeline Growth Stalls

By mid-2021, Miami had 2.5 million square feet of office space under construction, according to CommercialEdge data. This amount accounted for 3.7 percent of total stock, placing the metro above the national average of 2.4 percent. June’s findings represent a 2 percent dip month-over-month, signaling the first halt in the metro’s constant pipeline growth since…

Miami’s Link at Douglas: Targeting the Top in Urban Living

South Florida, together with Arizona and Texas, has grown as an attractive alternative for New York City and Silicon Valley companies looking to relocate to more business-friendly markets. Miami in particular has garnered a lot of attention, as local authorities launched several programs offering economic incentives for businesses to relocate or open offices…

Neology Life Lands $52M Refi for Miami Luxury Community

Neology Life has received a $52 million refinancing deal for Pier 19 Residences and Marina, a 199-unit multifamily tower in the Miami River District at 1951 NW S River Drive. Berkadia arranged the two-year bridge loan provided by LoanCore Capital. The financing package included floating rates and a one-year extension at a 72 percent loan-to-value ratio. Neology…

Berkadia Secures $52M Refinancing for Pier 19 Residences & Marina in Miami

Berkadia has secured a $52 million bridge loan to refinance Pier 19 Residences & Marina, a 199-unit apartment community along Miami River. Charles Foschini and Christopher Apone of Berkadia secured the financing on behalf of the sponsor, Neology Life Development Group, a Miami-based residential and commercial real estate firm. LoanCore Capital originated…

Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser submits 2021 Preliminary Certification of Taxable Values

The Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser Pedro J. Garcia has submitted the 2021 Preliminary Certification of Taxable Values to the taxing authorities, which continues to show an overall growth in property values despite the impact COVID-19 had on certain real estate markets. The countywide estimated taxable value for 2021 is $337,968,694,350…

Sam Zell’s Equity Residential reports recovery in rental occupancy

The pandemic hit the bottom line of Sam Zell’s Equity Residential pretty hard, but the worst is finally in the rear-view mirror, executives of the real estate investment trust said Wednesday. “We acknowledge how badly our operations declined over the last 16 months,” said Michael Manelis, the chief operating officer, during an earnings call. “But the current recovery…”

Unibail-Rodamco plans “radical reduction” of regional malls

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield will look to sell its regional malls in the U.S. as it struggles to recover from the pandemic’s brutal impact on the retail sector. The Paris-based mall giant and investment firm posted a $652.6 million companywide loss for the first half of the year, it said in an earnings call Wednesday. That total…

Covid surge, CDC reversal upends back-to-office plans

As the Delta variant fuels a nationwide surge in Covid cases, employers’ return-to-work plans are being thrown into a state of flux. Earlier this week, the CDC updated its public health recommendations, imploring the fully vaccinated to resume wearing masks indoors in “substantial or high-transmission” areas — classifications that currently…

Work-from-home threat “overstated,” Boston Properties CEO says

One of the nation’s largest office landlords isn’t worried about the rise of remote work. While the continued work-from-home trend will have a long-term impact on the office market, the threat is “overstated” for landlords of Class A office space, Boston Properties CEO Owen Thomas said Wednesday. “The market is concerned … We acknowledge that’s the case,” Thomas…

Mila restaurant to add entertainment venue on Lincoln Road

Restaurateur Gregory Galy and his partners won approval to add an entertainment venue to Mila on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. The Miami Beach Planning Board on Tuesday approved a permit for Mila to create a 7,352-square-foot nightlife venue on the second enclosed floor of the 800 Lincoln Road building. The Mila Membership Lounge plans to serve…

Too much of a good time? David Grutman and Pharrell’s Goodtime Hotel could lose entertainment permit

Hospitality mogul David Grutman and rapper and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams could use some good vibes for their Goodtime Hotel. The hotel, which opened at 601 Washington Avenue in April, is at risk of losing parts of its conditional use permit following nearly 30 noise violations. The Miami Beach Planning Board will hold a hearing over revoking the…

South Florida’s retail market slowly emerges from pandemic woes in Q2

South Florida’s retail market showed signs of recovery in the second quarter, with positive net absorption in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, and stabilizing vacancy rates throughout the region, according to a recently released report. Population growth is fueling a steady return of consumers to physical stores, restaurants and gyms…

South Florida by the numbers: Play ball; the Miami Marlins’ latest dealings

Corey Dickerson, Mike Piazza and Derek Jeter with the Miami baseball stadium (Getty) “South Florida by the numbers” is a web feature that catalogs the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics. Now that they have South Florida’s sports landscape all to themselves for a little while, this is an ideal opportunity to check in on the Miami Marlins’…

Complex public-private Miami administration building deal stumbles

A complex public-private partnership is apparently falling apart between the City of Miami and a developer that won a bid to build a multi-million-dollar project on the Miami River. Because the city is considering other…  moving ahead with its own standalone residential tower on its own land near the river, at 230 SW Third Street. By working for years on the city…

Stormy city commission can’t blow Rickenbacker Marina off course

The fate of the city-owned marinas on Virginia Key led to a long and loud shouting match between two Miami city commissioners. Once decorum was restored at the July 22 meeting, the end result was a split vote that advanced a ballot proposal designed to keep the current operators of Rickenbacker Marina – Biscayne Marine Partners LLC – in control of…

Miami’s waterfront parks reimagined

Two of the City of Miami’s newest and most popular parks would have been unrecognizable even 20 years ago. Maurice A. Ferré Park, downtown Miami’s direct connection with Biscayne Bay, and Regatta Park, bringing a lushly transformed waterfront to Coconut Grove, each have less than glamorous pasts. As the City of Miami celebrates its 125th Anniversary…

Churchill’s Pub operator evicted amid foreclosure lawsuits against landlord

Mallory Kauderer and Churchill’s Pub Churchill’s Pub, the storied live venue and bar in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood, could be gone for good after the property’s landlord secured a major victory in court last week. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Reemberto Diaz issued an eviction order and writ of possession against Churchill’s current tenant District Live Agency…

Family office buys South Beach short-term rental portfolio for $14M

Red Group sold a portfolio of short-term rental units in South Beach for $13.9 million to Daniell Group, a family office led by Avihai Daniell. Miami-based Red Group, led by co-founder and president ​​Gabriele Braha, sold the 20-unit building at 801, 807 and 815 Alton Road in Miami Beach, as well as the 18 condos at 1355-1357 Drexel Avenue, Braha said. New York-based…

Architect who designed the collapsed Surfside condo was previously suspended after toppling of other structures

The Florida State Board of architecture’s order to suspend William Friedman for six months More than a decade before William Friedman designed the collapsed Surfside condominium, Florida’s board of architecture suspended him for six months for designing structures that toppled during Hurricane Betsy. Sign pylons that were “an integral part…”

3 Warehouse Types for E-Commerce Distribution

Let’s face it: nomenclature around warehouse facilities can be confusing. Is it an industrial property, a warehouse, a fulfillment center, a distribution building or something else? Further complicating the issue is that the response to that question can often be “all of the above,” leaving the inquirer even more perplexed. To begin to sort this out, LoopNet spoke…

Instacart to build fulfillment centers near supermarkets

Instacart is the latest company seeking to cash in on the industrial real estate boom, making plans to build its own fulfillment centers for supermarkets. The grocery delivery company will begin developing an undetermined number of fulfillment centers over the next year, according to the Wall Street Journal. The centers would be able to hold between…

Raging wildfires threaten lumber market, home builders’ costs

Just as lumber prices were finally falling, wildfires and extreme weather are threatening to pull them right back up. Fires raging in the western United States are beginning to have a negative impact on lumber output. Canfor, one of the biggest lumber producers on the continent, is among the companies cutting back production in response to the weather events…

Blackstone eyes return to hotel business as real estate fuels strong Q2

Blackstone backed out of hotels in the nick of time. “It wasn’t because we anticipated the pandemic,” said president Jonathan Gray on the firm’s Q2 earnings call Thursday. Rather, the investment giant saw greater promise in the rental housing, life sciences and industrial buildings it picked up in the past year — investments that helped it nearly double its distributable…

Miami office vacancy rates reach Great Recession levels

Office vacancy rates in Miami-Dade County are hitting highs not seen since the Great Recession, according to a pair of recent market reports. A June report by the Commercial Industrial Association of South Florida, or CIASF, found that the vacancy rate for Class A office space jumped above 20 percent in the first quarter, a height not seen since the last building…

New buyer aboard: Brightline parent sells sites near Fort Lauderdale station

Florida East Coast Industries sold two development sites near its Fort Lauderdale Brightline station for $37.2 million. FLL Andrews Development and FLL Flagler Development sold the assemblages at 130 Northwest First Avenue and 117 Northwest Second Street for $17.6 million and $19.6 million, respectively. The buyers’ entities, N Andrews Ave Development…

Former Fort Lauderdale church site to be reborn with offices, retail

A boarded up, gable-roofed former church site in Fort Lauderdale will be resurrected with bars, restaurants, retail and offices. Miami-based developer Wellmeaning Properties plans to reinvent the closed Fourth Avenue Church of God property at 1237 Northeast Fourth Avenue into the Canopî project, according to a news release. Jaime Sturgis and Kaley…

Grover Corlew buys Bank of America Tower in Boca Raton for $45M

Boca Raton investment management firm Grover Corlew purchased an office building in its backyard for $44.6 million. Black Creek Group sold the Bank of America Tower, an eight-story, 109,500-square-foot Class A building at 150 East Palmetto Road to Grover Corlew, according to a press release. The property’s tenants include Charles Schwab and Waypoint Residential…

Class A Office Building In Boca Fetches $99.5 Million

KBS assisted in the acquisition of One Town Center, a 191,294 square-foot Class A office building in Boca Raton. The property was acquired from a joint venture between prominent commercial real estate firm CP Group, formerly Crocker Partners, and Siguler Guff & Co. for $99.5 million by Prime US REIT (PRIME), which trades on the Singapore Exchange Securities…

Opterra Capital buys Holiday Inn & Suites Boca Raton for $13M

Opterra Capital bought a Boca Raton Holiday Inn for $13.3 million. Records show Opterra, through an affiliate, bought the Holiday Inn & Suites at 701 Northwest 53rd Street from FLL Resorts, which is linked to Archer Capital Group. The price reflects only the building, with the true deal value being $17.6 million, inclusive of the land and furniture…

Walton Street Capital buys Boynton Beach apartments for $93M

Walton Street Capital bought the Pacifica Boynton Beach apartment complex for $92.7 million. Records show Walton Street, through an affiliate, bought the property at 1100 Audace Avenue from Miami-based Alta Developers. The deal breaks down to $286,034 per unit. The 324-unit complex consists of several buildings completed in 2019 and 2020…

Prayers answered? Related Companies closes on church site for planned office tower in downtown West Palm

The Related Companies closed on the site of a planned 25-story office tower in downtown West Palm Beach, marking progress for a project that is years in the making. The First Church of Christ, Scientist in West Palm sold the property at 134 and 142 Lakeview Avenue and 809 South Flagler Drive to Related’s RUD 1 Flagler LLC for $20.1 million, records show. The sale…

Publix pays $9M for Westlake site in Palm Beach County

Publix paid $9.1 million for the 20-acre site of a planned retail center and grocery store in Westlake, the massive master-planned community in western Palm Beach County. Records show Westlake master developer Minto Communities, through its Minto PBLH LLC, sold the property at 5075 Seminole Pratt Whitney Road to Publix Super Markets. The Lakeland-base…