Photos Show the Massive $452 Million River Landing Project Now Complete

River Landing Shops & Residence, a massive mixed-use complex, is now open on the Miami River. It took nearly a decade to develop the project. Developer Urban-X Group first put the former Mahi Shrine Auditorium property where River Landing is located under contract in 2011. River Landing is a $452 million development with 2.2 million square feet…

$11.6M Sale of Former Newspaper Printing Facility in Metro Miami Arranged

Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the $11.6 million sale of the former Miami Herald Printing Facility in Doral. The three-story warehouse spans 118,993 square feet and features 15 dock-high positions, one grade-level ramp and clear heights from 10 feet to 46 feet. The property was built in 2013 and is situated at 3500 NW 89th Court, 14 miles west of downtown…

$23 Million Miramar Office Sale Brokered

Cushman & Wakefield has facilitated the $22.6 million sale of Miramar Tech Center, a 56,710-square-foot Class A office property in Miramar, Fla. Scott O’Donnell, Mike Ciadella, Dominic Montazemi, Greg Miller and Miguel Alcivar negotiated on behalf of the seller, United Data Technologies. The brokerage’s Jason Hochman secured a $13.6 million acquisition loan for…

Miami board again votes against a downtown Melo skyscraper

A Miami review board has unanimously recommended denial of plans for a skyscraper downtown from The Melo Group, advice the outgoing city planning director ignored for another Melo project that is now rising. The denial vote Oct. 21 is rare for the Urban Development Review Board, whose role is to advise the planning director. The latest Melo proposal…

Commercial Property Borrowing Cost Quarterly 2020 Q3: 5-Year Treasury Remains Naught-y

Yields on 5-year U.S. Treasury Notes continue to remain at lows reached as we began the era of COVID. As can be seen in the chart above, these rates, most closely tracked for commercial real estate financing cost, plummeted from what were already considered low levels to under 50 basis points (0.5%), barely hovering over zilch, where they have been since. Though…

Atlanta Fed: Beige Book Finds Slow Improvement but an Economy Still Lagging

A now-familiar pattern—economic growth picking up but still below pre-COVID levels—prevailed across the Southeast over the past several weeks. But two new factors joined the pandemic to hamstring commerce, as Hurricanes Laura and Sally disrupted energy production and transmission and damaged crops, farming infrastructure, and property across coastal…

Chart: August Miami-Dade Unemployment Level Reaches Lowest Level Since March

From its peak of 14.5% reached in only the prior month, the unemployment rate in Miami-Dade county plummeted in August (8/1) to 8.1%, the lowest level since March when unemployment had jsut started to creep up but was still in low single digits (3.7%). The continuing effects of COVID-19 on employment, and thus the economy, in the Miami area continue can be…

Saks Fifth Avenue Lender Looks To Foreclose On Miami Store

The pandemic has pounded traditional retailers. Landlords and lenders involved with properties ranging from large malls to urban shopping areas are sizing up their options — and some are playing tough. Lenders to the Saks Fifth Avenue store at Miami’s Dadeland Mall are foreclosing on its owner, The Wall Street Journal reported. The owner defaulted in April…

South Florida by the numbers: 2020 presidential election and real estate

“South Florida by the numbers” is a web feature that catalogs the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics. You may know that Election Day is Nov. 3. (With all kidding aside, however, will we know who is the winner by the next time this column is published?) Some pundits are predicting a close and heavily contested election, with the added…

Biscayne Boulevard residential tower with grocery wins OK

A large development bringing together more than 500 residential units and a major grocer has garnered a positive vote. Crescent Heights of America Inc. and its affiliated entities propose 2900 Biscayne, a 38-story mixed-use tower on land at 2900 Biscayne Blvd., and the city’s Urban Development Review Board unanimously recommended approval. The site is at 2900…

Poor hospitality: Hotel owners in big cities hit major tipping point

All of the lights in the Hilton Times Square have been pitch black for weeks — one of several ominous signs for hotel owners in New York and other large cities around the country. The owner of the 478-room property, just blocks away from Broadway and Bryant Park, disclosed plans to the state’s Labor Department last month to permanently shut its doors and lay off…

Supreme Court shift could favor rent law challengers

When landlord groups filed a federal lawsuit challenging New York’s rent law last year, they already had their eyes on the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, with the appointment of a sixth conservative judge, their case may have a better shot at being heard by the nation’s highest court. Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in Monday night as the 115th justice in the court’s history. 

Miami-Miami Beach ferry service ‘at one-yard line’

Poseidon Ferry LLC, soon to offer daily waterborne commuter transportation between Miami and Miami Beach, will officially launch with an evening Music Cruise on Nov. 6, said CEO Johnathan Silva. The company’s core business, commuter service – still in the doldrums of permitting – should follow soon. “We’re at the one-yard line right now…”

Super Bowl economic impact touches down at $571 million

Fueled by shrinking supply and rising demand, Miami-Dade single-family home sales are close to a buying frenzy, with median sale prices increasing for 106 consecutive months and rising 15.2% in the year that ended Sept. 30, figures from the Miami Association of Realtors show. The average single-family home now sells for $435,000, September figures show. The hottest…

Cross-bay transit is vital, but blank-check deal is all wrong

Miami-Dade made a costly bet plopping down $8 million for designs of a multi-billion-dollar monorail in a deal with a global firm whose true interest is a mammoth gambling resort. The consortium that includes Malaysian casino mogul Genting aims to build a monorail linking Miami to Miami Beach and then operate it. But taxpayers would repay the group…

Life Time launches preleasing of $500M Coral Gables mixed-use multifamily project

Life Time launched preleasing of a major mixed-use multifamily development in Coral Gables that will include a 70,000-square-foot athletic resort and a 22,000-square-foot shared workspace component. Nolan Reynolds International is set to complete the $500 million, 1.2 million-square-foot project previously known as Gables Station. Life Time is…

Miami developer sued for running boat over Biscayne Bay swimmer’s leg

A Miami real estate developer is facing allegations that he ran over a swimmer with his boat in Biscayne Bay near Bay Harbor Islands, slicing her leg and causing permanent injuries. Theresa Murray filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court Court on Monday, alleging that Irwin Tauber’s 41-foot boat’s three bladed stainless steel propellers sliced her leg and ankle…

Miami Developer Maimed Swimmer In Yachting Accident, Lawsuit Says

A Miami woman alleges that shopping center developer Irwin Elliott Tauber ran over her with his yacht in Miami’s Biscayne Bay in April, causing serious injury to her extremities. He also allegedly refused to render first aid. Tauber is the CEO of Taubco, which owns Causeway Square, an LA Fitness-anchored mixed-use building at the corner of Biscayne Boulevard…

Here are the most active players in the loan workouts space

Barneys’ former space on Madison Avenue was hanging by a thread. A $76 million balance on the building’s debt, which Ashkenazy Acquisition took out in 2010, was set to mature in July. And after Barneys filed for bankruptcy and shut down all of its stores this February, Ashkenazy was forced to tap the retailer’s letter of credit to make debt service payments…

Homestead Park of Commerce Sold for $35M to Copart USA

October 2020 – ComReal is proud to announce the sale of 117 acres within The Homestead Park of Commerce in South Dade and welcome Copart USA to the City of Homestead! The sales price was $34,746,716. Copart was represented by the ComReal team including Ed Redlich, Ron Redlich, Chris Spear, Edison Vasquez, Mort Fetterolf and Patrick McBride. The seller…

When the music stops: Guitar Center could file for bankruptcy

The music could stop at Guitar Center in the near future. The retailer is preparing for bankruptcy after missing a $45 million interest payment on its debt, the New York Times reported. The company has reached out to creditors to explore a plan where it could emerge from bankruptcy in 2021. The possibility of bankruptcy comes after Moody’s and S&P downgraded…

Does taxing the wealthy really drive them away?

This year’s spring housing market came a couple of months later than usual to the leafy suburbs of New Jersey. But it was worth the wait. Michele Kolsky-Assatly, a veteran agent with Coldwell Banker focused on Bergen County’s luxury market, has been busier than ever with the exodus of families from New York City. “They never want to be locked up in a high…

Macken wins approval for North Miami Beach townhomes

Macken Companies Principal Alan Macken and a rendering of the project North Miami Beach-based developer Macken Companies received site plan approval for a waterfront townhome community in the city’s Eastern Shores neighborhood. The company hopes to break ground on the 10-unit Koya Bay, along the Intracoastal Waterway at 4098 Northeast 167th…

Abandoned malls get new life as senior housing

As more malls and shopping centers close or see their anchor tenants fall into bankruptcy, they may be repurposed for a new use: senior housing. George and Pat Ritzinger are among the early beneficiaries of the trend: The couple moved to Folkestone, a retirement community in Wayzata, Minnesota, developed on land that formerly housed a shopping mall built…

Blackstone makes $1.2B deal with Brookfield for Simply Self Storage

Blackstone Group is buying Simply Self Storage from Brookfield Asset Management for about $1.2 billion, Bloomberg reported. Brookfield bought the storage company in 2016 and has more than doubled its footprint; it now has more than 8 million square feet of space across the U.S. It started seeking buyers for the company earlier this year. With this deal……

Jules Trump talks luxury towers and assembling in Sunny Isles Beach in TRD’s Coffee Talks

In excess-loving South Florida, there’s always room for more — more mansions on the waterfront, more luxury penthouses, and more Trump. TRD‘s latest episode of Coffee Talk includes just one Trump. Not Donald, not Eric or Don Jr., but one whose name South Florida industry experts know just as well — South African-born developer Jules Trump. Though he…

The metamorphosis of the metropolis

After years of sparring over its highest and best use, the fate of 5 World Trade Center was left to a competition. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. last year announced what was effectively a truce: The agencies would consider both residential and commercial visions for the site. Among them were…

Covid pummeled shopping centers, but their parking lots are thriving

While many traditional streams of income for landlords have slowed or dried up due to the pandemic, one has proven to be a surprising earner: parking lots. Landlords of large parking lots and garages have been renting out those spaces for a variety of activities, including open-air retail, job fairs, polling stations and drive-through COVID-19 testing, the Wall Street…

Kendall Corners Florida Retail Shopping Center Gets a New Tenant, Aldi

Key Points Regarding the New Aldi Lease in Kendall Corners MMG acquired the Kendall Corners retail center in March 2017.  The Kendall Corners’ original business plan included replacing Ashley Furniture with a grocer upon their lease expiration in 2020, as a means to incorporate more grocery-anchored retail centers to the portfolio. Ashley Furniture…

Active South Florida Lender Bank OZK’s lending up in third quarter

New York’s commercial real estate market has been pummeled by the pandemic, but one of its biggest condo construction lenders reported almost no write-downs in the third quarter. On its earnings call Friday, Arkansas-based Bank OZK reported that its net charge-off rate, or ratio of loans written-down to total loans originated, was 0.09 percent. That is well……

Do over: North Miami Beach to re-vote on Dezer’s plan to redevelop Intracoastal Mall

Dezer Development will return to the North Miami Beach commission for a re-vote on two ordinances tied to the contentious redevelopment of the Intracoastal Mall, despite securing approval earlier this week. In the Zoom commission meeting on Tuesday that ended after 2 a.m., two commissioners were absent for the vote. Still, the two ordinances passed…

MG3 buys former Miami Herald printing facility for $12M

Miguel Alcivar, Wayne Ramoski, Gian Rodriguez, Dominic Montazemi and Skylar Stein of Cushman & Wakefield MG3 Group, an Aventura-based private real estate company, bought the former Miami Herald printing facility in Doral for $11.6 million, a $2.3 million loss from its previous sale in 2016. Records… the three-story warehouse at 3500 Northwest 89th Court.

Eight stats tell the tale of Adam Neumann’s rise, fall, and return

Alfred CEO Marcela Sapone and Adam Neumann Adam Neumann is back. In his first venture since leaving WeWork last year, the eccentric and brash Israeli entrepreneur is investing $30 million in Alfred, a “future of living” startup that provides apartment services such as dog walking, maintenance and rent processing, according to Bloomberg. Neumann’s family…

At final presidential debate, talk of Opportunity Zones and “little tiny windows”

At Thursday’s presidential debate, there was less interrupting and more real-estate related discussion. The event marked the final faceoff between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden before Election Day. Housing was only briefly acknowledged in the first debate, which devolved into more of a shouting match than polite discourse.

Gap Inc. will close 350 stores and exit malls entirely

Another big retailer is leaving struggling malls behind. Gap Inc. announced Thursday that it will close 350 of its stores —220 of its namesake Gap shops, and 130 Banana Republic outposts — by early 2024, ABC News reported. Eighty percent of its remaining stores will be in off-mall locations, according to ABC News. “We’ve been overly reliant on low-productivity…

South Florida industrial market shows signs of weakness in Q3

South Florida’s industrial market — believed to be resilient to coronavirus as demand for distribution space and cold storage grows with online shopping — did show some signs of weakness in the third quarter, according to a newly released report. In Palm Beach County, 350,000 square feet of industrial space was…

Sold! Online auto auctioneer pays $35M for Homestead land

Going … going … gone. A publicly traded provider of online car auctions paid $34.75 million for 117 acres of land in the Homestead Park of Commerce. Copart USA, founded in 1982 and based in Dallas, bought the land at Southeast 36th Avenue and Southwest 336th Street. The site includes a 32,453-square-foot Class A distribution warehouse, according to a…

Rent collections in market-rate apartments stagnate in October

Rental payments for market-rate apartments are holding steady from September, but down slightly from last year. The National Multifamily Housing Council’s monthly payment tracker, which collects data on collections in 11.4 million market-rate units, found that 90.6 percent of those households paid some rent by Oct. 20. In 2019, about…

Miami board approves plans for Related, Crescent Heights towers and rejects Melo’s proposal

A city of Miami board rejected plans for Melo Group’s latest downtown Miami project, and approved plans for separate projects from Crescent Heights and the Related Group. On Wednesday, the Miami Urban Development Board unanimously approved Crescent Heights’ 38-story tower at 2900 Biscayne Boulevard and a 37-story mixed-use project at…

Sunny Isles mayor sells Hialeah warehouse for $13M

A company tied to the mayor of Sunny Isles Beach and a fellow South Florida real estate investor sold a 160,000-square-foot warehouse in Hialeah for $13.1 million. George “Bud” Scholl, elected mayor in 2014 and re-elected in 2018, and investor Steven M. Rhodes sold the industrial building at 1101 East 33rd Street, The Real Deal has learned. EverWest Real Estate…

Logistics Company Relocates. Inks New 93,000-SF Lease Deal

IFS Neutral Maritime, a consolidation, cargo and logistic company, inked a 7-year lease deal for 93,320 square feet at Turnpike Commerce Center (TCC) located at 1350-1400 NW 121st Avenue in Doral, with plans to occupy the building in its entirety in January 1, 2021. The deal closed October 7. Hector Catano, president of Cornerstone International Realty, represented the…

Midtown Capital Partners buys Miramar office center for $23M

A Miami real estate investment and asset management firm bought the Miramar headquarters of an information technology company for $22.6 million. Records show Midtown Capital Partners bought the Miramar Tech Center at 2900 Monarch Lakes Boulevard. A company affiliated with United Data Technologies, or UDT…

South Florida Q3 office rents hit record high, despite higher vacancies

Despite record high office vacancies across South Florida, average asking rates hit new highs Despite record office vacancy rates across South Florida, average asking rents hit new highs in the third quarter, according to a newly released report. Miami-Dade had the highest average asking rate, at $41.68 per square foot, according to the report from Colliers International…

Miami Commercial Real Estate Sales to List Price Ratio Trails Off in September to Five Year Low ~ September 2020 MLS

The sales to list price ratio as reported by the Miami MLS for improved commercial property in Miami-Dade County from $1 million to $10 million dipped in September. September’s recorded ratio of 86.3% is the lowest level recorded since February 2015’s 84.9% number. This follows a dip two months prior that, though a slightly better number was itself then the…

Here’s What Could Happen To The EB-5 Program In A New Administration

The EB-5 immigrant investor program, which has been used to fund major development projects throughout the United States, has been limping along for the past few years, and some have even predicted its demise after rules were tightened last summer. How might the program, which awards U.S. green cards and visas to foreigners who put a minimum of $900K into…

Sunny Isles mayor sells Hialeah warehouse for $13 million

A company tied to the mayor of Sunny Isles Beach and a fellow South Florida real estate investor sold a 160,000-square-foot warehouse in Hialeah for $13.1 million. George “Bud” Scholl, elected mayor in 2014 and re-elected in 2018, and investor Steven M. Rhodes sold the industrial building at 1101 East 33rd Street, The Real Deal has learned. EverWest Real Estate…

Honeywell warehouse in Medley sells for $8M

South Florida real estate investor Leo Ghitis sold a warehouse near Medley for $7.5 million. Ghitis sold the nearly 50,000-square-foot building at 9315 Northwest 112 Avenue on 3 acres of land inside Flagler Station Industrial Park, according to records. The price equates to about $152 a square foot. The buyers are entities that share an address with Midtown Capital…

Miami Beach based Starwood scores $265M refi for portfolio of InTown, Uptown hotels

Starwood Capital Group secured $265 million in refinancing for a portfolio of 58 extended-stay and midscale hotels nationwide, representing a fraction of all the hotels it owns and operates. Miami Beach-based Starwood hopes to execute the first lien mortgage about Oct. 28, according to a report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Starwood will use the funds to pay off existing…

Seritage sells Hialeah shopping center for $21M

Seritage sold a 108,000-square-foot shopping center formerly anchored by Kmart in Hialeah for $21 million. A Daytona Beach-based publicly traded real estate company, CTO Realty Growth, bought the shopping center at 1460 West 49th Street, records show. The company changed its name from Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. to CTO in May. The sale equates to $194 psf…

Rental project in MiMo District launches leasing

The developer of the American Legion property in Miami’s MiMo District launched leasing of the first phase and plans to break ground on the second phase next year. Private equity firm Asia Capital Real Estate, also known as ACRE, and QuadReal Property Group, the real estate investment arm of the British Columbia public employees’ pension, completed the first phase…

In “Billion Dollar Loser,” WeWork’s “epic rise” and Adam Neumann’s quiet enablers

Real estate executives had their doubts about WeWork, but many weren’t willing to risk missing out on its success. They and others who kept their criticism to themselves helped enable and then felled the co-working giant once it became clear that its crash would be just as extraordinary as its ascent. “They couldn’t explain WeWork’s valuation, but they were fearful…

10,566 SF Office Sublease Negoitated at Brickell City Centre

Cresa has negotiated a 10,566-square-foot office sublease for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP (Pillsbury) in Miami’s Brickell City Centre. Pillsbury, which focuses on the technology and media, energy, financial services, and real estate and construction sectors, has occupied the space at 600 Brickell Ave. since 2017 and will now lease the space until at least…

Dezer’s mega development project gets key approval

A rendering of the project with developer Gil Dezer Dezer Development’s plan to redevelop the Intracoastal Mall property into a massive mixed-use project cleared another hurdle. North Miami Beach commissioners approved ordinances for the complex on second reading in a 3 to 2 vote early Wednesday morning. Two commissioners were not present for the…

Edgewater-Midtown tower residences win Miami’s backing

A mixed-use residential development is being proposed for the area where Edgewater meets Midtown in the City of Miami, and not far from Wynwood. Called 27 Edgewater, the planned 18-story building would rise at 2728 NE Second Ave. and be home to 108 dwellings. The project by developer 908 Group Holdings LLC was recently reviewed by the city’s…

Rents fall in cities around the world

Across the country, rents are tumbling. Sales have surged in the New York suburbs, and prices with them. But Manhattan apartments are the cheapest they’ve been since 2013. The number of listings have tripled from a year ago while the median rent has dropped 11 percent, according to Bloomberg. Expensive cities have taken the biggest hit. In San Francisco, the median…

Jorge Pérez steps down as president of Related Group, handing title to son Jon Paul

Jon Paul Pérez was named president of the Related Group, taking over from his father, Jorge Pérez. Jorge, who founded the Miami-based real estate giant in 1979, will stay on as chairman and CEO when Jon Paul takes over in November, according to a release. Billionaire developer Jorge Pérez, known as the Miami condo king, has spoken about his succession plan in the past.

Blackstone Move Solidifies Miami Mayor’s Vision For A Global City

The dream of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez to have the city turn into a global destination for talent and investment is coming to fruition. Blackstone, a private equity investment firm, has set its sights on opening a Miami outpost as the nation’s largest investment managers continue to migrate to South Florida. Its plans surfaced as the city is in…

PortMiami dredging may rest on economic future of cruise lines

PortMiami continues to plan for more dredging, pandemic or not. As the coronavirus has plagued both Miami and the rest of the nation, there has been an increased focus on cruise ship travel and economic recovery.  Last year, Miami-Dade County commissioners authorized a three-year study. Now, after about a year and a half, US Army Corps of Engineers project…

Things To Consider When Leasing To A Medical Marijuana Dispensary

Some essential CRE steps when leasing to an essential business At the height of lockdowns and quarantines, it quickly became apparent that what was considered essential expanded far beyond first responders and hospital staff. Truck drivers working long shifts to get goods to supermarkets, and the employees stocking shelves with those products quickly rose to…

Can Proposed Seawalls Protect Miami From Storm Surges?

The Magic City could see walls become a permanent part of the downtown area if an Army Corps of Engineers plan comes to fruition Downtown Miami has one of the planet’s most spectacular coastlines, featuring buildings that seemingly jet from the ocean as you approach from the air or water.  This beautiful location comes with…

Bus Rapid Transit has inside track in East-West Corridor

After nearly three decades of studies, local transportation decision-makers are set – again – to choose a mass transit upgrade for a 14-mile commuting route linking West Miami-Dade to Miami International Airport and downtown Miami. Today (10/22), the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization Governing Board is to vote on a preferred transit mode for…

Sandor Scher: Set to bring hotel, condos, retail to Beach’s Ocean Terrace

For almost two decades, Sandor Scher’s Claro Development has advised on more than 100 projects in over 60 cities, adding nearly 2,500 hotel rooms in South Florida and, according to firm figures, delivering more than $750 million of hospitality, commercial and historic restoration development. His entrée into real estate came through a restaurant startup that over 6½…

Miami-Dade approves interim contract for monorail to Miami Beach

A rendering of the monorail Plans for a monorail between the city of Miami and Miami Beach took a step forward on Tuesday. In spite of calls for a deferral from Miami Beach, the Miami-Dade County Commission approved a contract of up to $14 million with Genting Group and Meridiam Infrastructure North America Corp. to study the feasibility of building…

The REInterview: Reeves Wiedeman on the manic rise and fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork

Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move the hearts of men — or venture capitalists. Adam Neumann, the co-founder and former CEO of WeWork, certainly wasn’t guilty of small dreams. From being a broke émigré living rent-free in his sister’s apartment to building one of New York’s largest real estate companies to becoming the head of one of the…

Related, Crescent Heights and Melo Group seek approval for Miami projects

The Related Group, Crescent Heights and the Melo Group are seeking approval from the Miami Urban Development Review Board for projects in downtown Miami and Edgewater. Related and its partner, ROVR Development, led by Oscar Rodriguez and Ricardo Vadia, are proposing The District at 225 North Miami Avenue in downtown Miami. The 37-story…

Mezz lender forecloses on Ocean Drive hotel in South Beach

The pandemic brought especially bad timing for the owner of a South Beach hotel, which purchased it last year, embarked on a multimillion-dollar renovation, and ended up losing its investment. Leste Group and its partner, Moto Capital Group, last month foreclosed on the newly renovated Lord Balfour Hotel at 350 Ocean Drive, The Real Deal has learned. The,,,

Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick cooks up a real estate empire

Uber co-founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick has quietly amassed a real estate empire over the past two years. Companies tied to Kalanick’s CloudKitchens, a startup that rents available space to food delivery businesses, have snapped up more than 40 properties across the country for more than $130 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. Kalanick’s…

AMC faces serious cash crunch despite theaters reopening

Movie theaters are reopening across the country, but that may not be enough to save some of the biggest cinema operators. AMC Entertainment Holdings, one of the world’s largest movie theater operators, said it could run out of cash by the end of the year if it can’t find additional sources of liquidity, Reuters reported. The company said…

Buying distressed debt to get the underlying property – a litigation due diligence checklist

It’s beyond the scope of this blog to predict where the commercial real estate market is heading, but there are those who have predicted a downturn. If that turns out to be right, there may be more loans than usual going into default. If you are considering buying a commercial note that is in default because you ultimately want to foreclose to buy the property…

New York’s CRE woes could spread nationwide: investors

Investors are betting that trouble in New York City’s commercial real estate market will spread nationwide. Prices for debt backed by hotels, restaurants and retail in New York City — among the hardest-hit sectors as the pandemic emptied out tourist destinations this year — have fallen and new loans have slowed…

Here’s what tenants are paying at Shops at Merrick Park

Brian Kingston and Merrick Park Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus may be closing stores across the country amid the pandemic, but at the Shops at Merrick Park in Coral Gables, the retailers appear to be in for the long haul. Brookfield Property REIT owns the roughly 850,000-square-foot property at 358 San Lorenzo Avenue, which consists of a three-story open-air…

Family foundation pays $5M for land in Miami Shores, plans private Jewish school

Jamie Rose Maniscalco and Daniel Ades with the property A family foundation paid $5.3 mil… The Ades Family Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Aventura-based Kawa Capital Management’s managing partner and chief investment officer Daniel Ades, bought the assemblage at 855, 975 and 995 Northwest 95th Street and at 900, 910 and 920 Northwest 96th Street.

Building up: Homebuilder confidence hits new highs

Homebuilders are feeling record levels of optimism, according to a new report. The National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index reached 85 in October, seasonally adjusted, the highest reading in the monthly metric’s 35-year history. After experiencing a sharp decline in the spring, the NAHB index has been steadily rising — and…

How Does the Pandemic Recession Stack Up against the Great Depression?

Many observers have been comparing the COVID-19-induced recession with the Great Depression. An Economic Synopses essay published in August examined some key economic indicators during these contractions to consider their severity and duration. Group Vice President and Deputy Director of Research David Wheelock explained that the Great Depression…

Aventura office complex Optima inks new leases

Four companies signed leases for a total of 36,000 square feet at Optima, a three-building office complex in Aventura, including the first tenant of the complex’s 28-story tower that is still under construction. Blanca Commercial Real Estate, which brokered the deals, declined to disclose lease terms for space at the complex at 21500 Biscayne Boulevard.

Ransom Everglades sues developer Caroline Weiss over backyard boat dock

A pop-up private marina behind a commercial developer’s home in Coconut Grove is disrupting Ransom Everglades’ aquatic learning experiences, according to a recently filed lawsuit. The private school is suing Caroline Weiss, CEO of the Weiss Group of Companies, in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, in an attempt to stop her from allowing private boats from docking along…

State Of South Florida Commercial Real Estate Discussed

Paul Marko was recently appointed as principal of the South Florida Avison Young team, and he applied his 30 years of experience in office tenant representation, buyer broker services and portfolio administration to answer some questions about the South Florida and national commercial real estate markets.

“There’s a lot of money to be made”: IRS targets foreign real estate investors

The Internal Revenue Service is going after foreign real estate investors as part of a broader sweep to collect revenues amid the pandemic.  In the past month, the Internal Revenue Service has announced two new audit campaigns targeting overseas investors who own or hold interests in U.S. property. The campaigns focus on foreign investors selling their interests…

Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s $1B loan exits special servicing

Miami-Dade County’s largest resort is no longer in special servicing. The $975 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan for Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Miami Beach returned to the master servicer on Sept. 23 following successful negotiations with lenders, according to Trepp data updated this week. The loan was transferred to the special servicer…

Unibail-Rodamco sues Express over $30 million in missed rent

Act of God? Mall operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield said its lease agreements with Express cover such events, and still require the retailer to pay the rent. Now Unibail is suing Express, saying the retailer owes $30 million in skipped rent across 27 locations throughout the U.S. Fourteen of those stores are in malls in California, according to the suit, filed in Los…

Mast Capital wins initial approval for shorter Mid-Miami Beach condo project

Developer Camilo Miguel Jr. won initial approval for a shorter, 85-foot tall version of his planned 4000 Alton Road condo project in mid-Miami Beach. The Miami Beach City Commission on Wednesday passed on first reading three ordinances that will enable Miguel’s Mast Capital to build an 85-foot tall building with as many as 216 units. The proposal will be heard once…

Miami Beach approves zoning change allowing for Aman tower

Miami Beach commissioners approved a zoning change that would allow billionaire developers Vlad Doronin and Len Blavatnik to build their Aman-branded tower. Commissioners Steven Meiner and Micky Steinberg voted against the Faena district overlay ordinance on second reading, which will allow the developers to build a 250-foot tall tower, up from the previously…

Miami Beach approves zoning change allowing for Aman tower

Miami Beach commissioners approved a zoning change that would allow billionaire developers Vlad Doronin and Len Blavatnik to build their Aman-branded tower. Commissioners Steven Meiner and Micky Steinberg voted against the Faena district overlay ordinance on second reading, which will allow the developers to build a 250-foot tall tower, up from the previously…

Miami-Dade approves three affordable housing redevelopment projects for south Dade

Miami-Dade County approved short-term leases that will enable three developers — the Related Group, Centennial Management Corp. and Procida Development Group — to redevelop county-owned affordable housing projects in south Miami-Dade. Approving short-term, 11-month leases, during a commission meeting on Tuesday, was the first step…

Miami Beach raises red flags over county’s monorail push

Miami-Dade County officials may soon take the next step toward developing a “mass-transit solution” in Miami Beach, but city administrators have some concerns.  According to a memo to be addressed by Miami Beach commissioners today (10/15), county commissioners will consider on Oct. 20 legislation that would approve a two-step interim agreement with a…

Residents Fight Developer’s Takeover Of Miami Beach Marina, Monty’s Raw Bar

Despite Miami Beach’s reputation for sun, sand and cocktails, there’s hardly any place in the city where visitors can enjoy a waterfront view and a single-digit-priced drink, because most of its 7.69 square miles have been taken over by upscale restaurants and hotels or private, luxury condos. At Monty’s Raw Bar, though, one can still sit under a thatched roof and get a…

How Wynwood Became ‘Absolutely The Coolest Neighborhood In The Country’

Jessica Goldman Srebnick, CEO of Goldman Properties, remembered how her developer father, the late Tony Goldman, led the revitalization of New York’s SoHo in the 1970s, Miami Beach in the 1990s and the Center City District of Philadelphia. “And we came to this little wonderful neighborhood called Wynwood in 2005,” she said during a Bisnow Wynwood webinar…

Federal Realty Defaults On $61 Million Loan Backed By Miami’s Shops At Sunset Place

Federal Realty Investment Trust is in default on a $61M mortgage backed by an outdoor mall in South Miami. The publicly traded real estate investment trust owns The Shops at Sunset Place in a joint venture, which last year announced a major redevelopment plan for the property, which has struggled with vacancies for years. This year, the coronavirus pandemic…

Coral Rock Scores $54 Million Loan for Hialeah Project

Coral Rock Development Group has secured $53.5 million in construction financing for the residential segment of Pura Vida Hialeah, a nine-acre mixed-use project in Hialeah, Fla. Principal Real Estate Investors acted as the lender. The residential development will comprise three eight-story towers offering a total of 260 units, ranging from studio to three-bedroom…

Chart: Another Strong Month for Miami-Dade Commercial Real Estate Sales ~ September 2020 MLS

Embedded above is the chart for the trailing two years, specifically the period from October 2018 to September 2020, of closed sales of Miami-Dade commercial property, both improved commercial property (with buildings) and vacant commercial land, recorded in the Miami MLS. September 2020 was, again, a strong month, only a bit off from sales in August, which had…

The Slow Drip Folly of Holding Highest and Best Use Maxed Out Vacant Land

Save me from the pain of witnessing foregone monetization. A vacant land owner, where the property that has seemingly topped out its HABU (highest and best use) potential, is forgoing potential income from reinvestment of potential sales proceeds (of the vacant land) for no apparent benefit. In other words, if HABU is topped out, there is not a higher value HABU to…

Last Chance for Miami Wilds Water Park?

Next week is the last chance for the current iteration of the Miami-Dade County Commission to vote on the controversial Miami Wilds water park — but the development is receiving more and more opposition from conservationists and politicians. The nonprofit Bat Conservation International recently released the results of a 2019 ecological survey that…

Industrial Development Site In Doral Sells For Record Price

Brokers negotiated the sale of Doral Center Development Land, a pristine parcel in highly sought-after Doral, Florida, located at 10751 Northwest 25th Street. The broker acting as exclusive representative sold the land, which totals 162,325 square feet (3.72 acres), for $6,000,000 or $37 per square foot. The Seller, REMS Group, and its principals are family friends of;;;

We Company reverts name back to WeWork

In a throwback to a more innocent time — before anyone knew Adam Neumann packed a cereal box full of marijuana onto his private jet — the WeCompany is changing its name back to WeWork. The move is an attempt to return the company to its office-sharing roots, according to an internal memo cited by Reuters. “We want to be strategic. We want to be innovative.

Hudson’s Bay, Simon Property Group hit with $846M foreclosure lawsuit

Wilmington Trust is suing a joint venture between Simon Property Group and Hudson’s Bay Company for allegedly failing to make mortgage payments. Ten Saks Fifth Avenue and 24 Lord & Taylor locations are named in the lawsuit, which was filed earlier this month in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The lawsuit…

Deauville Beach Resort loses court battle tied to $400K judgment

The Deauville Beach Resort’s (6701 Collins Ave)management company and a Miami attorney engaged in a “sham” court petition to transfer assets so the firm could avoid paying a six-figure judgment, according to a recent ruling by Miami-Dade Judge Michael Hanzman. Hanzman dismissed a 2018 petition filed by lawyer Felix Caceres seeking an assignment for the…

New South Beach image and rules on drawing board

“Anything goes” might have once been a slogan for South Beach promoters, but Miami Beach commissioners agree that the area known as the Mixed Use Entertainment District needs a new image – and some ground rules.  Hawking, lewd behavior, “quality of life” related offenses, misuse of vehicles such as scooters and loud noise are some of the issues they…

Highways nightmare stalls massive NW Miami-Dade American Dream Mall

Delays in the completion of freeway interchanges that will provide access to American Dream Miami, a mammoth entertainment and retail complex to rise in Northwest Miami-Dade, could push back the opening for about a year. “Our development agreement stipulates that the interchanges have to be in place before we can open, so we are tied to that,” said Miguel Diaz…

Quarter-billion dollar cruise industry bailout floated

As the US cruise industry enters its seventh month of inactivity due to Covid-19, Miami-Dade is eyeing a plan that could forgive more than a quarter-billion dollars that cruise lines would otherwise have paid PortMiami. A worst-case scenario in which cruise lines remain docked for two-plus years would see the port lose $271.5 million and be forced to…

Casino Giant Genting’s massive transit deal stalls bus terminal

Plans for a temporary bus terminal that would unlock a 3½-year-old joint development project are still on hold – and could possibly be canceled – as Miami-Dade considers a massive transit offering from Malaysian casino giant Genting. The makeshift station was to have served Metrobus riders while Genting subsidiary Resorts World Miami developed a new Omni…

Miami speeds to resolve Virginia Key Marina bid battle

With new players in the mix, the Miami City Commission has called for a special meeting next month to discuss the future of Virginia Key Marina. At last week’s virtual meeting, commissioners voted to hold a special meeting Nov. 16 to discuss, and potentially act on, the marina’s ongoing solicitation dispute.  The city administration asked for the commission to defer the…

Downtown Miami observation wheel prepares to roll

While plans were originally to have its grand opening back in March, downtown Miami’s observation wheel will soon be up and running for Bayside Marketplace visitors, operators say. Towering 176 feet over downtown’s skyline, the new observation wheel might open at the end of this month, said Charlene Leavitt of Skyviews Miami, the tourist attraction…

Midtown Miami development site in foreclosure hits the market

3601 North Miami Avenue with Francisco Arocha The developer of the planned Triptych project that straddles the border between Midtown Miami and the Design District is listing the site for sale. HES Group, which is facing foreclosure from its lender, is looking to sell or find a joint venture partner for the 1-acre property at 3601 North Miami Avenue, said Francisco…

Here are the South Florida real estate players who donated to candidates in 2020

As the presidential election nears, The Real Deal examined top South Florida real estate players’ political donations this year, and found they largely skewed in one direction. A number of developers supported Republican candidates and causes, including Craig Robins, Stuart Miller and Russell Galbut. Related Group developer Jorge Pérez and real…

Spirit Halloween reawakens to cannibalize stores

Autumn is a time for falling leaves, pumpkin pie and Spirit Halloween reappearing to take up unoccupied space in strip malls and commercial corridors. This year, even as trick-or-treating becomes an unknown, there are more Spirit Halloween locations to go around. The company has opened more than 1,400 storefronts nationwide, an increase from last year,

Investors heat up cold storage market

Investors are increasingly turning to the cold storage sector, which showed surprising resilience through the first few months of the pandemic. Lineage Logistics, the world’s largest landlord of temperature-controlled storage, pulled in $1.6 billion in a fundraising round that ended last month, according to the Wall Street Journal. Americold Realty Trust, the only…

Dollar General launches new brand targeting affluent customers

Dollar General is launching a new brand aimed at higher-income earners — and keeping the focus away from the “dollar” in its name. The new brand, Popshelf, will still sell inexpensive products in its stores, with most items priced at $5 or less, the Wall Street Journal reported. But the stores will carry fewer Dollar General staples (like food) and more nonconsumable…

Fewer than half of holiday shoppers will hit the mall this year

In a typical year, the holidays are peak season for malls — but this isn’t a typical year, and shopping centers that have already been hurt by the pandemic will continue to feel the economic crunch in the leadup to the holiday shopping season. Only 45 percent of shoppers plan to visit a mall to do some or all of their holiday shopping, down from 64 percent last year…

Target-anchored mixed-use project planned for North Beach advances

Aria Mehrabi and renderings of the projects Part of Aria Mehrabi’s planned development for North Beach got the OK to move onto permitting this week. And Miami Beach officials will review more of his plans in November. The Miami Beach Design Review Board on Tuesday gave the green light to the planned 12-story tower with 170 residential units anchored by a 25,000…

Now Microsoft is joining work from home forever club

Microsoft is joining the ranks of Facebook, Twitter, Zillow and other companies that have developed permanent work from home options for their employees. The tech giant unveiled “hybrid workplace” guidance that permits employees to work from home for less than 50 percent of their working week, or receive manager approval for permanent remote…

Southland Mall’s troubled $65M CMBS loan for sale

A $65 million CMBS loan on Southland Mall in Cutler Bay is being shopped, after its former owner defaulted on it earlier this year. JLL is marketing the loan, which is tied to the 990,000-square-foot indoor mall at 20505 South Dixie Highway. The mall’s former owner, Investcorp, defaulted in April and handed the keys over to its CMBS lenders this summer. The mall is…

How the COVID-19 Economy Impacts Property Improvements & Customized Offices

The changing tenant-improvement landscape due to COVID-19 Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was common for tenants in “Class A” buildings to ask for significant improvements to office space as a part of their real estate lease. In essence, this practice allows companies to obtain a highly-customized office as part of their agreement.  The owners of…

Retail rent collection has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels

While national chains still face financial woes, there are some signs of recovery within the retail sector — particularly in categories such as gyms and clothing stores. National retailers paid 86 percent of their September rent, according to the latest Datex Property Solutions report. That’s about 10 percent below what they paid in 2019, but slightly…

Blackstone to open office in South Florida

The Blackstone Group is planning to open an office in South Florida, as the region’s economic boosters work to attract financial and investment firms. The New York-based private equity giant plans to hire about 215 employees, most of whom will be back-office technology workers, according to Bloomberg. The news comes as the Miami-Dade County Commission…

Integra scores approval for waterfront workforce housing project in Florida Keys

Victor Ballestas and Wrecker’s Cay Integra Investments is moving forward with its plans to build Wrecker’s Cay Apartments, the largest workforce housing project to be built in the Florida Keys in more than 50 years. Miami-based Integra, led by developer Victor Ballestas, recently secured approval from Monroe County for the 280-unit development on Stock…

Doral DoubleTree owner sues architect for $4M, alleging design errors

The DoubleTree at 10250 Northwest 19th Street and Larry Beame (Credit: Google Maps) The owner of the 150-room DoubleTree in Doral sued the architect of the hotel, alleging design defects that cost millions of dollars in fixes and delays. Hospitality Doral LLC, which owns the six-story hotel at 10250 Northwest 19th Street in Doral, sued Beame Architectural…

Crust to Expand With Takeaway Concept

Klime and Anita Kovaceski are expanding into the carry-out business. The husband-wife team behind Crust will open a new takeout concept and market they’ve dubbed Crust2go. “We always had the idea for carry-out as a bigger component to Crust in the backburner,” Kovaceski tells New Times. “But COVID-19 has changed the way people eat and do things to the point…

Hollywood Publix with boat dock advances

Hollywood is another step closer to landing a rare Publix grocery store with a boat dock. The Hollywood Planning & Development Board approved plans and modifications for a 30,000-square-foot supermarket at 3100 South Ocean Drive during the board’s meeting Tuesday. The store still needs approval from the city commission. It would be the second Publix with…

Fort Lauderdale developers score $92M bridge loan for rental tower

4 West Las Olas Fort Lauderdale developers Scott Bodenweber and Tom Vogel scored $92 million in bridge financing for a newly completed apartment tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Benefit Street Partners Realty Trust, a New York-based mortgage real estate investment trust, provided senior debt of $76 million, while West Palm Beach-based…

DHL signs 201,399 SF long-term renewal at Prologis Miami Commerce Center

Transwestern Real Estate Services (TRS) announces its South Florida industrial team has secured a long-term lease renewal for DHL Global Forwarding, which occupies the 201,399-square-foot Prologis Miami Commerce Center at 1801 NW 82nd Ave. Transwestern Managing Director Thomas Kresse negotiated the transaction on behalf of owner Prologis.

Doral DoubleTree owner sues architect for $4M, alleging design errors

The owner of the 150-room DoubleTree in Doral sued the architect of the hotel, alleging design defects that cost millions of dollars in fixes and delays. Hospitality Doral LLC, which owns the six-story hotel at 10250 Northwest 19th Street in Doral, sued Beame Architectural Partnership last week in Miami-Dade Circuit Court for $3.7 million. Though the hotel opened in///

Miami-Dade approves three affordable housing redevelopment projects for south Dade

Miami-Dade County approved short-term leases that will enable three developers — the Related Group, Centennial Management Corp. and Procida Development Group — to redevelop county-owned affordable housing projects in south Miami-Dade. Approving short-term, 11-month leases, during a commission meeting on Tuesday, was the first step of…

JV looks to buy up to $175M in distressed resi loans, with focus on NY, Miami

As an increasing number of borrowers skip their mortgage payments, opportunistic investors have been on the lookout for distressed loans sold off at discount prices. A new venture intends to acquire up to $175 million in delinquent loans on properties across the country, particularly in New York City and Miami. The funding will start with a commitment of $25…

Ruby Tuesday will close 185 restaurants

Yet another chain is seeking bankruptcy protection after the pandemic decimated its business. The restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, introducing with it plans to close 185 locations, USA Today reports. The filing will leave the franchise with 236 operating restaurants. The company hopes to stay in business, saying in a…

Jungle Island hotel squeezes past a city board

The plan to construct a hotel in Jungle Island park on Watson Island moved forward last week after it met criticism from some members of Miami’s Urban Development Review Board. It took three tries to get a motion passed recommending approval, including several recommended changes. Jungle Island is operated by a private company at 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail, on…

As economy returns, Miami-Dade commissioners might stay away from county hall

Returning to County Hall won’t be simple for the Miami-Dade commissioners, as safety, capacity and cost obstacles could prolong virtual meetings even as the local economy reopens. “Our biggest challenge is [the] amount of space for elected officials at the dais,” Internal Service Director Tara Smith said during a special meeting on Covid-19 last week. “We can…”

Movie theaters welcome back public with private rentals

By creating safe environments for patrons, local movie theaters are slowly reopening and welcoming back the public with private screenings and facility rentals. An option that has always been offered, theater rentals are becoming the new way to enjoy the big-screen experience in a comfortable atmosphere among close friends and family members. “Since closing…”

Lester Sola: Pilots county’s airports toward $5 billion capital investment

When Lester Sola began working for Miami-Dade 28 years ago, his first post was in the county Aviation Department. Twenty-eight years and a variety of other county jobs later, he leads the department, overseeing the operations and growth of four general aviation airports and Miami International Airport (MIA), the county’s top economic engine, which together generate…

Pablo Cejas adds to downtown Coral Gables assemblage

Pablo Cejas, Bill Kerdyk, and 147 Alhambra Circle Coral Gables property owner and broker Bill Kerdyk Jr. sold a downtown office building on Alhambra Circle for $5.3 million. Kerdyk’s Alhambra Circle Investments LLC sold the 12,000-square-foot office building at 147 Alhambra Circle in Coral Gables to Pablo Cejas of Aquarius Capital, property records show.

Pinnacle scores $31M for south Miami-Dade senior affordable housing development

Pinnacle secured $30.8 million of financing to build an affordable housing development for seniors in south Miami-Dade County. Citibank provided $22.1 million through the purchase of 9 percent tax credits and also lent Pinnacle $4.3 million for the 112-unit rental project, Cannery Row at Redlands Crossing. Miami-Dade County also contributed a $3.5 million…

Hotels pivot to office space to stanch losses

Hotels across the country are pivoting to become offices as a way to survive the pandemic. In New York, the 607-room InterContinental Times Square was transformed into housing for doctors and nurses treating coronavirus patients in the spring. Then it started to offer rooms as offices. And now the hotel will offer office space on a suite-by-suite basis, according to the…

Airbnb slams door on Halloween-night rentals

Airbnb banned one-night rentals over the upcoming Halloween weekend in an effort to prevent parties — and thus, possible outbreaks of the coronavirus. The home-sharing company announced that it will bar one-night rentals on Oct. 30 and 31 to “protect our hosts and the communities they live in,” according to Business Insider. In order to rent a place over…

Tony Robbins buys West Palm Beach warehouse for production studio

A company tied to motivational speaker and author Tony Robbins bought a West Palm Beach warehouse with plans to build a production studio, The Real Deal has learned. The buyer, Ohio Resources LLC, tied to Anthony Robbins Companies, paid $4.4 million for the 28,000-square-foot warehouse at 2951 Electronics Way, according to a press release. A deed for the sale…

Fifth Wall targets $118M raise for European proptech fund

Fifth Wall, the venture capital firm that’s backed Opendoor, States Title and Industrious, is looking overseas for its next hit. The Los Angeles-based firm is currently raising a $118 million European fund to invest in proptech startups. Although the fund is not yet closed, investors so far include the real estate arm of BNP Paribas, the French bank; Pontos, a Finnish…

Menin plans major expansion of Bodega Taqueria

Jared Galbut, Bodega Taqueria Menin Hospitality is growing its Bodega brand. The company, led by Jared Galbut and Keith Menin, is planning to open Bodega Taquerias throughout the state and in South Florida, including a new location in North Beach and another at a new project under construction in downtown Miami, Galbut said. Overall, Menin’s goal is…

Black-owned firms to launch first affordable-housing REIT

Two of the largest minority-owned real estate investment firms in the country are teaming up to launch what they say is the first public real estate company dedicated to affordable housing. California-based investor Avanath Capital Management and San Francisco’s MacFarlane Partners filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to…

Lights out: Regal Cinemas to suspend operations

Cineworld, the owner of the Regal Cinemas movie theater chain, will suspend operations at its locations across the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported. The announcement to temporarily close 500 theaters came after a wave of postponements of big-budget Hollywood movies, including the new James Bond film “No Time to Die.” “We are like a…”

Construction honcho pays $17M for Kendall office buildings

The head of a South Florida construction firm paid $16.8 million for a pair of adjacent office buildings in Miami’s Kendall neighborhood. Companies managed by Dan Azel of Andale Group bought the buildings at 8900 Southwest 107th Avenue and 10700 Southwest 88th Street, records show. The second building’s address is also noted as 10700 North Kendall Drive.

Most unemployment measures are declining… : …while long-term unemployment is still rising

Many of us follow the unemployment rate closely, even more so since the pandemic began. But there are many definitions of unemployment, which depend on how people are attached to the labor force. To learn more, see this earlier blog post and this conversational account of unemployment measures. Today’s FRED graph shows the recent evolution of 6 measures…

$2.2T House stimulus package would ban evictions for 12 months

Many renters in the U.S. are protected from evictions through the end of the year, and a stimulus package that passed in the house could extend those protections further. The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package last week that includes a full-year ban on eviction foreclosure filings over nonpayment, according to Bloomberg…

Lincoln Road landlord seeks $32M following court victory over Walgreens

Richard Chera of Crown Acquisitions, 947 Lincoln Road rendering A company tied to New York City real estate mogul Richard Chera is looking to collect nearly $32 million from Walgreens after the pharmacy chain lost a civil lawsuit over a Lincoln Road store that never opened. On Sept. 22, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas granted summary judgment…

CBD investor sells Hialeah Gardens development site for $5M

The head of a truck parts company acquired a development site at Shoma Commercial Park in Hialeah Gardens. Tundidor & Partners 13391 LLC, led by James Tundidor, sold the 3.7-acre site at 13391 West Okeechobee Road to Jaime Villamizar of Miami Star Truck Parts for $5.1 million. It comes with approved plans for a 39,500-square-foot building with a 25 bay retail…

Coral Rock lands construction loan on Hialeah project

Michael Wohl and a rendering of the project Coral Rock Development Group has snagged a $53.5 million construction loan for the 260-unit residential portion of its mixed-use project in Hialeah. Principal Real Estate Investors provided the debt, according to a release. The project, dubbed Pura Vida Hialeah, will consist of three eight-story buildings and about…

Leisure and hospitality gain 318K jobs in September as economic growth lags

The leisure and hospitality industry led employment gains in September with 318,000 jobs added to the economy, trouncing the industry’s August performance of 174,000 jobs. Food and beverage establishments accounted for more than half the industry’s growth last month, with 200,000 jobs returning last month. The U.S. economy added…

Housing demand sent construction spending up in August

Spending on construction, particularly in the housing sector, plowed ahead in August. Money flowing into construction projects ticked up to $1.4 trillion seasonally adjusted last month, a year-over-year increase of 2.5 percent, according to the Census Bureau’s monthly report on construction work done on new and existing structures across public and private sectors.

Designer-crafted floral-centric murals are headed to Miracle Mile

Contracts and planning details are being finalized for the installation of four art murals along Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. The fall economic development programming, which is aiming to debut mid-to-late November, is promised to bring a whole new pedestrian experience for visitors and residents. The city’s Economic Development Department is…

Here’s why President Trump loves depreciation

A day after the New York Times reported Donald Trump paid just $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and $750 again the following year, the president took to his favorite medium to deny the claims. “I paid many millions of dollars in taxes, but was entitled, like everyone else, to depreciation & tax credits,” Trump said on Twitter in response…

Fisher Island developer scores approval for residential projects on exclusive island

Heinrich Von Hanau Fisher Island developer Heinrich Von Hanau received approvals for two residential projects on the exclusive island. Miami-Dade County officials recently approved zoning changes to allow for a 57-unit, 10-story condominium building at 6 Fisher Island Drive and 12 single-family homes at 68 Fisher Island Drive. The new projects would bring the total…

PPP loan forgiveness to begin within the coming week: SBA

More than 96,000 requests for Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness have been submitted to the Small Business Administration since early August, but none were approved — but that’s about to change. The Treasury Department said that PPP requests will start to be approved and paid late this week or early next, the Wall Street Journal reported.

RedSky, JZ sell Wynwood assemblage at discount for $26M

A partnership between RedSky Capital and JZ Capital Partners sold an assemblage of land in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood for $26 million, less than the price they paid four years ago. RedSky, a Brooklyn-based real estate company, and Manhattan-based investment firm JZ sold the development site to SV 2700 Owner LLC. The LLC shares an address…

Florida allows eviction moratorium to expire

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will allow the state’s ban on residential foreclosures and evictions to expire Oct. 1. DeSantis announced the ban, which only applied to the final action of foreclosures and evictions, would not be renewed, citing the Centers for Disease Control’s mandated federal eviction ban. The CDC’s order is in effect through the end of December…

JPMorgan wants to invest $700M building rentals in Sun Belt states

Wall Street landlords aren’t going anywhere — except maybe down South. The asset management arm of JPMorgan Chase wants to raise a $700 million fund focused on developing single-family and multifamily rental properties in Sun Belt cities, Bloomberg reported, citing an investor presentation. “Read Developers bet big on build-for-rent in these…”

Principal Real Estate Investors Provides $53.5M Construction Loan for Apartment Complex in Metro Miami

Principal Real Estate Investors has provided a $53.5 million construction loan for the residential portion of Pura Vida Hialeah. The borrower, Coral Rock Development Group, is developing the property, which also features 40,000 square feet of adjacent retail space. The apartment community, dubbed The Residences at Pura Vida, will feature 260 units spanning…

Miami Beach Trying To Shed Hard-Partying Reputation, But Businesses Are Pushing Back

Miami Beach is a paradox. Before the coronavirus, it had seen a record number of tourists and booming prices for real estate. But it has also been suffering from a reputation for rowdy behavior — stoked by viral videos of a woman twerking on a cop’s ATV, a “stripper cat fight” and a brawl outside a club, with shots fired — that politicians say is concentrated around the…

Air Force offers county new airport site at Homestead

Miami-Dade is working on multiple deals to build out its general aviation airports and is “closer than ever” to an agreement for a new one at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Aviation Director Lester Sola said. Commissioners Oct. 6 are to decide whether to direct Mayor Carlos Giménez to “expeditiously” pursue a contract with the Air Force so that the county…

Miami Heat minority owner pays $20 million for Sweetwater Best Buy

As the Miami Heat eye a potential NBA championship, one of the team’s original partners has reason to celebrate early. Raanan Katz’s real estate company RK Centers paid $20.4 million for a 4.2-acre property leased to Best Buy at 10760 Northwest 17th Street in Sweetwater, near Dolphin Mall and Miami International Mall. The 46,000-square-foot building is home to…

On Eve Of NBA Finals, Miami Heat Player Scores Development Win

This week, Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem will be trying to rack up victories against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. Last week, he scored a different sort of win: His company is moving forward with a $36M housing development. Haslem Housing Venture LLC… at 2035 North Miami Avenue. The proposal listed partners Haslem Housing Ventures and…

CTO Realty Growth Acquires Shopping Center in Metro Miami for $21 Million

CTO Realty Growth has acquired Westland Gateway, a 108,000-square-foot shopping center in Hialeah, for $21 million. Aldi, dd’s Discount, Ross Dress for Less and Bed Bath & Beyond occupy the property. Westland Gateway is located at 1460 W. 49th Street, 15 miles northwest of downtown Miami. Daytona Beach, Fla.-based CTO Realty purchased the asset through a 1031…

Miami developer Metronomic files for bankruptcy

Metronomic Holdings, a South Florida-based developer led by Ricky Trinidad, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this month. The Coral Gables-based real estate firm listed more than $87 million in debts, according to documents filed in the Southern District of Florida. Metronomic has commercial, residential and student housing projects…

50% of Miami International Airport passengers likely to return in 2020

In April, amid coronavirus-driven shutdowns, passenger movements at Miami International Airport (MIA) plummeted. Four months later, as international travel strictures loosen, they’ve begun to rebound. But there’ still a long way to go, said Aviation Director Lester Sola. “By the time the year is over, we’ll probably have it 50% of the volume we had last year…”

Miami Marine Stadium renovation contract nears

The long-awaited restoration of Miami Marine Stadium on Virginia Key is one major step closer to reality, according to the city’s Office of Capital Improvements. City staff delivered a status report on the multi-million-dollar project at a virtual meeting of the Virginia Key Advisory Board on Sept. 22. The project is near completion of the permitting process, and…

County set to corner South Dade transit

As construction for “Gold Standard” bus rapid transit on the South Dade Transitway gears up, Miami-Dade aims to clinch the use of 850 parking spaces on the line’s penultimate stop. Commissioners are to consider a parking deal with Homestead Oct. 6, roughly a month after they OK’d a $368 million contract for construction of stations, roadway and intersection…

Landlords eye taking cut of retailers’ online sales as rent

As shopping habits shift toward the digital, some property owners think demanding a portion of retail tenants’ online sales is only fair. (iStock) Landlords are familiar with percentage rent — taking a portion of retail tenants’ in-store sales — but now, some are thinking of bringing online sales into the mix. As shopping habits shift towards the digital, some property…

As Florida Reopens, Brokers Confident Retail Closures Will Be Filled

Despite the fact that COVID-19 is still spreading in Florida — a tracking group’s dashboard reported 3,266 new cases and 106 deaths on Tuesday — and warnings from health officials that there could be a resurgence in cases this fall, Florida has mostly reopened under political and economic pressures. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed an executive order bringing…

Lawsuit seeking class action status accuses Grant Cardone of misleading investors

Grant Cardone Real estate crowdfunding guru Grant Cardone is facing allegations that he’s misled thousands of investors across the country by falsely promising them annual returns of at least 15 percent and other incentives that never materialized. Fresh off their acquisition of a waterfront Fort Lauderdale apartment complex, Cardone and his…

Retail bankruptcies on pace to rival 2010: report

It’s been a difficult year for retailers, and things may get worse before they get better: The number of bankruptcy filings by retailers this year could outpace those filed in the wake of the Great Recession. As of Sept. 29, nearly 30 retailers filed for bankruptcy, leading to almost 6,000 store closures, according to a biannual bankruptcy report from BDO International, a…

Medical co-working space operator ShareMD buys Miami medical campus

An owner and operator of medical co-working space bought a medical office campus in Miami from a company with ties to Florida’s former lieutenant governor. Alpharetta, Georgia-based ShareMD bought the three-building, 10-acre property at 7400, 7500 and 7800 Southwest 87th Avenue, according to a press release. The company declined to provide the…

ShareMD Buys Miami Medical Office Campus

ShareMD has acquired a three-building, 177,358-square-foot medical office campus in Miami. Ideal Management and FIP Realty Services worked on behalf of the buyer. Starwood Mortgage Capital provided acquisition financing, which PSRS arranged. Pan American Group is the former owner of at least one of the three properties that traded, Yardi Matrix data shows…

Greenberg Traurig Assists ShareMD in $89 Million Financing of Medical Office Building Portfolio with Starwood Mortgage Capital

A team of Greenberg Traurig, P. A. attorneys led by Miami Real Estate Practice Shareholder Danielle Gonzalez, represented long-time client ShareMD in its financing of a medical office building portfolio with Starwood Mortgage Capital. The $89 million loan transaction closed on September 25. The portfolio consists of eight medical office properties…

ShareMD Acquires Three-Building Medical Office Campus in Miami to Add to Their Growing Healthcare Portfolio

ShareMD, a healthcare real estate and physician practice solution company with corporate office in Alpharetta, Georgia, has closed escrow on a three-building, 177,358 sq. ft. medical office campus atop ten acres in Miami, “We’re excited to continue ShareMD’s growth in the healthcare facility sector with this acquisition,” said ShareMD’s Chairman and CEO, John…”

Colony deal puts Highgate among biggest hotel owners

Highgate’s deal to purchase a $2.8 billion portfolio of hotels from Colony Capital will catapult the company into the upper ranks of the nation’s largest hotel owners. The privately held hospitality firm, launched in 1988 by brothers Mahmood and Mehdi Khimji, will have the fifth-largest portfolio in the country when it finalizes its deal with Colony, which is…

Top developers Gil Dezer, Jon Paul Perez on their reasons for doubling down in South Florida market

For some Miami developers, the last few months have provided an opportunity to “double down.” “Our affordable division is extremely active,” Jon Paul Pérez, executive vice president of Related Group, said during The Real Deal’s latest episode of Coffee Talks. Pérez noted that Related has broken ground on three projects in the last 45 days. Another…

Will real estate take the stage at Trump-Biden debate?

The first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden airs tonight, and will focus on the coronavirus pandemic, the economy, racial unrest and the candidates’ records among other preselected topics. But given Trump and Biden’s shared penchant for off-the-cuff remarks, will they stay entirely on topic or will eviction bans…

Biden vs. Trump: What’s at stake for real estate?

Joe Biden and Donald Trump Biden’s $775B ‘caring economy’ plan would kill 1031 exchanges Joe Biden went after one of the real estate industry’s favorite tax benefits last month. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee proposed his “caring economy” plan to  fund a child- and elderly-care spending platform, in part by closing a loophole used by many…

Miami investor buys Hialeah apartments for $13 million

A Miami investor paid $13 million for a multifamily property in Hialeah. Antonio Hernandez, an electrical contractor who owns nearly a dozen properties in the Miami area, purchased the 66-unit Hilton Estates buildings at 6365 West 24th Avenue. The seller is Hilton Estates of Hialeah IV, led by Tomas Betancourt Jr. The deal breaks down to $197,000 per unit.

The Fed discusses different effects COVID is having on rates of hotels versus casino hotels

The FRED Blog recently discussed the large reductions in travel related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today we expand that analysis to include a specific aspect of travel: hotel stays. The graph above shows producer price index (PPI) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that measure price changes from the perspective of the seller. Percent changes in prices from…

Troubled commercial properties see values fall 27%: report

Commercial properties such as hotels and malls may have lost as much as a quarter of their value as the pandemic devastated the retail and hospitality businesses, along with other sectors. The value of the collateral for commercial mortgage-backed securities has been written down by 27 percent on average when properties get into trouble, the Financial Times…

Distressed US Commercial Real Estate Lost 27 Pct Of Value, Wells Fargo Figures Show

Many U.S. commercial properties have lost 25 percent or more of their value as the impact of the coronavirus has taken its toll on hotels, malls and other nonresidential buildings. The Financial Times (FT) reported the evidence of the losses can be seen in the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market from appraisals. As a result, it raises questions…

Neiman Marcus exits bankruptcy $4 billion lighter

Neiman Marcus has emerged from bankruptcy just four and a half months after it entered the Chapter 11 restructuring process. The court-led process erased $4 billion in debt that the distressed retailer was holding, along with $200 million in annual interest payments, Reuters reported. The Dallas-based company now has $1.25 billion in debt, down from $5.1 billion.

Opportunity Zone rule change seeks to entice foreign investors

Potential changes to the rules for Opportunity Zones could soon allow some foreign investors to reap major tax benefits from the program. The Internal Revenue Service is considering new rules pertaining to foreign investors’ ability to defer capital gains in the Opportunity Zones program. The new regulations could be released in December, according to the White House…

DeSantis says restaurants in Florida can operate at up to 100% capacity

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the state would be moving into the third phase of reopening, allowing for up to 100 percent capacity at restaurants. The announcement, made in St. Petersburg, left municipalities and restaurateurs in South Florida scrambling to determine how the order will impact them. DeSantis said the state will guarantee restaurants can…

Hunt Real Estate Capital Provides $27 Million Fannie Mae Loan to Refinance a Newly-Built Multifamily Community in Hialeah, FL

Hunt Real Estate Capital, a division of ORIX Real Estate Capital, announced that it has provided a $27 million Fannie Mae DUS® Conventional Multifamily loan to refinance construction debt for Las Vistas at Amelia, a 174-unit apartment community in Miami-Dade county. Built in 2020, Las Vistas at Amelia is a workforce housing community designed to attract…

CorePoint Lodging sells Deerfield Beach La Quinta for $6M

Hotel real estate investment trust CorePoint Lodging sold a La Quinta in Deerfield Beach for $5.7 million. CorePoint, a spin-off of the La Quinta hotel brand, sold the 79-room hotel via CPLG Wellesley Properties LLC. Property records show the buyer is Shree Sai Properties LLC, managed by Ketankumar “Ketan” K. Patel. The hotel, at 100 Southwest 12th Avenue…

Fortune International Group buys waterfront Pompano Beach site for $28M

Fortune International Group is the latest developer to bet on the Pompano Beach market. The Miami-based development firm, led by Edgardo Defortuna, paid $27.5 million for the 4.6-acre site at 1380 South Ocean Boulevard, the company announced Wednesday. Fortune is planning to build two high-end condo towers on the oceanfront and Intracoastal-front…

Dev Motwani buys Fort Lauderdale dev site for $14M

Developer Dev Motwani bought a development site in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village for $14 million. A Merrimac Ventures affiliate closed on the properties at 317 North Federal Highway and 515 Northeast Third Street, property records show. J & C Fox Family LLC and Joel Fox Inc., tied to Joel and Camille Fox, sold the buildings. They’ve owned the land since at least…

Investment firm tied to Baltimore Ravens owner buys South Florida car dealerships for $61M

The family office of two Maryland billionaires paid a total of $60.5 million for car dealerships in Margate and Tamarac owned by Arrigo Automotive Group. A company tied to Hanover, Maryland-based Redwood Capital Investments paid $34.5 million for the Tamarac Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Ram dealership at 5901 Madison Avenue in Tamarac.

DiVosta family sells Palm Beach Gardens office towers for $80M

The Palm Beach Gardens office towers Investors Nader Shalom and Babak Ebrahimzadeh paid $80 million for the DiVosta Towers in Palm Beach Gardens, marking one of the biggest office sales to close in recent months. The DiVosta family sold the two 11-story Class A Towers at 3825 to 3835 PGA Boulevard to Gatsby Enterprises and Master Mind, according to a press…

Dezer’s 30-acre megaproject in North Miami Beach gets first approval

A nearly 30-acre mixed-use development that would bring luxury condo towers, a harbor and public promenade secured a key approval from the city of North Miami Beach. Developer Gil Dezer’s plan to transform the Intracoastal Mall will return to the North Miami City Commission next month, after commissioners voted to pass zoning amendments and a…

Miami Multifamily Report – Summer 2020

Miami ended 2019 on a high note; In a study by financial advice website SmartAsset, the metro ranked fourth out of 500 U.S. cities ranked for economic growth. Miami joined the nation’s top “boomtowns” thanks to its gross domestic product and business growth, job creation and population change. However, rents started to moderate in late 2019 and early 2020.

South Florida construction starts rose in August

August construction starts rose in South Florida South Florida construction starts were up in August, according to a recently released report. Total construction starts for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties totaled $904.1 million, according to Dodge Data & Analytics, a Hamilton, New Jersey-based construction data analytics firm. That’s about 46…

10 Questions Your Litigator May Ask about Your Post-Covid Commercial Lease

Much has been written about commercial real estate in a post-Covid world. As real estate users consider how Covid will change their space needs, they should also consider what provisions will serve them in future lease-related litigation. Of course, every commercial lease is different, but there are provisions that most leases do or should have. Here are 10 questions your…

Magellan Housing and Miami Heat star Udonis Haslem to build Wynwood apartment project on city-owned land

Coral Gables-based Magellan Housing and its celebrity partner, Miami Heat star Udonis Haslem, scored a slam dunk with Miami’s Omni Community Redevelopment Agency. Miami city commissioners — acting as the agency’s board of directors — on Thursday approved a proposal submitted by the partnership to build a 12-story, mixed-use apartment project in the…

Colony sells most of its hotel biz to Highgate in $2.8B deal

Tom Barrack’s Colony Capital is selling the majority of its beleaguered hotel business to private investor Highgate Hotels in a deal valuing the properties at $2.8 billion. It’s the largest shakeup the hospitality sector has seen since being decimated by the pandemic. The publicly traded Colony signed an agreement to sell six of its seven hotel portfolios to Highgate for $67.5…

Builder involved in deadly FIU bridge collapse sues for $15M, alleges design firm botched review

The contractor behind the Florida International University bridge that collapsed in March 2018, killing six and injuring 10, filed a lawsuit seeking $15 million from the company responsible for reviewing the bridge’s design before its construction. The plaintiff and builder of the $14.2 million bridge at Southwest 109th Avenue and Southwest Eighth Street, Miami-based…

Report: Office market won’t return to glory until 2025

The office market won’t reach pre-Covid levels until 2025, a brokerage report has found. The analysis by Cushman and Wakefield predicts that office vacancies across the world will continue upward, reaching 15.6 percent in 2022, Bloomberg reported. About 95.8 million square feet of space will become vacant in the next two years. Before the coronavirus…

Kitchen And Bath Supplier Plans New 95,000 SF Warehouse And Distribution Center In Doral

Panda Kitchens has purchased a 28,800-square-foot industrial building located at 7800 NW 34 Street in Doral for $6,500,000 with plans to build a new 95,000 square foot warehouse and distribution center. The property is situated on one of the largest assemblages of industrial land, encompassing 4.20 acres, or 182,937 square feet, within the…

Brookfield and Namdar plan to hand over keys to struggling malls

Some mall owners have given up trying to revive their struggling malls and pay off their debt payments and are now seeking to hand over the keys to their servicers. Brookfield Properties and Namdar Realty are separately requesting they be allowed to give up their J.C. Penney-anchored malls to special servicers to avoid loan foreclosure, according to Trepp. The…

It’Sugar files for bankruptcy protection after sales sour

A Deerfield Beach-based candy chain is the latest retailer to file for bankruptcy protection due to Covid-19. It’Sugar, with about 100 candy stores in mostly tourist markets, has $500,000 in cash, with $6.2 million of secured debt and $10.4 million of unsecured liabilities, including unpaid rent, according to a press release. The company reported losses before…

Red South Beach signs $5 million lease for new space & other Miami restaurant news

Red South Beach Red South Beach is moving on from its Washington Avenue location of the last 10 years, but it’s not going too far. Chef and owner Peter Vauthy signed a 10-year, $4.5 million lease for the restaurant space at 801 South Pointe Drive, he told The Real Deal. The new location includes 6,000 square feet of indoor space and 3,000 square feet of,,,

Blackstone assembles biggest real estate debt fund ever

Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies’ Jonathan Pollack (Blackstone; iStock) PTA moms can look to Blackstone for fundraising inspiration. The giant firm gathered $8 billion for a property debt fund born last year and closed this month, making it the largest real estate credit fund ever raised. That’s thanks to low interest rates and the potential for high returns during the…

Hotel industry is in trouble and more lenders want out

As hotels across the U.S. continue to suffer — average occupancy is just under 50 percent — an increasing number of lenders are scrambling to sell their mortgages. Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies has hired Cushman & Wakefield to sell mortgages totalling $500 million tied to the Times Square Hotel in Manhattan and two St. Regis hotels in Washington…

Wynwood streetscape plan gets a thumb’s-up

A proposed vision for greener and more pedestrian-friendly streets in Wynwood is a step closer to being realized. The Planning, Zoning and Appeals board recommended approval of the Wynwood Streetscape Master Plan on Sept. 16. It sets guidelines that would dictate the build-out of Wynwood streets. The master plan focuses on increasing pedestrianism…

Famed Ocean Drive might become Ocean Walk

Pedestrians first, bicyclists and transit second, personal vehicles last is the mantra for officials looking to revamp transportation in Miami Beach’s Entertainment District. A permanently pedestrianized Ocean Drive was featured in a game plan that transportation staff presented at a city committee workshop last week.  The goal of such a makeover…

Common raises $50M, eyes housing for remote workers

With its eye on housing for remote workers, co-living startup Common has raised $50 million in new funding. The Series D was led by Kinnevik with participation from existing investors Maveron, 8VC and Norwest Venture Partners, CEO Brad Hargreaves wrote in a blog post Tuesday. The round brings Common’s total funding to more than $113 million at a time when…

Leaked bank documents show South Florida real estate’s alleged ties to money laundering

A group of South Florida property owners’ alleged ties to global money laundering are revealed in newly leaked bank documents. A family who owns a home worth more than $2 million in the Jockey Circle neighborhood in Davie and a man accused of buying an $850,000 Tudor cottage in Davie with drug money are among the property owners emerging from a trove…

Kitchen and bath supplier pays $7M for Doral land for distribution center

A kitchen and bath supplier paid $6.5 million for 4.2 acres of industrial land in Doral, with plans to build a distribution center. Panda Kitchen & Bath bought the property at 7800 Northwest 34th Street, according to a press release. The sale comes to $35.53 per square foot for about 183,000 square feet of land. The asking price was $8 million, according to an offering…

How do companies decide who should return to offices first? It’s tricky

Companies are relying on surveys and other data points to determine who will come back to offices first. (iStock) Companies are starting to bring employees back to offices after months of working from home, but deciding who should come back first is tricky — so firms are relying on surveys, apps and other tech to guide staffing decisions. International Business…

“That was a business decision”: Why real estate execs are backing Trump — or backing away

Sotheby’s International Realty broker Nikki Field was leading sales at Kushner Companies’ Puck Penthouses in Manhattan when, in 2016, the Kushners raised the idea of the brokerage getting involved in a fundraiser for Donald Trump’s presidential bid. Sotheby’s said it couldn’t because it was prohibited from donating to political campaigns…

Movie theaters might not come back after all

The release of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” was expected to be a return to some semblance of pre-coronavirus normalcy for movie theaters, but the industry might have a longer road ahead than some thought. Around 68 percent of movie theaters across the U.S. were open for the film’s debut over Labor Day weekend, but it made just $9.8 million over that weekend…

Firms dangle big bucks to lure employees out of big cities

In an increasingly work-from-home world, those with the means have also been moving out of big cities in favor of roomier, perhaps more suburban confines. Now, electronic payment company Stripe is offering employees $20,000 if they move out of cities including San Francisco, New York and Seattle, according to Bloomberg. But even that comes at a price.

Miami-Dade police said pre-Covid evictions could resume. Then came mayor’s stop order

The Miami-Dade Police Department announced on Thursday that pre-pandemic evictions could resume. But by the end of the day, county Mayor Carlos Gimenez had reversed the decision, causing confusion among landlords and tenants. Coronavirus-related evictions have been on hold in Florida for several months. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ two previous orders…

More multifamily may be coming to Overtown

Kelly Kite and 690 Northwest 13th Street (Google Maps) A landowner Miami’s Overtown neighborhood seeks city approval to turn a former chemical site into a multifamily or mixed-use development. Attorney Ines Marrero has applied for a zoning change on the site at 690 Northwest 13th Street on behalf of the landowner, a company tied to Vero Beach-based…

South Beach office building inks lease for record $92 psf

119 Washington Avenue Miami Beach Investment management firm J. Goldman & Co. signed a lease expansion at a South Beach office building for $92 per square foot, reportedly a record for South Florida. The company inked an eight-year lease for 3,318 square feet at the Yukon at 119 Washington Avenue. The six-story Class A office building is being…

British billionaires invest in Jeffrey Soffer’s Turnberry resort in Aventura

Jeffrey Soffer, Brett Mufson, David and Simon Reuben Reuben Brothers acquired a 25 percent stake in Jeffrey Soffer’s JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa. The private equity and investment firm, led by British billionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben, is partnering with Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Development on other investments as well…

Off Lease Only sells two South Florida locations for $50M

Off Lease Only, the used car dealership, sold its Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach locations in a $50 million deal. Records show Off Lease Only Real Estate Holdings LLC sold both properties to Spirit Realty L.P. The Fort Lauderdale site at 827 South SR 7 sold for $27.5 million, and the West Palm property at 1200 South Congress Avenue sold for $22 million. Dallas…

Deutsche Bank: Employees can stay home until mid-2021

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing and Deutsche Bank’s Manhattan headquarters at 60 Wall Street (Getty) Employees at Deutsche Bank won’t have to replace sweats with suits any time soon. The German lender notified staff in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut this week that they can keep working from home until next July, according to Bloomberg.

Estate Companies plans Soleste apartments in North Miami Beach

Estate Companies received approval for a waterfront 23-story apartment tower in North Miami Beach. The tower, dubbed Soleste NoMi, will have 367 units, 2,708 square feet of commercial space and 655 parking spaces. It will be on almost two acres at 16395 Biscayne Boulevard. Estate Companies expects to break ground toward the end of the year on the 686,000…

Landlords lost about $9B in rental payments last quarter: report

Almost 11 million households were behind on rent or mortgage payments during the first three months of the pandemic. Nearly 6 million of those households were renters, who reported either missing, delaying or paying reduced rent during the second quarter of the year, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Just over 5 million households…

Aman tower planned for Faena Versailles site in Miami Beach advances

Billionaire developers Vlad Doronin and Len Blavatnik secured initial approval for a zoning change that will allow them to build a 250-foot Aman-branded tower in Miami Beach. Despite considerable opposition for the proposed zoning, Miami Beach commissioners on Wednesday voted to pass the ordinance on first reading, sending it to the Miami Beach Historic…

Shvo to hell: Inside the ugly dispute between Michael Shvo and partner pal

Michael Shvo’s rule-breaking had finally caught up with him. The controversial broker-turned-developer was sidelined on more than $2 billion worth of Manhattan condos when he pleaded guilty to evading $1.5 million in taxes in 2018. But just when it looked like Shvo was persona non grata to any major investors and lenders, he surprised everyone. His…

Where real estate’s investment giants stand on Biden vs. Trump

Private equity and other major investment firms have donated more to Joe Biden than President Donald Trump so far this election cycle, campaign filings show, despite the potential for higher taxes. And while some companies with a heavy focus on real estate have been keeping hush on their candidate of choice, at least one firm is bucking that trend. The…

Amazon’s plan for massive warehouse heats up Homestead industrial market

Rendering of the project About two months after Amazon secured approval for what could be its largest distribution warehouse yet in South Florida, commissioners will vote on whether to approve a second e-commerce development on Homestead-Miami Speedway land. Homestead’s Planning & Zoning Board approved plans Tuesday for a 145,000-square-foot…

Amazon to open 1,000 warehouses in the suburbs

Amazon is moving to the ’burbs. The e-commerce giant plans to open 1,000 warehouses in suburbs and cities across the U.S., according to Bloomberg. The expansion will allow the company to quicken deliveries as it competes with rivals such as Walmart. Although other efforts, such as hiring 175,000 new workers, have already sped up Amazon shipments, the company is…

Investment Management Firm Expands Lease in Miami Beach, Breaking Florida’s Rental Rate Record Per Square Foot

J. Goldman & Co. LLP, an independent investment management firm, has signed an eight-year lease for 3,318 square feet of office space and a 700-square-foot covered terrace at The Yukon Miami at 119 Washington Avenue in Miami Beach. J. Goldman, which already leases 1,223 square feet on the fourth floor of the Class A office building, broke Florida’s per square foot…

Miami Commercial Real Estate Sales to List Price Ratio Recovers from July’s Slight Dip ~ August 2020 MLS

After dipping a touch, just enough to make some market players wonder what it might mean, the sales to list price ratio as reported by the Miami MLS, rebounded right back to around 92%, very much in line with where is has generally been for the past few years. This ratio has held up well since coronavirus emerged. That this measure continues to stay steady overall…

University of Miami sells land for Walmart-anchored project

Ram Realty bought land north of Zoo Miami for $9.6 million, for a mixed-use development under construction anchored by Walmart. Palm Beach Gardens-based Ram bought the site at 15601 Southwest 127th Avenue from the University of Miami, according to records. The development has been known by the names Coral Reef Commons, as well as Botanical. Retail…

The CDC Says Indoor Dining Is Risky. Miami Restaurants Are Scrambling to Adapt

When the managers at All Day cafe convened for their weekly meeting on March 11, co-owner Camila Ramos could sense that major changes were afoot in the food-and-beverage industry. Although it was 24 hours before the mayor of Miami-Dade County declared a state of emergency, Ramos and her team began hatching plans for what to do if cases of the coronavirus…

Years in the making, $425M mixed-use Miami River development opens

The massive mixed-use River Landing Shops & Residences development along the Miami River opened after years in the making, while other projects in the area remain on hold. The retail, multifamily and office River Landing project was completed earlier this year, but the owner, H&R Real Estate Investment Trust, held off on a grand opening due to the pandemic.

H&R REIT, Urban-X Open First Wave of Tenants at $452M River Landing Development in Miami

Toronto-based H&R REIT and Coral Gables, Fla.-based Urban-X Group have welcomed the first tenants to open at River Landing Shops & Residences in Miami, the first phase of the $452 million River Landing mixed-use development. The first tenants opening beginning this week include Hobby Lobby, Burlington, Publix, Five Below, Chase Bank and AT&T. Ross Dress…

Quiet dorms and distress storms: Student housing sector takes hit

Stay-at-home orders and virtual classes have asked serious questions of the once-booming market for student housing. (Photo: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill via Getty) A few days into classes in August, students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were in panic mode. Covid-19 cases were breaking out in dorm rooms and frat houses at the…

Miami-Dade puts new airport in Homestead onto agenda

After years of negotiating, it’s time to make a deal to use Homestead Air Reserve Base land for Miami-Dade County aviation purposes, according to Commissioner Dennis Moss. Commissioners are to decide Oct. 6 whether to OK his resolution to direct Mayor Carlos Giménez to “expeditiously effectuate a joint use agreement with the United States of America to allow…

Idle arts center stages may become recording studios

With live and in-person performing arts productions at a halt, Cultural arts organizations are finding ways to put large empty theater stages to good use while fundraising initiatives continue. Doing everything possible to move forward and keep facilities operational, performing arts centers are consistently looking for permits, funds and grants to keep them afloat…

Beyond beetles and bats, is Miami Wilds deal best for us?

With Miami-Dade unemployment highest in 80 years and our visitor industry hurting as never before, a long-sought attraction that would add 300-plus jobs would seem heaven sent. Miami Wilds might be just that. But you can’t tell that from its press clippings. As a committee last week recommended a lease for the water park beside Zoo Miami for a full…

Flywheel Sports files for liquidation bankruptcy

Flywheel Sports and its affiliates have filed for bankruptcy, joining a list of fitness studio operators crushed by the coronavirus. The spin-cycle studio brand’s Chapter 7 filing would lead to liquidation of its assets. The documents were filed late Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. Read more Dead weight: New York Sports Clubs owner files for…

Cushman partners with Industrious in bid to bring the office back

Cushman & Wakefield is betting big on co-working, even as millions of Americans have yet to return to the office amid the pandemic-imposed remote work revolution. The firm has teamed up with startup Industrious to help provide flex-office space for companies and individuals outside the corporate environment, according to the Wall Street Journal. The co…

South Florida by the numbers: Miami Heat back in the spotlight

“South Florida by the numbers” is a web feature that catalogs the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics. Against the backdrop of a global pandemic and crackling racial tension, the Miami Heat find themselves back in the spotlight this month, with their first trip to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals since 2014. September…

The Compelling Math of Owning vs. Renting Commercial Property for Businesses

I find buyers commonly debating total monthly cash outlay to own versus that of renting in year one. Though I admire the cash-is-king disciple of this, I would submit that the projected net cost to own compared to that of renting is so attractive that is offsets they typically small differences in cash outlay at inception. After all, the difference, over time, tends to be…

Early economic effects from “safer at home” practices : What Census data from the Quarterly Services Survey can show us

Social distancing and “safer at home” practices have been in effect for many months now, so what do the data show us so far? These protective measures have had widespread effects across the economy; but some industries were affected much more quickly, as behavioral changes predated any official stay-at-home directives. Our first example is transportation revenue…

Developers buy land, score $25M loan for Target-anchored mixed-use project in Overtown

Michael Swerdlow and his partners’ planned Target-anchored, mixed-use development in Overtown is moving ahead, despite ongoing litigation. The developers, including Swerdlow Group, SJM and Alben Duffie, closed on the land for the mixed-use development at 249 Northwest Sixth Street in Miami, and scored $25 million to finance the purchase, according to a release.

“Anything and everything is negotiable”: Incentives for condo buyers mount in Miami

In early March, Residences by Armani/Casa’s developers hosted a blowout opening party, featuring a Giorgio Armani fashion show, a performance by Pitbull, and a fireworks display over the beachfront pool deck of the high-rise condo. Agents offered tours of the Sunny Isles Beach tower’s units and amenity spaces. Some attendees wore ball gowns, and the drinks flowed.

Amazon to open 100 more distribution centers this month

Amazon is riding the online-shopping boom brought on by the pandemic. The e-commerce giant plans to open 100 facilities, including fulfillment centers, delivery stations and sorting centers, in September, the Wall Street Journal reported. That’s on top of more than 75 others opened this year in the U.S. and Canada.

South Beach dev site with multifamily, retail hits market

A development site in the Flamingo/Lummus neighborhood of South Beach hit the market, and could sell for at least the mid-$30 million range, according to the listing brokerage. The site includes seven multifamily and retail buildings on 1.4 acres at the southwest corner of Washington Avenue and 16th Street in Miami Beach. It includes 98 apartments and about…

Authentic Brands in talks to join J.C. Penney takeover

Authentic Brands, one of the most active bidders on bankrupt retail, is joining a deal to take over J.C. Penney. The New York-based brand management company is reportedly in discussions with Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Group to participate in their plan to rescue J.C. Penney, according to Business Insider…

DeSantis moves Miami-Dade, Broward counties into phase two

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Miami-Dade and Broward counties will enter phase two of reopening on Monday, but that doesn’t mean bars and nightclubs can open in South Florida. The move into phase two allows in-person schooling to begin in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, but does not force students to attend classes in person. For Miami-Dade County…

Mortgage rates notch new low

Mortgage rates sank to an all-time low — again. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped .07 percentage points for the week ending Sept. 10, reaching 2.86 percent — a new low since Freddie Mac began conducting the survey in 1971. This time last year, the mortgage rates averaged 3.56 percent. Fifteen-year mortgages declined, too…

Drink up: Bars can reopen Monday in the Florida Keys — but not in rest of South Florida

Bar and brewery owners can drink to this: Florida will allow bars and breweries to reopen beginning on Monday at a reduced capacity. But the order, announced on Thursday evening, only applies to counties that have entered phase 2 of the state’s reopening, which excludes Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Bars and breweries in other counties in phase 2 will…

CMBS delinquencies fell, but hold the applause

The special servicing rate has increased each month since the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States, and clocked a 55 basis point increase to 10.04 percent in August (iStock) The delinquency rate for CMBS loans has fallen for two consecutive months. Save the party supplies for later, though, because there is still no reason to celebrate. Many CMBS lenders have…

Lender acquires TooJay’s out of bankruptcy

Florida restaurant chain TooJay’s Deli is emerging from bankruptcy with a new owner. The West Palm Beach-based deli filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April as a result of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which forced restaurants to shut their indoor dining rooms down temporarily. When it filed for bankruptcy, the company had 28 locations.

Real estate donors backing Biden over Trump

As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on real estate, industry donors are siding with Joe Biden over President Donald Trump, records show. They have so far given $17.1 million to the former vice president’s campaign and political action committees backing him, and $15.6 million to Trump, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research…

Estate Companies scores $36M construction loan for Soleste Spring Gardens

The Estate Companies scored a $36 million construction loan for an eight-story apartment complex in Miami’s Health District. Bank OZK provided the financing for Soleste Spring Gardens at 1033 Spring Garden Road in Miami, according to a press release. The 240-unit complex will offer studios, one- and two-bedrooms from 400 square feet to 1,100 square feet…

JPMorgan is calling employees back to the office

JPMorgan is heading back to the office. The bank, one of New York City’s largest employers, told senior employees in the sales and trading division that they and their teams are to return to the office by Sept. 21, the Wall Street Journal reported. By directing employees to return after months of working from home, JPMorgan’s message is clear: It’s safe to head back…

Bad breakup? Developer Vlad Doronin sues ex Naomi Campbell

Real estate developer Vlad Doronin is suing his ex-girlfriend, supermodel Naomi Campbell, for millions of dollars. Doronin, who develops projects in South Florida and New York, filed a summons in New York County Supreme Court on Friday. He alleges that Campbell wrongfully refused to repay loans that Doronin made to her and failed to return personal property valued…

Century 21 Stores files for bankruptcy, blames insurers

Century 21 Stores is the latest retailer to file for bankruptcy, and it blames insurance providers for its collapse. The New York-based off-price retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday and announced it will wind down operations to close its 13 stores across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida. The company said it was forced to file for…

Remote work threatens cash flows for office REITs

The rise of remote work puts cash flows for U.S. office real estate investment trusts at risk in the near and long term, according to a recent report from Fitch Ratings. Trepidation about the future of the U.S. economy has led companies to sign fewer and shorter leases, which hurts cash flows for office REITs in the near future. Moreover, the broader shift toward…

What is Going to Happen with Rent Payments?

The economic impacts of COVID-19 won’t be fully measured for quite some time, but one thing is clear: many commercial real estate owners aren’t receiving rental payments from tenants. Even as communities reopen, numerous restaurants, personal-service providers, and retailers don’t do enough business to pay their bills. Restaurants operating at 25% of…

Trump’s fair housing repeal roils multifamily developers

This summer, President Donald Trump put low-income residents on notice: The suburbs would be off-limits to them. His administration repealed an Obama-era rule known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing — a moment amplified by a series of tweets from the president declaring victory for suburbs across the country. “I am happy to inform all of the people…

America’s Largest Landlord To Make $550 Million Bet On Trailer Parks

A decade ago, Blackstone Group Inc. became America’s largest landlord, purchasing tens of thousands of single-family homes during the foreclosure crisis. Now the private equity firm has spotted the next big opportunity as the virus-induced recession crushes the working poor, that is, betting on mobile-home parks.

Behind a Former South Miami Mayor’s Idea For Real Estate Climate ‘Restoration Bonds’

Politicians and developers in South Florida love to cheerlead about how great the region is, often brushing off concerns about climate change to instead talk about beautiful beaches and tax advantages. But Philip Stoddard, a Florida International University biology professor and the former mayor of South Miami, has a darker take. “My biggest concern is…”

Luxury Esgewater Condo Association Sues Airbnb While Platform Cracks Down On Parties

The condominium association of a luxury tower in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood has filed a civil lawsuit against Airbnb, and several additional lawsuits against Airbnb hosts, over short-term rentals at the property. Transient renters have led to problems including a shootout in an elevator and increased costs for security, maintenance and insurance…

South Florida Shutts Attorney Martha Rabbitt Comments on Commercial Real Estate Deals during COVID-19

Four South Florida attorneys discussed the impact of COVID-19 on commercial real estate deals in an article titled “Wuhan, Florida: COVID-19 Slashes Commercial Real Estate Deals in Stricken South Florida,” published by the Daily Business Review. South Florida commercial real estate deals have decreased in sales and dollar value. “Lenders are being cautious…”