Wynwood board approves three new office developments

A Chicago developer that lured global conglomerates to the Windy City’s trendy West Loop neighborhood is looking to replicate its success in Wynwood. Sterling Bay Projects is proposing a 10-story mixed-use office building on the west side of Wynwood on Northwest Fifth Avenue between 26th and 27th streets. The new development, 545 Wyn, was among three projects to receive favorable…

Brightline developer still in the running to build new Miami-Dade courthouse

An unsolicited proposal by the developer of the Brightline express train to build a new downtown Miami courthouse is still hanging on, in spite of a recommendation by Miami-Dade County’s mayor to kill it. After four hours of discussion, the Miami-Dade County Commission unanimously voted on Tuesday to hold onto New Flagler Courthouse Development Partners’ proposal to build a new courthouse just…

Miami Dade College may run Olympia Theater, get housing

Miami commissioners are looking to Miami Dade College to run the vintage 1926 Olympia Theater downtown. Ken Russell’s resolution for the city manager to explore the idea is on tap at today’s (4/12) commission meeting. Commissioners are pursuing multiple ways to add affordable housing, and the proposal would address that too. The city owns the aging and grandiose Olympia Theater at the Gusman…

Wealthy cities like LA, Miami and New York are attracting wealthier new residents

Pricey American cities are starting to attract more residents who can afford those prices. Research from economist Issi Romem has found that new residents coming into cities like New York, Miami and Los Angeles are making significantly more money than residents who are leaving, according to the Wall Street Journal. The trend is strongest in San Francisco, where the people moving to the city and nearby…

Key Biscayne-Miami lawsuit over Virginia Key nears end

A three-year-old lawsuit between the Village of Key Biscayne and the City of Miami about land uses on Virginia Key may finally be over: a settlement is on today’s (4/12) Miami City Commission agenda. A 15-page settlement draft basically limits the size and frequency of events at city-owned Miami Marine Stadium and the historic basin it fronts. Years of litigation between Key Biscayne, the City of Miami…

Watson Island may get more parking space from city

A parking study will begin soon on city-owned Watson Island, after recent action by the Off-Street Parking Board. Officials with the Miami Parking Authority, under the direction of the board, have considered a study of the parking needs on the barrier island for several years.
The island between the mainland and Miami Beach is home to several users that have leases with the City of Miami, including Jungle…

A $700 billion investor predicts long-term rates to stay low

Robert Tipp is the chief investment strategist of PGIM Fixed Income, the $709 billion global fixed income asset manager within Prudential Financial. He expects the long end of the yield curve to stay low even as the Fed continues to hike rates. In this interview with Business Insider’s Sara Silverstein, Tipp explains why this will happen and the impact it will have on investors’ portfolios. Following is a transcript…

Miami-Dade County civil courthouse back at square one

After a five-hour-long discussion about how to move forward with plans for a new Miami-Dade County civil courthouse, commissioners Tuesday delayed substantive decisions until May. “In essence, we are right where we started,” said Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr. “We will keep both locations and both processes and report back on May 1.” The existing courthouse at 73 W Flagler Street was built almost 100…

One million dollars headed to Coconut Grove Village West for improvements

Commissioner Ken Russell announced that more than $1 million in funding will be going into the Village West to improve housing, jobs, health and education for local residents. He will announce this formally, Wednesday, April 11 at 10:30 am at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, 3515 Douglas Road. The funding, directed by Ken from various local and federal programs, aims to begin to make up for…

Miami Developer Avra Jain’s Blueprint For Tackling Affordable Housing: Developers Build For Free

Avra Jain almost singlehandedly revitalized Biscayne Boulevard and helped activate the Miami River, but these days, she is fired up about affordable housing.After more than a decade as a bond trader on Wall Street, Jain made her mark in Miami by rehabbing several neglected historic hotels in the Miami Modern district, most notably the storied Vagabond. As these art deco gems along Biscayne…

Diverging Diamond highway interchanges due for fall debut

It’s a delicate balance overseeing several small projects in the grand scheme of State Road 836 improvements for the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX). As a result of shifting priorities, MDX expects to debut its diverging diamond highway interchanges (DDI) on Northwest 27th and 57th avenues in late summer or early fall.The two interchanges constitute pieces of a $799 million modification for…

Miami Today Opines: Don’t buy a pig in a poke in secretive courthouse proposal

A mayor’s plea to scuttle an expensive, unsolicited and secretive bid for a new county courthouse is, for government, absolutely blistering. Rightly so. Mayor Carlos Giménez trained all his guns on the offer tied to the owner of the Brightline rail line that is to link Miami to Orlando. He wrote that accepting the unsolicited offer while the county is already calling for qualified candidates to do the job as the…

Industry Veterans Jonathan Roth, Justin Kennedy, Toby Cobb Start Portfolio Lender

Three commercial real estate finance executives have launched 3650 REIT, a Coconut Grove, FL-based private portfolio lender. The new company name comes from the number of days in a 10-year loan, one of its two primary products. “If you’re our borrower, we have a relationship with you for 3,650 days,” co-founder Jonathan Roth told CoStar News. “We really want to communicate that we’re a…

Video: Metro Forecasting Models CEO David Farmer on Highest and Best Use for Land and Development

Commercial Real Estate Show host Michael Bull interviewed David Farmer, CEO of Metro Forecasting Models, at the Realtors Land Institute Conference & Expo. Metro Forecasting Models claims the most accurate solution for population, housing and commercial demand forecasting with a model used by local governments and private industry for over 35 years. They  cover a set of highest and best use of…

If flying cars ever become a thing, Miami Worldcenter will be ready

Jetsons-style living might become a reality sooner than we think. At Paramount Miami Worldcenter, developer Dan Kodsi is working to make the luxury high-rise compatible for passenger drones – a.k.a. flying cars. He’s modifying the rooftop’s design to fit a 5,000-square-foot skyport on top of the 60-story, 530-unit tower. Residents would be able to land on top of the building in vertical takeoff and…

Video: Appraisal Institute President James Murrett on the Role of Appraisals in Commercial Real Estate

At the Realtors Land Institute Conference & Exposition the host of America’s Commercial Real Estate Show interviews James Murret, President at the Appraisal Institute. Their discussion covers a number of topics including the role of appraisals, site due diligence, commercial appraisals, rate increases for commercial mortgages, appraisal forecasting,  purchaser and appraiser transactions.

Why investors are betting big on real estate in outer space

Real estate in outer space is next frontier — at least according to investors who’ve poured nearly $8 billion into space startups since 2015. For a taste of what these firm do, consider Houston-based startup Orion Span that’s touting space travel for an all-time low of about $791,666 per night where guests take a 12-day trip, which works out to a $9.5 million in total, to make-believe they’re real…

Developer tries to revive Miami riverfront project that a 2007 court ruling sank

A developer plans to build an apartment building on a riverfront site in Miami more than a decade after a state court stopped residential development on the same site. Belinda Meruelo of Miami Beach, who owns the 9.44-acre development site, has applied for a rezoning and comprehensive-plan amendment for the land in the 1500 block of Northwest 24th Avenue. Meruelo plans to build a new street…

Home Depot Homestead among biggest “seriously” delinquent loans in South Florida

Surprise! The biggest “seriously” delinquent commercial real estate loans in South Florida are for retail properties, a newly released report reveals. At the top of the list is a $37.5 million mortgage for the Burlington-leased building at 10101 Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach, according to the Trepp report, which shows the largest delinquent loans behind properties in the biggest markets across the,,,

South Florida Office Sales Drop Sharply to Start 2018

Office investment sales and the cumulative value across South Florida plunged during the first quarter of 2018, but real estate observers say the numbers aren’t as ominous as they appear. Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties posted 123 sales from January through March for a total value of $442.7 million, according to CoStar Market Analytics. That’s down from 276 sales for $543 million in…

Tenants of Hialeah mobile home get 6-month eviction letter

Longtime homeowners of a Hialeah mobile park are being evicted by new property owners Two Delaware-based limited liability companies have given residents of Sunny Gardens mobile home park in Hialeah a six month eviction notice, according to Local10 News. The 10-acre property off of Okeechobee Road and West 16th Street is currently under the management of Pure Vida Apartments…

Arena Capital sells two retail buildings in Hialeah

Miami-based Arena Capital just sold two of its retail buildings in Hialeah for a total of $7.65 million. The retail buildings at 990 West 49th Street and 970 West 49th Street are adjacent to each other and span a total of 9,700 square feet – meaning the trade breaks down to about $790 per square foot. Records show Arena Capital paid about $3 million for the three parcels in 2015. Mark Meland and Bryan…

Rockwood and Thor sell Wynwood development site for $6M

Rockwood Capital and Thor Equities sold a development site in Wynwood for $5.85 million, according to property records. Thor Weck Owner LLC sold the 14,750-square-foot parking lot at 285, 275 and 269 Northwest 27th Terrace to RRR Wynwood LLC, a company controlled by Martin Miculitzki. It can be developed into single-story retail or an eight-story hotel with up to 98 keys, according to the…

Terra and Related boost construction loan for Park Grove

Terra and the Related Group just closed on $112.1 million in construction financing for their luxury condo development in Coconut Grove. The joint venture, 2701 Bayshore One Park Grove, had previously secured $16 million in financing from Fifth Third Bank in 2015 and 2016 for One Park Grove. This latest round is from Bank of the Ozarks, for $112.1 million, a spokesperson for Terra confirmed, as did…

Investor flips portfolio of 52 South Florida rental homes for $14M

A real estate investor just flipped a portfolio of rental homes for a 44 percent gain – in about a week. Joshua Wagschal sold the portfolio of 52 single-family homes and one four-unit multifamily building, most of which are in Broward County, for $14 million, according to a source close to the deal. Last week, Wagschal paid $7.8 million to buy the portfolio from European real estate development and…

Real estate funds just raised the most cash in a Q1 since 2008

New York’s real estate industry has plenty to worry about in early 2018, from rising interest rates to trade wars and a potential cyclical downturn. But strong private fundraising is an indicator that it might not get so bad after all. A staggering $33 billion in new private real estate funds closed globally between January and March, according to research firm Preqin — the largest first-quarter volume in a…

South Florida Office Sales Down Sharply to Start 2018

Office investment sales and the cumulative value across South Florida plunged during the first quarter of 2018, but real estate observers say the numbers aren’t as ominous as they appear. Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties posted 123 sales from January through March for a total value of $442.7 million, according to CoStar Market Analytics. That’s down from 276 sales for $543 million…

Video: Texas A&M Chief Economist and Director of Research for the Real Estate Center Dr. Mark Dotzour on Economy, Jobs and International Affairs

Dr. Mark Dotzour, the Chief Economist and Director of Research for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University which conducts research on financial, socioeconomic, public policy, trade, legal, land use and local market analysis issues related to real estate, while at the the Realtors Land Institute Conference & Expo, is interviewed by Michael Bull for this episode America’s Commercial Real Estate Show.

Sale-leaseback activity up 40% to $75 billion

Sale-leaseback deal activity exploded in 2017 as corporations look to cash in on demand for fully-occupied real estate, particularly in manufacturing and healthcare. Sales of single-tenant, owner-occupied buildings grew 40 percent to $74.8 billion in 2017, according to Real Capital Analytics. The data only includes deals valued at $2.5 million or more. “On the deals that we are doing right now I’m seeing…”

Philips International buys mobile home park in Hialeah

A mobile home park in Hialeah just sold for $6.6 million to New York City-based Philips International, property records show. The trade of the 6.5-acre Holiday Acres Mobile Home Park, at 1401 West 29th Street, comes on the heels of the sale of its neighboring 10-acre Sunny Gardens Mobile Home Park at 2901 W 16 Avenue, which sold a month ago for $12 million to an unknown buyer. Records show two…

North Beach’s version of Wynwood Yard to have more than 40 retail and restaurant concepts

North Beach Yard, Miami Beach’s proposed version of the hip Wynwood Yard in Miami, could have up to two dozen food and beverage operators and 20 retailers according to plans submitted to the city. Since winning a five-year lease with the city to develop a public lot at 81st Street and Collins Avenue into an outdoor gathering space with a music component, portable restaurants and pop-up shops…

Lennar Launches Second Multifamily Venture Fund

The multifamily segment of Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN and LEN.B) completed the closing of a second Lennar Multifamily Venture II for the development, construction and property management of class-A multifamily assets. After its initial first close, Venture II will have approximately $500 million of equity commitments. The total includes a $255 million co-investment commitment by Lennar comprised…

Grand Station moves forward with 30-story apartment tower in downtown Miami

Grand Station Partners is moving forward with its plans for a public-private partnership with the Miami Parking Authority to develop a high-rise rental tower on a site in downtown Miami. The developer, led by Rovr Development principals Oscar Rodriguez and Ricardo Vadia, submitted a building permit request for a 30-story, 300-unit tower at 40 Northwest Third Street, public records show. The total…

YotelPad Miami will begin construction in October

The residence from a brand known for micro-hotels just announced its sales director YotelPad, the new residence from a brand known for its design-focused and millennial-friendly micro hotels, is gearing up for its Miami debut — the first YotelPad to arrive on the East Coast.
Aria Development Group just named Luis Chacon as the sales director for YotelPad Miami, located at 227 NE 2nd Street. He comes to…

Royal Castle plans to turn brownfield site in Opa-locka into mixed-use project

A company tied to real estate investment firm Royal Castle Companies just purchased a contaminated brownfield site in Opa-locka, with plans to develop a mixed-use project. The 7.6-acre property once served as the dumping grounds for demolition contractor Cuyahoga Company. The sale of the parcel at 1700 Service Road, along State Road 9, required clearing multiple code enforcement liens on the…

Video: MarketGraphics Founder & CEO Edsel Charles on Predicting Economic Cycles

While at the Realtors Land Institute Conference & Expo, America’s Commercial Real Estate Show host Michael Bull talks with Edsel Charles, the Founder and CEO of MarketGraphics Research Group, which provides market research information for builders, developers, banks, city governments and others. Among the topics discussed are the economic and political outlook for 2018, cycle and downturn predictions…

Bombardier may move its Learjet servicing to Opa-Locka

Canada-based aerospace manufacturer Bombardier may soon unveil a move of its Learjet service center from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, bringing with it 150 full-time jobs and $15 million in public infrastructure upgrades. Bombardier manufactures business jets. Nine service centers around the world serve Bombardier aircraft owners.

Miami owners of historic properties might sell extra density

City of Miami officials are working to clarify proposed legislation designed to incentivize the preservation of historic properties by allowing those properties to sell unused residential density to sites near public transit. The aim is to benefit several parties: the owners of historic designated properties gaining money for preservation work and upkeep; the developers who could purchase added density for…

Construction jobs boom might have short life

Despite continued growth in construction jobs since the economic collapse in 2007, industry experts predict that construction job growth will start to slow down in the next year or two due to low unemployment rates and tighter hiring markets. According to a US Bureau of Labor Statistics report, Miami-Dade County saw a peak of 55,300 construction jobs in 2007, followed by a low of 30,100 jobs in 2012…

Skanska sues Frost Science Museum, alleging millions in unpaid work

The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science’s general contractor just filed suit, alleging millions of dollars in unpaid work owed to the firm and its subcontractors. The lawsuit, filed by Skanska USA Building last week in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, claims the museum is in breach of contract for failing to pay for past construction work and to pay for it to finish 7,000 punch list items to fully…

New Florida law gives property owners – including hotels, condos – some control over beaches

A new state law will give property owners the ability to kick the public off of their beaches. Florida’s beaches have long belonged to the public thanks to the state’s “customary use” policy. Beginning July 1, house bill 631 will allow property owners, including hotel, condo and home owners, the option to ask people to leave, according to First Coast News. The “Possession of Real Property” bill only applies to dry…

SH Communities proposes rental project in Kendall, but first it must fill a lake

SH Communities wants to fill part of a lake in the West Kendall area and build an apartment community on top. The Miami-based developer submitted a pre-application to Miami-Dade County officials to build Boardwalk at Lakeside, a 192-unit complex consisting of four four-story buildings, according to the South Florida Business Journal. The property sits north of Southwest 132nd Street and west…

Surprise: Coconut Grove Activist Not Happy with Proposed Zoning Mods

Miami City Planning department has a plan to increase the supply of housing in Coconut Grove by changing government regulations (up-zoning) to allow more units in the same space and District 2 Commissioner, Ken Russell has said he will sponsor the amendment. The Planning Department tried to sell us on their proposal in a workshop ostensibly to gather resident input. Neighbors had little…

Who Knew The Salmon Industry Was Important To Miami Real Estate?

Who knew salmon — that cold water fish better associated with Seattle — would be having such an impact on commercial real estate in Miami? A major supplier of salmon to the U.S. just inked a big industrial deal in Medley, and Homestead will soon be the site of a major state-of-the art fish farm. Marine Harvest ASA, a Norwegian company that is traded on the Oslo stock exchange, says it is the world’s…

Redeveloped Continental on Collins hits the market

The owners of the nearly completed Hampton Inn at the Continental on Collins are looking to sell the property. Sukkah Miami Beach Acquisitions LLC, a holding company owned by Boca Raton-based investment firms Pebb Capital and Duncan Hillsley Capital, hired CBRE’s Paul Weimer, Christian Charre and Natalie Castillo to list the 100-room hotel at 4000 Collins Avenue. Weimer said the property is…

Feds hike threshold for appraisals tied to commercial real estate loans

California Investment Immigration Fund, LLC operated out this space at a Hilton-brand hotel in San Gabriel, California (Credit: Pixabay)
New federal regulations mean fewer commercial real estate-related loans will require an independent, certified appraiser to weigh in on a property’s value before a bank can lend against it. An inter-agency group of regulators decided on Monday to raise the threshold for…

Miami Teachers On Plan For Workforce Housing At Schools: ‘What A Joke’

With starting salaries around $40K, Miami teachers can barely afford to pay rent — which averages $1,421 for a one-bedroom apartment. This week, Miami-Dade County officials announced an exploratory plan to build affordable workforce housing on campuses, or right next door. The plan entails a joint venture between the county’s school board and housing authority that would first construct a middle…

Paper company inks deal at Miami Gardens industrial park, more leasing highlights

Acorn East Paper Products Company is turning a new page with its recent lease at the 330-acre Sunshine State Industrial Park in Miami Gardens. Acorn East, a paper and packaging company with operations throughout the western U.S., is taking a 42,000-square-foot warehouse at 16301 Northwest 15th Avenue, according to Rise Realty’s Keith Darby. Darby represented the tenant. Records show the…

Condo Developers Use Techy New Weapons In The Amenity Arms Race

As developers at the top end of the residential market know all too well, amenities can often make the difference in courting the small demographic that can afford the most extravagant residences. The result is an arms race among building owners to provide truly unique services and offerings — in this day and age that translates to the liberal use of technology. Property Markets Group, for example, is…

South Florida construction starts on the rise in February

Residential and commercial construction starts in South Florida are picking up momentum. In February, construction spending was up 81 percent to nearly $1.5 billion compared to the previous year, according to a new report from Dodge Data & Analytics. Starts of commercial projects totaled $775 million, up 99 percent year-over-year. Residential construction increased by 64 percent to $698 million.

Knotel takes on CoStar with blockchain-based leasing data platform

As if facing off against WeWork in the flexible office market isn’t enough, Knotel is now going after property data behemoth CoStar.
The New York-based startup plans to launch an online office listing data platform dubbed KnotelKoin, according to an email the company’s founder Amol Sarva sent to acquaintances and business partners Thursday. The platform will be based on blockchain…

Engineering techniques used in collapsed FIU bridge are common: experts

Experts say the engineering behind the collapsed FIU bridge in Miami was nothing special. As scrutiny turns to what led to the bridge’s collapse, the structure’s so-called unconventional engineering and construction has been put in the spotlight, but the techniques used to build the bridge, known in the business under the umbrella term of “ABC” or Accelerated Bridge Construction, are typical and…

Florida commercial real estate industry ranks third in U.S.

Florida’s commercial real estate industry contributed $189.4 billion to the state’s economy in 2017, the third most of any state, according to an annual economic impact study. Only California and Texas contributed more, according to a NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association survey conducted by George Mason University. Download the white paper, “Economic Impacts of Commercial…”

Miami will expedite reviews of permit applications by property owners

The municipal government of Miami plans to expedite the process of obtaining city permits for such property improvements as building a backyard shed or installing a new door. Starting April 9, city employees will take applications for certain types of permits from one municipal department to another for their review, rather than requiring property owners…

A medical marijuana clinic is opening in Wynwood in May

It’s from an NFL linebacker-turned-radiologist Grassroots Medicine & Wellness Center is slated to open in Wynwood on May 1 at 2328 N. Miami Avenue, and it’s touted as the neighborhood’s first medicinal marijuana clinic. The wellness center is set to focus on cannabis evaluations, nutrition counseling, and alternative medicines. It’s from an entrepreneur who was once a Buffalo Bills linebacker and went…

A new virtual reality lab for builders and developers opens in Miami

See Suffolk Construction’s Smart Lab Real estate’s obsession with virtual reality is taking hold in Miami. The Miami Herald takes a look at Suffolk Construction’s virtual reality Smart Lab, which opened in the national contractor’s downtown office earlier this month. The lab includes a CAVE or Computer Aided Virtual Environment room where clients and builders can actually walk through renderings wearing…

Codina to bring senior and assisted living to Downtown Doral

From pre-kindergarten to old age, Downtown Doral is now planning to offer options for people of all ages. Codina Partners is bringing assisted and senior living to the mixed-use, master-planned community in two deals, the first with apartment developer Greystar. The Charleston, South Carolina-based firm recently paid $14 million for the 2-acre site, a piece of the White Course, from Lennar Corp…

Apartment rents in Miami are finally falling: report

Miami is inching closer to falling off the list of the country’s most expensive cities to rent. The Magic City has long held the No. 8 and 9 spots on Zumper’s monthly ranking. In last month’s report, Miami fell to No. 10 but median rents rose to $1,790 a month. Now, Miami remains No. 10 but rents are down 3.4 percent on a monthly basis and 3.9 percent compared to the previous year to a median of $1,730…

Gratigny Warehouse in Miami Leased

A Miami commercial group announces the completion of a long-term lease for the +/-47,500 Sq. Ft. building known as the Gratigny Warehouse at 3360 NW 110th Street in Miami, Florida in Seaboard Industrial Park. Only six months after being sold and having gone through renovations, the building will now be occupied by HardTen Clothing Inc., a clothing company relocating its headquarters from…

Developers reimagine South Florida’s money-losing golf courses

The Carolina Club, an 18-hole championship golf course in Margate, has served as a qualifying site for the PGA Honda Classic and is known for its fast, well-manicured greens and contoured fairways. But the semi-private club, built in 1971, isn’t making the cut. Miami-based developer 13th Floor Homes plans to acquire the 140-acre facility and completely transform it into a 350-unit residential…

Luxury condo sales on the rise in Miami-Dade, but inventory still growing

Luxury condos aren’t flying off the shelves, but the pace of sales is up in Miami-Dade County, according to a new analysis of MLS data.
Sales of condos priced $1 million and above increased 47 percent year-over-year from December to the end of February, a report by EWM Realty International shows. That does not include the pipeline of new development. Luxury condos that sold between December and…

Retail Hotspot Envisioned for Wynwood Site

David Weitz and Erik Rutter of Carpe Real Estate Partners have plans to transform a longstanding marine repair facility in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood into a trendy retail destination. And they say they can do it without wholesale renovations or new construction. “The bones of the buildings are really great,” Weitz told CoStar News. “We don’t feel like we have to pour a tremendous…”

75 Percent Of South Florida Entrepreneurs’ Group Plan To Add New Jobs

usinesses in South Florida are adding new full-time jobs, according to a survey by the Fort Lauderdale-based Entrepreneurs’ Organization. In the survey, 75 percent of participating members said they planned to add new jobs over the next six months — a higher projection than the 63 percent who said they planned to hire additional workers about a year ago.

City of Miami and WeWork announce partnership

It’s a referral program with discounted rates Co-working’s ubiquity in Miami just reached a whole new level. Today, Mayor Francis Suarez announced a long-term partnership between the City of Miami and co-working company WeWork. New or relocating entrepreneurs and companies will be able to use a referral program with discounted rates for access to WeWork’s network of workspace, amenities and…

North Beach’s Tatum Waterway buildings edge closer to historic status, forbidding demolition

A plan to grant historic protection to more than 100 buildings — many of them aging Miami Modern structures — in Miami Beach’s North Beach neighborhood is one step away from reality. The Miami Beach Planning Board on Tuesday voted to recommend approval of extending the North Beach Historic District so that it includes Tatum Waterway from 73rd Street to 87th Street. The proposal must now…

Facebook hit with lawsuit over alleged housing ad discrimination

Facebook vowed to end discrimination in housing ads on its network, but a new lawsuit alleges the company didn’t live up to its promise.
The National Fair Housing Alliance and other groups allege in their suit, filed in Manhattan federal court Tuesday, that the company “continues to enable landlords and real estate brokers to bar families with children, women and others from receiving rental and sales…

Downtown Miami Site on the Block for $125M

Flagler City Center, a 2.52-acre site in downtown Miami, has hit the market for $125 million. The property at 251 East Flagler Street operates as a 163,000-square-foot, mixed-use project anchored by Marshall’s. But a buyer can redevelop the site with up to 4 million square feet of commercial space and 2,500 multifamily units, according to listing firm DWNTWN Realty Advisors. Devlin Marinoff…

Real Estate Tax Help Arrives for Vertical Subdivisions

For many years we have sought to address the problems faced by mixed-use developments where different uses in a single structure are carved up into separate fee simple parcels. The main problem has been the inability to obtain separate tax folio numbers for the separate parcels. This has resulted in a situation where it is either difficult or impossible to finance the separate parcels since they all share one tax…

Here’s where construction stands on the massive Miami Worldcenter

The $2 billion Miami Worldcenter project will create its own mini Miami skyline when it’s done. The development, spearheaded by Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani, will include a street retail component, along with an office tower, two apartment buildings and the Marriott Marquis convention center in partnership with the MDM Group. Construction of the mega project’s crown jewel, the 60-story Paramount…

Massive downtown Miami site hits market — again — for $125 million

A development site in downtown Miami is back on the market with a big price tag. The 2.52-acre property at 251 Flagler Street is asking $125 million, according to Dwntwn Realty Advisors’ Devlin Marinoff, Tony Arellano and Skyler Marinoff. The firm is marketing the property as Flagler City Center, and can be developed into up to 4 million square feet and 2,500 residential units, according to a release. It’s also…

A mixed-use project is proposed for a formerly contaminated 18-acre site in North Miami Beach

A vacant property in North Miami Beach at 15680 West Dixie Highway could undergo a major transformation. The Real Deal Miami reports on the master plan for New North Town Center — a mixed-use project with 1,650 apartments, 175,000 square feet of retail, 150,000 square feet of office space, a hotel, and a school — proposed for an approximately…

Downtown Development Authority’s Biscayne Green wilts in Tallahassee

For Miami’s Downtown Development Authority, results of this year’s Florida legislative session could be summed up by the phrase “so near, yet so far away.” Board members learned at their March 16 meeting that Biscayne Green, an audacious plan to create a “grand boulevard” on Biscayne Boulevard by replacing parking and traffic lanes with public spaces, had been awarded $1 million in the 2018-19…

Check out Flagler City Center, a 2.52-acre development site in downtown Miami 

DWNTWN Realty Advisors is bringing to market this high-density site for $125 million A full city block in downtown Miami is on the market. DWNTWN Realty Advisors is bringing Flagler City Center, a 2.52 acre site downtown at 251 Flagler Street, to market with an asking price of $125 million. The Flagler City Center site can accommodate up to 4 million square feet of buildable area and up to 2,500…

Miami’s hotel market got a boost from hurricane-damaged competitors. Will that continue?

Miami’s hotel market experienced a rise in occupancy over the last six months following devastating hurricanes that tore through the Keys and the Caribbean, rendering those destinations off limits to vacationers. An analysis from hotel research firm STR tracked that growth from September through February, looking at occupancy, revenue per available room and demand. And as those storm-battered islands…

Miami-Dade proposes two projects with teacher housing

Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the county’s housing department are proposing a new kind of mixed-use development for Miami.
The school system and housing department are proposing a middle school with apartments for teachers as part of Southside Elementary’s expansion in the Brickell area. The mid-rise building would have residential units on the ground floor and classrooms above. The school …

Chinese investment in US real estate fell 55% in 2017

Chinese investment in U.S. commercial real estate registered a jaw-dropping 55 percent decline in 2017, a result of tighter capital controls imposed by the Chinese government, increased regulatory scrutiny and more attractive opportunities in other countries, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield released this morning. While experts had expected a sharp decline, the numbers reveal that the bottom…

Developer in contract to buy Coral Gables site of planned condo project

Coconut Grove-based Location Ventures is under contract to purchase a Coral Gables rental complex for $16 million where the firm plans to build a boutique condo project. Villa Valencia, a 13-story, 39-unit condo building, would be built on the property at 501-525 Valencia Avenue, replacing low-rise apartment buildings built in the 1950s, Location Ventures CEO Rishi Kapoor told the South Florida Business…

Miami-Dade officials propose building apartments for teachers on school grounds

That’s one idea for affordable housing When you were in elementary school, did you ever imagine that your teacher lived at school? That could actually be a reality in Miami. The Miami Herald’s Douglas Hanks reports on an interesting idea to create more affordable housing In Miami-Dade county by building apartments right on school grounds. There’s a proposal in its preliminary stages to build a middle…

Micro units are good for Seattle but not Miami: Eden Multifamily’s Jay Jacobson

Don’t count developer Jay Jacobson among the multifamily developers catching onto the micro unit wave. “I’m not a big fan of solving affordability issues by cramming people into glorified hotel rooms,” Eden Multifamily’s president said during a Miami Finance Forum event on Friday. “I apologize to anyone in that business or [who] invested in it. If you…

Moishe Mana buys more office condos at 100 East Flagler

Moishe Mana dropped nearly $5 million on office units at 100 East Flagler Street, adding to his holdings at the downtown Miami office building. Mana paid $4.75 million for more than 25,600 square feet of office space on floors 2, 3, 8 and 9 at the 10-story Wells Fargo building. Popular Condo No. 3 LLC, led by Abraham Franco, sold the units. Mika Mattingly and Linn Ahsberg of Colliers International…

Israeli investor buys Miami apartment building

Miami-based Bar Invest Group just sold an apartment building in Miami’s Upper East Side to Israeli-born real estate investor Yoram Izhak. Izhak, co-founder and CEO of IMC Equity Group, paid about $5.6 million, or $124,000 per unit, for the 45-unit building at 8000 Northeast Bayshore Court. He financed the deal with a nearly $4 million mortgage from Banco Popular, according to property records.

Major mixed-use project planned for North Miami Beach’s West Dixie Highway

North Miami Beach planners on Thursday got their first look at a master plan for New North Town Center, slated to be built on a nearly 18-acre site on West Dixie Highway between 155th Street and 163rd Street. The property, which is mostly vacant, has been lying idle for at least four or five years, according to Justin Proffitt, North Miami Beach’s planning and zoning director. In the next few years, New North…

Video: Elevator technology is revolutionizing vertical travel as supertalls abound

Over the next two years alone, there are 187 skyscrapers that are expected to pop up across the globe. This fascinating video goes in depth on the go-to technologies that are being engineered by some of the world’s leading elevator firms. This touches on some of the topics in a recent report by Bloomberg, Supertalls are Driving an Elevator Revolution, which examined new technologies addressing…

Court battle ensues after “bizarre” death of real estate exec Andrea Greenberg

The death of Andrea Greenberg last October was declared an opioid overdose, as The Real Deal reported, however, her friends and sister remain suspicious over the circumstances, particularly in light of an ensuing legal battle with Greenberg’s long-time partner, Alejandro Aparicio. According to court documents, Aparicio allegedly withdrew $10,000 from Greenberg’s bank account the day she died and had…

Billionaire bailout: Issac Larian tries one last time to save Toys ‘R’ Us

After Toys ‘R’ Us threw in the towel and announced it would close all 735 American stores, billionaire Issac Larian has come up with a last-ditch effort to save some of the toy retailer’s stores. He’s bringing $100 million of his personal funds, according to Bloomberg, and he’s also launched a GoFundMe campaign to garner external funds, which has currently…

EB-5 program extended through September

The EB-5 visa program is sticking around, though there are mixed feelings about the how. The program, which allows foreign investors to obtain a green card if they put $500,000 into job-creating projects, will remain in place until September 30, thanks to its inclusion in the spending bill Congress passed yesterday as Mansion Global reports. Known to some as the “crack cocaine of real estate financing,” the…

Video: Mitch Roschelle and David Leavitt of PwC Trump Effect on Economy and Real Estate via PwC

Mitch Roschelle and David Leavitt with global accounting and professional service company PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) join host Michael Bull on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss President Trump’s effect on commercial real estate and the economy overall. They discuss a number of topics including trends in the economic outlook, interest rate changes, tax reform impacts, including…

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sunny Isles Beach is halfway to the top

Check out the construction video Oceanfront tower Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sunny Isles Beach just hit a big construction milestone: it surpassed its halfway point and is now up to 28 of 52 full stories. The building is on-schedule for next year’s projected delivery date and it recently recorded seven sales in a span of 45 days for a total of $24 million in sales. The tower’s curvilinear silhouette designed by…

Checking in on Park Grove: One Park Grove breaks ground

This is the third and final residential tower in Coconut Grove designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas Here’s a construction update on Park Grove, the ultra-luxurious residential development in Coconut Grove designed by the starchitect team of OMA/Rem Koolhaas. The development’s first two towers are slated for completion in early summer. Now developers Terra Group and The Related Group just…

Flagstone Island Gardens can develop on Watson Island, judge rules

Mehmet Bayraktar, the Turkish developer behind a long-stalled $1 billion mega-yacht marina and resort project on Watson Island, just won a major court victory that will allow his firm to continue building the development. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas on Thursday ruled in favor of Bayraktar’s Flagstone Island Gardens LLC on all counts related to lawsuits he filed last year against the city of…

South Florida by the numbers: Pushing back the rising sea

The facts can no longer be denied: sea levels are rising, and South Florida is becoming more vulnerable to flooding with each passing year. With a population that continues to grow by roughly 8 percent each year, expanded commercial and residential real estate and the annual threat of hurricanes, the challenges facing our region are significant. A recent report from…

Who needs parking? Wynwood developers want new rules to encourage small projects

A proposal to boost development of small-scale warehouses similar to the ones that made Wynwood into a mecca for creative types would allow single lot owners to redevelop their properties into one-story buildings and forgo on-site parking requirements with payments to a neighborhood parking fund. The board of directors for the Wynwood Business Improvement District — an organization…

Publix: Where Real Estate Investing is a Pleasure

Publix Super Markets isn’t just one of the nation’s top grocery chains, it’s also becoming a major real estate investor, buying up its own stores and self-anchored shopping centers when they hit the market. The Lakeland, FL-based retailer has been steadily increasing its ownership of retail real estate and currently owns 371 of its 1,167 stores, or nearly a third, according to the company’s 2017 annual report.

David Beckham’s team goes back to the drawing board for MLS stadium location

More than five sites are in consideration After zeroing in on Overtown and considering Melreese golf course, David Beckham and his partners in Miami’s new MLS team are broadening their search for a stadium location. “We’re actively looking at five or so sites,” MLS Miami partner Jorge Mas told the Miami Herald. “There are a handful of sites that are interesting.” Mas declined to confirm individual…

EB-5 gets yet another six-month extension

The EB-5 visa program, heavily favored by New York developers as a way of raising cheap capital overseas, is headed toward another six-month extension. The so-called “clean” extension does not include changes backed by Sen. Chuck Grassley, a staunch critic of the program, which gives green cards to foreign investors in exchange for a $500,000 investment. Language extending EB-5 through…

Floval Oil pays $6M for Hialeah Executive Motel

A Miami investor just paid $6 million for the Hialeah Executive Motel, property records show. Fraymond Corp and Merco Corp., led by Mercy Posada, sold the motel at 131 Okeechobee Road, as well as adjacent land to Orestes Flores’ Floval Oil Corp. Floval owns a few other sites in Miami-Dade, and sold 15 gas stations to Sunshine Gasoline Distributors in 2015 for about $24 million. Fraymond and Merco sold…

Here are the new sites Beckham group is reportedly eyeing for $200M soccer stadium

The Hialeah Park Casino at 2200 e 4th Avenue, a Pepsi distribution center in Doral, the Melreese golf course and a truck depot near Jackson Memorial Hospital are among the sites David Beckham and his partners are now considering…  Overtown, which has been the site since 2015, is still a possibility. Beckham’s group owns 6 acres of land at 650 nw 8th Street that it purchased for $19 million in 2016…

Crescent Heights close to deal with school board to build mixed-use tower in Miami’s A&E district, could lead to large-scale redevelopment

A Miami-Dade School Board vote regarding the sale of a parking lot could lead to Crescent Heights’ dramatic redevelopment of a large swath of land in Miami’s Arts and Entertainment District. The school board on Wednesday authorized Superintendent Alberto Carvalho to negotiate a deal with 1370 NE 2nd LLC, an affiliate of Crescent Heights, to develop a mixed-use tower on the 49,075-square-foot surface…

Steel prices climb nationwide as real estate industry braces for tariffs

President Trump’s controversial tariffs on steel and aluminum imports haven’t taken effect yet but they are already having an impact on commercial real estate across the country. Steel prices have climbed around 10 percent nationwide as the construction industry prepares for Friday’s change, according to the National Real Estate Investor. Trump announced the 25 percent tax on foreign steel and 10 percent…

Another Big Industrial Lease Signed in Medley

Airport North Logistics Park in Medley, FL is filling up fast. Marine Harvest USA has signed a lease for 106,000 square feet at the park, located east of NW 87th Avenue and NW 80th Street. in the Miami Airport North Industrial submarket. The seafood supplier will more than double its space when it relocates from 8550 NW 17th St. in Doral. The first phase of Airport North consists of four buildings…

Miami bridge collapse underscores dangers of defects

When a defect – or defects – is present in a construction project, the potential liability for a developer or contractor can be enormous. Simply mitigating a defect can result in a seven or eight figure price tag for parties involved in the project. In cases where personal injury or death result from a design or construction defect, which can also be an indication of professional malpractice, the legal and financial…

Fed raises short-term interest rates; signals more hikes on horizon

The Federal Reserve voted to raise short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percent, citing a strong economy, and signaled more hikes were on the horizon this year. The Fed’s decision to raise its benchmark rate to between 1.5 and 1.75 percent came Wednesday, during its first meeting led by new Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Officials planned three rate increases for 2018, but it seems…

SoFla lease roundup: Salmon distributor inks lease in Medley & more

Salmon company inks 106,000 sf lease in Medley. The Airport North Logistics Park in Medley just reeled in a big fish. The salmon distributor Marine Harvest US just inked a build-to-suit, 106,000-square-foot lease in a building under construction at the park.
The company will be moving out from its current Doral location to the property located just east of Northwest 87th Avenue and off…

Former NFL Linebacker-Turned-Radiologist Opening Medical Marijuana Clinic in Wynwood

The career path of Dr. Hervé Damas has been unorthodox. He has been a linebacker for the Buffalo Bills, a professor… Now he’s taking his expertise to Wynwood, where he’ll open a clinic offering cannabis evaluations and CBD products. He says Grassroots Medicine & Wellness Center, which will be located at 2328 N Miami Avenue, is expected to open by May 1 as the bustling neighborhood’s first marijuana clinic.

MDX Dolphin Expressway Project Is Opening Avenues To The Future

The world is changing faster than ever. Consider just one of the global megatrends that is challenging highway transportation experts: the population of the world’s urban areas is increasing by 200,000 people per day – all of whom demand fast and easy ways to get between point A to B within their respective metropolitan areas. The post MDX Dolphin Expressway Project Is Opening Avenues To The Future…

Parent company to close 7 Winn-Dixie supermarkets in South Florida

The parent company of Winn-Dixie will close 30 of the supermarket operator’s stores in Florida, including seven in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Southeastern Grocers, which is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month, announced Thursday that it will “voluntarily implement a court-supervised, prepackaged restructuring agreement.” The restructuring will involve the shutdown of 94…

Big Swath Of Winn-Dixies Shuttering In Parent Company Bankruptcy

A Jacksonville-based grocer will be shuttering almost 100 underperforming stores — including a large number of Winn-Dixie-branded locations — as it strives to re-emerge from bankruptcy. Southeastern Grocers announced that it has entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy to “voluntarily implement a court-supervised, prepackaged restructuring agreement that will force the operator to close 94 stores in its…

Who’s Going to Move Into the Hundreds of Empty Toys ‘R’ Us Stores?

The collapse of Toys “R” Us Inc. is yet another blow for landlords, who now will have gaping holes of suburban retail space up for grabs. And few tenants would want them. The debt-laden toy chain, with more than 700 stores across the U.S., became one of the largest victims of the retail decline when it announced on Thursday that it would go out of business after a failed rescue effort. The liquidation could…

Coconut Grove Master Implementation Plan Released

Among the objectives of the plan are: pedestrian and bicycle friendly environment; either Commodore or Fuller St can be closed as a pedestrian St, which can have arts installed and widen sidewalk; store frontage improvement; solar smart benches is recommended on Grand Ave; no parallel parking on McFarlane; no parallel parking on Main Hwy and widen the sidewalk; propose a outdoor theater in…

National Real Estate Investor on Bal Harbour Shops: Only For the Rich, and It’s Doing Just Fine

At the northern tip of Miami Beach’s famed barrier island, atop what was once a tangle of mangrove-filled swamps, sits a three-story, 466,000-square-foot sanctum for the super-rich. A pair of models dressed in beige linen outfits strut silently past onlookers like a wandering catwalk ad. Outside, shoppers shell out $30 for valet parking and the right to show off their supercars near the main entryway.

Here’s more proof that Miami is becoming a fashion capital

Milan-based Istituto Marangoni opens a campus in the Miami Design District Watch out New York: here’s more proof that Miami is becoming a fashion powerhouse. Leaders at Milan-based fashion and design school Istituto Marangoni chose Miami’s Design District for the school’s very first U.S. outpost. “My first choice for Istituto Marangoni’s inaugural U.S. campus was Miami because of its growing…

Lawsuits reveal cost to rent retail space at Brickell City Centre

Curious to know how far rents reach in one of Miami’s newest luxury retail centers? Lawsuits filed by Brickell City Centre show the price is upwards of $130 per square foot. Over the past year, the mall operator, Brickell City Centre Retail LLC, has filed lawsuits against Koko & Palenki and BDBA. In both cases the lawsuits sought to collect unpaid rent after the stores closed, according to The Next Miami.

Condo developers are plotting the future of Miami’s skyline

From TRD Miami’s spring issue: With more than four years’ supply of luxury condos for sale, it’s plain to most people in the real estate community that the market does not need any more condo projects. Developers have no choice but to hope their existing projects inch closer to selling out while they toil away on plans designed for a better market in the future. Many are now plotting the next batch of…

Video: ArborCrowd Co-Founder Adam Kaufman on Commercial Real Estate CrowdFunding

Adam Kaufman, co-founder and managing director at ArborCrowd, a company that enables people to co-invest with successful real estate deal-makers in the industry, joins Michael Bull on his America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss crowdfunding for commercial real estate in 2018. They discuss reasons to use crowdfunding, investor management, some benefits of using ArborCrowd, what the process…

New projects adorn Biscayne Bay at Edgewater

New projects adorn Biscayne Bay at Edgewater. As six developments take a step toward completion, some locals wonder when more goods and services will also follow the real estate boom into the area. Jaret Turkell understands the growing appeal with the area. Mr. Turkell, the managing director at Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, said, “Location-wise it’s closest to some of the hottest neighborhoods in…

Demolition spotted at Arquitectonica’s Babylon Apartments

This will be sad for fans of this circa-1982 building Look away, fans of Arquitectonica’s first building: The Next Miami spotted that demolition is in progress on the iconic Brickell building. Miami commissioners voted in January to overturn the building’s protected architectural landmark status. Photos on the blog show the building looking out of sorts, and The Next Miami reports that a Notice of…

Sandor Scher on his grand plan for North Beach

Sandor Scher is looking to bring the magic back to North Beach. After a contentious campaign to upzone part of the quiet Miami Beach neighborhood failed in 2015, Scher and his business partner, Alex Blavatnik, went back to the drawing board and redesigned the $220 million beachfront, mixed-use development planned for Ocean Terrace. Scher is now fully embracing the neighborhood’s history.

Sam Zell describes retail real estate as a “falling knife”

Retail’s well-publicized struggles are still far from over, according to Sam Zell. The chairman of Equity International Group and Equity Residential discussed the state of the industry Tuesday morning on Bloomberg Daybreak, where he described retail as “still a falling knife.” The United States has more retail per population than any other country, which has led to “an enormous number of obsolete shopping…

High Street Retail Continues to Battle Vacancies, Falling Rents

The tony retail districts in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco offer the best in luxury retail. But after years of getting prestige brands to agree to double-digit increases in rents, landlords on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, Chicago’s Michigan Avenue and San Francisco’s Union Square are in their second year of double-digit declines in asking rents. In San Francisco, where well-heeled shoppers stroll Union…

Is EB-5, the ‘crack cocaine of real estate financing,’ here to stay?

Based on recent headlines, it might sound like the EB-5 visa program is akin to a kiss of death for some developers. In January, it became known that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Kushner Companies’ use of the EB-5 program following a fundraising trip to China last May. At the time, Nicole Kushner Meyer name-dropped her brother in the White House, Jared Kushner

Q&A: Miami’s Wynwood ‘Had That Special Sauce’

The founder and CEO of the Metro 1 brokerage was one of the first investors in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, buying an eight-unit apartment building on 27th Street in 2003. “It was a blighted, post-industrial warehouse district with neglected and abandoned textile buildings with tenants paying very low rents in very bad conditions,” he recalls. Plenty has changed in the past 15 years. The 50-block…

Residences by Armani/Casa is halfway to the top

Check out the construction in this drone video Residences by Armani/Casa, the luxury tower designed by starchitect Cesar Pelli with interiors from fashion designer Giorgio Armani, just hit its halfway point. Curbed Miami’s been tracking this 56-story, 649-foot tall modern glass tower since the building’s concrete was poured, and last week, the Sunny Isles Beach residence hit its halfway vertical milestone.

In Tightening Market, Florida Developers Turn To Private Lenders

Six months ago, Eden Multifamily President and CEO Jay Jacobson would have surveyed the strong South Florida market, checked his costs and said that everything was going swimmingly. “Monday, I had an update with the contractor building our high-rise in Fort Lauderdale on pricing,” he said this morning during a Bisnow event at the W Hotel. “It’s mind-boggling, what is starting to happen.”

Serena Williams attends ground breaking for new tennis venue at Hard Rock Stadium

It’s slated to be ready for the Miami Open’s 2019 tournament Tennis superstar Serena Williams picked up a shovel for today’s ground breaking ceremony at Hard Rock Stadium, which will soon serve as the new home for the Miami Open tennis tournament. South Florida Business Journal reports that the Miami Gardens tennis venue should be ready for the March 2019 tournament. That means this month’s…

Miami commission to vote on developer incentives, Overtown apartment complex and two mixed-use projects

Miami commissioners on Thursday will consider new rules that would award developer incentives to save historic properties as part of a jam-packed zoning agenda that includes approval requests for an Overtown apartment complex adjacent to David Beckham’s soccer stadium site and two mixed-use projects near the Douglas Road Metrorail Station and on the Miami River. As luxury condos have…

Florida bills to protect affordable housing fund dead in session

Two Florida bills aiming to protect affordable housing funds from being diverted elsewhere died in a subcommittee during the Florida Legislature session. It’s the 11th consecutive year that funds from the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Act will be used to fill gaps in other budgets. Florida bills SB 874, sponsored by Naples Republican Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, and HB 191, sponsored by Tampa…

Big Four no more? Fidelity is buying rival Stewart for $1.2 billion

The “Big Four” title insurance players are about to become the Big Three. Industry heavyweight Fidelity National Financial has signed an agreement to buy rival Stewart Information Services Corp. for $1.2 billion in cash and stock, the company said Monday. Pending shareholder and regulatory approval, the deal could close by the second quarter of 2019. If approved, Fidelity will emerge as the nation’s…

Proof Pizza & Pasta in Midtown to close, Nathan’s Famous to open its first Miami location, more

A Midtown favorite is closing after 3.5 years. Proof Pizza & Pasta will close on Sunday, March 25, according to the restaurant’s Instagram account. Proof, at 3328 North Miami Avenue, moved to the roughly 1,700-square-foot corner space in October 2014. Chef and owner Justin Flit told the Miami New Times that “at the end of the day, we were not profitable enough to keep the…

Doral office building attracts $48 million loan

Guardian Life Insurance Company made a $48 million loan secured by One Park Square, an 11-story office building in Doral. Commercial real estate brokerage firm CBRE arranged the financing on the 281,786-square-foot building at 3470 Northwest 82nd Avenue. CBRE said in a press release that its South Florida capital markets team arranged the loan for “a Boston-based institutional advisor,” an apparent…

Jade Signature’s grand opening is today, and it’s nearly sold out    

This is the newest Sunny Isles Beach icon on “Billionaire’s Beach” Today marks the grand opening for Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron’s long-awaited Jade Signature. It’s been a long journey since the Sunny Isles Beach tower’s 2013 groundbreaking, and now Jade Signature’s 192 residences are more than 95% sold. Developed by Fortune International Group’s…

A condo project may be headed for single-family neighborhood in North Miami

The North Miami Planning Commission gave its nod to the development of a 67-unit, six-story condominium at its Wednesday meeting, paving the way for multifamily projects in a single-family neighborhood on Northeast 130th Street near West Dixie Highway. Turkish developer OZ and BF, LLC, led by Ozkan Ozcelik and Serhat Karakaya, will be developing the condominium at 840 Northeast 130th Street…

Islamorada’s Cheeca Lodge, damaged by Hurricane Irma, to reopen by end of March

Islamorada’s Cheeca Lodge & Spa will reopen on March 30 after completing $25 million in renovations and repairs spawned by Hurricane Irma. Upon reopening, the hotel, located at mile market 81.8 on Islamorada’s Old Highway, will sport a renovated lobby and spa, renovated guestrooms, and a new restaurant. Cheeca also plans to open a new pool to augment its two refurbished pools.

Look inside a sleek model home at One Bay Residences development in the Design District

Each three-level condo includes a garage and rooftop terrace One Bay Residences, a tony development of 38 luxury condominium homes, is about ready to deliver in the Design District. The homes are expected to be ready in the second quarter of 2018, and now here’s a look at One Bay Residences’ model home, designed by Addison House. The three-bedroom home is incredibly open, with a glassy staircase…

Six confirmed dead in FIU bridge collapse

The search and rescue mission has turned to a recovery  Miami-Dade police confirmed this morning that at least six people died in yesterday’s tragic bridge collapse near the campus of Florida International University. Ten others were injured and taken to the hospital, according to NBC Miami, and now the mission has turned from rescuing victims to recovery. It’s not clear why the under-construction…

New York-based Carpe Real Estate Partners pays $14 million for Wynwood site

2335 North Miami Avenue
New York-based Carpe Real Estate Partners just paid $14 million for a development site in Wynwood. David Weitz and Erik Rutter of Carpe bought the 1.65-acre site at 2335 North Miami Avenue from Goltens Miami, a marine engine repair company. It hit the market in November with an expected sale price of $16 million to $20 million, based on comparable deals. Mika Mattingly, Noa Figari and Cecilia…

EB-5 fraud scheme in Palm Beach lands development team in jail

Palm Beach developer Robert Matthews and real estate attorney Leslie R. Evans have been charged with fraud for their involvement in a real estate scam that swindled $50 million from about 50 Chinese and Iranian investors in recent years. The scam redirected EB-5 funds intended for a Palm Beach condo-hotel project at 160 Royal Palm Way, according to the Palm Beach…

Several fatalities confirmed in FIU pedestrian bridge collapse

It happened around 1:45 p.m. today A pedestrian bridge under construction near Florida International University collapsed this afternoon, 7 News Miami reports, and the Florida Highway Patrol is already reporting several people have been killed in the accident. At least four people were injured. The bridge collapsed around 1:45 p.m. at Southwest Eighth Street near 109th Avenue. Here’s an eye witness video…

See renderings of Fisher Island’s Palazzo Della Luna, which just launched sales

It’s on the island’s last waterfront parcel Take a look at the ultra-luxury boutique condominium Palazzo Della Luna, which just launched sales last week. The 10-story building will feature 50 three- to seven-bedroom waterfront residences, including a $40 million penthouse — the priciest listing ever recorded on the island. The project is led by PDS Development, LLC and veteran developer Heinrich von Hanau…

Here’s what we know about MCM, the builder of the FIU bridge that collapsed

A prominent Cuban-American, family owned construction business headed by an FIU graduate built the ill-fated pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Miami on Thursday, killing several people. Munilla Construction Management, founded more than three decades ago in Miami, had the contract for the $14.2 million bridge at Southwest 109th Avenue and Southwest Eighth Street. It collapsed just five…

Not playing around: Toys R Us to shutter all 735 US stores

The death of the once ubiquitous toy retailer Toys R Us is near, after the company announced it planned to close all of its 735 nationwide stores, ending months of efforts to salvage the iconic brand. The closures include its Babies R Us brand and come six months after filing for bankruptcy in September.  Its December effort to pull itself out of bankruptcy by closing 180 stores apparently failed to help save the…

Freshwater Group buys multifamily complex in North Miami Beach

New York investment firm Freshwater Group is set to close Thursday on a $5.9 million purchase of 51-unit apartment complex in North Miami Beach, The Real Deal has learned. The deal for the Carmel Apartments at 16700 and 16701 Northeast 21st Avenue breaks down to about $115,700 per unit. Records show the current owner, Dynamic GM LLC, paid $4.7 million for the property, or about $92,160 per…

Sonny Kahn buys neighboring Golden Beach oceanfront property for a big markdown

Billionaire developer Sonny Kahn just paid $14 million for an oceanfront teardown next to his home in Golden Beach. The 42,750-square-foot property at 115 Ocean Boulevard was originally listed for $24.9 million, which means it sold for a 44 percent discount off the asking price. It was later reduced to $19.9 million. Lucrecia Lindemann and Melissa Barragan of Dezer Platinum Realty represented the seller…

Rising construction costs challenge multifamily developers: panel

Rising construction costs are challenging the feasibility and affordability of some multifamily developments in South Florida, a panel of real estate professionals said Wednesday. “Even on jobs where we bought the land 10 years ago – which is almost free compared to what prices are now – we are having a hard time getting the numbers to work,” said Patrick Campbell, a vice president of Miami-based…

Sherry Frontenac in North Beach scores historic preservation board approval

The Sherry Frontenac, a post-war modern hotel in Miami Beach, is getting a poolside makeover. On Monday, the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board approved a request allowing the hotel owner to build a new deck with a concrete canopy, underground parking and a rooftop dining area for the property at 6565 Collins Avenue in North Beach. S.F. Land LLC can now demolish the existing pool deck and…