Swire partners with Carlos Mattos to develop site next to Brickell City Centre

Swire Properties is making moves again in Brickell. Swire is partnering with Colombian businessman Carlos Mattos to jointly develop the property at 650 South Miami Avenue, a spokesperson told The Real Deal. The developers are planning a residential project on the former Tobacco Road site. Mattos made his money with Hyundai Colombia Automotriz, a car import and distribution company he founded in…

The site of Dean’s Gold strip club will become a massive mixed-use project

Uptown Biscayne is headed to the North Miami Beach intersection What was once Dean’s Gold, a Miami Vice-era North Miami Beach strip club that the Miami Herald dubbed a “historical landmark,” will one day be the site of a one million-square-foot mixed used development. CK Privé Group’s Uptown Biscayne project just received City Council approval to build a complex, the South Florida…

Hyde Midtown Suites & Residences is in its final stages

The mixed-use project is wrapping up After topping off this time last year, mixed-use development Hyde Midtown Suites & Residences at 3401 NE 1st Avenue is ready to open its doors. The Next Miami reports that closings of residences are underway and that the hotel will be ready for guests next month. The mixed-use development includes 410 luxury residences, 60 hotel suites, retail space, and six stories of…

Markers Grove Isle battles way to condo starting line

Markers Grove Isle on Fair Isle is marked by controversy. Developer Eddie Avila expects the $200 million project to place the Grove community on par with Tahiti Beach in Coral Gables and Fisher Island. But most current island residents aren’t on board. Fair Isle, commonly called Grove Isle, boasts three residential towers with a total of 510 units that date to the 1970s and a club that debuted in…

Collection Residences site listed for sale as litigation between Ugo Colombo and Masoud Shojaee drags on

More than two years after a partnership to develop the Collection Residences fell apart, the Coral Gables development site at the heart of it all is hitting the market. A county judge ordered the 2.8-acre property be listed for sale as litigation rolls on. A broker was hired to list the assemblage at 250 Bird Road, 245 Altara Avenue,  4112 Aurora Street, 4101 Salzedo Street, and 4111 Salzedo Street…

Dufry signs lease for future HQ at Prologis’ Beacon Lakes

Swiss travel retailer Dufry just inked a 200,000-square-foot lease at Prologis’ Beacon Lakes business park in northwest Miami-Dade County, where it’s planning to move its regional headquarters. The building is breaking ground soon and will rise at the southeast corner of Northwest 137th Avenue and Northwest 14th Street, between Northwest 14th and State Road 836, according to a spokesperson for…

Brightline owner’s proposal to build a new Miami-Dade courthouse lives on

A proposal by Brightline’s parent company to build a new Miami-Dade Courthouse has been revived. The Miami-Dade County Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution directing Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez to continue negotiating with New Flagler Courthouse Development Partners, or NFCDP, to build a new civic courthouse near the existing courthouse at 73 West…

Developers refinance 2500 Biscayne, sell ownership stakes

Greystone Development just sold its stake in a new mixed-use rental tower in Edgewater, and the remaining owners refinanced the property. The New York-based development company partnered with Alta Developers to build the 19-story, 156-unit building at 2500 Biscayne Boulevard. Alta refinanced the building with a loan in the $50 million to $60 million range from Invesco, sources said.

New renderings of Aston Martin Residences, Estates at Acqualina & more

A handful of developers just released new renderings of some South Florida projects that are in the works, including Aston Martin Residences tower in Miami, Uptown Biscayne in North Miami Beach, the Estates at Acqualina and the Water Club North Palm Beach. G&G Business Developments and Aston Martin unveiled the interiors of the luxury car-branded condo tower planned for downtown Miami.

Home sales, prices rose in all three SoFla counties in January: Florida Realtors

New year, new South Florida? Home sales were up in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties at the start of 2018, according to new reports from the Florida Realtors. Median prices were also on the rise. The higher sales figures follow a slow 2017. Despite an overall increase in residential dollar sales volume in South Florida’s three counties last year, the number of sales fell. Residential sales posted…

Avra Jain turns to Overtown for next restoration project

Real estate developer Avra Jain is looking at Overtown for her next big preservation project – and wants the area’s community development agency to help fund it. The Omni Community Redevelopment Agency submitted a proposal to the Miami City Commission, including a request by Avra Jain’s Vagabond Group to buy and restore five garden apartment buildings just south of Northwest 16th…

Video: Integra Realty Resources Chairman Anthony Graziano on Office and Tenant Opportunities

Anthony Graziano, Chairman at Integra Realty Resources, joins host Michael Bull to talk about Integra’s Viewpoint 2018. Topics discussed include tenant trends for office properties, expected office property occupancy levels, cap rates for office property commercial real estate, interest rates, revenues and expenses, office property appraisal value, challenges, and opportunities for the office property sector.

Mixed-use development Buena Vista Lofts just broke ground

It’s the first of two planned projects in the neighborhood Buena Vista, an 18,500-square-foot mixed-use development, just broke ground last week in the Buena Vista District on 47th Street and 2nd Avenue. The project is from developer Harry Benitah/RFIF, LLC, and it will include two floors of residential units with ground-floor retail. According to the developer, the neighborhood and its location just…

MiamiCentral, the mixed-use project at Brightline’s Miami station, completes first tower

Check out 3 MiamiCentral MiamiCentral, the mixed-use project near downtown Miami’s upcoming Brightline high-speed train station, just hit a major milestone. Office building 3MiamiCentral is now open, the South Florida Business Journal reports, ahead of Brightline’s opening in Miami in the coming months. MiamiCentral posted on Twitter: Florida East Coast Industries is pleased to announce the…

Restaurants at CityPlace Doral sued for unpaid rent

PGIM Real Estate is suing two tenants at CityPlace Doral, alleging hundreds of thousands of dollars of unpaid rent, court documents show. Park Square 5 LLC is suing Sushi Siam and Flair Street for breach of lease and breach of guaranty. In two complaints filed earlier this month in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, the PGIM affiliate alleges that Sushi Siam Doral LLC and Flair Street’s YKC Doral LLC have not paid…

Mexican real estate investors focus on South Florida amid heated presidential race

In the last two months, Diego Arnaud of Aventura-based DA Luxury Realty has spotted a noticeable increase in sales activity among his clients from Mexico, who account for nearly all of his business. Several have just purchased multimillion-dollar units at the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Sunny Isles Beach and at Prive at Island Estates in Aventura, the broker-owner said. And one Mexican investor is under…

Video: Integra Realty Resources Chairman Anthony Graziano Presents Retail Property Viewpoint for 2018

Anthony Graziano, Chairman at Integra Realty Resources, appears on the Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss his firm’s Viewpoint 2018. Topics that are discussed include expected retail property occupancy levels, cap rates for retail commercial real estate, interest rates, online investments, effects of ecommerce, outlook for restaurants, challenges, and opportunities for the retail commercial property sector.

Miami Yacht Show will move to a new location next year

It’s been in the same spot for 30 years The Miami Yacht Show is wrapping up its last day today, but next year’s event is already making news. The Miami Herald reports that the Miami Yacht Show will move in 2019 to Biscayne Bay in Miami between the Venetian and MacArthur causeways. That’s the waterfront site that once housed the Miami Herald and is now transitioning to a live events space.

Foreclosure fight heats up: Trial could give Schecher Group nearly complete control of Miami Beach’s Sixty Sixty Resort

An investment company could score a major victory this week in its alleged hostile takeover of a 1990s Miami Beach condo-hotel. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko has set a three-day trial beginning Tuesday to decide the outcome of foreclosure lawsuits the Schecher Group has brought against 35 unit owners at the Sixty Sixty Resort at 6060 Indian Creek Drive. The trial is moving forward…

Gut checking real estate’s interest rate fears

Federal Reserve chairs have the power to put financial markets in a frenzy with a few seemingly harmless phrases. In June 2013, then-Fed Chair Ben Bernanke stepped to the microphone for a regular press conference and suggested the central bank might start winding down its bond-buying program — first enacted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis — if the economy continued to improve. Immediately…

Here’s the little secret to winning a bidding war that could totally backfire

In a hot real estate market, buyers will often put in offers with an escalation clause – something akin to an auto bid in the event a bidding war breaks out. But there are drawbacks for those on both sides of the negotiating table, according to the Wall Street Journal. An escalation clause is an addendum to a contract that automatically raises a buyer’s offer by predetermined increments up to a maximum…

Winn-Dixie may be headed back to bankruptcy

The corporate parent of supermarket chain Winn-Dixie may file for bankruptcy as soon as March. Bloomberg also reported that the Winn-Dixie’s corporate parent Bi-Lo LLC plans to close nearly 200 of the supermarket chain’s locations either before or after filing for bankruptcy. In previous corporate incarnations, the Winn-Dixie business declared bankruptcy in 2009 and 2005, and Bi-Lo still may…

US housing starts were up 10% in January, led by multifamily building

Housing starts nationwide jumped 9.7 percent in January over December, thanks largely to a 19.7 percent increase in residential rental and condominium starts — the biggest increase since December 2016. The annual pace of starts nationwide last month was 1.33 million, up from 1.21 million in December and up from 1.24 million last January, according to the Department of Commerce. January’s increase…

Miami investors score EB-5 funding for charter school in south Miami-Dade

Investors Mario and Ramon Castellanos just scored $5.5 million in EB-5 funding to build a charter school in south Miami-Dade, property records show. The Miami-based investors paid $469,000 for the 3-acre property at 12400 Hainlin Mill Drive in March. Records show the charter school chain AcadeMir, managed by Superior Charter Schools Services, will be leasing the property. The charter school manager…

Missoni Baia, Paseo Miami and Coconut Grove Playhouse submit new plans

The developers of three major projects will go before the city of Miami next week for approval from the Urban Development Review Board on Wednesday. 700 Edgewater Development LLC, a company tied to developer Vlad Doronin, filed updated plans for Missoni Baia, a 56-story luxury condo tower planned for 700 Northeast 26th Terrace in Edgewater. The developer is formally requesting a change in units…

Luxury Apartments Planned South of Miami

Multifamily developer Estate Investments Group (EIG) is moving ahead with plans to build a 200-unit luxury apartment project in Palmetto Bay, FL, south of Miami. The five-story Soleste Bay Village will rise at 18301 S. Dixie Hwy. Delivery is expected in the second quarter of 2020. “Miami’s residential market still has plenty of gas in the tank,” Robert Suris, principal of EIG, said in a statement. “Everyday there…”

See renderings of Miami’s Bijou Bay Harbor, now 75 percent sold

It’s slated for completion in 2019 Bijou Bay Harbor, a 41-residence development in the Bay Harbor Islands, is now 75 percent sold. The nine-story waterfront property at 9521 East Harbor Bay Drive is slated for completion by the second quarter of 2019. The project from Revuelta Architecture International and interior designer Adriana Hoyos is designed as a “quiet island sanctuary” with sleek lines and…

Grand jury investigation adds to Bal Harbour hotel developer’s woes

A Bal Harbour hotel developer wrapped up in multiple lawsuits alleging fraud has just revealed he is under investigation by a federal grand jury. Bal Harbour Quarzo LLC is facing 19 lawsuits in Miami-Dade, alleging the company failed to pay back loans for a hotel redevelopment planned for the 2.38-acre site at 10250 Collins Avenue. Because the loans were executed in foreign countries and didn’t…

Affordable housing crisis in Miami. For landlords, “the math just doesn’t work.”

Vagabond Group is nearly finished renovating more than 20 of its affordable housing units in Little Haiti, a project that benefits from a half million-dollar low interest loan from Miami-Dade County. Even with the favorable financing and some government funding, Vagabond founder Avra Jain said her company is still losing money on the investment. “In the end, without full subsidies, the math just…

Inflation drives mortgage rates to peak not seen since 2014

Mortgage rates on 30-year, fixed-rate loans climbed to 4.38 percent this week, the highest they have been since April 2014. The rates last week stood at 4.32 percent, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. The gains are a direct result of the rising yields for Treasury notes, which have been steadily increasing amid fears of an inflation, Bloomberg reported. The yield on the 10-year note reached above 2.94%…

Hotelier buys shuttered Miami Beach assisted living facility

Hotelier Simon Nemni just paid $17.6 million for a shuttered assisted living facility in Miami Beach. The seller, A.D.M.E. Real Estate, is owned by Morris and Philip Esformes, who are father and son, and business partners. Philip Esformes is the main defendant in a $1 billion Medicare fraud and money laundering case that has gained national attention. He was arrested July 2016, according to the Miami Herald.

Wynwood Yard chef to open food hall in Miami Heath District

Wynwood Yard chef and founder Della Heiman is taking her talents to the Miami Health District. Heiman, who’s also planning a location in North Beach, signed a 10,000-square-foot lease for a healthy food hall concept called Jackson Hall at 1050 Northwest 14th Street. John Ellis and Aaron Labovitz of RKF represented Heiman and her business partner Ken Lyon, and the landlord, Rockpoint Group. Jackson Hall…

Florida East Coast Industries buys more land for MiamiCentral project

Florida East Coast Industries just closed on two parcels of public land in downtown Miami, locking in another component to its massive MiamiCentral mixed-use development. FECI and AAF Miami TOD Holdings LLC paid $14 million for the city-owned parcels at 104 Northwest First Avenue. Also included is a half-acre strip of land at 435 Northwest First Court, which runs parallel to Northwest Sixth…

Drivers Club Miami, a “country club for cars,” could be headed near Miami Gardens

It’s one step closer to reality Developer Carlos de Narváez’s $100 million “country club for cars” club is one step closer to reality, the Real Deal reports. The Miami-Dade County government operations committee gave approval for the project, and now it will go before the county commission for a vote next week. The auto club plotted for a 160-acre site near Miami Gardens would include a two-mile track…

Florida East Coast Railway sues Miami developer for alleged trespass

Jacksonville-based Florida East Coast Railway is suing a Miami developer along its 351-mile long freight line. The railway, owned by a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico, is alleging that Ofer Mizrahi’s Miami Ironside is encroaching on the train tracks that run behind the office and retail development, according to a lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court earlier this month. Florida East Coast Railway is…

Major US cities saw sharp drops in new construction projects in 2017: report

Multifamily and commercial construction slowed in most major U.S. metro areas last year, according to a new report. Major declines in funding for new construction starts were registered in cities like New York, Miami and Los Angeles. The report by Dodge Data & Analytics tracked the 20 cities with the highest dollar contribution for new construction projects last year. The total was $194.7 billion, down from…

Miami Beach board backs plan to convert Prince Michael condos to hotel

Plans to turn the Prince Michael Condominium into the Prince Michael Hotel got a boost on Tuesday after the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board approved the renovation of the 67-year-old MiMo-era building. Eli Dadon, Richard Waserstein, and Avi Dishi want to renovate and convert the rundown 90-unit condo at 2618 Collins Avenue into an 89-room boutique hotel. Dadon said he and his…

Drivers Club Miami project heads to county commission

A Miami-Dade County committee just green lit a developer’s vision to turn land just west of Miami Gardens into a $100 million luxury auto club, dubbed the “country club for cars.” Tuesday night, South American developer Carlos de Narváez received approval from the government operations committee to move forward with his project, which would entail building a 2-mile track for car aficionados…

New Office Bldg Planned North of Downtown Miami

A New York developer is betting big on the Class A office market in the emerging Miami neighborhoods of Wynwood, Midtown, Edgewater and the Design District. R&B Realty said Tuesday it expects to break ground in the next three months on The Gateway at Wynwood, a 225,000-square-foot building at 2916 N. Miami Ave. The firm is building the project on spec, and says it will be ready by…

Mixed-Use Building on Miami Beach Fetches $38M

East End Capital Partners LLC and GreenOak Real Estate acquired a mixed-used building in Miami Beach, FL for $38 million, or about $588 per square foot, from KBS Realty Advisors. The 555 Washington Ave. property, designed by the Arquitectonica architecture firm, consists of 44,000 square feet of Class A office space, 22,000 square feet of retail space and a 243-stall attached parking garage. Tenants include…

Video: A Discussion of Changes in Single Tenant Net Lease Operations and Technology

Fred Weir, President at Meadowbrook Restaurant Company, and Nancy Miller, President at National Net Lease Investment Group, appear with host Michael Bull on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to talk about trends in single tenant net lease commercial investment properties. Topics that are covered include operational trends and trends in technology that serves the single tenant new lease property…

$9.2 million deficit looms to restore Miami Marine Stadium

City of Miami officials are estimating a $9.2 million deficit for the project to restore Miami Marine Stadium and build the new maritime museum and welcoming center next door. The city intends to renovate the stadium and make other improvements on Virginia Key using revenue bonds and other funds, and is working on a request for proposals to manage the stadium. City commissioners got a status…

Plaza Coral Gables works through the chain of reviews

The Plaza Coral Gables, formerly known as the Mediterranean Village, is still in the process of reviewing permits along with neighborhood concerns before moving forward with any further construction, according to city Planning and Zoning Director Ramon Trias. The mixed-use project, which is set to rise at 2801, 2901 and 3001 Ponce de Leon Blvd., just south of downtown Coral Gables, will stand at 190 feet…

Construction is going up on Coconut Grove’s The Optimum office tower

The office project is set to open in September Optimum Group’s Class A office tower at 3480 Main Highway in Coconut Grove is going vertical. The Arquitectonica-designed project is on track for completion this September, according to a rep. When The Optimum opens, it will bring 44,000 square feet of office space and a 6,500 square-foot ground floor restaurant — along with a rooftop bar which…

Check out these jaw-dropping new renderings of One Thousand Museum’s amenity spaces

Can you imagine swimming laps here? Didn’t get enough behind-the-scenes info on Miami’s Zaha Hadid-designed One Thousand Museum from its PBS Impossible Builds episode? The 62-tower with its unique structural exoskeletal design just topped off, and is on track for a late 2018 completion. Now, the developers behind the Pritzker Prize winner’s futuristic residential skyscraper are releasing…

Nitin Motwani has 10 acres ready for Amazon. But will Bezos play ball?

Amid the cacophony of cranes and construction crews at the 27-acre Miami Worldcenter in Overtown sits a swath of land, untouched. These are the 10 acres set aside for the holy grail of tenants, Amazon, which last month announced that Miami would be among 20 cities on its shortlist for its second headquarters. The prospect of landing the $5 billion project sent every major developer…

Why savvy real estate investors are looking at mid-level malls

High dividends have some investors taking a second look at “class B” shopping centers. Due to falling share prices, mall operators’ dividends have increased dramatically, some well over 15 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported. For example, Tennessee-based CBL & Associates Properties and Ohio-based Washington Prime Group saw dividends spike 19 and 18 percent, respectively, last year, even as…

Developer submits plans for mixed-use project near Hard Rock Stadium

About 40 acres of city-owned land near the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens has captured yet another development proposal.
Garden Square Holdings LLC, led by developer Barron Channer, submitted plans for a mixed-use project with a hotel, two office towers, restaurants and retail, according to the South Florida Business Journal. The city, which owns the land at the northeast corner of…

Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club will reopen in Miami Beach this spring

The Art Deco hotel is going through a multi-million-dollar renovation An Art Deco icon is about to be revealed in Miami Beach. The Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club, originally designed by renowned Art Deco architect Roy France in 1940, is set to reopen this spring following a multi-million-dollar renovation. The 357-room hotel, located at at 39th and Collins Avenue, will joins Marriott International’s…

Marriott Stanton South Beach is finishing $22 million worth of upgrades

Including a renovated spa and expanded fitness center After adding two restaurants (Sushi Azabu and Lolo’s Surf Cantina), Marriott Stanton South Beach is wrapping up the second phase of its $22 million renovation. Those upgrades include a spruced-up spa and expanded fitness center, according to South Florida Business Journal. The spa now fits in with the the SoFi hotel’s lobby, which features…

Airbnb says Florida hosts generated $45.7M in tax revenue

As Airbnb continues to duke it out with Florida’s hotel industry over property owners’ rights to rent their homes to vacationers, the tech company announced its hosts are helping fill up state and local government coffers with a new lucrative cash stream. In 2017, Airbnb collected and remitted $45.7 million in sales and local bed tax revenue to the Florida Department of Revenue and 39 counties that have…

Moishe Mana inks lease on 120K sf warehouse in Miami Gardens

Developer and investor Moishe Mana has completed a deal to expand his corporate document storage company, signing a lease for a 120,000-square-foot space in Miami Gardens, The Real Deal has learned. The firm, GRM Information Management, will occupy the warehouse at 15801 Northwest 49th Avenue. Jason and Marcos Morjain of Warehomes are the property owners. Jason Morjain…

Starwood’s Sternlicht Opens Up at Real Estate Conference

Starwood Capital Group CEO Barry Sternlicht addressed a variety of topics in a discussion with PGIM Real Estate executive Cathy Marcus at the University of Miami Real Estate Impact Conference. Credit: University of Miami. Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, is not bashful in big groups. Sternlicht weighed in on a number of topics during last Friday’s University of Miami’s Real Estate…

Meet the gatekeepers to South Florida’s Amazon HQ2 bid

Amazon’s search for a second headquarters may be shrouded in secrecy. But in South Florida, three power brokers have a direct line to the e-commerce giant as they make their pitch to host HQ2. Mike Finney, president and CEO of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council; Bob Swindell, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance; and Kelly Smallridge…

Starwood’s Sternlicht Opens Up at UM Real Estate Conference

Starwood Capital Group CEO Barry Sternlicht addresses a variety of topics in a discussion with PGIM Real Estate executive Cathy Marcus at the University of Miami Real Estate Impact Conference. Credit: University of Miami. Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, is not bashful in big groups. He unloaded on a number of topics Feb. 9 during the University of Miami’s Real Estate Impact…

Aventura Mall celebrates its newest artwork: a 93-foot-tall spiral slide

Actress Chloë Sevigny joined artist Carsten Höller for yesterday’s debut Aventura Mall’s latest public artwork is designed to make you feel like a kid again. Behold the Aventura Slide Tower, a nearly 100-foot tall slide that’s free for all ages and takes 15 seconds to traverse at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour. The slide is a permanent installation from Belgian artist and former scientist Carsten Höller, who has…

See inside the new co-working space WeWork Ponce de Leon in Coral Gables

Find 552 desks and kombucha on tap Co-working office space brand WeWork opened its fifth location in the Miami area earlier this month, with a shiny new space within a six-story building at 2222 Ponce De Leon Boulevard. WeWork’s in-house design team, Lunch Money, brought in a custom wallpaper, neon signage, murals and a massive custom terrazzo bar in the main pantry. To break it down…

Miami-Dade Mayor Gimenez nixes FECI’s courthouse proposal

Miami-Dade’s mayor has rejected a proposal by the operator of the Brightline passenger train to build a new downtown Miami courthouse. Instead, Mayor Carlos Gimenez revealed in a memo obtained by The Real Deal that he has started a formal bid process for developers to replace the 90-year-old Miami-Dade County Courthouse — which lawyers and judges insist is obsolete, moldy, and falling…

Four favorites to win Amazon’s HQ2

While there are officially 20 cities Amazon is deciding between, economists have singled out four stand-out contenders. The four cities, all located in Southern states, are being called favorites by the Wall Street Journal due to their labor-markets and employment growth.  Known as Sunbelt cities, they have the right mix of capable, highly-educated workers minus fierce competition from whom Amazon…

The Miami commission is trying to prevent leaks on its Amazon HQ2 bid

To the tune of non-disclosure agreements What is going on with South Florida’s bid to land Amazon’s new headquarters? Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and the leaders behind Miami’s effort want to keep things securely under wraps, according to the Miami Herald. Andres Viglucci reports that non-disclosure agreements are involved, writing: The Miami Commission voted unanimously and with no discussion…

The major expansion at Bal Harbour Shops is taking shape

Barneys New York will open its first Florida flagship there A major enhancement of Bal Harbour Shops is taking shape: the South Florida Business Journal reports that the Bal Harbour Shops obtained a $150 million mortgage as part of its plan to add 340,387 square feet of retail. The mall’s upgrades include the addition of a Barneys New York flagship, the first store for the brand in Florida…

Miami Beach firm pays $13.5M for Hialeah apartment complex

A Miami-Beach based company paid $13.5 million for a 90-unit apartment complex in Hialeah, property records show. The acquisition comes at a time when city has seen an increase in investment there. The 114,575-square-foot rental community at 6195 West 19 Avenue traded hands for $150,000 per unit. The buyer, Fields and Green Family’s LLC, is led by Jonathan Fields and Leah Green. Records show…

Coral Gables office market sizzles with new construction and low vacancy rates

In Coral Gables’ highly competitive office market, landlords are always seeking a slight edge in luring new tenants and retaining existing ones. But for the owners of Douglas Entrance at 800 Douglas Road, spending $7 million to renovate the office park’s lobbies, corridors, elevators, indoor common areas and its historic “La Puerta del Sol” ballroom wasn’t enough, said Maggie Kurtz, a CBRE senior…

Versailles, La Carreta owner sells two shopping centers in Northwest Miami-Dade

Felipe Valls Jr. and Isabel Dimise just sold two shopping centers in Northwest Miami-Dade for $16 million, property records show. The Valls family owns popular Cuban restaurants Versailles and La Carreta. Records show Valls Jr. and Dimise sold shopping centers Country Club Shopping Center and Palmetto Plaza Center to Miami Lakes-based R.I.C. Inc., led by Rolando and Jonathan Hernandez.

Whitman gets $150M loan for Bal Harbour Shops expansion

Whitman Family Development scored a $150 million mortgage for Bal Harbour Shops’ expansion, property records show. SunTrust Bank provided the financing for the luxury shopping mall at 9700 Collins Avenue in Bal Harbour. The Whitman family secured approval last year for a $400 million expansion and renovation of the high-end mall that will add more than 340,000 square feet to the 511,000 sf…

Video: Experts Discuss Single Tenant Net Lease Financing and Investment Trends

Fred Weir, President at Meadowbrook Restaurant Company, and Nancy Miller, President at National Net Lease Investment Group, joins the show host Michael Bull on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss various trends in single tenant net lease properties. Among the topics discussed are financing and investment trends for single tenant net lease real estate.

Video: Experts on Single Tenant Net Lease Market and Cap Rate Trends

Nancy Miller, President of National Net Lease Investment Group, and Fred Weir, President at Meadowbrook Restaurant Company, appear on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show, with its host Michael Bull, to talk about a variety of trends in single tenant net lease properties. Among the single tenant net lease real estate related topics discussed in this video are overall market trends and trends…

Real estate market unfazed by changes to tax law

You might recall the scary predictions from the realty industry and some independent economists that began last fall: Cutting tax benefits for homeowners would inevitably lead to declines of 4 to 10 percent in home prices, and maybe even more for upper-bracket properties in high-tax areas. So how are those dire warnings holding up? It’s still early in the game for hard statistical answers. But it’s not too…

First phase of Jungle Island’s multimillion-dollar renovation to open this year

Jungle Island is getting back on track with its multimillion-dollar renovation after Hurricane Irma forced its closure in September. The first phase, expected to cost $16 million, is underway and the park is projected to reopen in late spring with new attractions. ESJ Capital Partners paid $60 million for the property in April with major redevelopment plans. Irma caused substantial damage to the 18.5-acre…

Commercial real estate in Florida: do not try this at home!

Commercial real estate is big business in South Florida — maybe even the biggest. It is connected to all of the state’s major industries from tourism and housing to banking, government and health care. If there is a business sector that requires property, commercial real estate, in some form or another, will come into play. The trouble is, commercial real estate is whole different animal from residential…

Worldcenter Apartments Top Off

The first tower at Miami Worldcenter has topped off, bringing the massive, $1.2B development a little bit closer to reality. Caoba, the Spanish word for mahogany, is one piece of the Worldcenter puzzle — a 444-unit apartment complex at 698 Northeast 1st Avenue. Miami Worldcenter will ultimately take up 10 city blocks and 27 acres right in Miami’s downtown. When completed, it will include a train station…

Terra files plans for retail center in Doral

More retail stores and restaurants are coming to Doral, adding to the surge of mixed use-projects and residential development underway. Terra just filed plans to deliver Doral Square, a 145,000-square-foot retail center at the southeast corner of Northwest 36th Street and Northwest 87th Avenue, according to the South Florida Business Journal. Doral Square would rise on a 3.9-acre parking lot…

Miami leads the way for ultra rich overseas buyers looking for U.S. property

Per a new study Ultra-wealthy foreign buyers looking to scoop up some U.S. luxury real estate are turning to Miami, New York and L.A., according to a new report from Beauchamp Estates in association with Leslie J Garfield & Co — and Miami is leading the way. “Miami is a leading hub for overseas buyers investing in U.S. luxury real estate,” managing director at Beauchamp Estates Gary Hersham told Robb…

Miami river hangout spot The Wharf faces noise complaints

We “want to be cognizant of residents’ wishes,” owner says. As the area around the Miami river continues to transform — with more development than ever — residents are getting used to the new normal. Now the Miami Herald reports that new hangout spot The Wharf, which popped up in a previously empty lot near the river, is being called “ridiculously loud” by its neighbors. “I don’t expect it to be…”

The Weekly Dish: Brickell City Centre’s Italian food hall is finally opening & more

The three-story Italian food hall at Brickell City Centre is finally set to open Feb. 16, more than a year after the Shops at Brickell City Centre were completed. In all, the 40,000-square-foot space on the northeast end of the mall at 701 South Miami Avenue will have 14 restaurants, five bars, a cooking school, retail space, a wine store and more than 1,000 specialty products. It marks the largest new food…

Board approves Historic Designation for Coconut Grove Playhouse

The City’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board recommended 9-0, that the Coconut Grove Playhouse be included on the National Register of Historic Places at Tuesday’s meeting. Architect Jorge Hernandez who is working with the county on rebuilding the playhouse spoke for the county which was in favor of the nomination, but of course only for the section that they plan on…

Here are some issues in the tax law that remain foggy

In many ways, the new federal tax law is a major boon to the real estate industry. But several issues — including some surrounding the deep deductions awarded to pass-through entities — remain ambiguous. For one, it’s unclear how the 20 percent deductions on pass-through incomes will be calculated in certain cases. Many real estate companies own several different entities, some of which bring in…

Four Predictions For The Industrial Market In 2018

The industrial sector flourished in 2017. Real estate research firm Real Capital Analytics (RCA) noted in a recent report that the industrial sector, seeing gains from rising e-commerce sales and the resulting need for industrial facilities, was the only commercial real estate sector last year that saw an increase in transaction activity from January through November. NREI discussed possible trends to look out…

Commission rejects mayor’s plan to replace Dade County Courthouse

After Mayor Carlos Giménez asked his administration to reduce the cost and scope of a new county civil courthouse, Miami-Dade commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the original master plan for the courthouse, rejecting Mr. Giménez’s recommendation. “Today is a great day,” said Chief Judge Bertila Soto of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida at the commission…”

Coconut Grove waterfront soon to get major remake

The Chart House restaurant, a fixture of the Coconut Grove waterfront for more than 30 years, is history and the long-awaited redevelopment of the site is scheduled to begin in just a few weeks. Litigation caused years of delay for The Harbour project, and Hurricane Irma was the latest challenge to mess with the plans in September. But once demolition workers were done with Irma clean-up…

Carolina Herrera: President of the Builders Association of South Florida

When Carolina Herrera moved to Miami from Colombia, she hoped to use her law degree to get a job at a law firm. Instead, her first job was an assistant in the construction department at Lennar. “Once I started seeing the company, what we build, our customers and the product, I completely fell in love,” Ms. Herrera said, “and here I am.” Today, Ms. Herrera is director of land operations at Lennar and the…

Construction activity spotted at One River Point

The tower is expected to go vertical in early 2019 Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly’s luxury project One River Point is on its way to becoming a reality, according to The Next Miami, which scoped out construction activity at the project’s site along the Miami River. The 60-story project, which includes two towers connected by a “floating sky bridge,” is now expected to go vertical in 2019.

Details On 3 Miami Sites Considered By Amazon For HQ2

When Amazon sought bids from cities that could support its second headquarters, the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade County’s economic development partnership, took the lead in preparing a presentation touting Miami. Phillip Pessar via Flickr Creative Commons The historically black Miami neighborhood of Overtown is being eyed for redevelopment. It was submitted as part of a package promoting…

Miami-Dade commission demands a new 26-story courthouse, old one to be sold

Private developers interested in building a new Miami-Dade courthouse in downtown Miami will have to make it 26 stories and 600,000 square feet in size. At the request of Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally Heyman, county commissioners on Tuesday approved a rule specifying that bids to construct a new courthouse must conform to the terms of an 800-page master plan crafted last year with the…

Victoria’s Secret chief doubles down on brick and mortar despite falling sales

Weak holiday sales and declining same-store sales may be a warning sign for some retailers to cut back and reduce their physical footprints. But L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner is focusing on brick and mortar, so much so that the company, which owns Victoria Secret, has added stores over the past two years, bringing its total in North America to about 3,000, Wexner told the Wall Street Journal. He believes…

Miami Industrial Real Estate Market Report for the Year End 2017

2017 ends with only about 1.2M sq. ft. of positive absorption. A stronger market is closer to 2M sq. ft. (or more) annually. This being said, the overall vacancy rate slightly decreased to 4.0% and the average lease rate is at an all-time high at $9.76 per sq. ft. gross. Investors continue to purchase warehouse buildings also at record-setting prices per sq. ft. The fundamentals of owning tangible real estate as an…

Terra’s $72 Million Sale Of Doral Commons Is A Sign Of Strong Market In Doral

In the latest sign of intense demand for stable, well-positioned assets in Doral, Terra’s Doral Commons retail plaza has traded hands to Jamestown, L.P. The 140,000-square-foot center is 95 percent leased, with a tenant roster anchored by Publix Supermarket alongside TJ Maxx, Citibank, GNC, AT&T Wireless, McDonald’s, and others. According to public record, Miami-based Terra sold the shopping center…

Follow the construction of One Thousand Museum on the PBS doc Impossible Builds

The episode premieres on February 7  The Zaha Hadid-designed ultra-luxury condo development One Thousand Museum is getting a starring role on a PBS construction doc. Impossible Builds spotlights the world’s most ambitious, complex and technologically advanced construction projects, and now Miami’s own futuristic tower will be featured as part of this year’s episodes. One Thousand Museum by…

Construction starts picked up in 2017, thanks to large institutional and public works projects

Construction starts picked back up again last year, totaling $37.78 billion on the back of public works and institutional projects. That was the second-highest total since 2010, according to information from Dodge Data & Analytics reported by the Commercial Observer. Spending hit $41 billion in 2015, but then dropped to $31.93 billion the following year. In 2017, spending on institutional…

Survey finds Grove voters prefer smaller, cheaper redevelopment of playhouse

The future of the Coconut Grove Playhouse is still undecided, but a new report shows that residents prefer a cheaper, smaller redevelopment plan. Nearly 80 percent, or 312 of 400, of Miami residents surveyed by Bendixen & Amandi International favored Miami-Dade County’s $20 million plan to renovate and reopen the historic playhouse, according to the Miami Herald. GableStage, the theater…

Ex-Vornado CEO Fascitelli and partner score loan for South Beach hotel

New York-based Imperial Companies has secured $45 million in construction financing for a hotel in South Beach. Records show Washington Squared Owner LLC closed on the loan from Bank of the Ozarks, bringing the company’s total financing for the property to nearly $90 million. Imperial’s Michael Fascitelli and Eric Birnbaum are building the roughly 300-key hotel at 601 to 685 Washington…

Rent control push is spreading across US

Rent control, long the scourge of New York City landlords, is becoming more popular across the country. Lawmakers and tenant advocates in California, Illinois and Washington state are looking to repeal laws banning cities from imposing rent control or limits to regulate rent increases, the Wall Street Journal reported. California is poised to be the largest battleground this year. Advocates have gathered…

How to leave a job: Yellen bans a bank’s growth, warns of commercial RE prices

Yesterday, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was succeeded by Republican and Fed governor Jerome Powell, President Trump’s pick for the role, but that doesn’t mean she’s stopped making headlines. In fact, her last day was one for the books. In a final interview taped Friday aired today, Yellen contemplated whether the American commercial real estate market was in a bubble. The market’s prices are…

Owner of Brightline operator offers to build new Miami-Dade courthouse

A group led by Florida East Coast Industries, the owner of the company that operates the Brightline passenger train service, made an unsolicited proposal to build a new civil courthouse for Miami-Dade County. County commissioners acknowledged the unsolicited proposal at a meeting in January without saying who made the proposal or what it entails. Tara Smith, director of the county’s Internal…

Miami Freezer Warehouse for Sale

This is one of the largest warehouses in Miami now listed on-the-market for sale. The property’s freezers and coolers make it ideal for the perishables industry. However, it could also be great for dry distribution and/or manufacturing. Investors may appreciate that the property is multi-bay and that the owner might lease-back about 65,000 sq. ft. The building, located at 18770 NE 6th Avenue, sits on 9.46 acres.

Slow Your Roll, David Beckham: Critics Vow To Fight His Miami Soccer Stadium Plan

After four years of false starts and a surprising last-minute injection of cash, David Beckham and his business partners announced Monday that Major League Soccer awarded them a new franchise and that a team will launch in Miami in 2020. But despite confetti guns that blasted during the announcement, a dozen-plus celebrities congratulating Beckham in video clips and Diddy offering to be the goalie…

Florida Turnpike Logistics Center Warehouse in Doral Leased

Leased! The ComReal Miami-Doral Industrial Team is pleased to announce that they have successfully leased the Turnpike Logistics Center located at 3450 NW 115th Avenue in Doral, Florida. The warehouse measures 87,531 sq. ft. and was 100% leased to a single tenant. The lease value was about $3.5M. The non-disclosed client of ComReal is in the international skin care production and distribution…

Miami is the 11th most expensive rental market in the U.S, per new study

See how the city’s median 1-bedroom rent price compares to the national median A new report by ABODO Apartments indicates that Miami apartment dwellers continue to pay some of the highest rents in the country. The February 2018 edition of the National Apartment Report includes new data and pricing for Miami. The February data shows that, as of this week, Miami is the 11th most expensive rental…

Loud thuds from barbells spark nuisance lawsuit at Mint on Miami River

Apparently, folks getting fit and shredded is too much to handle for the condo association of the Mint at Riverfront luxury high-rise in downtown Miami. The Mint Condominium Association in January sued three companies that own two commercial spaces in the 56-story building and their tenant Society Barbell and Fitness for breach of contract and breach of the condo’s declaration. The association claims…

Deco Capital Group buys missing piece of Sunset Harbour assemblage, plans new proposal to the city of Miami Beach

Deco Capital Group has closed on the missing piece of its Sunset Harbour assemblage with plans to submit a new proposal to the city of Miami Beach for a mixed-use project. The company, led by developer Bradley Colmer, paid $3.53 million for the Bay Road Animal Clinic building at 1730 Bay Road last week. “The original plan required additional height. We didn’t have this lot, which forced everything to…

Royal Caribbean’s sleek new terminal tops off at PortMiami

It’s slated for completion in October 2018 Royal Caribbean Cruises just hit a construction milestone with its sleek new Terminal A at PortMiami. Royal Caribbean and building contractor Suffolk celebrated in January with a party to commemorate reaching the highest construction point of the $247 million state-of-the-art terminal. The cruise terminal is slated to open in October, and will become home…

South Florida home prices rose 9% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2017

Home prices in South Florida keep rising, according to a new report from Attom Data Solutions. The index, which tracks prices in 112 U.S. metros, found that median home prices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach jumped by 8.9 percent year-over-year to $245,000 in the fourth quarter of last year. Ocala, Florida saw the biggest annual increases in home prices with a 14.3 percent jump…

Florida lawmakers advance bill allowing state to oversee vacation rental regulations

A bill that would allow the state to take over vacation rental regulations — eliminating local government authority — has cleared a Senate committee. The bill would allow for continuity across Florida, a state in which many municipalities have their own set of regulations, according to one of its authors. Under the proposed bill, vacation rental properties would be regulated like hotels and motels, meaning…

Fortune and Premier Developers complete two major condo projects

Developers recently completed two large condo projects, adding about 300 new units to the South Florida market. Closings are underway at Jade Signature, a 57-story, 192-unit beachfront tower at 16901 Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach. The building is 96 percent sold, according to a spokesperson for developer Edgardo Defortuna. Defortuna declined to provide the projected sellout amount…

Self-driving cars could kill parking garages. Here’s how developers are responding

As the rise of self-driving cars threatens to make many parking garages obsolete, developers are thinking about ways to repurpose them. Architecture firm Gensler, for example, is working on ways to turn garages into affordable housing, for example by building modular units that can fit into existing structures. The firm also recently designed an office building in Cincinnati that includes three…

Biggest Change for Retail, Real Estate? No, It’s Not Amazon

The biggest game-changer for retail and real estate in the next decade probably isn’t what you think it is, insists Beth Azor, a longtime South Florida broker, owner and industry consultant. “Driverless cars will be the biggest disruption in real estate ever, way more than what Amazon has done,” Azor said Jan. 23 at a retail seminar in Plantation, FL sponsored by the Building Owners & Managers Association…

International Air Transport Association Leases 26,000 SF in Miami

International Air Transport Association leased 26,105 square feet at the 703 Waterford office building at 703 Waterford Way in Miami, FL. Occupancy is scheduled for June. The 10-story, 247,000-square-foot office building was constructed in 2001 on 14.2 acres in the Miami Airport submarket, within the Waterford at Blue Lagoon business park. The building is home to multiple tenants including Baxter…

Anatomy Gym Signs a 14,000-SF Lease on Second Avenue

Anatomy Gym signed a 14,000-square-foot lease at 3415 NE 2nd Ave. in Miami, FL. The three-story, 52,499-square-foot office building was built in 1960 and is currently under renovation. The building is located in the Biscayne Corridor submarket. Lyle Chariff of Chariff Realty Group represented Anatomy Gym. Joseph Del Vecchio with ABC Realty represented the landlord….

Fed leaves benchmark rate steady at Yellen’s final meeting

In Janet Yellen’s final policy committee meeting as Federal Reserve chairwoman, the benchmark interest rate was left unchanged in a unanimous vote, holding at between 1.25 and 1.5 percent. That leaves incoming Fed Chairman Jerome Powell — to be sworn in on Monday — with a decision to maintain the slow hike of interest rates or speed up the pace. Go too slow and the low borrowing costs…