Hurricane Irma damage now estimated at up to $65 billion

Property damage from Hurricane Irma is now estimated to reach $42.5 billion to $65 billion, with as much as $30 billion for flood-ravaged homes not covered by insurance, according to a newly released report from CoreLogic. The total figure includes both insured and uninsured losses for residential and commercial properties, including damage from both flood and wind. By far, the greatest hit is to…

Terra buys office building near Trump National Doral for $12.5 million

Terra Group just paid $12.5 million for a Doral office building near the Trump National Doral Miami, property records show. The Doral Court, a 209,000-square-foot office building at 8600 Northwest 36th Street, traded for about $60 per square foot. Records show Miami-based Banyan Street Capital is the seller. Banyan took ownership of the 9.4-acre property last year in March after making a stalking…

Metro Mall site in downtown Miami hits the market, could fetch $20 million

A development site in the heart of downtown Miami’s jewelry district is hitting the market, and is expected to fetch more than $20 million. Property records show a group of investors owns the Metro Mall building at 1 Northeast First Street, a 225,000-square-foot building that sits on a 33,750-square-foot corner lot. Colliers International South Florida’s Mika Mattingly, Gerard Yetming and Linn Ahsberg have…

Take that, Airbnb! Ian Schrager’s Public Hotel hopes to push back against home-sharing

Ian Schrager is fighting back against Airbnb with a tech-fueled hotel. Public Hotels replace the front desk with self-serve tablets where guests can check in and create their own room keys, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Lower East Side hotel features five bars and a restaurant, axing traditional room service. Calls from hotel rooms are re-routed to a call center in Las Vegas, and guests can ask…

Private developer has designs on Fort Dallas Park in Miami

Fort Dallas Park, on the Miami River downtown at 60-64 SE Fourth Street, could be redeveloped and include a new restaurant and improvements to a historic cottage on the city-owned site. The plan for improvements at the park is included in an unsolicited proposal to the City of Miami from Sanctus Spiritus LLC, which has proposed a public-private partnership with the city. The proposal for the city…

Girl Scouts selling land to add to Matheson Hammock

The Girl Scouts are selling Miami-Dade County land to expand Matheson Hammock Park, which will provide a 10-foot-wide nature trail and pedestrian access to the west side of the park, expanding nature-based programming. Up for purchase is a vacant half acre at 9950 Old Cutler Road. The proposed contract is for $415,000 for land that was appraised in February 2016 at $440,000. Added to the…

Miami Real Estate Mostly Spared From Irma’s Fury, Industry Players Say

Just days after Hurricane Irma lashed downtown Miami and the neighboring Brickell financial district with vicious winds and surging water that took out two construction cranes and flooded major streets, industry players told The Real Deal that the deadly storm largely spared the city’s urban core and coastal communities from catastrophic damage. Suzanne Amaducci, who leads the real estate group at…

Terry W. Stiles: Celebrating The Life And Memory Of An Industry Icon

We, along with the entire CRE community, are deeply saddened by the loss of our great leader and friend, Terry Stiles. Terry’s passion, energy and unyielding devotion to bettering communities across the Southeast were the source for innovations in real estate that will continue to enrich lives for years to come. Terry’s vision helped to shape the skyline of Fort Lauderdale and better every city and…

Hurricane Irma, declining sales force Epicure Market to close for good

A Miami Beach institution has closed its doors, serving its last customers prior to Hurricane Irma’s arrival. Epicure Gourmet Market & Café at 1656 Alton Road announced the closure in a tweet on Thursday. The company attributed the closure to Hurricane Irma, “problems with storm insurance” and declining sales. Owner Jason Starkman could not immediately be reached for comment. Starkman told the Miami…

Insurers Discuss Crane Collapses, Other Contingencies Of Hurricane Irma

Insured losses from the storm are projected at a record $65B, according to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide. “It’s been 12 years since we’ve had anything remotely close to a storm like this, and people are saying, ‘Oh my God, I hope my policy is right,’” insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s South Florida president, Zeb Holt, said. “But this is why people buy insurance. It’s our time to shine.”

Hurricane Irma spared real estate market big damage, caused minor construction, closing delays

Hurricane Irma’s effect on South Florida’s vibrant real estate market is not likely to be much more than the hassles of delayed home deliveries and closings, industry observers say. Twelve years ago, Hurricane Wilma swept across Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, causing major damage to roofs. Blue tarps became a common sight in many neighborhoods hammered by Wilma’s winds.

Four Questions Potential Buyers Should Consider Before Purchasing An Investment Property

Here are four questions potential buyers should consider before purchasing an investment property. What are your financial goals? You should create rules to help stay focused. For instance, are you looking to make money by way of monthly rent checks, or is this a long-term appreciation investment where you look to cash out upon the sale of the property in a few years? These rules should be tailored…

Miami commission overturns mayor’s veto related to Flagstone Island Gardens

As the city of Miami battles Flagstone Island Gardens in Miami-Dade Circuit Court over the developer’s ouster from a megayacht marina and resort project on Watson Island, the city commission and Mayor Tomas Regalado are in tense disagreement over legal strategy. Shortly after Flagstone Property Group — led by Turkish businessman Mehmet Bayraktar — sued the city in June for roughly $122…

Stephen Ross Becomes University Of Michigan’s Single Largest Donor

Detroit native and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has made a $50 million donation to the University of Michigan to support career development programs for students, new business ventures and student-run investment funds. This, on top of $328 million in previous donations, makes Ross the single largest donor to the university — ever. “It gives me enormous joy to continue to give back to the…”

Food halls sizzle in Miami as craze spreads across nation

There’s a food hall commotion stirring up around the nation, and developers in Miami are joining the movement. More food halls are opening nationwide as consumers demand more artisan and healthier food options in lively environments, according to the New York Times. The brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield conducted a research study showing that the growth of food halls has increased…

Early Wynwood broker Larry Mizrach dies

Early Wynwood investor and broker Larry Mizrach of Mizrach Realty Associates died at 85. Mizrach sold the Goldman family more than 20 properties in the early 2000s, which then led to the neighborhood’s revival and transformation into the trendy Wynwood Arts District. His clients also included the Rubell family, according to his former business partner, Danny Zelonker. Mizrach got his start in real estate…

Toys “R” Us files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

From TRD New York: Facing crushing debt and competition from online retailers, Toys “R” Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday.
The company has more than $5 billion in long-term debt, $400 million of which is coming due in 2018, the New York Times reported. Vornado Realty Trust, along with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital, borrowed heavily to purchase the company in 2005…

Florida, Texas Commercial Real Estate Begins Long Recovery Effort from Back-to-Back Storms

With relief efforts under way in areas ravaged by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, analysts are now beginning to assess the broader questions of how the back-to-back natural disasters could potentially affect U.S. economic growth, the nearterm impact of the thousands of residents and tenants displaced by the storms, and how the threat of future storms may affect investor appetite for coastline property…

Market Trend: South Florida’s Mid-Year Industrial Deliveries, Construction and Inventory

During the second quarter 2017, 14 buildings totaling 1,456,539 square feet were completed in the South Florida market area. This compares to 10 buildings totaling 1,328,543 square feet that were completed in the first quarter. There were 4,441,661 square feet of Industrial space under construction at the end of the second quarter 2017. Some of the notable 2017 deliveries include: Flagler Station…

Blue Rock Partners Purchases Pinebrook Property in Miami

Blue Rock Partners LLC acquired the 309-unit Pinebrook apartments at 15601 SW 137th Avenue in Miami, FL for $37.25 million, or about $120,000 per unit, from Pinebrook South LTD. The 273,000-square-foot multifamily building was built in 1987 in the Palmetteo Estates MF submarket. Felipe Echarte and Evan Kristol of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller. The buyer handled the sale in-house.

Jeffrey Soffer: Miami real estate prices won’t suffer in the wake of Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma may have toppled a few cranes in Miami and Fort Lauderdale — but overall, the storm won’t have any long-term impacts on real estate prices in South Florida, says billionaire developer Jeffrey Soffer. The Turnberry Associates CEO appeared on CNBC’s Power Lunch, as Floridians continue to assess damage caused by the storm. Despite widespread flooding and power outages, Soffer said the…

Video: Reis Economis Barbara Denham on The Future of Logistics, Ports & Industrial Real Estate ~ Part 1

Barbara Denham, Economist with Reis, joins The Commercial Real Estate Show to talk about industrial buying and selling, retail, and e-commerce while looking at the impact on the economy. Highlights include: Warehouse and vacancy rates 9.7 from 9.9 in prior quarter and 10.3 last year; Strong net absorption in industrial property market; Q2 rent growth 0.6%; Lot of strong construction is happening across…

Video: Reis Economis Barbara Denham on The Future of Logistics, Ports & Industrial Real Estate ~ Part 2

Barbara Denham, Economist with Reis, joins host The Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss the topics of industrial, warehousing, logistics and retail. Highlights of the video include: Cap rates are a little higher at 7.5 vs 7.4 a year prior; Industrial sector a niche market; Hard sector for novice investor; Seeing increase in sales volume versus year prior; Disparity across country, with some markets…

“Salt Bae” to open first US restaurant in Miami

“Salt Bae” is coming to Miami. Nusret Gökçe is taking over the former Brickell Avenue space of Coya Miami and is set to open his first U.S. restaurant there in October, according to Eater Miami. Gökçe, who gained internet fame for the meme of him expertly slicing – and salting – a bone-in steak, will open a new location of the mini Turkish steakhouse chain Nusr-et at 999 Brickell Avenue. It will mark the 11th…

Video: International WELL Building Institute EVP Judith Webb on Wellness Verification for Your Office Space Part 1

Judith Webb, Executive Vice President at International WELL Building Institute, joins host Michael Bull on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss how to feel good as an occupant, increase productivity and wellness in the office space, and getting a wellness certification for your office or building.

FDEP Issues Order to Restore Structural Damage Post Hurricane

On September 5, 2017, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (“FDEP”) issued Emergency Final Order OGC. No. 17-0989 (the “Order”) in response to the anticipated widespread devastation across Florida caused by Hurricane Irma. In order to respond to the imminent or immediate danger to the public health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the State of Florida, FDEP provided an order to…

“We have to learn how to live with water”: Pros talk development in waterfront cities

Nothing thrusts the future of waterfront cities into question quite like a pair of devastating hurricanes. Hurricane Harvey, where wetlands were paved over to make way for new development, highlighted Houston’s libertarian-tinged zoning deficiencies. Meanwhile, Irma recapitulated the dangers of developing on the water’s edge. “We have to control how we develop these cities,” Judith Rodin, former…

Miami apartment complex purchased and scheduled for upgrades

It is important to be prepared for commercial real estate opportunities when they come up. A Florida company recently purchased a 390-unit apartment complex for $37 million in a Miami suburb. The buyer plans to update the complex and has interior and exterior renovations planned which will cost $3 million. The complex will also be renamed. The commercial real estate transaction was financed…

Miami Community In South Kendall Commands $37 Million from Tampa Based Blue Rock Partners

Pinebrook Apartments, a 309-unit apartment complex in Miami’s South Kendall submarket, sold. Blue Rock Partners of Tampa acquired the property in a $37.3 million deal and rebranded it The Park at Sheffield. The seller was a private investor and Ladder Capital Finance LLC facilitated the transaction with $33.5 million in acquisition financing, public records show. Located at 15601 SW 137th Avenue…

What are the best US cities for millennials? Not Miami, report says

Miami just received a big, fat F for millennials. The Miami metro is in the 10 worst in the country for millennials, according to a report from Apartment List. The ranking takes into account jobs, affordability and livability in 75 major cities in the U.S. Low median wages and slow wage growth kept three Florida cities in the bottom 10. Miami ranked 44th on the list. It received an F due to the job market and low…

American Dream Miami mega-mall draws traffic concerns

Traffic In Miami-Dade and Broward counties is still a concern for the development of the American Dream Miami mega-mall in Northwest Miami-Dade County as meetings continue throughout the fall. “It’s a little under two miles South of our county line, so we know it’s going to generate traffic impacts in Broward,” said Jo Sesodia, Broward County’s director of planning and development management.

Prudential spends $19M on new Little Havana development

Prudential just paid $18.5 million on a new self storage facility in Little Havana, property records show. Broward Havana LLC, a company owned by Bruce Weiner of Atlanta, sold the five-story development at 641 Northwest 12th Avenue to an affiliate of Madison, New Jersey-based Prudential Variable Contract Real Property Partnership. Weiner made his fortune in candy. He sold his company to Tootsie Roll in…

Video: Considering the Impact of Legislative Changes on Multifamily Properties

Greg Brown, Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs with the National Apartment Association (NAA) talks with the host of The Commercial Real Estate Show about future legislative modifications that may impact the multifamily property market. Among the issues discussed are ADA litigiation, including NAA’s proposal for a 120 day right to cure, and the pending expiration of the National Flood…

Chinatown design nears review and approval

After sending six city officials on a 12-day trip to China last May, the City of North Miami completed its conceptual design master plan for its Chinatown Cultural Arts & Innovation District, which is to be presented to the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency this month for review and approval. “Right now we are continuing our planning and public feedback process,” said Larry Spring Jr., North Miami city…

Related Group arm may add housing atop Olympia Theater

The aging and grandiose Olympia Theater in downtown Miami could get a new lease on life if Miami commissioners buy into a proposal from an arm of mega-developer the Related Group to rehab the theater and redevelop the residential units above. The venerable venue hasn’t had a major facelift in more than 15 years. The city commission is to discuss the new proposal today (9/14). The city owns the…

Developers Overbuilt So Many Sunny Isles Beach Condos, They Have Two-Year Backlog

A Miami real-estate analysis released Monday sheds light on the wonderfully stupid way South Florida operates: For the past handful of years, condo prices in the area have been criminally high, so condo developers have laid waste to any undeveloped piece of land they could find, stacking buildings into the sky regardless of whether anyone would buy them. Now they’ve finally built so many they can’t…

Miami police due to get an office in Brickell City Centre

Miami police will have an office in Brickell City Centre if city commissioners approve a lease with the management company of the vast development. Swire Properties is developing the multi-block project and last year opened phase one, which includes residential towers, offices, hotel rooms and a 500,000-square-foot shopping center. The proposed lease for a police station is on the commission’s agenda…

Virginia Key advisory group tries to get ahead of events

Members of the Virginia Key Advisory Board want to be more proactive and less reactionary. The operations and scope of the barely one-and-a-half-year-old body were discussed at the board’s last meeting Aug. 22, and on the heels of a vote to stop the city from proceeding with a proposal for a mooring field in the historic basin of the island. Board members have expressed surprise and concern about some…

LAX Floral Import Inks 30,000 SF Lease Deal In Doral

State Street Realty has leased 30,000 square feet of industrial space to LAX Floral Import at Beacon Centre Business Park, located within the Miami-Airport West submarket. As a result, Beacon Centre Building 3, a 114,000 square foot building within a Class “A” industrial business park at 1617 NW 84 Avenue in Doral, is 100% occupied. The vacancy rate for industrial space in the Miami Airport / Doral area…

Hurricane Irma’s Miami landfall and aftermath in photos

80 percent of Miami-Dade lost power The Miami area thankfully has Hurricane Irma in its rearview, as winds have finally started to settle across the tri-county region. Cities continue to unleash first responders while assessing damages and outages. According to the Sun Sentinel, as of Monday morning there were over 815,000 outages in Miami-Dade (80 percent of homes), nearly 644,000 outages…

CoStar shelling out $385M for another rental listing website

From TRD New York: New York’s brokerage firms may be no match for StreetEasy and its parent Zillow, but CoStar looks to be trying to become one. The real estate data company agreed to buy the rental listing site ForRent.com for $385 million in a bid to list “every single apartment in the U.S. being marketed, whether it’s someone’s garage apartment up to the largest institutional property,” according…

Terry Stiles, who kickstarted Fort Lauderdale’s real estate boom, dies of cancer

Terry Stiles, the developer whose vision essentially led to the creation of the Fort Lauderdale office and multifamily markets, died Monday. He was 70. The cause of death was cancer. Diagnosed in 2015, the chairman and former CEO of Stiles Corp. initially took a six-month leave and returned to work 80 pounds lighter but determined to remain involved. In 2016, his son, Ken Stiles, was named CEO in a previously…

Irma has arrived: Tower crane snaps in half, strikes PMG’s 300 Biscayne

The nightmare is happening. High winds from Hurricane Irma caused the tower crane at Property Market Group’s under-construction “Vice” apartment tower to snap in half and crash into the building.  The Herald reported that the boom is still connected to the crane tower by a cable but is dangling on the side of the 30-story luxury residential building at 300 Biscayne Boulevard. No injuries were…

A second crane just collapsed. This time it’s at the Related Group’s GranParaiso condo development

Just hours after the boom separated from the crane tower and struck Property Markets Group’s 300 Biscayne Avenue, another crane collapsed in Miami, this time at the Related Group’s GranParaiso condominium tower. Multiple news stations reported Sunday afternoon that a tower crane at Related’s 10-acre megadevelopment in Edgewater snapped amid Hurricane Irma’s howling winds and is dangling…

The perks and perils for developers who do their own construction

In 1898, Julius Tishman built a six-story tenement building, ultimately sparking the creation of the family’s development firm, Tishman Realty & Construction. The “construction” portion of the company’s name initially indicated that it was self-sufficient, that it could build its own projects — but the construction arm grew to one of the most active shops in the city and eventually was bought by engineering…

A Close Look at Urban Core Apartment Market Performances: Miami Listed Among Weakened Markets

Rents have been essentially flat for a while now in a big block of downtowns, including the urban cores in Charlotte, N.C., Los Angeles, Miami, San Antonio, Texas, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Washington, D.C. Let’s also put Manhattan and Brooklyn in this category, although Manhattan performances by individual neighborhood are wide-ranging.

Long-Term Outlook for Rental Apartments Remains Positive: Miami Supply Shortfall Coming

In fact, some cities are likely to suffer from a shortage of apartments in the short term. “Keeping in mind that deliveries are set to hit cyclical highs in many markets over the coming few months, there would be supply shortfalls in big-demand centers like Las Vegas, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Raleigh,” says Willett. This demand will continue over the next decade, according to the NMHC…

Almost $40 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities was exposed to Hurricane Irma in Florida: report

Just under $40 billion of CMBS debt was exposed to the wrath of Hurricane Irma in Florida, $6.41 billion of which was concentrated in Miami, according to an analysis from Morningstar Credit Ratings. FEMA has not posted a formal disaster declaration for the storm yet, but Morningstar’s initial analysis found that it exposed $38.94 billion worth of CMBS in the state. About $6.46 billion of exposure was…

Miami firm buys Atlanta-area office complex for $13.5 million

Miami-based IG3 Real Estate bought an office complex in the Atlanta area for $13.5 million. IG3 paid about $119 per square foot for the 113,016-square-foot Sugarloaf Business Center in Duluth, Georgia. The office complex has a 98 percent occupancy rate. Major tenants include Credit Union Service Corp., Emory Clinic, United Healthcare Services Inc. and USASF Servicing. IG3 obtained an $8.4 million loan…

Miami Construction Firm MCM Gets Tangled Up In Paul Manafort Saga

Munilla Construction Management, also known as MCM, has built schools, airports and highways all around the United States. Its projects have included terminals at PortMiami, various city halls and police stations, and the bridges connecting Las Olas Boulevard to the finger islands in Fort Lauderdale. Now the Miami-based firm, owned by six brothers, is playing a bit part in a national saga: the investigation…

NREI: Florida Assesses Damage as Irma Ebbs to Tropical Storm

Post-hurricane Miami got back to business with a puff of smoke. It came from the fat Arturo Fuente Opus X that Jorge Artiles was smoking after he opened his cigar shop in a strip mall. Asked why he decided to open only one day after Hurricane Irma turned the surrounding Brickell Avenue financial district into a lake, he said: “Because today is Monday.” The first day of the week offered the city and all…

These 10 US cities are most prepared for disaster – Miami isn’t one of them

Hurricane Harvey pummeled Houston and New Orleans last week, and Hurricane Irma hit Miami and other cities near the US southern coast this weekend. Meanwhile, officials in cities across the American West have been trying to tame massive wildfires in recent weeks. And then there are the everyday disasters that plague many American cities, like poverty, unsanitary water, substandard education…

J.P. Morgan, Magellan Development Secure Financing for Proposed Midtown 6 Apartments

J.P. Morgan and Magellan Development Group secured $110.3 million in construction financing for the proposed Midtown 6 multifamily project at 3101 NE 1st Avenue in Miami, FL. The project will span 31 stories and total 397,000 square feet of residential space above 40,000 square feet of street-level retail. The project is expected to complete in spring 2020 and have a LEED Silver designation.

Artists Creating – And Owning – Their Own Spaces in Miami

How creativity is changing commercial real estate: Art does a lot for people. It appeals to our creative nature; it’s personal; its expression touches something in all of us. In the words of Pablo Picasso, “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” The same sentiment can be said about art in communities. By embracing creativity, neighborhoods are learning that art can wash off their dust.

Commercial Real Estate in Miami is Getting Greener

When it comes to climate change, perhaps no other region in the nation has as much to lose as South Florida – Miami and Miami Beach in particular. With each year, King Tide flooding becomes increasingly extreme and creeps into more and more neighborhoods, and herculean efforts are underway to adapt city design and pump water back into the ocean. It should come as little surprise that cities…

Rules For Public-Private Deals OK, But Pick Proper Rules

To expedite public-private partnerships and unsolicited proposals for deals with Miami-Dade, commissioners are being asked (9/7) to toss out every word of county code on the topic and add a whole new version. Even if we agreed entirely with fostering a new wave of deals that could wind up with companies controlling public lands, buildings…

More Real Estate Players Say The Peak Is Now

More than half of respondents to an NREI survey conducted in July said the real estate cycle has reached its peak. The percentage of survey respondents who believe we are currently at the peak of the market totaled 52 percent, up 500 basis points since the results in May of 2017 and 600 basis points since March results. The only…

Pepsico Seeks Buyer For Miami-Dade Plant As Redevelopment Opportunity

Pepsico has listed the site of its Miami-Dade County bottling plant for sale as a redevelopment opportunity. The 23.7-acre site in Doral is listed for sale on the Real Capital Markets website. The brokers are NAI Global’s Jay Olshonsky, Clifford Moskowitz and Kimberly Kocur, plus NAI Miami’s Gabriel Garcia-Menocal and Lucia Custer. Located just off the Palmetto Expressway…

“Florida Has Many Resources For Businesses, Before And After Irma,” Says DEO Chief

In the past, many looming storms were met with a dangerous element: complacency. “Not so with Hurricane Irma, said Cissy Proctor,” executive director of Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity. “Everyone is being vigilant and paying attention to what’s going on with this storm and taking it seriously.” She has an important message to share with the thousands of Florida business owners…

Related, Partners Sell CityPlace Doral Apartments For $135 million

The Related Group, Shoma Group and PGIM Real Estate Investors just sold a piece of CityPlace Doral. Property records show the developers sold the Manor at CityPlace, at 3450 Northwest 85th Court, to TA Realty affiliate FHF I Manor Doral for $135 million. The deal breaks down to nearly $343,000 per apartment. Related and its partners completed the 394-unit luxury apartment complex in 2014…

Jackie Soffer: Leading Turnberry Associates to improve its properties

Though Jackie Soffer was hesitant to join the family business, she is now committed to her father’s mission of making Turnberry Associates provide more than just real estate to its consumers. In the ’80s, her father, Donald Soffer, gave a social flair to his projects, inviting celebrities to lavish events to generate media attention and drive sales. “We don’t just offer people stores to shop in or a condo…

Video: NAA’s Director of Research & Analysis Paula Munger Discusses Multifamily Demand

Paula Munger, Director of Research & Analysis with the National Apartment Association (NAA) shares key statistics on demand for U.S. multifamily property as well as tips for improving demand. Highlights include: Certain markets certain sectors like luxury sector where starting to see overbuildings; New study between NAA and NMHC (National Multifamily Housing Council) found there is a need for 4.6…

Miami Beach commissioners likely to approve convention hotel

A Miami Beach vote next week on building a convention center headquarters hotel should be a lock: four of the six city commissioners told Miami Today they will vote yes. But the spot a city panel chose where the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater sits has drawn skepticism from two of the four, who are unsure how the public would react to razing a historic building. The seven-member…

Waterford at Blue Lagoon to build Burger King Corporate hub

Waterford at Blue Lagoon, which is owned by a joint venture between TH Real Estate, a real estate investment management affiliate of TIAA, and Allianz Real Estate of America, is planning to construct and complete a five-story building known as the 5707 building by October 2018. The new building, which is set to be the new location for the Burger King Corp., “will contain 150,000 net rentable…”

Coral Gables Looks To Grow Southward Beyond Merrick Park & University of Miami

An 11.4 square mile area of Coral Gables that includes the Shops at Merrick Park, the University of Miami and the city’s upscale Riviera neighborhood is poised for a new wave of development that will completely alter the southern landscape of the City Beautiful. Astor Companies recently broke ground on Merrick Manor, a 10-story Mediterranean-style building at 301 Altara Avenue. The 227-unit tower…

Telehealth Is Already Penetrating The South Florida Healthcare Market

Telehealth — healthcare provided remotely via phone or internet connections — has already begun to penetrate the South Florida market. Commercial real estate professionals are watching this sector, as it could transform, or make obsolete, functions of traditional medical offices and hospitals. Deirdra Funcheon Aurelio Fernandez, president and C​EO, Memorial Healthcare System; Ben Riestra…

City of Miami: Construction cranes aren’t designed to handle a Cat 5 storm

Designed to withstand up to 145 MPH winds For Miami residents living in high-rise condominiums or apartment buildings who are considering riding out a potential clash with Hurricane Irma, listen up: The City of Miami has issued a warning for those living near buildings under construction, releasing an important tweet Tuesday evening. “Currently, there are 20 to 25 construction cranes in the…

Hurricane Irma: South Florida hotel investors face potential damage

Along with residents and small businesses, major lodging real estate investment trusts could also be slammed by Hurricane Irma this weekend if the storm makes landfall in South Florida or passes close by. Hyatt Hotels Corp. has the greatest exposure to storm damage. About 7 percent of its rooms are in threatened areas, The Wall Street Journal reported. Wells Fargo Securities analysts told the Journal…

CBRE Report: Malls need a new business model

The fall of big box retail has led researchers at CBRE to conclude that the 70-year-old mall business model needs an update. A report released Tuesday by the real estate services firm revealed that malls need to look for tenants that are less susceptible to e-commerce competition, The Wall Street Journal reported. CBRE findings suggested that malls should shift sights towards tenants in growing…

Commercial Real Estate Transaction Activity Rebounds In Q2 Following Q1 Plunge

Ten-X today released its latest Commercial Real Estate Volume & Pricing Trends report (formerly the Capital Trends report), which reveals that investment activity expanded in Q2 2017, after suffering a sharp contraction in the previous quarter. Overall transaction volume jumped 15.6 percent from the first quarter to $105 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics, with the increase driven by growth in all…

Miami firm scores $13.2 million construction loan for hotel in West Kendall

A Miami-based firm just scored a $13.15 million construction loan for its planned TownePlace Suites by Marriott in West Kendall, property records show. Ocean Bank was the lender. Records show Sunflower Hospitality at Kendall LLC, led by Manuel Henriques Moniz, paid about $1.6 million for the site in 2011. The Marriott-branded hotel will offer 116 rooms, according to a notice of commencement. The hotel…

Hurricane Irma alert: Live next to a construction crane in Miami? It may be time to evacuate

Construction cranes in the city of Miami aren’t designed to withstand Hurricane Irma’s Category 5 winds, putting a number of residents at risk. The 20 to 25 cranes in the city, which includes Brickell and downtown Miami, can handle winds of up to 145 miles per hour, the city said on Tuesday. Irma clocked winds of 185 miles an hour on Tuesday, the second strongest storm in the Atlantic Ocean following…

Video: Conor Wagner of Green Street Says No Slowdown in Multifamily Supply Growth in 2018

In this brief video, Conor Wagner of Greenstreet Advisors sits down with Matthew Bechard at NAREIT to discuss the multifamily (apartments) property sector. Highlights include: Green Street does is not expecting a material slowdown in multifamily supply growth in 2018 for the apartment sector. According to Green Street Advisors Analyst Conor Wagner, housing starts have not shown any real…

Status for Office in the Grove denied by HEP Board

By a vote of 7-2, the Office in the Grove’s historic status was voted down Tuesday night by Miami’s HEP Board (Historic and Environmental Preservation Board. One of the board members asked architect Richard J. Heisenbottle if he was paid by the new owners of the office building, he along with a bunch of other suits present were. So that explains his rude, less than smart letter putting down Ken Treister…

Florida in The Top 5 For Commercial Development

When the NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association, conducted its analysis to determine the top states for commercial development, it looked at GDP, salaries, wages, and the amount of jobs created and supported from the development and operation of commercial real estate. People in South Florida, though, merely had to look at the number of cranes and construction projects filling…

6 Ways to Save On a CRE Lease

“Man is an animal that makes bargains; no other animal does this – no dog exchanges bones with another.” Economist Adam Smith wrote these words in 1776 in his seminal Wealth of Nations, and this macroeconomic maxim is just as appropriate for today’s CRE market. Everyone loves a good bargain, from BOGOs at their local grocery store to businesses looking to lease office space. Bargain hunting…

The Traits of a Good Tenant Representative

It is difficult to overstate the importance of quality tenant representation in commercial real estate. Through the peaks and troughs of the market, a good tenant rep must be able to assess economic trends, broker deals, thoroughly evaluate a client’s needs, and make sure those needs are always their priority. The best reps will possess a rare combination of market awareness and vision. They’ll not only work…

Florida Is the Only State to Tax Commercial Leases

While this notoriety can be blamed on ease of access to police blotters thanks to the state’s open records law, there’s another item that is uniquely Florida: We are the only state that imposes a sales tax on commercial leases. The monetary benefit of the Business Rent Tax: Written into the state’s tax code in the late ‘60s, the Business Rent Tax (BRT) means businesses must pay a 6% state sales tax on…

The Common Sense of Common Space

Today’s office is all about space – and how to best utilize space that’s often shrinking and more expensive. There’s open space and space dedicated to focused individual work, small group space and larger meeting space, shared space and co-location space. With an emphasis on flexibility, productivity, and cost-effectiveness, it only makes sense for the office common space – also known as the break room…

How an Uptick in Collaborative Workspaces Could Affect the Demand for Commercial Real Estate

The world of work – or at least the world of the workspace – is undergoing a major evolution as a result of a changing workforce, technology, and the twists and turns of the modern economy. As a result, the commercial real estate market is also seeing a shift in demand due to how that space is utilized. CRE and the mobile generation: Advances in technology have allowed workers, particularly…

More Real Estate Players Say The Peak Is Now

More than half of respondents to an NREI survey conducted in July said the real estate cycle has reached its peak. The percentage of survey respondents who believe we are currently at the peak of the market totaled 52 percent, up 500 basis points since the results in May of 2017 and 600 basis points since March results. The only…