Month: December 2017

Cousins Properties sells interest in Courvoisier Centre in Miami’s Brickell Key

Cousins Properties, an Atlanta-based real estate investment trust, just sold its 20 percent interest in the Courvoisier Centre office complex in Miami’s Brickell Key for $33.9 million. The Courvoisier Centre, a 343,000-square-foot office complex at 501 and 601 Brickell Key Drive, was purchased in 2014 by Orlando-based investor Parkway Properties for $146 million, records show. A spokesperson for Cousins…

Mixed-use Miami Plaza tower moves ahead to join two others

Better but still lacking. That was the consensus of a City of Miami review board evaluating the renderings and floor plans for a mixed-use tower to be called Miami Plaza. The Urban Development Review Board on Dec. 20 was looking over fresh documents on the project, deferred with the developer’s approval in November. Nearly all board members said the redrawn plans were an improvement from…

South Florida’s biggest office deals of 2017

South Florida’s luxury office market, which often boasts gleaming high-rises set against sunny landscapes with water views, didn’t outshine the previous year in sales. But considering it survived some crazy weather (including a hurricane) and a shift in investment dollars towards multifamily and industrial real estate, the market remained relatively healthy. Office towers smack in the middle of growing…

Coral Gables office market roaring into 2018

The Coral Gables office market continues to be steady and reliable, observers say. “In the big picture, Coral Gables is solid,” said Donna Abood, principal and managing director of Avison Young’s Miami operations. “It never has major shifts, because of the value of the city overall. “In 2018, we expect a stronger first quarter than we had this year, and the second quarter will be stronger than the first, because…

Brightline rail still standing in station awaiting feds’ OK

The startup luxury Brightline rail service to link Miami with West Palm Beach is still standing in the station, the company announced Friday. In a news release, the company says it still doesn’t have federal permission to start service. “The company continues working toward operational readiness with the Federal Railroad Administration for the launch of introductory service between West Palm Beach…

Land for Pop-up businesses face legislative tangle

A late addition to proposed legislation to govern temporary uses on vacant land, which impacts so-called pop-up businesses, has stalled the measure. Miami city commissioners approved the ordinance amendment on first reading in September, noting that planning and zoning officials were making further tweaks. The final version of the proposal was up for a final vote Dec. 14, but Commission Chairman…

International passengers through Miami International Airport grow

The number of international passengers traveling through Miami International Airport this year is slightly ahead of the same period in 2016, most recent data from the Miami-Dade Aviation Department show. Those international passengers are coveted in most areas of business, from real estate to retail sales, and in restaurants and hotels. Those who stay in Miami tend to stay longer and spend more per…

Edgewater’s Missoni Baia launches first phase of construction

The luxury condo project broke ground in October Miami’s Missoni Baia, a high-end condo project rising in Edgewater, announced the first phase of construction has begun for the 649-foot tower after breaking ground a couple of months ago. A spokesperson for OKO Group says 190 piles totaling over 12,000 linear feet have been installed along with 150 tons of steel reinforcing bar, and over 1,000…

The next threat to RE prices: demographics

Real estate executives are keeping an anxious eye on the Federal Reserve, but maybe they shouldn’t. Conventional wisdom holds that when the central bank raises short-term rates, long-term rates also rise, which pushes up the cost of mortgages and puts downward pressure on property prices. But recently this didn’t seem to hold true, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Fed raised its short-term…

Investors take a knee – for now – as land prices soar in Overtown

The Miami Innovation District’s developers spent $100 million assembling a 10.4-acre plot where they hope to attract technology companies like Amazon, developer Michael Simkins told TRD. There’s an aerial map of the city of Miami on the desk of Cornelius “Neil” Shiver. His job is to promote economic development in a 600-acre swath of real estate in Overtown and Park West that’s outlined in red…

The 10 juiciest real estate lawsuits of 2017

Accusations of backstabbing, disputes over multimillion-dollar deals, undisclosed vermin problems and many other allegations of shady behavior involving South Florida real estate developers, brokers and buyers made headlines in 2017. Lucky for you, The Real Deal was there to document all the salaciousness. Here’s a look back at the…

Are South Florida’s retail landlords too optimistic about the market?

The first retail portion of the $350 million mixed-use development at the former Plantation Mall is nearly 65 percent leased, Encore Capital Management says. From the December issue: As South Florida’s retail real estate sector continues to show strength — an anomaly as the rest of the country sees vacancy rates creep ever higher — some worry that landlords in the tri-county region’s hottest neighborhoods…

$5.1 Million Coral Gables Sale Closes

Sold was a 37,134-square-foot building, situated on a 21,244-square foot parcel, located at 4950 SW 8th Street in Coral Gables. The Buyer, GDJARD Investment LLC, purchased the property for $5,100,000 from 4950 SW Eighth LLC. The deal closed on March 31. Preferred Medical Partners previously utilized the 1985-built, three-story medical office building as…

Condo Building On Washington Avenue Hits The Market: $14 million

A low-rise condo building in South Beach has hit the market for $14 million. The Golden Dreams Condominium, a 26-unit complex at 65 and 75 Washington Avenue, is being offered as a bulk sale, according to CoStar Group. Built in 1960, units range in size from 380-square-foot studios to 620-square-foot one-bedrooms. The list price breaks down to about $540,000 per condo. The building is being marketed…

As Developers Go On Shopping Spree, Miami Retail Has Never Been Hotter

There’s a gold rush on for retail in South Florida. Developers and mall operators want to renovate and expand shopping centers across the region. New retail is popping up, too, especially open-air “high-street” shops with surprisingly gourmet dining — a breezy contrast to the enclosed suburban malls of old. The cost of all that investment runs into the billions. The timing may seem odd, given the obstacles…

Crowdfunding Backs Miami Infill Apartments

An emerging trend among real estate investors has made its way into Miami’s development community. Ricky Trinidad, Coral Gables-based developer and president of Metronomic Inc., recently launched a private crowdfunding platform to raise capital for his residential projects, where investors can pitch in as little as $2,000 to back the firm’s latest ventures: GroveHaus, a boutique rental community in…

Miami Hotel Market Could Reach Maturity In 2016: Experts Say

Industry experts say Miami’s hotel market could be reaching its peak in 2016 as revenues and occupancy rates begin to level out. Last year was solid for the individual hotels that make up Miami’s leisure industry: more than 44 million travelers passed through the Miami International Airport, a bevy of new hotel developments opened their doors and room rates saw steady gains compared to 2014.

Could Moishe Mana Be Assembling A Portfolio In Another Submarket?

Switching gears from Wynwood, Moishe Mana has purchased a commercial property along Northeast 167th Street in North Miami Beach. Miami-Dade County records show a Mana affiliate paid $9.5 million for the Regions Bank office tower and adjacent retail at 699 Northeast 167th Street and 699 North Miami Beach Boulevard. Jaw of Divine Square, an LLC managed by Glenn M. Chwatt was the seller.

5 Revelations From UM Real Estate Conference With National Leaders

Executives with industry heavyweights such as Blackstone Group, Prudential Real Estate Investors and Federal Realty Investment Trust told attendees of the University of Miami’s Real Estate Impact Conference that 2016 won’t be as strong for real estate values as the previous two years, but we’re not headed into a recession. Nearly 600 people learned about what’s ahead in the real estate market at the…

Thor Unloads Design District Properties For $128.3M

Less than three years after it began assembling a war chest of properties in Miami’s Design District, Thor Equities has just sold eight sites to Redsky Capital and JZ Capital Partners… The properties include: 3995 North Miami Avenue; 10 Northeast 40th Street; 28 Northeast 40th Street; 40 Northeast 40th Street; 50 Northeast 40th Street; 53 Northeast 39th Street; 3925 North Miami Avenue; 15 Northeast 39th Street.

Miami rental development draws $46.4 million construction loan

Pinnacle Housing Group and Ascend Properties got a $46.4 million construction loan to build a 272-unit apartment complex near Miami International Airport. Pinnacle and Ascend expect to finish construction of the Oasis at Blue Lagoon apartments at 6650 Northwest 7 Street in Miami in mid-2019. The development firms also secured a preferred equity investment in the development by Arbor Realty…

Sale of Kendall Synagogue Negotiated for $5.35 Million

Sold was a property owned by Bet Breira Congregation. Juan Carlos Mas, former CEO for one of the nation’s largest equipment rental companies, just paid $5.35 million for the Kendall synagogue, which he’s eyeing for possible redevelopment. Mas’ purchased includes the synagogue at 9408 Southwest 87th Avenue, which has operated for…

Ground broken for construction of Elysee Miami

Two Roads Development broke ground for construction of Elysee Miami, a 100-unit condominium tower in the Miami’s East Edgewater neighborhood. West Palm Beach-based Two Roads, led by managing principal Reid Boren, is developing the 57-story condo at 788 Northeast 23 Street in partnership with entities managed by New York-based investment firm DW Partners. Construction is expected…

Jeffrey Dagowitz and Lionheart Capital buy Miami Beach’s Seagull Hotel at auction

Hotelier Jeffrey Dagowitz and Lionheart Capital bought the Seagull Hotel Miami Beach at auction Friday, putting in a high bid of $31.1 million for the prime piece of waterfront land, Dagowitz confirmed. Bidders were required to submit a $5 million deposit, according to the requirements set by the auctioneer, Pompano Beach-based Fisher Auction Company.

SEC sues Robert Shapiro for allegedly masterminding $1B Ponzi scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Robert Shapiro, the former head of embattled Woodbridge Group of Companies, for allegedly running a $1 billion Ponzi scheme. Shapiro, who resigned earlier this month, is accused of misleading investors by making it appear that Woodbridge was financing property acquisitions made by third-party borrowers, the Wall Street Journal reported. Most of…

Blackstone REIT pays $139M for Codina’s West Kendall apartment complex

An entity of Blackstone Group’s real estate investment trust just scooped up an apartment complex in southwest Miami-Dade for about $139 million… Signature at Kendall, developed by Armando Codina’s CC Residential firm, sold in two separate parcels. Records show Blackstone’s REIT paid $96.95 million for the first phase, which includes a 396-unit apartment complex at 8881 Southwest 172nd Avenue.

18 Miami metro cities ranked by median rent prices

Rents are rising in Boca and Homestead In looking at the median rent for one bedroom apartments across the Miami metro area, we learn Homestead and Sunrise are are producing some of the fastest-rising figures in the region. The Zumper report of 18 cities shows median rent in Homestead rose by a whopping 15.1 percent year over year to $1,070. Placing in second and third was Sunrise and Plantation…

Inside the food hall coming to MiamiCentral

Central Fare Miami’s booming food hall scene—2017’s version of a food court—continues to expand, with the latest news coming from the under-construction MiamiCentral, an 11-acre mixed-use project encompassing residences, office space, retail, and a public transit hub for Brightline Express Train Station. Central Fare, which had planned to open this Fall, is now targeting Summer 2018 and has chosen…

Developer Richard Siemens dies at 82

Florida developer Richard “Dick” Siemens died on Sunday at the age of 82, according to his family. Siemens, president and CEO of the Siemens Group, founded the company in 1964 and led the development of more than 15,000 homes in over 20 communities since then. He was active in Boca Raton, where Siemens Group is building Akoya Boca West, a luxury condo building under construction at the…

Developer Buys 823,000-SF Industrial Complex in Doral with Expansion Potential as Land Scarcity Spurs Demand for Infill Locations

The developer of Amazon’s massive warehouse in Miami-Dade County has acquired another large industrial project nearby. Orlando-based Foundry Commercial, along with partner American Realty Advisors, bought Miami Free Zone, a two-building warehouse-distribution complex totaling 823,000 square feet on 47 acres in Doral, FL. The buyers declined to reveal the price. The transaction…

Miami-Dade transit takes worst plunge in use ever

Miami-Dade’s beleaguered transit system took its worst plunge in use ever in the past fiscal year, new figures reveal. Ridership among all four transit modes declined a combined 9.6% as almost one in every 10 riders disappeared. Declines hit across the board, though the drop in bus passengers, the largest single group of transit riders with 58 million yearly trips, was greatest, at 11%. The figures through Sept. 30…

E-Commerce And The Need For Local Distribution Centers

The revolution in retail has been Amazonian. Because of the growth of that online mega-merchant, all aspects of commerce have changed. As a result, other retailers have had to wade into the e-commerce pool in order to remain competitive. The question facing many e-commerce retailers – especially those trying to get a toehold in a land ruled by two giants, Amazon and Walmart – is how to…

Masoud Shojaee sues development partner for $100K in office rent spat

Three months ago, Miami-based developer Masoud Shojaee and New Boston Fund, an investment, development and management firm based in Bean Town, sold an 11-story office building in Doral for $96.1 million — a 253 percent price increase from what he and the company paid for it in 2010. One might think such a substantial profit would have left the previous owners more than happy about…

Crocker Partners Unveiled Citigroup Center During Miami Art Week

The intersection of real estate, art and high-design merged at Miami Art Week when South Florida-based investment giant Crocker Partners unveiled its highly-anticipated Citigroup Center in Downtown Miami. The complex boasts a newly renovated tower, featuring a refurbished modern glass façade, stunning lobby and multiple retail spaces on the ground level redesigned by world renowned architect…

Are Miami Beach’s Luxury Towers the Future of Climate Resilience?

The Monad Terrace—a 59-unit Miami Beach luxury condominium—hasn’t been built yet, but its salesroom is up and running. Set on the ground floor of an office building a few blocks from the Monad’s bayfront building site, the space re-creates the look and feel of a model apartment in hopes that its white marble bathroom, open-plan kitchen, and glassy bedroom might persuade buyers to spend from $1.7…

Karakhanian sells Design District building

Developer Alex Karakhanian sold a building housing an international fashion school in the Miami Design District to Stockbridge Capital for $22 million. Karakhanian’s Lndmrk Development sold the property at 3701 Northeast Second Avenue for $1,000 per square foot, according to a press release. Milan-based Istituto Marangoni is leasing the 22,000-square-foot, seven-story building. The fashion school…

Airbnb Is Getting a $200 Million Boost to Build Its Hotel-Like Apartment Business in Miami, Other Major Cities

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, as the old saying goes. That seems to be ringing true for some multifamily housing developers, who are just now beginning to explore the opportunities of building “Airbnb-friendly” apartments. Today, you can count Brookfield Property Partners and Silverpeak Real Estate Partners as two of those landlords who see dollar signs in working with homesharing giant Airbnb.

Istituto Marangoni’s first U.S. campus set to open in Miami’s Design District

Istituto Marangoni, the leading Italian fashion, art and design school, an-nounces the group expansion into the Americas with the opening of the first U.S. School in Miami’s Design District, the 10th in the world. Istituto Marangoni, which was founded in 1935 in Milan and has more than 80 years of history and success in training the top professionals of fashion and design, can praise itself for the education of…

UniVista Insurance buys new HQ along Miami River

Miami-based UniVista Insurance just purchased a new office building along the Miami River where it plans to move its headquarters. Property records show Riverside Property Building LLC, led by UniVista CEO Ivan Herrera, paid $10.2 million for a four-story office building at 528 Northwest 7th Avenue. The 15,000-square-foot building sold for about $680 per square foot. The seller, GLF Construction Corp…

TBD Group sells Edgewater dev site on Biscayne Blvd. for $5 million

A Miami real estate investment and development firm just flipped a site in Edgewater for $5.24 million. Property records show an affiliate of TBD Group, a Key Biscayne company owned by Miami architects Tamara and Bernadette Despujols and their parents Leonor Ortega and Claudio Despujols, sold the 0.37-acre lot at 3200 Biscayne Boulevard to Green Circle Development, led by Sexton E. Garcia. It sold for…

Foreigners Are Unloading CRE Assets — In Miami, At Least

For the past decade, foreign investors looking to stash capital in a safe place bought up Miami condos like kids dropping pennies in their piggy banks. Fearing that prices were plateauing, many investors moved into commercial real estate in major U.S. cities. Now they are cashing out, Marcus & Millichap Senior Managing Director Alex Zylberglait said. Foreigners began moving into CRE in 2015, Zylberglait…

‘I Hand-Pick All My Tenants’: Miami Developers Curate Retailers To Create Cool Neighborhoods

The Little River area of Miami is a large jigsaw puzzle, MVW Partners principal Matthew Vander Werff said, and because he quietly bought almost 80 properties there before the area got too hot, he is able to act like a master hand, guiding a distillery here, a vintage motorcycle shop there, making the neighborhood fit together just so. Deirdra Funcheon MVW Partners principal Matthew Vander Werff pictured at…

Coconut Grove reinventing itself as a luxury enclave

Coconut Grove has long played an important role in Miami’s transformation into a bustling metropolis. Discovered in the early 19th century by mariners attracted to bubbling freshwater springs along its coastline, it was one of the city’s earliest settlements founded by maritime traders from the Bahamas and Europe. After its official founding in 1873, Coconut Grove went through several evolutions…

Major League Soccer approves David Beckham’s 3 new partners in Miami dream

After four years of pushing for Miami’s very own Major League Soccer team and stadium, David Beckham announced more progress Thursday. He now has the backing of two wealthy Cuban-Americans and a multi-billionaire from Japan. The MLS board of governors approved a new ownership group that aims to celebrate the team’s first game in a new Overtown stadium in 2020. Todd Boehly…

Amid Coconut Grove Playhouse intermission, garage shrinks

Historic preservationists may have won a partial victory with a Miami Parking Authority vow to shrink the height and scale of a garage planned in efforts to save the shuttered Coconut Grove Playhouse. Beyond that, it appears preservationists fighting to save the entire structure – including the 1,100-seat auditorium – have found powerful allies at the city and county level. The Miami City Commission…

Miami-Dade looks at rolling circulator buses across county

Though many municipalities provide low fare and free bus circulators to their residents, unincorporated Miami-Dade residents are left to rely exclusively on the Metrorail, Metrobus and Metromover systems. To provide more options to residents in unincorporated areas of the county and make existing systems more accessible, commissioners are asking the mayor’s office to explore county-run bus circulator…

Ransom Everglades School expanding in a big way

The latest plan will expand the Upper School campus by nearly 7 acres by adding adjacent property known as La Brisa, purchased in 2016. School officials are seeking approval from the City of Miami for an amended Special Area Plan or SAP for Upper School at 3575 Main Highway, and an amended development agreement with the city. The city commission on Dec. 14 unanimously approved both…

Developer scores construction loan for Casa Grove rentals

Miami-based MEC Development Associates and and B Developments just closed on a $27 million construction loan for Casa Grove, a luxury apartment tower planned for Coconut Grove, according to a press release. The transit-oriented project is being developed by a joint venture between the two firms. Construction of the 130-unit project at 2900 Southwest 28th Lane is set to begin next month…

Connectivity key in building our next generation economy

Amazon’s announcement that the company will build a second headquarters in North America led to almost every major city across the US scrambling to put together the best package possible to convince the online behemoth that their city is the right fit for the aptly named Amazon HQ2. Amazon’s request for proposal (RFP) laid out several “paramount” prerequisites for any city hoping to land HQ2.

Anatomy at 1220 to anchor Avra Jain project near Midtown Miami

Miami Beach gym Anatomy at 1220 is bulking up with a second location. Owners Chris Paciello and Marc Megna signed a lease for 15,000 square feet at 3415 Northeast Second Avenue in Miami, broker Lyle Chariff told The Real Deal. Avra Jain and Joe Del Vecchio of Vagabond Group paid $13 million in May for the building, which sits just east of Midtown Miami near Edgewater. Chariff, Luis Guevara and…

DHL Inks 100,000 SF Lease Renewal At Beacon Centre In Doral

Transwestern’s South Florida industrial team closed a long-term lease renewal for approximately 100,000 square feet with global logistics provider DHL at Beacon Centre, a Class A business park located at NW 25th St. and NW 84th Ave. in Doral. Rhis renewal maintains 100 percent occupancy at the 180,000-square-foot building at 8400 NW 25th Street. “Beacon Centre is centrally located in Doral, just 2 miles…”

CRE will hit “the jackpot” with GOP tax plan


Commercial real estate owners who hold properties through pass-through companies could fare quite well under the final Republican tax bill compared to other companies using the same structure. The proposal gives a 20 percent deduction on taxable income to pass-through companies owned by individuals who make less than $157,500 and joint filers who make less than $315,000, the Wall Street…

Doral Is One Of Only Four Cities To Nab Prestigious Platinum Certification

The World Council on City Data has recognized the City of Doral with the ISO 37210 Platinum certification. This certification is awarded to cities who reach the highest standard in collecting and sharing data, using it for effective decision-making. The City of Doral is the fourth city to receive ISO 37120 certification in the U.S., joining a global network of over 50 cities worldwide, including Dubai, Barcelona, and…

Construction of Brightline link to Orlando to start in first quarter

All Aboard Florida expects in the first quarter of 2018 to start construction to extend its Brightline passenger rail service to Orlando and to launch service to Miami. The Federal Railroad Administration on Friday approved All Aboard Florida’s plan to link Orlando to its pending Brightline service in South Florida. The Brightline rail service is expected to start between downtown stations in West Palm Beach…

Miami apartment building Casa Grove to begin construction in January

Just northwest of Coconut Grove A new luxury apartment building in Miami is preparing to begin construction next month after securing the necessary construction funding. The 130-unit Casa Grove will rise at 2900 Southwest 28 Lane (just northwest of US1 and next to the Coconut Grove Metrorail Station) after the development team, comprised of MEC Development Associates and B Developments, closed…

Miami’s 26 Edgewater expecting early 2018 opening

Over 90% sold Another new condo project is nearing completion in Miami with 26 Edgewater expecting to open early next year. Located at 321 Northeast 26th Street and designed by Modis Architects, the 10-story mixed-use development is currently over 90 percent sold. It’s comprised of 86 units, ranging from one to two bedrooms and 560 to 998 square feet. It’s the first boutique development in Edgewater.

Miami Jewish Health Systems nabs approval, breaks ground on Buena Vista campus

The Miami Jewish Health Systems broke ground on the redevelopment of its Buena Vista campus on Friday, a day after securing approval from the Miami City Commission for its special area plan. The commission approved the plan for a linear park on Northeast Miami Place and 50th Terrace, according to a press release from Greenberg Traurig. The SAP will also allow property owners of nine or more acres…

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach offers an aquatic helicopter experience

The latest in over-the-top amenities Miami’s condo amenity game has officially reached absurd levels. The Porsche Design Tower has its car elevator. Paramount Miami Worldcenter will have its theme park of an amenity deck. Estates at Acqualina will house an ice skating rink. The latest over-the-top amenity: A navigable marine helipad coming to The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach, which is…

Battle for the $1 billion Island Gardens project

Flagstone Property Group fi led suit against the city of Miami after the developer was kicked out of Watson Island and the Island Gardens project. From the latest issue: For well over a decade, Turkish entrepreneur Mehmet Bayraktar has been on a seemingly quixotic quest to transform a barren patch of prime waterfront land in Miami into a billion-dollar ultraluxury resort with a supersized wharf…

$20 million Coconut Grove Playhouse renovation plan booed off stage

Miami commissioners closed the curtains on an initial $20 million plan to renovate the Coconut Grove Playhouse that entailed razing the playhouse’s deteriorated 1,100-seat auditorium and replacing it with a modern 300-seat theater. In a 3-2 vote on Thursday, the commissioners moved to preserve the exterior facade of the theater — a motion carried out by Commissioner Ken Russell, according…

Toys “R” Us could close as many as 200 locations

Toys “R” Us is reportedly considering closing 100 to 200 U.S. stores, according to Bloomberg. The toy chain’s sales during the critical holiday season have declined 15 percent, compared to last year, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources who were briefed on the matter. Toys “R” Us spokeswoman Amy von Walter referred to the report as “speculation.” “Final decisions about our real estate…”

Related closes on construction loan for Liberty Square redevelopment

The Related Group’s affordable housing division just closed on construction financing for a mixed-income redevelopment of Liberty Square in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood. Related Urban Development Group secured the $23.1 million construction loan from Bank of America, according to the developer. The financing will be used to build 204 units in six garden-style buildings as part of the first phase…

Miami Open moving to Hard Rock Stadium in 2019 under new deal

After a two-week standoff, Miami-Dade county officials agreed Tuesday to move the Miami Open from the Crandon Park tennis complex in Key Biscayne to Hard Rock Stadium in 2019. Mayor Carlos Gimenez and IMG, the sports giant that runs the tennis tournament, agreed earlier this month to make the move to the Miami Dolphins stadium owned by developer Stephen Ross, but negotiations fell through…

NFL star’s $18.2 million North Miami buy sparks three-way battle for commission fee

A fight over commission from the $18.2 million sale of five North Miami apartment buildings to an NFL star last year… Dumervil’s company bought five low-rise and mid-rise apartment buildings totaling 233 apartments at 1525 Northeast 125th Street, 13020 Northeast Sixth Avenue, 13055 Northeast Sixth Avenue, 14050 Northeast Sixth Avenue and 400 Northeast 137th Street…

Miami real estate loves Bitcoin – will Bitcoin love it back?

A condo for sale in Miami hit the market earlier this month accepting only Bitcoin, grabbing headlines as one of the only U.S. real estate listings to limit itself to the cryptocurrency. The one-bedroom pad at 480 Northeast 30th Street listed on Dec. 8 for 33 Bitcoin, or about $550,000 at the time, according to the listing agent. But as of Tuesday, 33 Bitcoin is now equal to about $603,000. In dollar terms, that’s…

Link Real Estate, Jameson Equities team up on creative office project in Wynwood

A partnership between Link Real Estate and Jameson Equities paid $5.4 million for a building in Wynwood where it’s planning a creative office project. The Schenker family, which operated a printing press at the building, sold the property at 2509 North Miami Avenue, Lombardi Properties broker Jonathan Eismann told The Real Deal. Eismann had the site on the market for $6.5 million. Andy Charry of…

Miami Investor Spends $42 million for Broward County Office Bldg

A Miami-based investor paid a reported $42 million, or about $293 per square foot, for Pembroke Pointe 880, a four-story office building in Pembroke Pines, FL, a western suburb of Fort Lauderdale, public records show. Midtown Capital Partners LLC bought the 143,535-square-foot property at 880 SW 145th Ave. from Duke Realty Corporation. The building opened in 2015. It fronts Interstate 75 in…

Xceligent shuts down, files for Chapter 7

Real estate data firm Xceligent, which has been embroiled in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with CoStar Group, shut down operations Thursday and filed for Chapter 7 liquidation, according to a source familiar with the matter. A note was sent out to staff Thursday informing them about the decision, according to a source who read it. Employees were asked to vacate the building immediately…

DHL Renews 100,000-SF Lease in Doral

Global logistics provider DHL has renewed its lease for 100,044 square feet in the Beacon Centre business park in Doral, FL. The renewal keeps the 180,000-square-foot Building 26 at 8400 NW 25th Street fully occupied. The property is part of a four-building, 425,000-square-foot portfolio within Beacon Centre that’s owned by institutional investor RREEF. “Beacon Centre is centrally located in Doral, just two…

Alex Karakhanian sells building on Wynwood-Edgewater border to Morgan Reed Group

Developer Alex Karakhanian sold a building at the border of Wynwood and Edgewater to Morgan Reed Group for $10.7 million. The Miami-based real estate firm bought the property at 1900 Northeast First Street with plans to convert it into a creative office building, brokers Tony Arellano of Metro 1 and Devlin Marinoff of Whitehall Realty told The Real Deal. It was on the market for $13.7 million…

Calypso St. Barth to Liquidate Coral Gables Store and All Stores Nationwide

Luxury women’s lifestyle brand Calypso St. Barth is liquidating and closing all of its stores following its bankruptcy filing late last month. Founded on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy in 1992, the luxury lifestyle brand operated 26 boutiques in New York, Georgia, Massachusetts, Colorado, California, Florida, Arizona, Maryland and South Carolina. Valued at a total of $15 million, the…

Miami Beach broker files plans for Wynwood hotel

A Miami Beach broker submitted plans last month for an eight-story hotel in Wynwood, The Real Deal has learned. High Cube LLC, a company controlled by Sterling Equity Realty broker Robert Ziehm, filed a building permit with the city of Miami for an eight-story, 95-room hotel at 51 and 45 Northwest 28th Street, according to documents obtained by TRD. Ziehm confirmed he plans to develop the…

Florida developers react to millennials’ generational disruption

The burgeoning population of millennials in Florida is having a profound effect on commercial real estate transactions in the state. At more than 75 million individuals, millennials – those born between 1980 and 1997 – are the largest consumer group ever to have to lived in the United States. And their collective decisions are making an impact on real estate development in the Sunshine State. Trends…

Mas bros. team up with Beckham in pitch for Miami MLS stadium

Score! David Beckham has brought in powerful Miami siblings Jorge and Jose Mas to his investment group planning a multimillion-dollar Major League Soccer stadium in Overtown. The MasTec brothers, whose father founded the engineering and construction firm, have joined the venture, while majority partner and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly has bowed out, according to the Miami…

Tax Overhaul Could Be Big Win for U.S. Real Estate Investors

U.S. commercial real estate is a likely winner in the evolving Republican tax overhaul, which is poised to lower rates for property owners, spur new investment and increase demand for rental housing, according to a new report. Owners and developers of commercial real estate stand to gain from a new tax break for “pass-through” entities, which don’t pay corporate tax but instead pass income through…

East 41 mixed-use project in Hialeah scores approval

East 41, a mixed-use project that will bring retail, self-storage and more than 400 residential units to Hialeah, is underway after the city council approved to extend its business district regulations where the project’s developers plan to build. The current property owner, J.R. Realty Corp., led by David Small, is under contract to sell the development site to 1100 E. 41st Street LLC, led by Miami investor Rolando…

This short video fades from the skyline of 1990 to that of 2016, essentially today. During this period, Miami has gone from just exiting its sleepy southern town origins to a truly bustling international city with, by one measure, the third most dense skyline in the United States, trailing behind New York and Chicago.

Cirque du Soleil founder buys trio of warehouses in Little Haiti

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte is betting big on Miami. The Canadian theater impresario paid $6.9 million cash for a trio of new warehouses at 300, 310 and 320 Northeast 60th Street in Little Haiti, The Real Deal has learned. Laliberte, who founded Cirque du Soleil in 1984 and still owns a stake in the entertainment company, is partnering with Magic City developers Bob Zangrillo, Plaza Equity Partners…

State-to-city-to-Genting deal for Miami bayfront property

The developer that owns a choice piece of bayfront property in Miami that was formerly the home of the Miami Herald is in negotiations with city officials for submerged land in order to build a marina. But first, the Florida Department of Transportation needs to deed the strip of bottomlands back to the City of Miami, so the city can lease it to Resorts World Miami LLC, a subsidiary of Malaysian casino giant…

Narrowing of Biscayne Boulevard in parking department hands

The city’s Off-Street Parking Board has approved an agreement between the Miami Parking Authority and the Downtown Development Authority to proceed with the Biscayne Green Project – the plan to transform Biscayne Boulevard into something other than a busy downtown street hugging vast surface parking lots. At the board’s Dec. 6 meeting, authority CEO Art Noriega asked the board…

Commission probes case of the disappearing public park

Some members of the Miami River Commission were disappointed recently to learn that a proposed major mixed-use residential project would not be providing a public park after all. Mast Capital plans nearly 700 residential units in two buildings on a large vacant lot at a bend in the river, to be called Miami River Walk. The 6.3-acre site at 1001 NW Seventh Street is on the south bank of the river, just east…

South Florida among fastest in US in job gains

South Florida tied for the second-fastest rate of job growth among the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan areas in October, with 62,000 added jobs increasing the area’s total by 2.4%, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed last week. That gain far surpassed the national growth of 1.4% and trailed only the 2.7% job growth in the Dallas area. The Atlanta area also added jobs at a 2.4% rate. The gain…

Paramount Miami Worldcenter reaches the halfway point

30 stories remain Paramount Miami Worldcenter recently hit the halfway mark of its 60-story climb in downtown Miami. Miami’s future amenity king is currently 70 percent sold with over 48 nationalities represented among the buyer pool, per a spokesperson. Among its array of amenities are pool cabanas starting at $295,000 and an amenity deck (90 feet up) including the country’s first outdoor soccer…

Developers see incubation as key to North Beach retail success: panel

To reimagine retail in North Beach’s Ocean Terrace, developers are looking to projects doubling as business incubators that they hope will seed the commercial landscape in Miami’s most popular neighborhoods. “We have started talking about what we want it to feel like,” said Sandor Scher, co-founder of Claro Development, which is redeveloping 2.2 acres in historic Ocean Terrace, at a Tuesday conference…

Retail landlords are using the courts to stop stores from closing — and they’re winning

Retailers might want to think twice before closing a struggling store, as they could end up with a lawsuit on their hands. As shopping centers continue to struggle, landlords have started pushing back against stores that shut down by filing and winning court cases to prevent them from doing so, especially in instances where their closing would cause the landlord to take a huge financial hit, according…

The accounting reform that could be a game changer for co-working firms

A change in federal accounting rules taking effect by 2019 could give co-working companies a major boost. Under the new rules, public companies will have to list office leases as liabilities on their balance sheets, which could make them look worse on paper. But there’s a loophole: if public companies sign a lease with a co-working space provider, and if the provider has a right to move the tenant, that…

Airbnb grapples with slow listing growth in major cities

As Airbnb inches closer to going public, the company faces lackluster listing growth and questions over its expansion into more traditional hospitality ventures. Growth of listings in New York, Paris, Rome, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam and other cities, for example, slowed in 2017, the Information reported. The number of nights that homes in these cities were listed as available increased at a faster pace than…

Coral Gables moving forward with Little Gables annexation

The city of Coral Gables is moving forward with annexing the unincorporated neighborhood of Little Gables, according to the Miami New Times. The roughly 205-acre…, which lies just south of Southwest Eighth Street and east of Granada Boulevard, has about 90 trailer park homes in the Gables Trailer Park community. City officials recently discussed replacing the trailer park at Southwest 44th Avenue…

Multifamily Assets Give South Florida Investors a ‘Solid, Secure Feeling’

Multifamily sales volume in South Florida for 2017 likely won’t reach the dizzying heights of a year ago, but brokers and analysts expect investor demand for rental properties to remain strong in 2018 and beyond. As of early December, 709 sales in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties totaled $4.25 billion, compared with 755 sales and $6.3 billion in 2016, according to CoStar data. The dollar…

Video: Visualization of Growth of Miami’s Skyline from 1990 to 2016

This short video fades from the skyline of 1990 to that of 2016, essentially today. During this period, Miami has gone from just exiting its sleepy southern town origins to a truly bustling international city with, by one measure, the third most dense skyline in the United States, trailing behind New York and Chicago.

Video: John Paul Ruiz of Entrust Discusses Real Estate Investing in a Self Directed IRA

John Paul Ruiz, QKA. CISP, Director of Professional Development with The Entrust Group, joins show host Michael Bull on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss self-directed IRA’s and relative topics like retirement, investing, real estate investment types, IRA and investment type differences, tax deferment strategies, IRA 8606 articles and forms, deductible and nondeductible contributions…

Video: Deloitte’s Jim Berry on Re-imagining Talent and Culture ~ 2018 CRE Outlook

Jim Berry, Real Estate Audit and Enterprise Risk Services Leader at Deloitte, joins host Michael Bull on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss his Deloitte’s 2018 Commercial Real Estate Outlook report and to discuss today’s talent, culture and generational management. The guest, Jim Berry, currently serves as the Audit and Enterprise Risk Services national leader for Deloitte’s Real Estate…

Barlington Group principals sell Little Havana property for $6.75 million

Barlington Group principals Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla just sold a property in east Little Havana three months after putting it on the market. Property records show 1393 LLC sold the office building and development site at 1393 Southwest First Street and 120 Southwest 14th Avenue for its asking price of $6.75 million to 1393 Building LLC, a company controlled by Miami attorney Jorge E. Blanco.

Video: Reis Chief Economist & VP of Research Victor Calanog Updates on Q3 2017 Retail Property Sector Trends

Reis Chief Economist & Vice President of Research, Dr. Victor Calanog, provides an assessment of third quarter 2017 Retail Sector trends. In this video, he discusses retail property occupancy rates, retail real estate deliveries (new construction), rental rate trends for retail properties, and more, all considered on a national level but with information applicable to Miami retail properties and to the Miami…

Coconut Grove’s long-awaited garage set to begin

Construction on the long-awaited Grove Bay Parking Garage in Coconut Grove is expected to begin next month, and if current plans fall into place the municipal parking garage and its liner of retail shops will be completed by January 2019. That’s the latest word from Art Noriega, chief executive officer of the Miami Parking Authority. The city’s Off-Street Parking Board on Dec. 6 authorized Mr. Noriega…

Resorts World in talks with the city of Miami to lease marina land

Resorts World Miami is in talks to lease land where it plans to build a marina, part of a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan in Miami’s Arts and Entertainment District. The Genting Group subsidiary wants to lease submerged land that’s owned by the city of Miami and the Florida Department of Transportation, according to the Next Miami. FDOT acquired a portion of the land from the city to build the…

Fort Lauderdale Grows Up

In a strange sense, Fort Lauderdale is the Jan Brady of South Florida cities. To the north is West Palm Beach, bastion of high society, and to the south, it’s all Miami, Miami, Miami. Even mapmakers are hard-pressed to get Fort Lauderdale’s name to fit on the southern tip of the Florida peninsula. Often, it’s just easier to deal with the neighbors. That’s all about to change, though, as a series of major construction…

Micro-Units Are A Big Deal:

In 1963, Walt Disney approached two of his staff songwriters, the Sherman Brothers, to come up with a catchy tune for the UNICEF exhibition in the upcoming New York World’s Fair. The result was “It’s A Small World (After All).” Little did Mr. Disney know that his song could easily be the soundtrack for today’s boom in tiny living. Americans these days are obsessed with simplifying their lives.

Fort Lauderdale developer proposes resort hotel in Miami Gardens, near Hard Rock Stadium

A South Florida developer just proposed a resort hotel near Stephen Ross’ Hard Rock Stadium. Fort Lauderdale-based developer Abraham Baker’s Mazex Holding LLC just filed plans with the city of Miami Gardens to develop a 600,000-square-foot resort hotel on nearly 40 acres of land near the stadium, according the South Florida Business Journal. The city, which owns the land at the northeast corner…

How E-Commerce is Impacting CRE

A lot has changed since 2011. That’s when a blog post on this site stated: “Many consumers still want to see or touch goods before they purchase, so they still go into a physical store to get this experience.” That statement still holds somewhat true, but e-commerce has continued to grow by leaps and bounds in the past six years – and fewer consumers have to go into a physical store to touch the goods…

International supplier sells Doral warehouse to Boston firm

Overseas supplier Topp Investments Inc. just sold its warehouse in Doral for $5.8 million, property records show. Boston-based real estate private equity firm, Longpoint Realty Partners, bought the 39,050-square-foot building at 3055 Northwest 84th Avenue for about $150 per square foot. The deal also includes an adjacent 14,400-square-foot lot. Rubin’s company supplies…

Artists Creating – And Owning – Their Own Spaces in Miami

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. We’ve seen that with Miami’s…

Condo developers in Miami, other major cities encourage buyers to kick their cars to the curb

Developers are increasingly telling buyers to ditch their cars in cities like Miami, San Francisco and New York. In exchange for discounts, credits, car-rental and car-sharing services, the move saves residential developers building costs since they can reduce or eliminate garages. Some builders are also planning for a garage-less future, designing parking structures that can be easily converted or removed,

CRE 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…

Underline scores $15M in funding from Coral Gables

The Underline just got another boost in funding, this time from the city of Coral Gables. The Coral Gables City Commission voted Tuesday to direct $15 million from impact fees, which come from developers constructing projects in the area, to the linear park. Collecting the funds will take about five years and will likely come from projects like the controversial Paseo de la Riviera, the Miami Herald reported.

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…

Multifamily deals in SoFla totaled $3.6 billion through October, down from 2016

The total sales volume of multifamily deals in South Florida may not set a new record this year, but per-unit and per-square-foot prices are already higher than the previous year, according to a new Cushman & Wakefield report. From January to October, nearly 200 multifamily sales totaling $3.6 billion have closed in South Florida. For all of 2016, multifamily sales totaled $5.6 billion. Cushman…

Crossing the line: corporate disputes and tortious interference

Competition — friendly or otherwise — is a normal part of doing business. It drives value, innovation, and market growth. Sometimes, however, competition can go too far and give rise to a legitimate business dispute. Tortious interference is one place where competition crosses the line of legality. Tortious interference occurs when a third party prevents someone from receiving the benefits of a contract…

Brazilian billionaire scores approval for Miami Beach condo project

Brazilian billionaire José Isaac Peres received city approval Tuesday to redevelop the former Marlborough House property at 5775 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. Peres, founder of Multiplan Real Estate Asset Management, secured approval from the Miami Beach Design Review Board for the once-contentious project after modifying designs for the building at 5775 Collins Avenue to include public beach…

Miami Downtown Development Authority Tries To Lure Hedge Funds Worried About Tax Changes

The Miami Downtown Development Authority hosted a party during Art Basel, in an attempt to lure Hedge Funds to relocate to Miami. The upcoming tax reform that is likely to negatively affect those living in Northern states was highlighted. Some of the invitees have expressed interest in relocating to Miami due to proposed tax changes. Under bills currently working through congress…

Judge halts work at Walmart-anchored mixed-use project in south Dade

Environmentalists scored a win on Friday after a federal judge ordered a stop to bulldozing at the proposed site of a Walmart in Miami-Dade County. Developers plan to build a mall, 900 apartments and a parking lot on the land, near Zoo Miami in south Dade. The Center for Biological Diversity and three other groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after it paved the way for the development earlier…

Those new towers are great, but where’s the new mobility?

Why does government keep approving far taller towers in Miami-Dade when we’re driving on the same old traffic-choked roads with inadequate mass transit? Most of us have asked that question in frustration as congestion gets worse, population expands and we’re cramming more and more buildings and people into the same geographic confines. Now the public’s question is joined by that…

Dan Gelber: New Mayor seeks to brand Miami Beach a cultural hub

Dan Gelber was born in Miami Beach – the only home he’s known and to him the most interesting city in the world. As its new mayor, he wants to keep it that way but ensure the virtues always prevail over challenges that come with being so interesting. Some of the challenges facing Miami Beach include safety, sea level rise and its street-level raising project, which Mr. Gelber said is disruptive…